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Bold as Love #1
Bold as Love
Three extraordinary people in some most extraordinary times: It's Dissolution Summer and as the United Kingdom prepares to break up into separate nations, the Counterculturals have gathered for a festival where everything's allowed. Among them is a talented little brat called Fiorinda, rock and roll princess by birth, searching for her father, the legendary Rufus O'Niall. Instead, she finds Ax Preston, the softly spoken guitarman with bizarre delusions about saving the country from the dark ages. Together with Sage Pender, techno-wizard king of the lads, they join the pop-icon team that's supposed to make the government look cool. Rock Legends. True Romance. A stunning fantasy about England.
405 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Gwyneth Jones
141 books105 followersGwyneth Jones is a writer and critic of genre fiction. She's won the Tiptree award, two World Fantasy awards, the Arthur C. Clarke award, the British Science Fiction Association short story award, the Dracula Society's Children of the Night award, the P.K.Dick award, and the SFRA Pilgrim award for lifetime achievement in sf criticism. She also writes for teenagers, usually as Ann Halam. She lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and two cats called Ginger and Milo; curating assorted pondlife in season. She's a member of the Soil Association, the Sussex Wildlife Trust, Frack Free Sussex and the Green Party; and an Amnesty International volunteer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
June 24, 2010
2.5 stars. A very original novel and unlike anything else I have read to date. The world created by Jones of a future Britian falling into anarchy is intriguing. That said, the prose and the characters were a little hard to get into and the plot was a little too "all over the place" for me to rate it higher.
Winner: Arthur C. Clarke Award (2002)
Nominee: Bristish SF Assn Award (2002)
Nominee: Locus Award Best Fantasy Novel (2002)
Winner: Arthur C. Clarke Award (2002)
Nominee: Bristish SF Assn Award (2002)
Nominee: Locus Award Best Fantasy Novel (2002)
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
August 17, 2017DNFing at 15%
In the abstract, this sounded like a cool book. Rockstars as revolutionaries get involved in politics, a "pop-icon team that's supposed to make the government look cool."
In the reality, this left me cold. I didn't like the characters, the story, the writing, or pretty much anything. Also, as I have suspected for a while (but now it's confirmed), I really hate reading about the indie music / hippie rockstar scene and music festivals. And there are a lot of screwed up dirty hippie musicians in the first 51 pages.
(How hippie, you might ask? Well, the Whole Earth Catalog is name-dropped. And I actually know what that is, my parents being, well, pretty hippie most of my life. Oh god. I've just realized I am also a 21st century hippie...)
And to be really honest, there is a really, really pertinent fact you learn about Fiorinda, the main character (and also, as the back says, "talented brat" and "rock and roll princess by birth"), that turned my stomach. This is not a spoiler. It's the first chapter. It's the story. She was impregnated at age 12 by her father, in an event orchestrated by her aunt, in order to get back at her mother. (Father and daughter not knowing each other in the slightest. At the time.) Fiorinda has the baby, baby dies, and then (a few years later) a now teenage Fiorinda is searching for her father at this revolutionary rockstar political festival. I mean... she's looking for him? I just didn't want to read about this, and I'm pretty sure it's going to come up again.
So. Nope.
I want to like Bold as Love because I want to like Gwyneth Jones. This is two strikes (because Proof of Concept was also disappointing) and hopefully Life isn't three.
In the abstract, this sounded like a cool book. Rockstars as revolutionaries get involved in politics, a "pop-icon team that's supposed to make the government look cool."
In the reality, this left me cold. I didn't like the characters, the story, the writing, or pretty much anything. Also, as I have suspected for a while (but now it's confirmed), I really hate reading about the indie music / hippie rockstar scene and music festivals. And there are a lot of screwed up dirty hippie musicians in the first 51 pages.
(How hippie, you might ask? Well, the Whole Earth Catalog is name-dropped. And I actually know what that is, my parents being, well, pretty hippie most of my life. Oh god. I've just realized I am also a 21st century hippie...)
And to be really honest, there is a really, really pertinent fact you learn about Fiorinda, the main character (and also, as the back says, "talented brat" and "rock and roll princess by birth"), that turned my stomach. This is not a spoiler. It's the first chapter. It's the story. She was impregnated at age 12 by her father, in an event orchestrated by her aunt, in order to get back at her mother. (Father and daughter not knowing each other in the slightest. At the time.) Fiorinda has the baby, baby dies, and then (a few years later) a now teenage Fiorinda is searching for her father at this revolutionary rockstar political festival. I mean... she's looking for him? I just didn't want to read about this, and I'm pretty sure it's going to come up again.
So. Nope.
I want to like Bold as Love because I want to like Gwyneth Jones. This is two strikes (because Proof of Concept was also disappointing) and hopefully Life isn't three.
January 18, 2024
Bold as Love and sequels were formative during my late teens; Castles Made of Sand is one of my all-time favourite novels. The series has stayed with me since I first read it - even physically, as I've kept a copy of Castles Made of Sand in my very limited personal library through more than fifteen house-moves and countless book clearouts. I decided it was time for a reread in 2023, as the series seems increasingly relevant. Almost spookily so, as the situation at the start includes the impending dissolution of the UK into separate nations, loss of trust in institutions, islamophobia and xenophobia, economic collapse, worsening environmental breakdown, political polarisation, the combination of both breeding extremes of techno-optimism and eco-fascism, and a flailing government looking to media celebrities for support. Specifically, rereading about the rise of eco-fascism in White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism (most frightening book of 2023!) reminded me of this series, as it contains the most thoughtful examination of green fascism I've come across. On page 27 of Bold as Love, which was published in 2001, I read this and shivered:
Then a few pages later:
In this plausible near future, the reader is introduced to teenage rockstar Fiorinda and her musician friends, who join a counterculture think tank organised by the teetering government. The unstable political situation explodes into violence, within which Fiorinda, her guitarist sometime-boyfriend Ax, and her laddish techno-wizard best friend Sage attempt to do what good as they can. Rockstars inadvertently become an important part of the government at a time of chaos. Bold as Love asks: can music can console a whole country during the collapse of capitalist civilisation? Perhaps, as the narrative suggests, it is the least worst consolation available. Not enough fiction deals with the cultural, almost mystical importance of music to bond people together and make hard times bearable. Jones has an incredible ability to invent and describe all kinds of rock, pop, and techno that I can imagine listening to. I'm sure this was a significant part of the book's appeal to me as a teenager who constantly listened to electronica on her walkman while reading and daydreaming.
