A Song for a New Day

paperback, 384 pages

Published Sept. 10, 2019 by Berkley.

ISBN:
978-1-9848-0258-3
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OCLC Number:
1078889890

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4 stars (21 reviews)

5 editions

Review of 'A Song for a New Day' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I rather enjoyed this novel. The pandemic aspects of the story are pretty similar to the covid-world of today. The need to find a way for people to relate and function in a social manner also reflects our current reality. I, also, enjoyed the story's backdrop, plot, and characters. All-round a good read.

Frustrating, Flawed

3 stars

This is a book about how society -- specifically musicians and music lovers -- deals with the fallout of a terrorist attack and some sort of deadly pandemic (the specifics are never really described). The book was published in late 2019, and a couple months later, musicians and music lovers were dealing with a deadly pandemic, so there's a lot of articles and reviews out there that describe it as a very apt and timely book.

But it did not work for me. For awhile I couldn't figure out what clanged for me, but ultimately I think my main issue is that it manages to paint the picture of a dystopia that is less dystopic than our current dystopia.

In the book, "anti-congregation" laws have been passed to protect people from disease and maybe terrorist attacks (that element gets dropped pretty quickly). It's unclear why these laws are still in …

Review of 'A Song for a New Day' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This 2019 Nebula award winner tells the story of Rosemary and Luce in the near future after social unrest and some sort of pandemic(!) leads to anti-congregation laws, so everyone pretty much lives in the "Hoodie", which is a VR device. Luce is a musician, who either lives to play music or plays music to live - it is her, through and through. She became know as "The Last Power Chord" - the last person to play before a live audience.

Rosemary lives a quiet sheltered life in the country, working for SuperWally, a giant conglomerate that does all its business via the Hoodie. Barely into her 20s and barely remembering the Before, she gets involved in StageHolo, an entertainment giant that produces music and shows in this "hoodie space" as a talent acquisition expert. She and Luce bounce off each other through the book, exchanging chapters describing their lives …

Review of 'A Song for a New Day' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Absolutely loved this book, the Nebula is well-deserved. I was admittedly hesitant at first, given that it starts out with a pandemic that seems to mirror recent events, and I was afraid it would be difficult to read in the way that Wanderes felt heavy. But it was not like that at all. This book is instead a declaration of love to live music, to community, and to finding your own path.

In other words, if this had been a movie, the body horror in the first act might have scared me off, and prevented me from seeing the beautiful road movie that makes up the second act, and the amazing and hopeful conclusion.

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