![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CageOfSouls.jpg?resize=196%2C300&ssl=1\")
By Adrian Tchaikovsky\n\u00a9 2019, Ebook format
\nASIN: B07DPRW17S
\nFile size 1865 KB\n
<\/p>By Adrian Tchaikovsky
\n\u00a9 2019, Ebook format
\nASIN: B07DPRW17S
\nFile size 1865 KB\n
It\u2019s easy to see why this book was shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award. This is an intricate story, part fictional memoir, part dark dystopian ecofiction with touches of horror. There were elements of the tale that read like a Darwinian treatise (which I loved), where the author described the environments and how they had affected the lifeforms therein. I found it reminiscent of the Southern Reach trilogy at times, with wild and unknown\/unknowable creatures found in the deadly wilderness. The narrative captured my interest and held it throughout most of the book.<\/p>\n
Told in first person narrative through the eyes and experience of the main character, Stefan Advani, we relive his early life, his fugitive period, his imprisonment on The Island, and everything that follows. The story does not follow a linear path but bounces back into his history in logical progressions where that information is necessary to the understanding of the present. Advani is an admitted scholar cast into the midst of criminals, fugitives, and killers, and must find a way to survive. His telling of how he came to be in that situation is well-constructed, multi-layered, and carefully woven, not necessarily to cast himself in the best light but to make for a better story. Suggestions later in the book that indicate Advani might be an unreliable narrator are foreshadowed earlier on, when he tells the reader flat out that he embellished his tales to his fellow inmates to make them more interesting. I enjoyed the thought that some or all of his fictional \u201cmemoir\u201d might be more of the same. But he\u2019s also a man in the crucible, and my desire to know whether and how he survived kept me reading late a few nights.<\/p>\n
For the most part, Cage is a slow burn, a character-driven tale, exactly the kind of thing I love from time to time. The action scenes, when they happen, explode onto the page with little warning in fast-paced, short sentences. Of course, Advani\u2013a scholar who admits freely that he is not a man of action\u2013being the narrator of these dramatic scenes sees everything happening at once. A few times, his account was hard to follow. Other times, I found myself wanting to skim these segments to pick up only the essential information in order to continue the rest of the story. This was, for me, the only drawback, as I felt shoved out of a deeper, more thoughtful narrative into dynamic violence, sometimes with monstrous beings we can only imagine in our nightmares.<\/p>\n
However, Advani\u2019s deeper insights into the nature of those around him as well as himself, his reflections on events that transpired, whether true or imagined, made this book a delightful read. I will certainly check out more of Adrian Tchaikovsky\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Adrian Tchaikovsky \u00a9 2019, Ebook format ASIN: B07DPRW17S File size 1865 KB It\u2019s easy to see why this book was shortlisted for the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award. This is an intricate story, part fictional memoir, part dark dystopian ecofiction with touches of horror. There were elements of the tale that read like a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8n0kX-Lf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3776,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/23\/pieces-of-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":0},"title":"Pieces of Her","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"January 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Karin Slaughter William Morrow, Publisher ASIN: B074DTKCR3 Kindle version, file size 5395 KB; \u00a9 2018 Paperback, 476 pages; \u00a9 2019 Wow \u2026 this story starts out with a huge bang in the first chapter, and rarely lets up throughout the book. Andy\u2019s helpless failure attitude is thrown shrieking to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/PiecesOfHer-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1958,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/07\/the-overstory\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":1},"title":"The Overstory","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Richard Powers W.W. Norton & Company, ISBN: 978-0393356687 Paperback, 512 pages. \u00a9 2018 Overstory is a sweeping, heartfelt epic of nine human characters from vastly different backgrounds being drawn together by their love of\u2014and connection to\u2014nature, specifically trees. There\u2019s really no other adequate way to summarize the plot of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Overstory.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4477,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/29\/the-book-of-geodef\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":2},"title":"The Book of Ge\u2019Odef","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"June 29, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Ancient Traveler Tales By R.W. Span \u00a9 May 23, 2024 ASIN: B0D538DQSD Kindle Version, file size 484 KB From Ge\u2019Odef\u2019s tragic loss of his family at the hands of an invading species to his struggle against those same invaders, The Book of Ge\u2019Odef narrates the journey of a farmer turned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A planet with swirls of brown on the surface against a black background. Text says \"The Book of Ge-Odef, An Ancient Traveler's Tale\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GeOdef-197x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5345,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/19\/all-the-birds-in-the-sky\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":3},"title":"All the Birds In the Sky","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"March 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Charlie Jane Anders Reprint Edition \u00a9 April 11, 2017, Tor Books 320 pages ISBN-13: 978-0765379955 Wow. I am having a\u2026difficult time classifying this book but will go with Post-Apocalyptic Science Fantasy crossed with ecofiction\/climate fiction. All the Birds In the Sky is\u2026different. Odd\u2014in a good way. Groundbreaking. The writing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Text reads, \"All The Birds In The Sky. Charlie Jane Anders. National Bestseller. The very short list of novels that dare to traffic as freely in the uncanny and wondrous as in big ideas--I think of masterpieces like The Lathe of Heaven, Cloud Atlas, Little, Big--has just been extended by one.--Michael Chabon.\" Winding in between the lines of text, in front of and behind and around the letters, is a whole flock of birds against a dark grey background with stars.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AllTheBirds-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":514,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/26\/red-moon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":4},"title":"Red Moon","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"December 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Benjamin Percy Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 978-1455501670 Mass Market Paperback, \u00a9 2013, 668 pages They live among us. They might be our neighbor, our pastor, our doctor, our teacher, our spouse, our child. Most of the time, they look like us\u2014except when they don\u2019t. Except when stress or anger\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/CoverRedMoonPercy-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3393,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/02\/grave-covenant\/","url_meta":{"origin":2929,"position":5},"title":"Grave Covenant","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"July 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tobias Youngblood \u00a9 2023, Riposte Press, LLC ASIN: B0C9W7SPTV Kindle version; file size 2817 KB Ilyana is an insectile shapeshifter with a dangerous interest in humans. Ridley is an amateur boxer with a death wish. Iris is a knife-wielding nine-year-old on a mission to find her father. Separate characters,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/GraveCovenant-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2929"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2931,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2929\/revisions\/2931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}