Rakesfall
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4.3 • 4 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
WINNER of the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction | WINNER of the Otherwise Award | Finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel | Finalist for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
Rakesfall is a groundbreaking, standalone science fiction epic about two souls bound together from here until the ends of time, from the author of award-winning novel The Saint of Bright Doors.
Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through the ages, friendships that outpace the claws of death, loves that leave their mark on civilization, and promises that nothing can break. This is one such story.
Annelid and Leveret met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages. No world can hold them, no life can bind them, and they'll never leave each other behind.
Tracing two souls through endless lifetimes, Rakesfall is a virtuosic exploration of what stories can be. As Annelid and Leveret reincarnate ever deeper into the future, they will chase the edge of human possibility in a dark science fiction epic unlike anything you've read before.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chandrasekera's beautiful yet murky sophomore outing (after The Saint of Bright Doors) takes a certain amount of work to unlock. Through gorgeously rendered fragments, it tells of two friends, Annelid and Leveret, growing up in the wake of the Sri Lankan civil war—and then reincarnating over multiple lifetimes. There are elements of fantasy, science fiction, and the surreal throughout. The first section, for instance, is told from the perspective of fans watching a television show about Annelid and Leveret years in the future. Demons also make frequent appearances. However, the nonlinear plot, ever-changing narrators, and mix of genre elements means there's very little for the reader to grasp onto. Though some will give up in the face of these challenges, others will sink into Chandrasekera's lyrical and evocative style: "I chew the leaf and spit out my red days. They splatter. You chew the leaf and spit out your hours of mad redder." Readers who put in the effort will be rewarded by this rich and sweeping epic.
