Overall Rating
5
out of 5
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A Stunning Achievment
Date: January 30, 2009
This review is for the
Print
format.
"I have followed Hubbard's work for years, beginning with the release of her first award-winning book of short stories, Walking On Ice, in which she delicately spins often strange events into everyday encounters. Her characters have always been the main focus of my interest; Hubbard is able to create characters that have as much voice when they are silent as when they are speaking. The same can be said for her most recent works, the Society of S and the Year of Disappearances. But what these books have that her other books don't necessarily have (particularly due to the differences between novel form and that of the short story) is the creation of a strong community, one whose identity and survival are at risk from the outside world-- a community that continues to practice otherworldly behavior in a both contentious and darkly fantastic way. No other novel dealing with the dark underbelly of society could paint such realistic humanoids. One could loosely interpret her work as an allegory of the modern American world Vs. anarchism, and by anarchism I don't mean utter chaos and destruction (the average person's warped definition of anarchism), rather networks of self-governed communities where the persecuted, the outlaws, the wanderers and the creative grow and learn together in secluded, intelligent society. It can happen."
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