Fiorinda, Ax, and Sage, the Triumvirate, are such fascinating and appealing characters. They are brilliantly vivid Arthurian archetypes, flamboyant rockstars, and traumatised, fucked up people doing their best in bad circumstances. I fell in love with them twenty years ago and it's never really worn off. Their wider friends group are brilliant too and often provide amusing commentary on events. The ethos of this series is tough but hopeful; utopian in spirit but pragmatic in practise. The Rock n Roll Reich saves what can be saved. There is a lot of bleakness and horror, not least in Fiorinda's backstory, but also a great deal of joy, pleasure, and absurdity.
The first time I read Bold as Love, it was after picking up Castles Made of Sand in the library and being blown away by it. However I do not recommend that reading order at all. The first scene of Castles Made of Sand continues from the last scene of Bold as Love. The two novels make so much more sense read in the intended order and together. Bold as Love sets up the characters, relationships, and world-building brilliantly. It has an excellent self-contained plot, while also laying the groundwork for Castles Made of Sand to be even more involving. There is nothing else quite like this wonderful series. Hopefully the recent SF Masterworks edition of Bold as Love will encourage more people to read it and love it too. I was delighted to see in Gwyneth Jones' introduction to this edition that there is still one more book to come in the series. I look forward to the further adventures of Ax, Sage, and Fiorinda.
The suits' leader started to make a standard sort of speech, as far as he could be heard above the hecklers.
"We're going to make England great again," he shouted (against a loud, determined anti-car chant from back in the stacks). "But we need your help, your ideas, your input."
"You mean you need to cut a deal with the Counterculture!"
Then a few pages later:
The government had to make a deal with the so-called Counterculture. The current GM related crop failures, and home-wrecker floods in previously unaffected venues, hadn't improved a situation that was getting rapidly out of hand. The UK's share of the world's weather and food disasters weren't killers (if you wanted to be really scared, look at the multi-drug resistent TB and viral pneumonia deaths!), but they'd brought public morale to the tipping point. It was I told you so time, and the Extreme Greens, the Hardline Counterculturals, whatever they called themselves, were making the most of it, reaping the whirlwind.
In this plausible near future, the reader is introduced to teenage rockstar Fiorinda and her musician friends, who join a counterculture think tank organised by the teetering government. The unstable political situation explodes into violence, within which Fiorinda, her guitarist sometime-boyfriend Ax, and her laddish techno-wizard best friend Sage attempt to do what good as they can. Rockstars inadvertently become an important part of the government at a time of chaos. Bold as Love asks: can music can console a whole country during the collapse of capitalist civilisation? Perhaps, as the narrative suggests, it is the least worst consolation available. Not enough fiction deals with the cultural, almost mystical importance of music to bond people together and make hard times bearable. Jones has an incredible ability to invent and describe all kinds of rock, pop, and techno that I can imagine listening to. I'm sure this was a significant part of the book's appeal to me as a teenager who constantly listened to electronica on her walkman while reading and daydreaming.
Fiorinda, Ax, and Sage, the Triumvirate, are such fascinating and appealing characters. They are brilliantly vivid Arthurian archetypes, flamboyant rockstars, and traumatised, fucked up people doing their best in bad circumstances. I fell in love with them twenty years ago and it's never really worn off. Their wider friends group are brilliant too and often provide amusing commentary on events. The ethos of this series is tough but hopeful; utopian in spirit but pragmatic in practise. The Rock n Roll Reich saves what can be saved. There is a lot of bleakness and horror, not least in Fiorinda's backstory, but also a great deal of joy, pleasure, and absurdity.
The first time I read Bold as Love, it was after picking up Castles Made of Sand in the library and being blown away by it. However I do not recommend that reading order at all. The first scene of Castles Made of Sand continues from the last scene of Bold as Love. The two novels make so much more sense read in the intended order and together. Bold as Love sets up the characters, relationships, and world-building brilliantly. It has an excellent self-contained plot, while also laying the groundwork for Castles Made of Sand to be even more involving. There is nothing else quite like this wonderful series. Hopefully the recent SF Masterworks edition of Bold as Love will encourage more people to read it and love it too. I was delighted to see in Gwyneth Jones' introduction to this edition that there is still one more book to come in the series. I look forward to the further adventures of Ax, Sage, and Fiorinda.
June 13, 2009
Generally I am only adding books as I read them, but I thought I would throw this in there, because it is unlikely that anyone will find it without being told to go look for it...
OK, so in the mid eighties when I discovered Gene Wolfe (the shadow of the torturer series, etc.) I was totally blown away, but it was literally another 10 years before I came across another person who liked him... Then all the sudden he is well known and respected.
I feel the same way now about Gwyneth Jones as I did Wolfe 25 years
ago-- here is an utterly brilliant totally underappreciated author,
and she has finally written something accessible, though still challenging, after a bunch of stuff that was a little bit too inscrutable.
The very first part of this book is totally brilliant though also a bit hard reading, in a bad things happening to good people sort of way. The rest of the 5(!) book series continues in this fashion, because, after all, we're talking about a near future dystopia due to peak oil etc overpopulation/under resource collapse.
OTOH the heroes are rock stars :-)
Not at all a light read, but so imaginative, so compelling, so well written, that it makes the brainwork well worth it.
OK, so in the mid eighties when I discovered Gene Wolfe (the shadow of the torturer series, etc.) I was totally blown away, but it was literally another 10 years before I came across another person who liked him... Then all the sudden he is well known and respected.
I feel the same way now about Gwyneth Jones as I did Wolfe 25 years
ago-- here is an utterly brilliant totally underappreciated author,
and she has finally written something accessible, though still challenging, after a bunch of stuff that was a little bit too inscrutable.
