paperback, 192 pages
Published Aug. 30, 2021 by Tordotcom, Tor.com.
In the Watchful City explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in an Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest.
The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm.
All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: …
In the Watchful City explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in an Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest.
The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm.
All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?
I absolutely loved this book! The cabinet of curiosities setup was an interesting design, and it worked because it added depth to the main plot while folding in layers of smaller stories to flesh out the futuristic world.
I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a futuristic tale that melds multiple storylines into a cohesive and satisfying arc.
it's a short book that feels like it could have been 5 times as long—there are still so many stories to tell
[ Overall Thoughts ]
In The Watchful City is a lushly written collection of short stories of different formats within a framing narrative. The framing narrative takes place in a biocyberpunk setting, following Anima who is one of eight 'nodes' tethered directly into the Gleaming and tasked with maintaining the city and its citizens' lives. This requires Anima to transport ær consciousness through the Gleaming into various animals nearby any incident that requires ær attention. The setting of the framing narrative gave me Matrix vibes, but make it nature. The imagery is vibrant and detailed and was almost too much for me to wrap my head around, which fostered a fantastical, far-future feel.
When a traveler appears at Anima's door with a strange case full of a variety of objects, æ is able to explore the lives of the previous owners of the objects. These stories provide glimpses of lives, …
[ Overall Thoughts ]
In The Watchful City is a lushly written collection of short stories of different formats within a framing narrative. The framing narrative takes place in a biocyberpunk setting, following Anima who is one of eight 'nodes' tethered directly into the Gleaming and tasked with maintaining the city and its citizens' lives. This requires Anima to transport ær consciousness through the Gleaming into various animals nearby any incident that requires ær attention. The setting of the framing narrative gave me Matrix vibes, but make it nature. The imagery is vibrant and detailed and was almost too much for me to wrap my head around, which fostered a fantastical, far-future feel.
When a traveler appears at Anima's door with a strange case full of a variety of objects, æ is able to explore the lives of the previous owners of the objects. These stories provide glimpses of lives, sometimes in a moment of joy or triumph, sometimes in a moment of tragedy.
"We still cannot enter someone's soul to navigate the interior sea of the mind. But we can take a moment, a story, that illuminates their spirit, if only one facet. Yet that is what makes life the brilliant gem that it is: the collection of all those facets into a prism. A lens."
