Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on August 31, 2021 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.
In the Watchful City by S Qiouyi Lu
In the Watchful City is a debut novella by author S Qiouyi Lu. It's a fascinating novella filled with themes of control, happiness, colonialism, empire, love, memories, family and more. It's a story that takes place in a city tied together by magic, a magic that the city uses to have its select individuals watch over everyone, through taking possession of animals and other beings around the city, to ensure no unwanted sadness or love is ever felt. The story follows one such watcher, Anima, as ae encounters a spectral visitor who carries a suitcase filled with memories and tells aer stories of those memories of the outside world, making aer question everything ae knows as ae fails in aer role as a watcher and protector of the city and sees that pain is felt both within and without its walls
More specific thoughts after the jump:
Trigger Warnings: Suicide, Self-Harm.
Quick Plot Summary: Anima is one of the eight inner most nodes of the City of Ora, a city of people escaping trauma from an Empire. The city enforces strict rules for the welfare and happiness of the city, rules enforced by beings like Anima, who use the magical Gleaming to body hop into animals to watch over everyone in the city, and ensure that no one loves, lives, or tries to die in any unapproved fashion. But when several attempts to enforce the rules goes wrong, and Anima meets the strange storyteller known as Vessel, Anima begins to wonder if there is the ways of Ora are truly the only proper ones, and if there is something out there for ae* to explore.
*Anima's pronouns are ae/aer, in case that was unclear from this review.*
Thoughts: In the Watchful City is a story rich with themes, of Empire, of freedom vs safety and happiness, of love and grief, and more. The story is told in large part through the interactions of Anima with a storyteller (Vessel) who tells ae stories based upon the objects Vessel carries in a briefcase. The stories relate to the outside world, where a conquering Empire tried to enforce cultural norms against the peoples it conquered, tried to turn such peoples against each other, resulted in death and sorrow, and eventually turned in against itself to create a democracy...which may or may not be an improvement. The stories are all excellent and rich in themes and contrast with Anima's own home - and aes own tragic childhood - which was formed by exiles from the Empire into a city that's basically a police state....for the sake of enforcing happiness of a specific kind.
I don't know how to explain this any better without spoiling, but it's really interesting in showing the issues of Empire and life reacting to it in various ways, in security vs happiness, and in very different ways than you might expect. Well worth your time.
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