The very first part of this book is totally brilliant though also a bit hard reading, in a bad things happening to good people sort of way. The rest of the 5(!) book series continues in this fashion, because, after all, we're talking about a near future dystopia due to peak oil etc overpopulation/under resource collapse.
OTOH the heroes are rock stars :-)
Not at all a light read, but so imaginative, so compelling, so well written, that it makes the brainwork well worth it.
April 7, 2020
Bit (lot) of an odd one this: strange mixture of mild sci-fi and mild fantasy, written in an unusual style with very little explicit world-building but concentrating more on characters and immediate events, and with strange/unusual amalgam of music and politics(!). There was (just about) enough to hold my interest for 400 pages but so won't be bothering with any more of this "sequence".
Want to read
April 7, 2016From Christmas Critics.:
If submerging yourself in a fully furnished fictional world that goes on and on is more to your taste, you can do no better than to seek out the hard-to-find Bold as Love series by Gwyneth Jones. Think of it as a quest. For a free taste, check out the series Web site, a multimedia work of art in its own right, at www.boldaslove.co.uk. The five novels take their titles from Jimi Hendrix's song list, and they tell the story of a near-future "Dissolution" of England, in which rock stars rise to the occasion of holding a nation together in the face of environmental crisis, economic collapse, Internet quarantine, a bloody coup, and the threat of a Neurobomb technology that can break the mind/ matter barrier. Three major musician characters, Ax (president of the Rock 'n' Roll Reich), Fiorinda (protector of the displaced masses), and Sage (who comes back alive from the Zen Self neuroscience experiments), enact an Arthurian saga of power politics and love. Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in a threesome: these novels are not for children.
Bold as Love, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, introduces the large cast of characters Jones employs throughout the series. You may find it in a library or used through online booksellers. If Bold as Love, Castles Made of Sand , and Midnight Lamp riff on Arthurian themes, Band of Gypsies takes a considerably more Shakespearean turn. Like Rainbow Bridge, the final installment in the sequence, Band of Gypsys and Midnight Lamp are in print in the United Kingdom as paperbacks. Literate, highly allusive, and character-driven, these novels will rearrange your conception of what "science fiction" means. Normally, serious literary fiction flirts with sci-fi only in the form of dystopia, but Bold as Love puts the question positively: What would it take to build a utopia, and who would you put in the seats of that Round Table? Rock stars…our new royalty.
If submerging yourself in a fully furnished fictional world that goes on and on is more to your taste, you can do no better than to seek out the hard-to-find Bold as Love series by Gwyneth Jones. Think of it as a quest. For a free taste, check out the series Web site, a multimedia work of art in its own right, at www.boldaslove.co.uk. The five novels take their titles from Jimi Hendrix's song list, and they tell the story of a near-future "Dissolution" of England, in which rock stars rise to the occasion of holding a nation together in the face of environmental crisis, economic collapse, Internet quarantine, a bloody coup, and the threat of a Neurobomb technology that can break the mind/ matter barrier. Three major musician characters, Ax (president of the Rock 'n' Roll Reich), Fiorinda (protector of the displaced masses), and Sage (who comes back alive from the Zen Self neuroscience experiments), enact an Arthurian saga of power politics and love. Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot in a threesome: these novels are not for children.
Bold as Love, winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, introduces the large cast of characters Jones employs throughout the series. You may find it in a library or used through online booksellers. If Bold as Love, Castles Made of Sand , and Midnight Lamp riff on Arthurian themes, Band of Gypsies takes a considerably more Shakespearean turn. Like Rainbow Bridge, the final installment in the sequence, Band of Gypsys and Midnight Lamp are in print in the United Kingdom as paperbacks. Literate, highly allusive, and character-driven, these novels will rearrange your conception of what "science fiction" means. Normally, serious literary fiction flirts with sci-fi only in the form of dystopia, but Bold as Love puts the question positively: What would it take to build a utopia, and who would you put in the seats of that Round Table? Rock stars…our new royalty.
April 1, 2011
(7/10) This book was published in 2001, but it seems like a relic of the 60s and 70s, taking seriously the idea that rock and roll can change the world. That's not a bad thing, just kind of odd. Bold as Love rests on the improbable idea of a bunch of counterculture rockers taking over the government of England and trying to steer it through crisis after crisis.
The larger point is that this is a kind of mock epic, in which the Arthurian saga is retold through the lens of rock and rebellion, and it does that well enough (although I'm not too familiar with Arthuriana). This too seems kind of antiquated in an age where the public persona of the rock star has been replaced by that of the rapper, and actual rock stars are boring middle-aged white guys making music for other boring middle-aged white guys. But Jones makes this concept work through the strength of her writing and characterization, especially that of the core triumvarte. Those three central characters are all well-rounded and instantly likeable while being realy fucked up as well. The scenes with the three of them bonding far away from the world of crises are in fact the best in the novel
Of course, the issue with trying to tell an epic with flawed heroes is that they still have to be *heroes* somehow, elevated above the masses. Jones seems to do thsi by heaping disdain on just about everyone outside of the Holy Trinity, especially the rank and file of the countercultural movement they lead. This is my major problem with Bold as Love, which is I suppose mainly a political one: for all it s subversive scenery, it's just restating the whole Great Man theory of history over again.
Of course, that could change over the course of the series, but I didn't love this book enough to go for another 4 rounds of it. I am looking forward to reading some of Jones' other work though, as she has some serious kung-fu. Bold as Love is just about perfect for what it is, but I'm not really sure I like what it is.
The larger point is that this is a kind of mock epic, in which the Arthurian saga is retold through the lens of rock and rebellion, and it does that well enough (although I'm not too familiar with Arthuriana). This too seems kind of antiquated in an age where the public persona of the rock star has been replaced by that of the rapper, and actual rock stars are boring middle-aged white guys making music for other boring middle-aged white guys. But Jones makes this concept work through the strength of her writing and characterization, especially that of the core triumvarte. Those three central characters are all well-rounded and instantly likeable while being realy fucked up as well. The scenes with the three of them bonding far away from the world of crises are in fact the best in the novel
Of course, the issue with trying to tell an epic with flawed heroes is that they still have to be *heroes* somehow, elevated above the masses. Jones seems to do thsi by heaping disdain on just about everyone outside of the Holy Trinity, especially the rank and file of the countercultural movement they lead. This is my major problem with Bold as Love, which is I suppose mainly a political one: for all it s subversive scenery, it's just restating the whole Great Man theory of history over again.
