The City We Became

In lesser hands, I don't think I would have liked this book. I love Jemisin, but I primarily love her for the intricate worlds and cultures that she builds in her high-fantasy. She always has something to say about our world in them, but they are such intense, fully-realized places that I love exploring. So when I heard she was doing an urban fantasy about cities who become realized through people avatars, I wasn't instantly hooked. I don't really like cities, and the concept seemed a little goofy. But hey, it's quarantine and my FLB needs me to buy books, so I picked this one up. Damn, I'm glad I did.

First of all, Jemisin is just as talented at realizing our world and subspace alternate realities of our world as she is fictional ones. Her characters are sharply-realized, more real than some actual people I know, I swear. What might feel like ham-fisted attempts at representation by someone else is nuanced, complicated, well-researched and just a beautiful example of how to write characters that are not from your own culture. Staten Island (who literally has my paternal grandmother's last name) definitely made me shudder. She's deeply frustrating, and still so real and understandable. I hope more white feminists read this and see how frustrating a person like this can be.

Also, is there a word for fan-fiction when the writer is definitely not a fan? Subersive-Fic maybe? Jemisin's distaste for H.P. Lovecraft is well-known, and the idea that she would do a lovecraftian spin on anything seemed strange until I realized she is part of that movement that rather than removing the racist and xenophobic bits and keeping the cool stuff, actively tears down those ideas. I didn't expect the reveal of the Woman in White, but it makes so much sense. Lovecraft's fearmongering and white supremacy are the villains in this book, and our heroes are each a testament to how beautiful the world can be when we reject it.

The Lovecraft takedown is part of the text, but I think I caught some Tolkien criticism too. So much of fantasy draws from Tolkien in that nature = good, industrialism = bad. It's an easy argument to make. So it's definitely weird to read truly urban fantasy that is glorifying cities. But Jemisin makes the point that cities are where we learn to share. Foods, fashions, stories, attitudes, religions... cities make us have to live and learn together. If the hobbits never leave the shire, they never grow out of their own community. I don't think I've read another fantasy that depicts modern urban life as an ideal. I love Tolkien, but the time has come to think outside the shire.

I think this is the longest review I've written in a long time. I just want to talk about this book so much. Even if like me you've never been to New York and generally dislike big cities, I'd still recommend this book. It's a fascinating perspective shift. And if you do love New York? This is a love letter like no other.