There is a strange contradiction in the writing of a Fantasy or Science Fiction novel. The setting, both social and physical, is more or less a function of the author’s imagination, but somewhere in it there must be an element of truth, or readers don’t connect with the story. One of the traditional truths is that the environment must be workable, at least within the parameters set by the author at the beginning of the story.
Unfortunately, this is not the case for “Womansplainer.” Throughout the book, the author spends a lot of our time describing in great detail the workings of the world he has created, and the reader cannot imagine a universe in which this action could possibly happen. The only way we can be persuaded to suspend our disbelief is if we see the whole book as a digital video game. Which limits the target readership considerably.
What saves the novel is the reality of the main character’s emotions. Quin is a fairly standard Young Adult hero. He is different from everyone else due to his red hair and freckles. He is trying to do his best, and to be accepted. This is the story of his attaining maturity and finding a useful place in his society. On an emotional level, it works. We feel for him, cheer for him, and get satisfaction when he succeeds.
But a lot of the rest of the story gets in the way of our enjoyment, instead of adding to it. One chapter slips over the line into pornography, with little effect on the action of the story. Page after page of touching, manipulating, and using women’s breasts (mostly unattached to women) in every way possible. There is no doubt of the target readership. Many video game sequences hold little interest for the average reader.
And to make it more difficult, the work is poorly edited, with sentence structure problems, typos, and, as usual, mistakes in the use of “lie, lay, laid.”
A book aimed at fourteen-year-old boys, but the thematic material is probably over their heads.
Three stars.