Of course, that could change over the course of the series, but I didn't love this book enough to go for another 4 rounds of it. I am looking forward to reading some of Jones' other work though, as she has some serious kung-fu. Bold as Love is just about perfect for what it is, but I'm not really sure I like what it is.
May 11, 2009
This book knocked my socks off. It's not what I expected. Looking at the back of the book, I figured "Rock Stars take over England, it'll be a romp." No. This is an often brutal and savage book, with many scenes of tenderness as well. This is a strong, character driven novel with plenty of plot twists and political turmoil.
There are three protagonists , although Fioridna gets the most Point of View time, especially at the start. She is a singer at war with the founder of her own band, but that's nothing compared to her other problems. Sage is the leader of a band of serious lunatics (they all were hologram "masks" of skulls over their heads). Ax is a guitar hero who has been thinking of leading England for a long time. As Great Britain falls apart, they find themselves riding a wave of counterculture dissent into political power. But who is really in charge, and can any good come of this?
The near future world building is very cool. More cool than realistic, which makes a great story, but not a probable future. The tech is very interesting, but low key. This is a story of characters in an exciting and exceptional setting.
The only science fiction readers I wouldn't recommend this to is anyone struggling with addition. There is a ton of drug use, and even though it's been decades, it made me think "ooh, that sounds fun." Except for the hurling scenes.
This is the first book in a series, but it does stand alone fairly well. I thought it was a stand alone book until very near the end, when Gwyneth Jones kept reminding me of the plot threads that hadn't been tied up yet.
I look forward to reading more.
There are three protagonists , although Fioridna gets the most Point of View time, especially at the start. She is a singer at war with the founder of her own band, but that's nothing compared to her other problems. Sage is the leader of a band of serious lunatics (they all were hologram "masks" of skulls over their heads). Ax is a guitar hero who has been thinking of leading England for a long time. As Great Britain falls apart, they find themselves riding a wave of counterculture dissent into political power. But who is really in charge, and can any good come of this?
The near future world building is very cool. More cool than realistic, which makes a great story, but not a probable future. The tech is very interesting, but low key. This is a story of characters in an exciting and exceptional setting.
The only science fiction readers I wouldn't recommend this to is anyone struggling with addition. There is a ton of drug use, and even though it's been decades, it made me think "ooh, that sounds fun." Except for the hurling scenes.
This is the first book in a series, but it does stand alone fairly well. I thought it was a stand alone book until very near the end, when Gwyneth Jones kept reminding me of the plot threads that hadn't been tied up yet.
I look forward to reading more.
May 17, 2021
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3639413.html
I read the first part of this when it first came out in Interzone, way back in the day, and thought I had read the rest since, but this was mostly new to me. I generally enjoyed it, which is a relief because I bounced off a couple of other books by Gwyneth Jones that I tried in the meantime. I also suspect that I would not have enjoyed it as much when it first came out; the disintegration of the United Kingdom's structure of government doesn't seem either as improbable or as unwelcome as it did in 2001. The setting is a near-future England where Scotland and Wales have become independent and Ireland has reunited, and the counterculture takes over the government so that senior political figures are also playing in their own bands, and if anything a bit better known for the latter than the former. Our heroine, Fiorinda, undergoes a gruesome sexual initiation in the first section of the book and one of the plot strands is her personal quest to come to terms with it; other strands involve the machinations of various factions, some more believable than others. It's a really impressive vision of what a future England could look like, even if it's now twenty years old; slightly dystopian but also with a tinge of optimism.
I read the first part of this when it first came out in Interzone, way back in the day, and thought I had read the rest since, but this was mostly new to me. I generally enjoyed it, which is a relief because I bounced off a couple of other books by Gwyneth Jones that I tried in the meantime. I also suspect that I would not have enjoyed it as much when it first came out; the disintegration of the United Kingdom's structure of government doesn't seem either as improbable or as unwelcome as it did in 2001. The setting is a near-future England where Scotland and Wales have become independent and Ireland has reunited, and the counterculture takes over the government so that senior political figures are also playing in their own bands, and if anything a bit better known for the latter than the former. Our heroine, Fiorinda, undergoes a gruesome sexual initiation in the first section of the book and one of the plot strands is her personal quest to come to terms with it; other strands involve the machinations of various factions, some more believable than others. It's a really impressive vision of what a future England could look like, even if it's now twenty years old; slightly dystopian but also with a tinge of optimism.
December 1, 2014
A brutally, beautiful and lyrical novel that cast its shadow far and wide.
As a science-fiction novel it predicts all number of events and inventions that have to pass. In terms of concepts and delivery, it is a finely tuned machine that depicts our ugly times in a mirror that I can only call ‘truth’. What William Gibson did to science-fiction, Jones has done to science fiction-fantasy, only she did it a decade and a half ago.
Perfectly paced and intelligently written, Bold as Love (Bold As Love #1), is such an evocatively and well-crafted work that I have to say that I write this without hyperbole and pretension or indeed any attempt to be anything less than a discerning and impartial judge of writing.
I had many other things to say about this novel, but as I enjoyed it so thoroughly, I’m going to let you find out for yourself.
As a science-fiction novel it predicts all number of events and inventions that have to pass. In terms of concepts and delivery, it is a finely tuned machine that depicts our ugly times in a mirror that I can only call ‘truth’. What William Gibson did to science-fiction, Jones has done to science fiction-fantasy, only she did it a decade and a half ago.
Perfectly paced and intelligently written, Bold as Love (Bold As Love #1), is such an evocatively and well-crafted work that I have to say that I write this without hyperbole and pretension or indeed any attempt to be anything less than a discerning and impartial judge of writing.
I had many other things to say about this novel, but as I enjoyed it so thoroughly, I’m going to let you find out for yourself.
