Customer Reviews

Nine Layers of Sky

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was one of those books where the cover caught my eye, the blurb intrigued my mind, and the book fed my soul. As I was reading it, I thought to myself, "I'm enjoying this one just the same way I enjoy Charles deLint's stories". It's one of those books that takes you out of your normal reading rut and makes you want to explore various topics raised in the book and see the places mentioned.

It's an urban fantasy with an unusual setting - the new republics in what was formerly Soviet Central Asia. I loved the protagonists too - a former Soviet astrophysicist now reduced to office cleaning for Mobil Oil, and a heroin-addicted, 900 year old hero from Russia's mythic past. The developing romance between them was done quietly and beautifully. The story is an interesting blend of modern-day reality, scifi and mythology. The setting itself was just so interesting - the various republics that are only names in the news when something horrible happens, post-Soviet society, the changes that have been engendered, and the reactions to those changes. For all that the Soviet system was the Big Bad Thing in Western eyes, this book shows that some good was also lost when the system collapsed.

I read Liz William's "The Poison Master" and enjoyed that one, and now I enjoyed this book by her too. I'm adding her to my list of must-buy authors. I hope you'll give this book a try.

"Nine Layers of Sky" is another great novel by the very impressive Liz Williams. This time out she takes her readers on a tour of the Silk Road states of Central Asia (and apparently that's a part of the world Williams is familiar with), ending up in Uzbekistan, in the ancient city of Samarkand.

Elena, now cleaning offices in Almaty, Kazakhistan, was once a scientist in the Soviet space program. After acquiring a strange metallic object she hooks up with Ilya, an 800-year-old "Bogatyr" (once a hero of Russia, now a junkie), and together they attempt to solve the object's mystery.

That in turn leads them to a parallel world, and then things really start to hum, as they encounter many strange and nefarious characters while they shuttle between this world and the parallel one, in which the Soviet Union didn't exactly die.

Williams is a playful author with a great sense of place. She makes the decay and despair of the former Soviet Republics seem very real--the rundown busses, the abandoned space facilities, the failed attempts to construct subways. And yet, this mock heroic quest is slightly tongue in cheek. Think of it as Elena and Ilya in Wonderland and you'll half get the point. And, as with the Carroll classic, the journey's far more important than the destination.

Until now, Williams hasn't done sequels (and an advert in the back of the book would indicate that her next novel will surely not be one), but she's left a few loose ends here (and she's far too clever to have done so by accident), so maybe some day a sequel there will be.

We can only hope.

"Nine Layers of Sky" is a compelling and satisfying novel. I highly recommend it, and will be watching for more from this new author. I see that this is her 4th novel, so I will have to start by catching up!

"Nine Layers of Sky" contains elements of urban fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. It is set in the former Soviet Union, a land of limitations and abandoned dreams. At the beginning of the story, we meet our heroine Elena as she helps out in a small-time smuggling operation. A former Soviet space scientist, she still dreams of working in a space program, and is mopping floors and smuggling in order to raise the cash to emigrate. She is brought together with Ilya Muromyets, an 800-year old immortal Slav and current heroin addict. Elena being a profound skeptic, she is not particularly receptive to an encounter with a hero out of Russian fantasy, and Ilya is not looking too heroic.

Elena and Ilya are brought together by an odd little artifact that seems to open windows into alternate worlds. Such an artifact is a valuable thing, and a number of people are out to get it. Over the course of the novel, we unravel the mystery of who Ilya is, what the artifact is and what is to be done with it, and what Elena and Ilya will do next with their lives.

If you enjoy this novel, you may also want to check out the work of Charles DeLint, Emma Bull and Neil Gaiman.

Mrs. William's forte is the great "What If..." scenario. What if a poverty ridden, under classed and repressed society became that way due to alien interference? The premise is fascinating; I must own, however, that it was more so fascinating in her first three novels.

Nine Layers of Sky begins in the gritty world of modern day Russia. Elena Irinovna, our primary protagonist, is the product of new Russia's economy and government; a hard, bitter woman determined to flee with her family to Canada, that is, until the arrival of a mysterious "ball", and Illya Muromyets. He is an eight hundred year old legend, a "hero" of Russian myth, now washed up and addicted to smack. They embark to discover the origins and use of their little foreign ball, soon realizing that it acts as a catalyst, that it's a gateway to the parallel universe of Byelovodye. This other world is just as rife with political scandals as their known Russia, and they strive to understand how each of these societies are effecting one another while also falling in love and trying to stay alive.

The integration of mythology and legend with modern day Russia lends the story strong flair, yet it still falls flat at times, I think, becoming too complex for its own good, especially towards the novel's cramped end. The story is weakened by following our heroes across the dual Russias for a long, long (long) time, eventually growing bored of the tedious journeying and the slow pace of Byelovodyean perspective, and then feeling rushed when the action goes down. It's at this point, three quarters of the way through, that the book begins to really deteriorate, weakening with too many hazily explained plot lines.

The exotic settings of William's novels are always refreshing, as are the socio-political machinations she interweaves, creating an applause worthy level of tension that's just awesome. She's able to discern the fine nuances of social structure and its class hierarchies, but, at the same time, this novel covers all the ground her prior novels have covered. It's enjoyed primarily for its exotic, well-realized environments and the very evident research she put into its creation. Still, all in all, William's is an excellent writer. She has mastered her craft, and that's why her huge fan base (myself included) are so looking forward to reading her next novel, Banner of Souls.

I happened across this book at my local second-hand store. I tend to pick a lot of books by title and though the synopsis didn't have me completely hooked, I took this book home. I'm so glad I did.

Elena and Ilya's story is at once a simple chase tale and a richly layered science-fantasy. Their chance meeting and subsequent relationship was natural and the romantic elements never felt forced. Byelovodye, a place powered by human dreams, is as tangible as the modern post-Soviet countries as Elena and Ilya start out in. Fantastic creatures of folklore are tangible, never slipping into fake feeling rubber mask monsters of horror movies.

Character development is great. The reader genuinely gets to know Elena and Ilya as people rather than the "tough-as-nails chick meets alpha male stud-muffin" sort of archetypes that have been popular for the last ten to fifteen years.

I will certainly keep an eye out for other books by this author.

Ilya Myuromets, the hero of this novel, is one of the most intriguing heroes ever created by an author. Full marks to Liz Williams on that. Otherwise, the novel lacks the depth one would expect from such a setting.

I liked this book.
The characters were engaging and the setting and history surrounding the setting
and the characters was really interesting .
The story was very good and I really enjoyed the peak into post soviet republics.
A little mystical, a little scientific, a little romantic. A well rounded read.
And it moved right along.
Enjoyable.

Elena Irinova was a scientist and 'would be' cosmonaut with the Soviet space programme. Since the fall of Communism in the U.S.S.R. she is reduced to cleaning office floors and dreaming of building a new life in Canada. Ilya Muromyets is a drug addict who wishes only for death. Unfortunately for him he is immortal, one of the Russian `Heroes' of folk tales, and he cannot die except at the hands of another immortal but he's the only one of his kind left.
Elena finds a strange object, a small ball that seems to absorb light, the scientist in her wonders what its purpose is. Ilya is approached by the representative of a mysterious organisation and is asked to find this artefact. Eventually Elena and Ilya come together and learn just what this object and its purpose are.
Nine Layers of Sky is one of those rare books in the sci-fi genre in that it is actually 'different'. Liz Williams has proven, with this latest novel, that she is not a `one trick pony' and can write an original story that is fast paced and absorbing. Her style can be a little dark and oppressive at times but that suits her stories and in no way detracts from them. It's not a style that will please everyone but for anyone looking for something different, they would go a long way to find better than this.

Sometimes a science-fiction novel comes along which I'd almost swear was written especially for me! Lisa Mason's "The Summer of Love" is one such novel. "Nine Layers of Sky" is another. The setting, the characters, the quest -- all strike such a chord; it's even archetypal. It's the beginning of the 21st century and the Soviet Union dissolved a decade ago. Along with it, the career and dreams of astrophysicist Elena Irinovna. From launching rockets to washing floors; she can only dream of emigrating to Canada. To realize this dream will take money, so Elena is forced into smuggling across the Kazakhstan border. During one harrowing crossing, she discovers an unidentifiable spherical artifact in the snow, apparently stolen from a strange dead man. The object is bewildering, because it is warm. Out of scientific curiosity, she keeps it, not knowing that it is already being pursued by people who will kill to reclaim it. And by another who will protect her at all cost. Ilya Murom'ets is a legendary Slavic hero, one of the original bogatyri, now an immortal weary of living. For 800 years, he has wondered why he cannot die, even fatally wounded in battle. Why do the rusalki, those fey females who inhabit Russian woods and waters, always find him and heal him before he can find his release in death? His only release these days comes from vodka, and his heroin addiction acquired during the Afghanistan War. No one believes in heroes or rusalki any more. Reduced to working as a mercenary, Ilya has been hired by mysterious, not quite human strangers to retrieve the missing artifact. He locates Elena in time to save her from a rusalka; then they find that death seems to follow the artifact. And Ilya remembers, as if in a dream, where he has seen this artifact before. Seventy years ago, he was paid to kill a renegade scientist who had created a technology to open a portal to another realm. That realm, B'elovod'e, is a parallel Russia, one in which the perfect Soviet utopia has been accomplished. It is a Russia in which citizens are comrades and rusalki and other mythical creatures inhabit the wild places. But there is a dark secret which the citizens of B'elovod'e do not know -- their utopia exists by stealing the dreams of the real Russia. Mechvori (dream-thieves) are the alternate Russia's counterpart of the KGB, feared by the populace and military alike. The problem is: as the dreams of the real Russians are disappearing, their country and lives become more depressing and hopeless. And as the artifact opens rifts between the worlds, it brings devastation and panic to B'elovod'e. It also allows Ilya's ancient Islamic nemesis, also an immortal, to cross between the realms in hopes of radicalizing the nomadic horse tribes of B'elovod'e. As the mystery which has united them unfolds, Elena and Ilya together embark on the quest to save their world. Pursued by Mechvori, rusalki, and the horsemen of the Golden Warrior, they discover, in eachother, something worth dying for. And ultimately, a dream worth living for. I enjoyed every moment of this delicious read, and was sorry to reach the end, which seemed to be just a little rushed. I think I'm in love myself... with Elena and Ilya and Russia and the writing of Liz Williams! I'm definitely going to read her other novels.

If I hadn't been reading it for a book discussion group, I might not have finished the dreary thing. I definitely did not deem it worth keeping on my bookshelf.

Lure me in with the Russian mythology, turn me off with the pointless, dingy, harsh "realism" of the rest of the story. I found I really could not come to care about what happened to the characters. They did not move me in any way. I had had hope in the early stages of the story...hope that there might be a redemption for the mythical hero in our modern age that he was unable to find in history, hope that there might be a resolution for someone, anyone. Make the characters meaningful, make their trials purposeful, make me care, make me want more, suspend my disbelief! There was such potential in the characters, and I feel that the author really failed to come through with the early promise. A depressing story does not make a great book. Perhaps the author needs to take time and peruse the characterization in such books as anything at all by Graham Joyce, the Rusalka books revolving around Russian mythology or perhaps the gritty, nasty character and worlds China Mieville creates (they are dismal and ugly but strongly moving!).