Marjorie B. Kellogg

Glimmer by Marjorie B Kellogg is a recommended character driven climate science fiction novel set in NYC in 2110.

Rising sea levels, superstorms, and a changing climate have left much of the city wrecked and/or flooded. Those who could fled the city. The survivors left behind have banded into their own social support structures called dens. Members of the dens live on the upper floors of buildings and work together to find supplies and food, while protecting each other. Glimmer, a name she show more gave herself after she lost her memory, is a young woman living in this dystopian future. She is part of one of the oldest dens, Unca Joe, and has her friends and support system there. It is an unpredictable life, but every now and then Glimmer senses that she recognizes something from before. But when it seems that another group is planning some attack against her den perhaps she does need to consider a change.

This is a character driven novel above all else and it succeeds in that regard as the characters are fully realized and placed into this dystopian future. They are not, however, relatable or very engaging. The world building is very good also. However, it is also a very slow, tedious, even paced novel that takes a certain amount of determination to continue reading. I started and stopped this novel three times before I made myself finish it. In the end it is okay, but there have been better cli-sci-fi novels with quicker paces that will provide the same message.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of DAW.

http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2021/11/glimmer.html

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4341440919 show less

What a great premise for a book! The elements are represented by dragons, and each dragon must become conscious and join with its human in order for the world to be in balance.

The first dragon, Earth, is found by a runaway daughter of a weak-minded Baron, in a cave. Young Erde, the 14-year-old protagonist, has fallen under the gaze of the insane Fra Guille who wishes to purge her of her gift through the use of fire. Several burnings of smart women take place in the countryside, and the show more typical girl finds herself and others" is well-written and the characters have their strong and their weak side. The she-goat is one especial favorite.

All the enjoyment of character, though, is lacking for this reader in the second volume, Water. N'Doch is a victim of a lack of water in a rain-starved Africa, set in the modern day (2013, to be exact) and the life of poverty that results when one person has the best and all others must struggle to eat and there is no hope of escape. So perhaps watching his character come to grips with who he is and who is dragon is is just more honest, and again, Kellogg does a good job showing the effects of poverty and climate change on the world of humans and others." show less

This is the first of four dragon-themed novels, one for each of the 'elements': earth, air fire and water.
It's an entertaining but unexceptional fantasy novel. Young Erde, heiress of a barony, is also heir to mystic dragon magic, but her powerful aunt died before she could pass on her knowledge. Erde is now prey for her insane and potentially abusive father, who is being frighteningly influenced by an Inquisitorial priest who is preaching against both witches and dragons, and is incidentally show more also behind a rebellion against the king.
Necessity demands that she run away - which she does, and she nearly immediately encounters a dragon, who bonds himself to her (in an Anne-McCaffrey-influenced manner). Unfortunately, the dragon, named Earth, although he knows there's a reason for him to be around, doesn't know much else. He seems to be lacking memory, and is very immature. Erde and Earth will just have to muddle along and figure things out. Luckily, they run into a royalist baron who is a big fan of dragons, who's willing to help them.
The novel's pro-feminist, pro-pagan stance is not something I disagree with, but it became a little predictable at times. Also, although the author went out of her way to very specifically set the story in Germany, giving everyone German names and specifying the city of Erfurt, nothing about the characters, their behavior, or the setting feels German it all - it's just a generic fantasy-medieval setting show less

Erde, a young girl of royalty, finds herself in a most terrifying predicament. She escapes and joins up with two of the most unlikely traveling companions...

This was a good page turner for me. I was engrossed with the characters and fell in love with them from the start and found myself cheering them on from time to time. I found myself not wanting to put the book down.