The Lost Metal is very clearly a post-2020 novel heavily influenced by lockdown in the same way that the final Wayfarers novel was but I think it’s far better executed and successful at aging well and not feeling as precisely of a specific moment. It’s very concerned with things like the importance of evacuation plans and disaster preparedness and people wear face masks around aerosolized hazards. It has elements of missing the world before a disaster and wishing you’d lived more appreciatively of what you had before being isolated. But it doesn’t fall into the trap of imagining an “end to the emergency” like Becky Chambers did, causing what was once a hopeful moment falling flat in a world where the emergency never ended.
- she/her
- shelraphen.com/
Mutant, librarian, poet, union rabble rouser, dog, Ashkenazi Jewish. Neuroweird, bodyweird, mostly sleepy.
I write about transformative justice, community, love, Judaism, Neurodivergence, mental health, Disability, geography, rivers, labor, and libraries; through poetry, opinionated essays, and short fiction.
I review Schoolhouse Rock! songs at @PropagandaRock
Website (RSS + Newsletter)
shelraphen.com/Website League
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