Drollerie Press has made quite an impression on the e-lit scene over the past two years, with a unique publishing program specializing in original interpretations of classic folklore. Perhaps Falling by Imogen Howson pinpoints the company’s focus. It’s a fresh and lively sci-fi Rapunzel with a very major twist that readers will encounter in the very first segment.
Thankfully, Howson crafts more than a knight and princess romance by launching Linett (yes, different name) literally sky high, living in an upper-class tower that looks down on the peasant underworld, which is conveniently obliterated in a blanket of smog. Ultimately, issues of social hierarchy and ignorance trump all-out heroism, and even romance takes a back seat to this horrific world as experienced through Linett’s sheltered apartment and roaming imagination.
Howson describes the environments with a confidence and frugality of words that works perfectly in this novella format, successfully conveying a placid oppression and a sense of alienation for her readers, without ever being unsuitably loud, nor lush, with her narration. We’re struck by a cold silence that’s close enough to elements of our own present to evoke a haunting sensation. This atmosphere, however, is often at odds with the dialogue. While the matter-of-fact lines of thought and abnormally adaptable characters should resonate with fairytale enthusiasts, they only sometimes continue the flow of descriptive narrative, swinging unpredictably from semi-realistic to uniquely theatric.
It almost works in the same way as indie-cinema – with a series of scenes abridged into the kind of polarized pictures dreams and memories jog – but unlike those films, this is an extravagantly magical fantasy.
There are also aspects of the story arc that seem unduly abrupt and distracting. For example, Linett’s father doesn’t come into view until the very last pages, obliterating our impression that Linett has only her mother to confide in. We have to re-tackle the story a few times throughout, adding and dropping details our imagination just can’t work without.
Lastly, the romance aspect seems somewhat rushed. It’s impressive the character that Howson develops given the amount of speech, but we’re still left pleading for a glance inside our protagonists’ stubbornly pre-manufactured brains. This, however, is also a compliment to capable Howson. We want a bigger story from the text we’re given, because it is intriguing, involving, and unassumingly unique. We feel Linett’s hatred for the silence and blindness of her world, and our expectations for a deliberately and consistently bleak narrative are ruptured by an explosive grand finale that leaves us gripping our ebook readers.
Ultimately, Falling is small. At less than 12,000 words, what else could it be? The good news is that Howson uses this to her advantage, by trapping us in the deceiving simplicity of these limitations, and forcing us to sympathize with Linett’s tosticated thirst for honesty and freedom. And that alone is worth two dollars.
Final Score: 4/5
Purchase Falling from Drollerie Press
Reviewed for Teen eBooks by Joseph Boutilier, September 19, 2007.
