Under the Pendulum Sun

This book goes on my ‘interesting concept and well written but not necessarily to my taste' shelf. The story tells of a missionary's sister who has followed her brother to a mystical world of the Fae where everything is not quite as it seems. With its theme, it was perhaps inevitable that it was a little bit preachy. A lot of biblical themes and messages are thrown around. Some people might appreciate that but I always find it a little bit off-putting as it feels like you are being preached at as a reader even if that is not what the author intended. The main protagonist is sympathetically written and her gradually understanding the reality of where she is makes for an interesting read.

Stylistically the writing is attempting almost a Bronte-esque style. Again personally not my favourite style to read, but I can see it is done well and I found it flowed well enough.

Ultimately the book is well written and the underlying story is interesting, although certain stylistic elements and themes jarred a bit with me. Personal taste may vary!

This was an intriguing story just for the premise alone - missionaries and religious life were a very central part of the Regency and Victorian eras, and so much of the modern sci-fi and fantasy set in that time period leave it out to their detriment. But it seems obvious that, had 19th century Britain established relations with the fae kingdom of Arcadia, there would have absolutely been tracts on the nature of the fae soul, and missionaries attempting to convert them to save their Heathen Souls. This book does a great job of matching a realistic and recognizable British society with the absolutely unrealistic and phantasmagoric land of Arcadia.

Like any good faerie story, Under the Pendulum Sun is darker than you'd imagine, and unsettling in both its characters and morality. Ng fully embraces the Gothic style that would make sense for her setting, and leaves a story that's dripping with melodrama and suspense.

This review is based on an ARC given to me for free by the publisher; it is slated for release on October 3, 2017. This does not in any way affect my review.

But less obvious are the theological references: callbacks to Milton, Dante, Calvin, and other theological authors and philosophers are littered throughout the text. Then there are other, far less obvious references that I cannot tease out due to my lack of knowledge of said texts. On one hand, this makes sense, since Catherine and Laon are meant to be missionaries converting the Fae to Christianity, but on the other the references go deeper than that. They all tie into the themes: questions about the nature of God, faith and the soul are obvious, of course, but there are also more philosophical questions buried in there, questions about how to define truth, and how stories and storytelling play into the creation of truth.