Book review: Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta

Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta

Paperback, 263 pages

Published June 10th 2014 by Harper Voyager (first published January 24th 2012)

Arthur C. Clarke Award Nominee for Best Novel (2015)

Philip K. Dick Award Nominee (2014)

Kalevi Jäntin palkinto (2012)

Nuori Aleksis -palkinto (2013)

Tähtivaeltaja Award Nominee (2013)

The Kitschies Nominee for Golden Tentacle (Debut) (2014)

James Tiptree Jr. Award Honor List (2014)

Memory of Water is a beautiful and tragic book that is one of the most lyrical and beautiful works of fiction I have read in some time. While this novel is clearly speculative fiction and inspired by deep fears of climate change I suspect it will be one of those books shelved in literature. There is plenty of beautiful prose in the genre but it is books like this that cause marketing headaches like Mary Dorian Russell's the Sparrow or the many works of Brian Evenson. It is OK for copies the book to shelved in both the genre sections and high literature.

The most impressive thing about this novel is the fact that author Emmi Itaranta wrote the book in both her native Finnish and in English. That in itself is quite an accomplishment to be celebrated. The prose is, in fact, gorgeous, so pretty in fact that it flirts with poetry while setting the stage for the story. “We are children of water, and water is death’s close companion. The two cannot be separated from us, for we are made of the versatility of water and the closeness of death. They go together always, in the world and in us, and the time will come when our water runs dry.”

I know many readers will find this work to be a pretty picture lacking depth, thin on story. I knew this would be the judgment of many readers but I don't agree. The book is short and the story is sparse. In a longer work this would have been a problem but at 266 pages I enjoyed it quite a bit. Set in a future Scandanavia ruled by China the global power of the time. Noria is a Tea Master a job she learned from her father, one she is able to do because of a secret. A water spring deep in a cave. This is super Illegal in this water-strapped future.

This book is very similar in many ways to my top read of the last year Carrie Vaughn's brilliant Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel Bannerless. Vaughn brings to that novel more knowledgeable of Genre and skill for world-building that makes it a more commercial novel. In this case I think it makes for a better read. Overall I would suggest Bannerless first, but I think both books are amazing and worth reading.

Memory of water is a powerful piece of work. An important work of Cli-Fi that uses the power of lyrical prose to express the deep sorrow of a world that is quickly losing the foundation of life. It is not for everyone, this is not a commercial easy-breezy read but it is one of the best works of Climate Change fiction you'll find.