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Under the Pendulum Sun

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Under the Pendulum Sun

By: Jeannette Ng
Narrated by: Emma Lysy
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About this listen

Victorian missionaries travel into the heart of the newly discovered lands of the Fae, in a stunningly different fantasy that mixes Crimson Peak with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Catherine Helstone's brother Laon has disappeared in Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: Her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon - but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels.

©2017 Jeannette Ng (P)2018 Tantor Classics Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Magic

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All stars
Most relevant
The reasons I give this book two stars and not one are the great world building and descriptions. They have a gothic tone to it and it’s enchanting. The story though… fae, humans trying to convert fae to Christianity and incest. Nothing major happens through the whole book, and I simply couldn’t feel anything for the characters.

Definitely not my cup of tea.

Nice voice and narration but the story is seriously lacking

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I had heard decent things beforehand and the premise was admittedly rather interesting, but I was absolutely gripped by this throughout. Very much my cup of tea.
Ng weaves together the gothic horror, romance, taboo, critiques of religion and colonialism all so incredibly well. The entire book oozes atmosphere, and the themes of sin, temptation, redemption et al are all implemented well. The pacing is intentionally slow and moody, which adds to the unfolding tension, and the imagery is delightfully macabre.
It has big Jane Eyre and Crimson Peak energy, with a dash of Wonderland.

Highly recommend.

A Sumptuous Gothic Masterpiece

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Set in a Victorian England world which is very similar to our own historical Victorian England, the main difference is that, in this world, fae exist in a land called Arcadia. Catherine Helstone's brother, Laon, is a missionary in Arcadia, but he has gone missing. As such, Catherine makes the journey to Arcadia in search of news about him. Greeted by April Davenport, a changeling who is also the host of Laon, Catherine is taken to the castle Gethsemane, where her brother was supposedly staying. Not allowed to leave - purportedly for her own safety - Catherine is left to wander the castle and try to work out the secrets.

To say that there are secrets in this book is a bit of an understatement, and Catherine certainly begins discovering quite a few, the biggest of which is a bit of a mindf--k. The writing of the story is very beautiful - almost poetic - but it never quite grabbed me. It was very slow to start, and I felt like it didn't really pick up until we got to the major reveal after the ball. That slowness and the extremely flowery, poetic writing had me frequently putting the book down to go read or listen to something else for a bit. As much as I felt like I wanted to continue the story, the writing made that difficult. Not because it was bad; it wasn't. The writing was appropriate for the time period, too. But where other historical fantasies have pulled me fully into their world, this one seemed to keep me at arms' length.

Oddly, I think what I liked most in this story were the discussions regarding Christianity and whether or not the fae could even be saved. Was it even worth trying to convert them if they didn't have a soul? And what is a soul, really? Those discussions, while not the biggest parts of the book, were quite interesting. Along with that, I found Benjamin's intense fervor and belief, along with Catherine's shifting viewpoint, fascinating - and especially so when they interacted with each other. Indeed, it was largely those conversations that had me coming back to the book to finish it.

I had begun reading the book and went back and forth between reading and listening to the audiobook, which was narrated by Emma Lysy. Her narration style suited the novel very much, and her voice did a wonderful job of keeping me listening when I would have otherwise put the book down as a DNF. Though I don't know that I would read another novel by Ng, I would listen to Lysy narrate again.

Despite this somewhat negative review, I do want to stress that I do not read much historical fantasy, and when I do, it usually has more action than this. I also don't read many novels featuring the fae. As such, I think this book, which I chose because it fit a bingo square for me, just wasn't right for me. If you like gothic, flowery prose and stories about the fae, especially involving their political machinations, you might enjoy this book much more than I did.

Not bad, just not for me.

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I enjoyed this book and the research, intelligence and craft of the author shines through. The story itself starts slow and the mysteries layer on top of the other.

Haunting

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A really good story ruined by poor narration. really bizarre and odd pronunciations meant this took me far longer than normal to finish as it kept pulling out of the story. If they wanted an English narrator they should have got one rather than an American doing what they thought was a good 'English' accent.

good story ruined by awful narrator

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