Comment

Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Port Moody Public Library.
Nov 22, 2020Michael Colford rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Jo Walton is a writer's writer, and her latest book, Or What You Will is more so than most. Exploring the creative spark, and how a writer creates the worlds and characters that they populate their books with, turns into a whole fantasy meta-novel in Walton's hands. Along the way, she deconstructs works by Shakespeare, mothers who withhold love, modern-day and pre-renaissance Florence, domestic abuse and more. Most fascinating for me, was her exploration of grief in the context of a world that has abolished death. It's not the main point of the novel, but a beautiful and fascinating diversion that Walton does so beautifully. Not all of Walton's diversions work for me however. A detailed, and overwrought chapter describing an actual restaurant in Florence that serves food that is so sublime it cannot be described (although there is an entire chapter trying to do just that) that seems a pretty unnecessary bit. Still, that's a minor quibble when you think about the scope of Walton's story, and the masterful way she weaves together the art and science of writing, an actual historical fantasy tale, and ruminations on mortality and grief, and Or What You Will proves that however Walton manages to create entire worlds, like a mythological god, it's worth going on the journey with her.