Shelved as 'not-going-to-read'
January 24, 2019Go ahead and pile on the rape, incest, murder, but don’t be all casual about it. Is this, like, English “public school” humor? While trying to read this last night, I actually said out loud, “I hate this book.” Now that I have had a sleep, I know I will not try again. Other reviews here seem to say that it just keeps on the same way for 5 volumes. Did Jones vote Leave? Did she vote UKIP? Hateful. Apparently she is a member of the Green Party and an Amnesty member but you wouldn’t guess it from this misanthropic jumble. Or was she just very very high when she typed this? That would explain the painful Britpop references. YUCK!
April 17, 2017
Wow - the first book in a long time I've read and had to immediately get hold of the next title - the cliffhanger had something to do with it, but it's a pretty astounding near-future post economic collapse fantasy. I got it for the Arthurian tropes but was blown away by the whole package.
November 16, 2021
I don't know whether I've reached this point through Covid or age or some combination, but I'm no longer going to finish books that aren't good. Starting with this one.
February 12, 2023
This was a definite case of it's not you it's me. Bold as Love was written in the early 2000s and is set in a disbanded UK, where England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are independent nations, and superstar musicians have become politicians. The main character, Fiorinda, has a horrific experience as a child and is set on tracking the perpetrator down to get revenge. It had quite a punk feel to it, and I really expected to love it. If I'm honest it was just too bleak and on-the-nose dystopian for me to enjoy at the moment, maybe I'll come back to it one day.
September 23, 2019
Given its age, a perceptive view as to how then-modern trends might have developed: green Nazis and self-styled ecologists, rock bands rock chicks, music festival-goers and hippies, travellers, Muslim immigrants, refugees from poorer parts of the world, mobile phones. But let down by endless exposition of rock-musician lifestyles, the clothing they wear, repetitive descriptions of concerts, and an unexplained continuation of a more-or-less normal economy while mayhem erupts around them.
March 31, 2014
This was a very strange book. The premise seems crazy to me. Yes, I can believe societal breakdown caused by climate change and computer viruses, but I can't see how teenage and twenty-something musicians would end up as the leaders. The writing was also all over the place -- some party tightly written, others confusing and sloppy. I am still not sure if I want to read the next book.
December 12, 2018
A great and under-rated series worth returning to every few years. Oasis, the Prodigy and Joni Mitchell team up to take on the Establishment, via Glastonbury, with shades of Britpop and Tony Blair. Comfort reading for these political times. Also, best threesome ever.
September 19, 2023
Following
Spear
and Legendborn, Bold as Love finishes book club's mini-season of Arthuriana. Though it won the Arthur C Clarke Award, Kate billed it as sci-fi but with enough ambiguity to count. Maybe it's because I don't read a lot of science fiction, but I couldn't wrap my head around the shape of the story. Things happened, characters wanted things, but I never had a sense of where the plot was heading or what would need to happen for Bold as Love to end.
Though Gwyneth Jones’s central characters do map to the King Arthur legend, Bold as Love isn't particularly obvious about being influenced by the legends. Until 60 per cent of the way through the book, it’s entirely possible to miss or forget about the connection to Camelot. That said, the setting does feel disconnected enough from reality to be vaguely mythic, giving Bold as Love a sort of meandering dreamlike feel. Gwyneth Jones manages to tackle some deeply troubling topics without losing that, without feeling like she's visiting trauma on the reader in the way that some books do.
Fiorinda, Sage and Ax dominate the bulk of Bold as Love’s chapters. Fiorinda feels real immediately, in part because the book opens with her childhood and backstory. Ax and Sage are harder to get a handle on at first, but become increasingly solid as the story builds. While the cast of characters around them aren't terribly detailed, it’s not difficult to distinguish one from another, or to remember roughly which interest group each is attached to.
That said, it’s hard to gauge how much impact the characters have on moving the plot forward without being able to pin down exactly what the plot is. There's little sense that any of the characters have an end goal beyond coping with the new world Gwyneth Jones has constructed around them. There are enjoyable moments of drama and tension, but actions and consequences remain nebulous throughout.
Despite that, neither the reading experience nor the ending is unsatisfying. If you’re content to let yourself be taken along for the ride without a map, it’s an interesting journey.
Though Gwyneth Jones’s central characters do map to the King Arthur legend, Bold as Love isn't particularly obvious about being influenced by the legends. Until 60 per cent of the way through the book, it’s entirely possible to miss or forget about the connection to Camelot. That said, the setting does feel disconnected enough from reality to be vaguely mythic, giving Bold as Love a sort of meandering dreamlike feel. Gwyneth Jones manages to tackle some deeply troubling topics without losing that, without feeling like she's visiting trauma on the reader in the way that some books do.
Fiorinda, Sage and Ax dominate the bulk of Bold as Love’s chapters. Fiorinda feels real immediately, in part because the book opens with her childhood and backstory. Ax and Sage are harder to get a handle on at first, but become increasingly solid as the story builds. While the cast of characters around them aren't terribly detailed, it’s not difficult to distinguish one from another, or to remember roughly which interest group each is attached to.
That said, it’s hard to gauge how much impact the characters have on moving the plot forward without being able to pin down exactly what the plot is. There's little sense that any of the characters have an end goal beyond coping with the new world Gwyneth Jones has constructed around them. There are enjoyable moments of drama and tension, but actions and consequences remain nebulous throughout.
Despite that, neither the reading experience nor the ending is unsatisfying. If you’re content to let yourself be taken along for the ride without a map, it’s an interesting journey.
January 31, 2024
It's near future with a little new tech, so I'll give it science fiction. The world is spiraling down (climate, nations splitting, economy...) but not really "post-apocalyptic." It's not dystopian in the sense of authoritarian. It's more about slowing the decline than making a utopia...
The United Kingdom is splitting up - England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster will all be independent. Climate and other issues are already causing problems. England is trying to figure out how to manage in this. Officials have decided they need to recruit countercultural icons to be figureheads to help get the support of the disaffected millions. After a terrorist attack, some of the counterculturals become major players in the government.
(The effort to appeal to the disaffected reminded me of the rise of demagogues. And there is a passing reference to a politician saying 'Make Britain great again.' And the nationalism is consistent with Brexit.)
