Zoo City ebook
This is not your average urban fantasy. It's set in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a world where murderers and other criminals acquire magical animals that are mystically bonded to them. "Zoos" are discriminated against, but with their animal also comes a magical talent, unique to each Zoo.
Zinzi December is an addict whose drug habit got her brother killed, and thus burdened her with her Sloth companion and a magical talent for finding lost things. She's a very flawed protagonist, but very believable, a woman who's not a bad person but has made some really bad choices and is now swimming with sharks as a result. Beukes's world is interesting, both the animal companions with their mashavi talents coexisting with the modern world, and her dark, gritty portrayal of South Africa, with all of its poverty, homelessness, refugees, sex trafficking, drugs, and AIDS. Definitely worth reading for something outside the usual North American/Western European setting.
The story gets a little bit choppy towards the end, and while I liked the fake magazine articles and academic essays describing the nature and history of the "animalled," it felt a bit like filler in places. Still, a good read that's a little outside the mainstream. I give it 4.5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 5 because I'd like to see more books like this in the "Urban Fantasy" aisle and fewer tattooed vampire-boinkers.
Zoo City is set in an alternate universe where after a "zoo plague" people who commit murder (or, as is implied, feel the guilt for a murder) are gifted with an animal. That animal gives them special powers.
BalasHapusZinzi December is gifted with the ability to find lost things. She doesn't find people or weapons at the start of the story. However when a client is killed and she's confronted with the enormity of her debt to the criminal underworld, she takes on a missing persons case.
This is essentially a noir story set in an incredibly rich, detailed and respectful South Africa, told from the perspective of an ex-junkie, ex-reporter, current-spam writer. It's incredible how familiar tropes are new and exciting.
One of my least favorite tropes in noir detective novels is the self-destructive attitudes. They drink, they destroy relationships around them, they're violent and mouth off to police. My favorite part of Zoo City was how self-aware Zinzi is. She spends the whole book carefully aware of herself - as both an ex-junkie and as a human being.
Even when she does bad things (like playing an active part in Nigerian money scams) she's aware of herself and aware that part of her likes it.
I also can't explain how much I love reading a novel where Africa isn't all one huge country, isn't the exotic, isn't a collated amount of facts from Hollywood movies about Africa.
As a side note, the digital version of this book was really well put together. (And I was surprised to find fanfic from her first novel, Moxyland, in the back!)
This is not your average urban fantasy. It's set in Johannesburg, South Africa, in a world where murderers and other criminals acquire magical animals that are mystically bonded to them. "Zoos" are discriminated against, but with their animal also comes a magical talent, unique to each Zoo.
BalasHapusZinzi December is an addict whose drug habit got her brother killed, and thus burdened her with her Sloth companion and a magical talent for finding lost things. She's a very flawed protagonist, but very believable, a woman who's not a bad person but has made some really bad choices and is now swimming with sharks as a result. Beukes's world is interesting, both the animal companions with their mashavi talents coexisting with the modern world, and her dark, gritty portrayal of South Africa, with all of its poverty, homelessness, refugees, sex trafficking, drugs, and AIDS. Definitely worth reading for something outside the usual North American/Western European setting.
The story gets a little bit choppy towards the end, and while I liked the fake magazine articles and academic essays describing the nature and history of the "animalled," it felt a bit like filler in places. Still, a good read that's a little outside the mainstream. I give it 4.5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 5 because I'd like to see more books like this in the "Urban Fantasy" aisle and fewer tattooed vampire-boinkers.
I admit I was a bit curious about "Zoo City", though hesitant due to the lack of reviews.
BalasHapusWe are initially introduced to Zinzi December. Though at first she seems a bit grubby and stark, we soon learn that there's a lot more to her then first meets the eye.
Zinzi December is really an amazing woman (and let's not forget her Sloth, her 'magical ally' [who would have thought a sloth could be so endearing]) with the ability to find lost things by following their psychic cords. Sure she has some faults, but her heart is in the right place, and she is a quick learner, even if she has lived the fast life and done her share of dark deeds.
As for the story, once it gets going, hang onto you hats, 'cause it's a whirlwind ride. This is a dark, devilishly cunning, piece of writing. Zinzi, with her wits pushed to the edge to survive, is a force to be reckoned with, but as in real life we are not so sure who prevails in the end. Still I hope there will be more books with her. I really like Zinzi December's style.
Thanks to Lauren Beukes for a great story.
This was an extremely engaging story, taking place in a rarely represented place of the globe. It's urban fantasy without the cliches, no generic bad-ass heroines or damsels, just Zinzi who is deeply believable and wonderfully flawed. This is a dark, violent noir tale, and it was refreshing in a sea of twilight knockoffs and syrup coated "grittyness" that makes up so much of the UF world. Mature teens and adult readers only, this isn't for the youngsters or faint of heart.
BalasHapus
BalasHapusI won't summarize the book as other reviewers have done an excellent job. This book was unlike anything I have ever read (I rarely read futuristic or noir novels) and it just blew me away. Being an animal lover I was totally intrigued by the premise of being Animaled and found it heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The author opens a window into a world that I can only hope to visit someday (South Africa). I have a feeling this book will stay with me for a long time and it will definitely be one that I will read again. One last caution - as one other reviewer noted - this is not a cuddly book but then again life is certainly not cuddly for many!
BalasHapus