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A review by adamgeorgandis
Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn
4.0
I recently read all of the novels nominated for this year's Nebula and Hugo Awards. Now, I have turned my attention to the Nebula- and Hugo-nominated novellas. I began with Catherine E Tobler's The Necessity of Stars, then continued with Premee Mohamed's And What Can We Offer You Tonight. Zin E Rocklyn's Flowers for the Sea is my third Nebula nominee.
No word better captures this remarkable novella than the word "visceral." The sheer physicality of Rocklyn's prose is breathtaking - and often terrifying. The work begins with several chapters given to a most unusual birth. Rocklyn's protagonist, Iraxi, is an outcast among outcasts, a woman shunned by the other inhabitants of a failing ark. She is also pregnant - one suspects with the child of a shipmate. We learn very little about the larger world: landmasses seem to have sunk, and terrible predatory birds seize anyone who braves the open deck after dark. The ark has been at sea for several years, and its crew is facing a number of imminent crises.
After Iraxi gives birth, the novella takes a number of unexpected turns. In the end, as is so often the case with compelling short fiction, I struggled to find absolute clarity in the story's final pages. I wanted to know more about Iraxi, about her child, and about their place in a quickly changing world. But Flowers for the Sea is not that kind of tale: where transparency is wanting, a sense of urgency is there to fill the void.
A powerful read.
No word better captures this remarkable novella than the word "visceral." The sheer physicality of Rocklyn's prose is breathtaking - and often terrifying. The work begins with several chapters given to a most unusual birth. Rocklyn's protagonist, Iraxi, is an outcast among outcasts, a woman shunned by the other inhabitants of a failing ark. She is also pregnant - one suspects with the child of a shipmate. We learn very little about the larger world: landmasses seem to have sunk, and terrible predatory birds seize anyone who braves the open deck after dark. The ark has been at sea for several years, and its crew is facing a number of imminent crises.
After Iraxi gives birth, the novella takes a number of unexpected turns. In the end, as is so often the case with compelling short fiction, I struggled to find absolute clarity in the story's final pages. I wanted to know more about Iraxi, about her child, and about their place in a quickly changing world. But Flowers for the Sea is not that kind of tale: where transparency is wanting, a sense of urgency is there to fill the void.
A powerful read.