For most of the book, the musician Ax Preston is the one leading efforts to make the best of things. The book says his mother worked in a nursing home, and that taught him that you can't change the inevitable, but you can delay it and deal with some issues. That's what he does with the initial problems and the new ones that arise. While it's clear that the average English citizen is in hard times, we don't really see that much of them as opposed to seeing hippies, punks, and other countercultural people who chose to live in camps, in communal buildings or vans.
This is the first in a 5-book series. My tastes aren't urging me to read further.
Perhaps, it's just I'm not as familiar with recent English counterculture. The book was published in 2001. All 5 book in the series have titles that relate to Jimi Hendrix (who wasn't known for politics.) Some of the countercultural are very punky, some are called hippies and some are environmental extremists. The real world band with the most references in the book seems to be the Grateful Dead. Just didn't seem like the 2000's to me.
The United Kingdom is splitting up - England, Scotland, Wales and Ulster will all be independent. Climate and other issues are already causing problems. England is trying to figure out how to manage in this. Officials have decided they need to recruit countercultural icons to be figureheads to help get the support of the disaffected millions. After a terrorist attack, some of the counterculturals become major players in the government.
(The effort to appeal to the disaffected reminded me of the rise of demagogues. And there is a passing reference to a politician saying 'Make Britain great again.' And the nationalism is consistent with Brexit.)
For most of the book, the musician Ax Preston is the one leading efforts to make the best of things. The book says his mother worked in a nursing home, and that taught him that you can't change the inevitable, but you can delay it and deal with some issues. That's what he does with the initial problems and the new ones that arise. While it's clear that the average English citizen is in hard times, we don't really see that much of them as opposed to seeing hippies, punks, and other countercultural people who chose to live in camps, in communal buildings or vans.
This is the first in a 5-book series. My tastes aren't urging me to read further.
Perhaps, it's just I'm not as familiar with recent English counterculture. The book was published in 2001. All 5 book in the series have titles that relate to Jimi Hendrix (who wasn't known for politics.) Some of the countercultural are very punky, some are called hippies and some are environmental extremists. The real world band with the most references in the book seems to be the Grateful Dead. Just didn't seem like the 2000's to me.
January 21, 2019
Initially, I found this book very frustrating- it jumps around, I was never certain what was going on, especially politically- but the more I read the more compelling it became, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.
April 18, 2019
Not a bad idea behind the story, but as others have commented, the characters seem to miss the mark and don't really make the reader feel anything other than disconnection from their lives and problems. Overall, a bit of a disappointment, at least it's no longer on my to read list
Read
January 18, 2024Traffic of cloud
make from me leader
over the sleeping vally
lay white lies
twente to hold search
my forest womb dies in the night
high the arangment
far to meet
like to find y
even from wave of sea
wave of wonder vision
even the all of that
bold as love
make from me leader
over the sleeping vally
lay white lies
twente to hold search
my forest womb dies in the night
high the arangment
far to meet
like to find y
even from wave of sea
wave of wonder vision
even the all of that
bold as love
November 23, 2020
Enjoyable. Near future UK guided by rock musicians
September 25, 2023
A really unique scenario - revolution and government by counter-cultural music icons - and it kind of builds in the telling. I just wish I enjoyed it more.
August 6, 2020
Gwyneth Jones is a great writer, and I find her work in general very readable, even if a lot of the time they are only one time reads. (This is not the case with this book. I have read and re-read this book dozens of times.) Bold as Love is a near future science fantasy with a chilling motif that borrows heavily from the fairytale type where the king tries to marry his own daughter (such as Donkeyskin, Allerleiruah, and so on). In general, child abuse and child endangerment is a recurring theme with this book, and some of the scenes and situations are extremely disturbing. (This is your friendly warning.)
The story begins with Fiorinda, a singer who has arrived at a music festival being held to celebrate the Dissolution of the Act of Union. (That is, the UK is going to split up into its component countries.) She’s heard rumors that her father (a well-known and affluent musician) will be at the festival and she has plans to confront him. After overhearing a conversation, she assumes the speakers are talking about her father and that he’s at the festival but instead she runs into a guitarist named Ax Preston. Ax is a young man with big ideas and a desire to change the world for the better. Fiorinda is disappointed and goes to meet up with her friend, Sage Pender a performer who usually goes by the name of Aoxomoxoa.
These three are invited to take part in a “Counter-Cultural Think Tank” put together by the Home Secretary. The purpose of this think tank is to give the appearance that the government is listening to the concerns of the Counter Culture, whose representatives are extremely unhappy about the state of the world (such as worldwide economic depression, and environmental collapse). They take part in it, even though it seems to mostly be something that’s supposed to look good instead of do anything.Then a shock-rocker named Pig stages a violent coup, and Fiorinda, Ax and Sage are forced into a situation where they must go along with what the Pig wants. Sage and Ax are forced to play henchmen for the Pig while Fiorinda and other members of the former Think Tank are held hostage. (This causes considerable strain between Ax and Fiorinda, who had until that point been in a relationship with each other.)
One of the big reasons I liked this book was the relationships between the three main characters. Instead of doing a love triangle of sorts between Ax, Fiorinda and Sage, we have a sort of love-triad. Over the course of the story, Sage and Ax come closer together as friends and they both become closer to Fiorinda. I enjoyed watching the developing relationship between the three characters as they worked together, it was one of the brighter points of what is a grim, yet weirdly hopeful book.
The story begins with Fiorinda, a singer who has arrived at a music festival being held to celebrate the Dissolution of the Act of Union. (That is, the UK is going to split up into its component countries.) She’s heard rumors that her father (a well-known and affluent musician) will be at the festival and she has plans to confront him. After overhearing a conversation, she assumes the speakers are talking about her father and that he’s at the festival but instead she runs into a guitarist named Ax Preston. Ax is a young man with big ideas and a desire to change the world for the better. Fiorinda is disappointed and goes to meet up with her friend, Sage Pender a performer who usually goes by the name of Aoxomoxoa.
