Upright Women Wanted
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Description
A 2021 Hugo and Locus Award Finalist ¿ A 2020 ALA Booklist Top 10 SFF Pick ¿ A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick ¿ Named a Best Book of 2020 (NPR, New York Public Library, Booklist, Bustle, Den of Geek)
"A breezy, rousing, and unrelentingly fun gallop."-NPR
In Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey reinvents the neo-Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.
Esther is a stowaway.
She's hidden herself away in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her. To the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. They'll bring the fight to you.
Book Information
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Ein weiterer sehr gelungener Titel aus der Feder von Sarah Gailey, auch wenn mir "Magic For Liars" ein Stück besser gefallen hat. Dieses Werk war jedoch auch länger und hatte mehr Zeit, sich zu entfalten. So betrachtet hätte auch "Upright Women Wanted" das Zeug zu einem längeren Buch, die Grundlagen sind nämlich allesamt gegeben: das Setting, die Figuren, die Handlung. Ich frage mich, ob die Autorin plant, später erneut in diese Western-Welt zurückzukehren? Ich wäre auf jeden Fall sofort dabei! Wenn man die Kürze des Titels bedenkt, dann hat Sarah Gailey definitiv alles herausgeholt. Die Figuren sind gut gezeichnet und individuell gestaltet, die Welt bedrohlich, aber faszinierend, und erzählen kann die Autorin sowieso. Normalerweise sage ich ja eher, dass manche Bücher zu lange geraten, hier ist es aber tatsächlich genau umgekehrt. Ich hätte gerne noch etwas mehr davon.
I really enjoyed this, but I wish it would have been more than it was.What I lovedThe worldbuilding. A post apocalyptic world mixed with the wild west, yes, sign me up! An oppressive government and a group of female librarians working for the rebellion under the cover of being 'proper women' - sign me up! The premise is cool and I feel there are a lot of great stories to be told in this world.The representation. I love representation and here it didn't feel forced, it fit the story and got its message accross clearly without hitting you over the head with what it wants you to take away from it.The writing. It was engaging, very on point and I want to read more of this. I will definitely check out more books by Sarah Gailey.What didn't work for meI don't know if a novella was the right format for this story. It actually took me a bit to get into it, which I feel a novella shouldn't do. And then once it got started, it tried to do so much in the little time it had. I feel like this story should have been told in a novel or it should have been shortened to fit the length of a novella. As it is, some of the resolutions came too quickly for me, without much buildup, and at the same time I wished for more character development, but there wasn't time to explore those characters further and most of them ended up a bit flat.I wish I could read a whole novel set in this world, and I hope someday I will.
Description
A 2021 Hugo and Locus Award Finalist ¿ A 2020 ALA Booklist Top 10 SFF Pick ¿ A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick ¿ Named a Best Book of 2020 (NPR, New York Public Library, Booklist, Bustle, Den of Geek)
"A breezy, rousing, and unrelentingly fun gallop."-NPR
In Upright Women Wanted, Sarah Gailey reinvents the neo-Western with an explicitly antifascist, near-future story of queer identity.
Esther is a stowaway.
She's hidden herself away in the Librarian's book wagon in an attempt to escape the marriage her father has arranged for her. To the man who was previously engaged to her best friend. Her best friend who she was in love with. Her best friend who was just executed for possession of resistance propaganda.
The future American Southwest is full of bandits, fascists, and queer librarian spies on horseback trying to do the right thing. They'll bring the fight to you.
Book Information
Posts
Ein weiterer sehr gelungener Titel aus der Feder von Sarah Gailey, auch wenn mir "Magic For Liars" ein Stück besser gefallen hat. Dieses Werk war jedoch auch länger und hatte mehr Zeit, sich zu entfalten. So betrachtet hätte auch "Upright Women Wanted" das Zeug zu einem längeren Buch, die Grundlagen sind nämlich allesamt gegeben: das Setting, die Figuren, die Handlung. Ich frage mich, ob die Autorin plant, später erneut in diese Western-Welt zurückzukehren? Ich wäre auf jeden Fall sofort dabei! Wenn man die Kürze des Titels bedenkt, dann hat Sarah Gailey definitiv alles herausgeholt. Die Figuren sind gut gezeichnet und individuell gestaltet, die Welt bedrohlich, aber faszinierend, und erzählen kann die Autorin sowieso. Normalerweise sage ich ja eher, dass manche Bücher zu lange geraten, hier ist es aber tatsächlich genau umgekehrt. Ich hätte gerne noch etwas mehr davon.
I really enjoyed this, but I wish it would have been more than it was.What I lovedThe worldbuilding. A post apocalyptic world mixed with the wild west, yes, sign me up! An oppressive government and a group of female librarians working for the rebellion under the cover of being 'proper women' - sign me up! The premise is cool and I feel there are a lot of great stories to be told in this world.The representation. I love representation and here it didn't feel forced, it fit the story and got its message accross clearly without hitting you over the head with what it wants you to take away from it.The writing. It was engaging, very on point and I want to read more of this. I will definitely check out more books by Sarah Gailey.What didn't work for meI don't know if a novella was the right format for this story. It actually took me a bit to get into it, which I feel a novella shouldn't do. And then once it got started, it tried to do so much in the little time it had. I feel like this story should have been told in a novel or it should have been shortened to fit the length of a novella. As it is, some of the resolutions came too quickly for me, without much buildup, and at the same time I wished for more character development, but there wasn't time to explore those characters further and most of them ended up a bit flat.I wish I could read a whole novel set in this world, and I hope someday I will.