Title: Under the Pendulum Sun
Author: Jeanette Ng
Genre: Pervy Gothic Fantasy / Alternate History
Pages: 416
Rating: 1.5 of 5

This book caught my attention when I was trying to find something similar to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. There are some definite similarities in that both feature an alternate 19th century where the fae (of the not-very-nice / not-very-sane sort) are very real. However, the tone and subject matter of the two books are very different.

This book has a strong Gothic Brontë vibe and focuses on religious themes: what would it look like to be a missionary to Faerie? Do the fae have souls? Do they have some connection to certain apocryphal stories? What about changelings? Why won’t Queen Mab let us into the interior of Faerie? Lengthy portions of the book consist of sitting about pondering and agonizing over these and similar issues. Don’t expect a lot of answers because Faerie is so trippy and illusory and the fae so inhuman that a lot is left up in the air (which I think works). On the other hand, the few big revelations that we do get are mostly telegraphed chapters in advanced with ham-handed foreshadowing.

If that’s all there were to this book, it would probably fall into my 3-4 star range for fascinating worldbuilding and interesting thought experiments (after all, I grew up in a missionary family so imagining missions work among the fae is right up my alley). My problem is with the other pervasive thread that runs through the whole book. It’s pretty obvious from early on, but if you don’t want it spoiled don’t read the last paragraph of this review, and we’ll just say there’s some pretty perverted/taboo stuff that drives the main plot. Nothing explicitly described, but ewww!

*SPOILERS* Pretty early on you pick up an incest-y vibe between the main brother and sister characters. This develops into a largely unapologetic, fully consummated romantic/sexual relationship by the end and is one of the driving plot elements in the book…not cool! *END SPOILERS*

Also, this is another book checked off the 2019 TBR Pile Challenge!