Summary
Palimpsest is a novel by Catherynne M. Valente, published in March 2009. It follows four separate characters as they discover and explore a mysterious city accessed only at night.
 Cover of the first edition of Palimpsest | |
| Author | Catherynne M. Valente |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction, Novel |
| Publisher | Bantam Spectra |
Publication date | March 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | Approx. 367 pages |
| ISBN | 978-0-553-38576-2 (pbk.) |
| OCLC | 232129602 |
| 813/.6 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3622.A4258 P36 2009 |
Summary edit
The novel follows four travelers: Oleg, a New York City locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. They have all lost something important in their life: a wife, lover, sister, or direction. They find themselves in Palimpsest after each spend a night with a stranger who has a tattooed map of a section of the city on their body.
During the course of the novel, November recalls a favorite book of hers as a child. This book, which is only mentioned briefly in Palimpsest, was turned into a full-length novel in 2009. Valente wrote The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making as a crowd-funded project; in October 2009, she announced that it, as well as a sequel, had been picked up by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.[1]
Reception edit
Palimpsest won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT SF/Fantasy/Horror [2] and was a finalist for the 2010 Hugo Award for Best Novel.[3]
References edit
- ^ Catherynne M Valente - All Things Fairyland. [1]. Retrieved 2009-10-22.
- ^ "2010 Lambda Literary Finalists & Winners". Lambda Literary Awards. May 2010. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved August 29, 2010.
- ^ "The 2010 Hugo and John W. Campbell Award Nominees". AussieCon 4. April 4, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
External links edit
- Official website
- "Palimpsest" at The SF Site
- "Palimpsest, by Catherynne M. Valente" Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine at Strange Horizons