These three are invited to take part in a “Counter-Cultural Think Tank” put together by the Home Secretary. The purpose of this think tank is to give the appearance that the government is listening to the concerns of the Counter Culture, whose representatives are extremely unhappy about the state of the world (such as worldwide economic depression, and environmental collapse). They take part in it, even though it seems to mostly be something that’s supposed to look good instead of do anything.Then a shock-rocker named Pig stages a violent coup, and Fiorinda, Ax and Sage are forced into a situation where they must go along with what the Pig wants. Sage and Ax are forced to play henchmen for the Pig while Fiorinda and other members of the former Think Tank are held hostage. (This causes considerable strain between Ax and Fiorinda, who had until that point been in a relationship with each other.)
One of the big reasons I liked this book was the relationships between the three main characters. Instead of doing a love triangle of sorts between Ax, Fiorinda and Sage, we have a sort of love-triad. Over the course of the story, Sage and Ax come closer together as friends and they both become closer to Fiorinda. I enjoyed watching the developing relationship between the three characters as they worked together, it was one of the brighter points of what is a grim, yet weirdly hopeful book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2013
In an alternate very-recent-past or very-near future Zaphod, Ford and Trillian are all music stars, form a sweetly complicated but stable threesome, and have inherited a half-arsed kind of coup kicked off by the Sex Pistols. Or maybe Oasis.
Bold as Love was a strangely beautiful read (predominantly late at night). The premise and incidental ideas interesting, the details often grim or downright nasty, the plot meandering, and the prose veering between elegaic and punchy. It was a little like reading an argument between Robert Holdstock and Jack Kerouac. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it as a result, which does not appear to be an uncommon reaction amongst readers and reviewers. I liked it, quite a lot, but I'm not sure what to actually think of it in the end. It is... itself. And more power to Gwyneth Jones for writing something that does that.
For me, the real strength was relationship between the three main characters. I thought that Jones captured complexity, irony, forbearance, and love between three messed-up people in a messed-up context really, really well. The true-but-ironic greetings between Sage and Ax of
"Hi rock star."
"Hi other rock star."
rang true for me. It's the kind of humour I expect from and find in my own social circle, and the wry acknowledgement that people sometimes utilise with each other in crap situations. The shared history, care of each others secrets, and sexual tensions (either acted on or not) also echo my own experiences and were a pleasure to just read and let wash over me as a result. The dynamics and responses to new pressures also felt real and worked well for me.
If I've got a major gripe it's with the pacing and conclusion. That last bit felt like a bit of a sell-out, Ms. Jones. A case of 'I'm not sure where this is going... Oh well, I'll just end it here and promise more in a sequel.' Not unlike a badly placed ad break on commercial TV, and sucking you into to the acquiring the next one (and he three after that I discover) in order to reach any kind of conclusion, let alone resolution.
Otherwise, a lot of what I could write has already been covered before, particularly here:
SF Mistressworks review.
The nods to Arthurian heritage and other English folklore are a standout, and what was making me think of the aforementioned Holdstock. One of the reasons I think Bold as Love works is because it is standing on the shoulders of other giants and adding to the layered mish-mash of culture. It's valuable for that alone, and the other bollocks also have their worth.
Bold as Love was a strangely beautiful read (predominantly late at night). The premise and incidental ideas interesting, the details often grim or downright nasty, the plot meandering, and the prose veering between elegaic and punchy. It was a little like reading an argument between Robert Holdstock and Jack Kerouac. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of it as a result, which does not appear to be an uncommon reaction amongst readers and reviewers. I liked it, quite a lot, but I'm not sure what to actually think of it in the end. It is... itself. And more power to Gwyneth Jones for writing something that does that.
For me, the real strength was relationship between the three main characters. I thought that Jones captured complexity, irony, forbearance, and love between three messed-up people in a messed-up context really, really well. The true-but-ironic greetings between Sage and Ax of
"Hi rock star."
"Hi other rock star."
rang true for me. It's the kind of humour I expect from and find in my own social circle, and the wry acknowledgement that people sometimes utilise with each other in crap situations. The shared history, care of each others secrets, and sexual tensions (either acted on or not) also echo my own experiences and were a pleasure to just read and let wash over me as a result. The dynamics and responses to new pressures also felt real and worked well for me.
If I've got a major gripe it's with the pacing and conclusion. That last bit felt like a bit of a sell-out, Ms. Jones. A case of 'I'm not sure where this is going... Oh well, I'll just end it here and promise more in a sequel.' Not unlike a badly placed ad break on commercial TV, and sucking you into to the acquiring the next one (and he three after that I discover) in order to reach any kind of conclusion, let alone resolution.
Otherwise, a lot of what I could write has already been covered before, particularly here:
SF Mistressworks review.
The nods to Arthurian heritage and other English folklore are a standout, and what was making me think of the aforementioned Holdstock. One of the reasons I think Bold as Love works is because it is standing on the shoulders of other giants and adding to the layered mish-mash of culture. It's valuable for that alone, and the other bollocks also have their worth.
June 19, 2010
I had high hopes for this, despite the appauling blurb on the back making it sound like a teenage romance novel, but I'm afraid to say that it disappointed me big time.
This is essentially an extrapolation of near future of Britain in which the United Kingdom breaks up into seperate states and an ever more popular and dominant Counter Cultural Movement (CCM) causes the monachy to fold and get replaced by the "leaders" of the CCM who become the head of state (but with real power): Rock stars! The author also anticipates a global economic crisis that basically sets our civilization into decline, a reversing of globalization and a general rise of anarchy and violence.
The narrative is centered around three of important figures (rockstars) in the CCM and we follow and their rise to prominence as the political and social crisis unfolds. The success of this novel depends largely upon engaging with and liking the main protagonists and that's something I found very hard to do. They were certainly realistic, well rounded characters, each with issues, attitudes and humour. But far too much of the book was focused on their personal crisis points and their interactions with each other for my, science fiction wanting tastes. This was far more a book about young people dealing with social upheaval whilst maintaining careers as popular rock stars, leading rock'n'roll life styles whilst personal problems keep bubbling to the surface.
By the end, I was glad it was over and can't see myself rushing out to get the next book in the series. It's the sort of series you can tell is never going to have an ending, a resolution. The reason to go on reading is to follow this crazy gang in their day to day trials and tribulations and watching how they get on with it.
