Review Summaries

• Readers and reviewers value the structure, subject matter, and attentive style. The work is received as one that rewards attention to language and accumulated detail rather than spectacle.

Reviews

• A fascinating, weird and atmospheric debut

  In the 1840s, the British Empire has expanded to encompass much of the globe and established embassies in many other lands upon it...and one off it. Laon Helstone is a missionary to the realm of Arcadia, also called the Faelands, which lie beyond the world of science. Having gone missing, his sister Catherine embarks on a perilous journey to find him. Her path leads to the castle Gethsemane, a building of shifting rooms and corridors whose inhabitants are both a help and hindrance. Catherine also uncovers evidence of the fate of the previous missionary, and embarks on a journey of discovery about both this unusual land and her own past. Under the Pendulum Sun is the debut novel by Jeanette Ng. Published in 2017, it won its author the 2019 Astounding Award (formerly the Campbell) for best new writer; her impassioned acceptance speech was the main reason the award changed its name. It's easy to see why the book made such an impact: it's an impeccably-crafted, constantly inventive and continually surprising work of the fantastic. The premise is that the land of the Fae is real and was contacted by the British Empire, resulting in a mutual exchange of ambassadors, ideas and commerce. Changelings now live in London and British merchants and missionaries now dwell in Arcadia. However, the Fae are difficult to deal with, tricky and ambiguous. Humans have to constantly salt their food lest they fall under the Fae's control and the Fae have a limited interest in human motivations such as money, lust or religion. They do understand such concepts, however, and use them to manipulate people to their own amusement. The book is told in the first-person by Catherine Helstone as she searches for her brother in Arcadia. This search leads her to Gethsemane, a sprawling ramshackle mansion where the corridors and rooms do not seem to quite coexist as architectural logic demands. Ng notes in her afterword that she was influenced by the Gothic school of 19th century literature and there's a strong element of those books (not to mention Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy) in the exploration of this strange, rambling house and its eccentric grounds. There are relatively few other characters, at least to start with, but halfway through the book the cast dramatically expands with the arrival of the court of Queen Mab, a Fae noblewoman who holds the key to the secrets of Arcadia, secrets which Catherine has become obsessed by. This results in a change of pace, from the tight, almost claustrophobic focus of the opening chapters to a larger story with greater stakes and more intrigue. This change of pace helps the novel avoid the fate of so many other "modern fables," which tend to start fresh and imaginative but become staid as they dragged out for too long. Under the Pendulum Sun, on the other hand, keeps the ideas, the revelations and the surprises flowing. This is a novel of psychological tension, haunting imagery (such as the moon being a sinister fish swimming through the sky, and the sun being a pendulum suspended from a clockwork mechanism) and unravelling mysteries. There are a few moments where the pace flags a little bit, where elements of the story verge on the obtuse, but it's not long before the book gets back on track. Under the Pendulum Sun (****½) is a striking and powerful debut novel, well-written and characterised, with a strong undercurrent of weirdness and an effective surprise ending. I await the author's second novel eagerly.

• A Gothic novel for the twenty-first century

  This is a gothic novel in the classic sense, because you have a heroine who travels to a creepy, large, isolated mansion where strange things happen. It's also a fantasy, because the creepy mansion is literally in Fairyland. And her lost brother is there to save the souls of the fae, who may not even have souls, so there's 19th-century Christian theological speculation thrown in to boot. Well written, hugely imaginative, great stuff. I will re-read this one, and I rarely re-read books. Jeannette Ng has put her name on my "read whatever they write" list.

• Take with a dash of salt from human hands

  This is a novel I should've ended up disliking greatly, as while I am attracted greatly to alternate histories and gothic fantasy, I dislike a heavy turn towards Christian theology (as well as some of the plot twists, as detailed in other reviews). They're something I avoid religiously (har), and not entirely sure how this one ended up in my library. By the time I realized what I was in for, Ng's storytelling and world building around the Helstone siblings had drawn me in, and found a grateful sinner out of me. I eagerly await seeing what comes next from this author theological or otherwise, with only the mildest suspicions that I have indeed been affected by a pale faerie queen.

• An entrancing gothic faery-tale.

  Even if you share my reservations on stories told in first person, what Jeannette Ng has crafted here is excellent and well worth reading. The narrative leans far more heavily on Christian theology than I'd imagined it would, which probably says more about the limits of my imagination than of the author's skill, since it says right on the cover that it is indeed a story about missionaries! I had assumed it would deal more with Arcadia, rather than the faith of the missionaries visiting there, but as with all fairy-tales, the true story lies in the magical world's impact upon us, rather than our impact on it. Like a true gothic novel of the period, it also dwells far more on the existential crises of the characters than in any visceral action of the fae. I can understand why the back cover might shy away from those particular disclosures, because in the abstract that probably sounds boring, but in the actual expression of those ideas, it certainly isn't. Under the Pendulum Sun feels like the previously undiscovered work of some Bronte sister that had stumbled onto a story with surprisingly modern pacing. It feels strangely undated to read, fitting neatly as neither an actual gothic novel, nor as one for our own period, but I felt that gave the narrator a special realism: we saw the story entirely through her eyes, and so the story was presented as she might have seen it, alien to both Victorian and modern readers alike. Under the Pendulum Sun is the story of sinners, pressed into a world where maybe those sins don't count the same way, among creatures who may or may not even have souls to save. It's far more about their own less-than-savory failings than it is the mysteries of the fae, even as those mysteries surround them. It's a surprisingly spiritual story, which greatly lends to its period authenticity. Still, the mysteries of the fae swirl all around, often literally, just beyond the walls of the castle where most of the action is set. The mysterious wonders of the fae sparkle, from their clockwork sun, to the hidden delights of the goblin-market, to the majestic uniqueness of the land-bound "sea whale". The world glimpsed here is unique, and the story is satisfyingly self-contained while still leaving the reader to consider marvels of the fae that spill beyond the pages presented. It's a very satisfying read, and while not of the faith myself, I imagine that the theological musings presented would add yet another dimension for those who are. I greatly enjoyed the book and will look forward to the author's next.

• Fun and satisfying fantasy read

  Enjoyed the book thoroughly, though I found the character of the brother and the christian allegories less then compelling

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