Book Review: In the Watchful City by S.Qiouyi Lu

 

In the Watchful City by S.Qiouyi Lu 

192 pages, Paperback Tor Publishing

August 2021 

This is a book that feels much longer (in a good way) than the 189 pages it has. That is because it feels more epic and grand than your average short novel. It is a short novel but in many ways, it is a collection of novellas, stories, and poems that tie together. This novel is a boundary-crushing piece of speculative fantasy that subverts easy definitions.

Non-binary bio-cyberpunk meets Chinese fantasy? That is my quick thumbnail description and if that sounds cool to you it certainly was to me. This book goes moment to moment from feeling other worldly and technological to a feeling of Asian-inspired folklore and mythology. I have read lots of  Chinese Science Fiction and I love this blend, it feels strongly like something you can’t from standard old-hat SF. This is what only diversity of voice in the genre can provide.

The main character Anima is an extra sensory human whose job is to watch over a city that I think is partly digital. I was excited even from the very opening.

“Anima closes Aer eyes and sees the world.

Anima borrows the body of a crow in flight. Two suns creep toward the horizon, casting long shadows from the floating islands overhead, shadows that cross the lapping waves of the Hailei sea to the shores of Ora, plunging the city-state into twilight, even as sunset engulfs the rest of the world.”

We open with intense character and world-building. Right off the bat, we understand that Anima is non-gender conforming with Aer replacing his/her. We know this is a different world, thanks to the two suns, is this in the far future of our species or is a pure alien one remains a mystery? For that reason, I assumed at first that this was a genderless species, but that is not the case. This type of fantasy world-building I enjoy as you have to pay close attention and look for clues throughout the text.

Anima is our eyes to this strange city and the endless stories that can come out of it.  She uses something called the Gleaming, she morphs into the bodies or assumes the bodies of animals. This provides an amazing point of view for this world. Anima is a great character, one I enjoyed following.

“Omnipresent. Anima Considers the word. True for some value – ae can be anywhere in the city at any time – but also completely incorrect -anima can only be in one place, one body at a time, and when ae is in the gleaming, ae is not “present” at all.”

The book provides various narrative styles including passages told in prose poems. Anima and aer city, one or the other connects them all together but that is what gives this a collection feel. It also highlights the author’s skills. They are a translator and for someone who enjoys reading translated Chinese fantasy and science fiction, I see the influence clearly.

Sometimes it is little things like…

“White is the color of death,” La Sombra says as the shadow grows. “the color of pictures and clothes and bones left untended and eaten by suns. But Black?”

In Chinese fantasy white not black represents death and all things gothic but the storytelling has plenty of vibes of Asian voices. It also has a character who desperately wants to conform to very old-school aspects of Chinese gender norms which helps ground this story in Asian culture without ruining the mystery of where or when the hell this story takes place.

One of the stories near the end deals with suicide and it does some interesting things with the ethics involved. The book comes with a thoughtful disclaimer for those who might be triggered by the conversation. Ora as a city has legal suicide. When Anima traveling as a crow witnesses a suicide in progress the debate comes into focus.

“In Ora, citizens are given a right to die peacefully. Any suicide filed in advance with the hub is vetted to ensure the decision has been made with care and consideration. This kind of impulsive suicide, through calls for intervention.”  

This story is where the deep feelings of humanity in this strange other-worldly city come into focus and really tie the whole thing together. It is one thing to deal with depression as a theme but in an SF novel that handles LBGTQ issues, the themes of cultural power and tie it all together with well-written and pretty prose.  Great stuff.

In the Watchful City is a wonderful debut. This is an author now on my radar. Highly recommended modern SF. Maybe you noticed but I didn't compare this novel to any other books. That is because it really is one of a kind.