Stone stories: N K Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate

When Terry Pratchett wanted to explore how trolls might name themselves, he used mineralogy. Jade was one of the first Pratchett trolls to have a name. It was curiously dignifying as well as amusingly paradoxical (how could a lump of rock have a name, ho ho ho). Pratchett continued to dignify his troll characters rather … Continue reading Stone stories: N K Jemisin’s The Obelisk Gate →

The language of the invaded in Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake

This is the strangest and most powerful novel I’ve read in a long time. The strangeness and power come from its eerie, invented, ghost of early English, positioned some way between the impenetrableness of Anglo-Saxon and the Englishes more familiar to the eye from the medieval period. Even though this is completely inauthentic, because Paul … Continue reading The language of the invaded in Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake →