About the book

Author: Bledsoe, Alex.

Title: The hum and the shiver.

Publication: New York : Tor Books, 2011. ISBN 9781455113965.

DAISY audio format narrated by Emily Janice Card and Stefan Rudnicki. CELA library call number DC52543. 349 pages in the paperback edition; 9 hrs., 44 mins. as a recorded book.

Title: The hum and the shiver.

Publication: New York : Tor Books, 2013. ISBN 9781482915600.

DAISY audio format narrated by Stefan Rudnicki. CELA library call number DA52561. 352 pages in the paperback edition; 9 hrs., 16 mins. as a recorded book.

About the story

At first, I thought “oh no, not ANOTHER made-up pseudo-indigenous society!”. This is a bit of a hot-button for me.

In fact, as I kept reading, I realised that the author was delving into a completely different mythos, updating it and expanding it in a new and very interesting way. And not co-opting indigenous cultures at all!

It turns out that this story is completely engrossing and very well executed. The author combines suspense, mystery, traditional music and other-worldliness to create something entirely different and yet connected to an existing mythological corpus.

You can probably guess that I’m trying to keep the surprise?

The Tufa people live in the mountains of East Tennessee and one of their own, Bronwyn Hyatt, returns as a decorated soldier wounded in Iraq. What happens next is a story you may really enjoy reading.

The Blackstone Audio narrator, Stefan Rudnicki, has a voice that is deep and velvety and very, very easy to listen to. The other voice, Emily Janice Card, fits the main character to a T.

Should you enjoy this book as much as I did, the next one is Wisp of a thing (2011), also by Alex Bledsoe (er, but you knew that, I expect). Set in the same town, among the same people, this second novel explores the adventures of a (mostly) different cast of characters, including a traveller from outside the community. The next book in the series is Long black curls (2015).

Both books contain strong language and violence. Both feature trad music and magic.

I highly recommend both these books, and will certainly investigate as many in the series as I can.