Imagine a flu pandemic and a climate of fear. It isn’t even a stretch after the events of the last month and a half, and yet the plague I’m referring to takes place in a fictional quarantine zone along the Texas-Mexico border. In Jacqueline Carey’s new novel Santa Olivia
, due out at the end of May, disease has arrived in epic proportions, killing en mass and inspiring last-resort measures from the American government. In the aftermath of the first wave, a child is born who has the potential to bring hope and salvation to her disenfranchised border town.
Loup Garron, Santa Olivia‘s eventual title character and heroine, is just a girl, but with unlikely strength and speed and a distinct lack of healthy fear. As her community dwindles and drifts further into the grip of feral lawlessness, Loup, or “Lou”, is forced by her own conscience and sense of justice to act out in a way that may win them all reintegration at the cost of her own life. Then there’s boxing, and redemption. Even as the plot and characters of Santa Olivia move inexorably toward end-game, they make you wish for the ability to swoop down and rescue them from the all-too-real possibility of their fate.
What is possibly as intriguing as the timing of Ms. Carey’s frighteningly surreal novel is that Santa Olivia diverges so greatly from the novels included in the arc of “Kushiel’s Legacy”. Though The Sundering duology deftly demonstrated Carey’s ability to take on politics and current events while remaining a flawless storyteller, the novels surrounding Phedre and her foster-son, Imriel, have been the ones to earn best-selling acclaim. Although I would never say no to another piece of fiction set in the Terre D’Ange universe, I find it refreshing to see an author move down the untrod path at a time when safety and repetition equal income. Intentionally or not, it seems Ms. Carey is determined to impress us with the graceful tapestry of her imagination put to words.
Admittedly, Santa Olivia isn’t for the foul-language and sexuality faint-of-heart, but in these “postmodern” times one might have to take it with a grain of salt. Indeed, the post-archetypal nature of the host of characters in Santa Olivia makes reading this novel all the more satisfying, especially if you feel the need to compare it with other popular fantasy fiction. Ms. Carey has wrought yet another masterpiece with her stellar voice and vision, and left us with enough loose ends to engender a sequel.
