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By Claire North\n\u00a9 November 18, 2025
\nFile size: 3.1 MB
\n437 pages
\nISBN-13: 978-0316586344<\/p>\n
By Claire North
\n\u00a9 November 18, 2025
\nFile size: 3.1 MB
\n437 pages
\nISBN-13: 978-0316586344<\/p>\n
In a society where one either has \u201cshine\u201d or is always struggling to gain more \u201cshine,\u201d Maw has lived an entirely ordinary, unShiny life until they find themselves in debtor\u2019s prison. Debtors have no say in their lives, so when Maw is forced to pilot a ship through arc space\u2014a job that always carries lingering aftereffects—they do what they\u2019re told. But when they die in arc space, only to then be found alive (sort of) and fine, no one knows exactly what to do with them, except fear them. Because Maw isn\u2019t exactly human anymore. They can\u2019t be killed. And they can speak to the Infinite Dark.<\/p>\n
Wow! I\u2019ve read Claire North books before, and expected a lot, especially given this book\u2019s description. I was not disappointed. This story is more mystery and character-driven than it is thrilling and filled with excitement, yet it was hard to put it down. The book\u2019s slow pace fits the long, long timeline. North\u2019s writing style is eloquent, flowing, almost literary, requiring the reader\u2019s attention in order to follow along. You can\u2019t daydream while you\u2019re flipping pages. You can\u2019t skip ahead. Every page, every paragraph, every word is necessary to understand the storyline and follow what is going on. This is a thought-provoking read, not a quick and easy one.<\/p>\n
Perhaps one of the most interesting things about Slow Gods is Maw\u2019s search for meaning, for their lost humanity. It isn\u2019t a purposeful search. Rather, it\u2019s something that grows on them throughout the book, happening as a result of events around them. It\u2019s awkward, uncomfortable, and dangerous for other people if Maw becomes too curious, too \u201cdysregulated.\u201d And yet that strong connection\u2014love and hate, belonging and isolation\u2014acknowledged or not, is at least part of what drives Maw. It\u2019s deep. It\u2019s provocative. It\u2019s complicated. You just gotta read it to understand.<\/p>\n
The prose is beautifully done, and I especially loved the use of multiple genders throughout the book. Different races of beings each approach the idea of gender in very different ways. The only race with a hard line in in the sand about gender is the one that presses Maw into slavery in the first place. Pronouns ranged from ae to xe to qe, and others besides. The story has an entire chapter on the different genders present or recognized in each of the races in this universe, and I found it fascinating. One of the characters, Gebre, when told of another race\u2019s belief that so many genders was too confusing, said \u201cSo\u2026 even if you can\u2019t see someone\u2019s genitals, they are the first thing that is on your mind when you meet someone?\u201d He goes on to ask whether this race sees the identification of people\u2019s genitalia as more important than their ethics, their hobbies, their hopes and loves. I found this new way of putting it to be quite refreshing, and a delightful way to express the absurdity of such concerns.<\/p>\n
Slow Gods is not your typical science fiction novel. It stands apart, in line with the works of Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Ursula LeGuin, or N. K. Jemisin. If you love those authors, you\u2019ll love this book, and probably North\u2019s other books as well. Most highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Claire North \u00a9 November 18, 2025 File size: 3.1 MB 437 pages ISBN-13: 978-0316586344 In a society where one either has \u201cshine\u201d or is always struggling to gain more \u201cshine,\u201d Maw has lived an entirely ordinary, unShiny life until they find themselves in debtor\u2019s prison. Debtors have no say in their lives, so when…<\/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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7990","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-24S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":623,"url":"https:\/\/www.dremadeoraich.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/08\/shine-shine-shine\/","url_meta":{"origin":7990,"position":0},"title":"Shine Shine Shine","author":"DremaDeoraich","date":"March 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lydia Netzer St. Martin\u2019s Press, ISBN: 978-1250007070 Paperback, \u00a92012, 320 pages Sunny is the social anchor of her neighborhood, coordinating craft shows and support groups, serving as the reliable and rock-steady block mom everyone turns to in a crisis. 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