This is essentially an extrapolation of near future of Britain in which the United Kingdom breaks up into seperate states and an ever more popular and dominant Counter Cultural Movement (CCM) causes the monachy to fold and get replaced by the "leaders" of the CCM who become the head of state (but with real power): Rock stars! The author also anticipates a global economic crisis that basically sets our civilization into decline, a reversing of globalization and a general rise of anarchy and violence.
The narrative is centered around three of important figures (rockstars) in the CCM and we follow and their rise to prominence as the political and social crisis unfolds. The success of this novel depends largely upon engaging with and liking the main protagonists and that's something I found very hard to do. They were certainly realistic, well rounded characters, each with issues, attitudes and humour. But far too much of the book was focused on their personal crisis points and their interactions with each other for my, science fiction wanting tastes. This was far more a book about young people dealing with social upheaval whilst maintaining careers as popular rock stars, leading rock'n'roll life styles whilst personal problems keep bubbling to the surface.
By the end, I was glad it was over and can't see myself rushing out to get the next book in the series. It's the sort of series you can tell is never going to have an ending, a resolution. The reason to go on reading is to follow this crazy gang in their day to day trials and tribulations and watching how they get on with it.
Read
December 8, 2023This is a book that's equally fascinating and original, as it is chaotic and frustrating. We are in some kind of future, and in the UK (or whatever it is by this point) and a series of worldwide coups are happening and in order to stave off such a fate for the UK, the prime minister installs a rock band as a kind of pseudo-government, and of course this leads to chaos.
I read through this book and found myself both really interested in the world we had, not super interested in the plot that came out of it, and really at best plugging along with the writing, which is perfectly good, but confusing enough at times, and make me not super enjoy it throughout. Part of the frustration comes from a pretty loose tone, a lot of world-building detail that's tossed at you pretty casually, and the fact that the main characters have up to three different names at different times. I also don't really have a lot of energy to parse out how the Muslim characters in the book, so I hope it's good? It has some Neal Stephenson, some Nicola Barker, some David Mitchell, and some Kathy Acker to it. There's also like five sequels to this book, but I think the relief I felt in finishing this one means I probably won't be continuing.
"The sun was setting in a flood of scarlet and gold as a small white van cruised to a halt on the Caversham Road. Heraldic colour arced majestically over the Thames valley, glowing in the edging windscreens and blanking out the visors of the traffic cops."
I read through this book and found myself both really interested in the world we had, not super interested in the plot that came out of it, and really at best plugging along with the writing, which is perfectly good, but confusing enough at times, and make me not super enjoy it throughout. Part of the frustration comes from a pretty loose tone, a lot of world-building detail that's tossed at you pretty casually, and the fact that the main characters have up to three different names at different times. I also don't really have a lot of energy to parse out how the Muslim characters in the book, so I hope it's good? It has some Neal Stephenson, some Nicola Barker, some David Mitchell, and some Kathy Acker to it. There's also like five sequels to this book, but I think the relief I felt in finishing this one means I probably won't be continuing.
"The sun was setting in a flood of scarlet and gold as a small white van cruised to a halt on the Caversham Road. Heraldic colour arced majestically over the Thames valley, glowing in the edging windscreens and blanking out the visors of the traffic cops."
October 5, 2011
Gwyneth Jones tells a story of three rock frontpersons, a fairy-like and magnetic young woman, strong leadsinger/guitarist politico and dangerously hypnotic soundscpae wizard, who are swept away into nation wide intrigue. Jones can be seen to explore the myth of rock/pop as a revolutionary force that can be used to change the society around it, a bit like not-so-sunny version of the hippie generation dream in a largely modern world filled with bits of magic.
The book explores the semi-realistic realization of this dream of rock music rising into national frontline combining it with a full collection of rocklore (legends, mysterious gigs etc) partially lifted from the annuals of rock history. As the story is so linked rock mythos, it can be forgiven few over legendarization, but in the end the package either fails to deliver the dream it explores or deliveres it too loyally to the fantastic everything-has-happened world of rock. The story just seems unbelievable in just about every sense (for example the events, i.e. rock stars becoming perfects soldiers, politicians and leaders quite naturally) and despite sometimes the fine writing, the novel falls short of my expectations of a urban fantasy's best aspect; the feeling of fantastic realism.
The book explores the semi-realistic realization of this dream of rock music rising into national frontline combining it with a full collection of rocklore (legends, mysterious gigs etc) partially lifted from the annuals of rock history. As the story is so linked rock mythos, it can be forgiven few over legendarization, but in the end the package either fails to deliver the dream it explores or deliveres it too loyally to the fantastic everything-has-happened world of rock. The story just seems unbelievable in just about every sense (for example the events, i.e. rock stars becoming perfects soldiers, politicians and leaders quite naturally) and despite sometimes the fine writing, the novel falls short of my expectations of a urban fantasy's best aspect; the feeling of fantastic realism.
May 29, 2013
I bought this during a period when I was picking up books based on end-of-year recommendation lists from various sources, in this case the BSFA. A combination of two things I love (music and science fiction) and a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award - how could it possibly not be worth reading.
In fact, this is a clear example of why I should probably a) stick with what I know I like and b) not rely on awards and recommendations. It just didn't engage me at all. The SF is minimal - apart from one incident with a global computer virus, it's basically SF because it is set in the near future - the music is mostly in the background and I found the politics of the story hard to follow. The characters may be musicians, but I didn't like any of them and, apart from the fact that one of the main three is female, found them difficult to distinguish between.
I won't be buying any more in the series and this one will shortly be finding its way to the charity shop.
In fact, this is a clear example of why I should probably a) stick with what I know I like and b) not rely on awards and recommendations. It just didn't engage me at all. The SF is minimal - apart from one incident with a global computer virus, it's basically SF because it is set in the near future - the music is mostly in the background and I found the politics of the story hard to follow. The characters may be musicians, but I didn't like any of them and, apart from the fact that one of the main three is female, found them difficult to distinguish between.
I won't be buying any more in the series and this one will shortly be finding its way to the charity shop.
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