Ratings13
Average rating3.6
This was an intriguing story just for the premise alone - missionaries and religious life were a very central part of the Regency and Victorian eras, and so much of the modern sci-fi and fantasy set in that time period leave it out to their detriment. But it seems obvious that, had 19th century Britain established relations with the fae kingdom of Arcadia, there would have absolutely been tracts on the nature of the fae soul, and missionaries attempting to convert them to save their Heathen Souls. This book does a great job of matching a realistic and recognizable British society with the absolutely unrealistic and phantasmagoric land of Arcadia.
Like any good faerie story, Under the Pendulum Sun is darker than you'd imagine, and unsettling in both its characters and morality. Ng fully embraces the Gothic style that would make sense for her setting, and leaves a story that's dripping with melodrama and suspense.