Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsthat's pretty much it
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018
Please note that this review contains mild spoilers.
Lake Silence takes place in the world of the Others, shortly after the Elders wiped out some human settlements. A few characters from the Lakeside Courtyard are mentioned, but do not make appearances. It's a new story with new characters.
Vicki DeVine and her abusive husband divorced a few months ago, and Vicki received a worn-down boarding complex on Lake Silence in a terra indigene controlled area as her settlement. After allowing Vicki a few months to pour time and money into the complex, the ex attempts to reclaim the property for himself to build it into a luxury resort, ignoring the fact that the original contract with the terra indigene does not allow for this. Plot-wise, that's pretty much it.
When I was finished, I didn't feel that I had wasted my time, but I also wouldn't recommend this book or delve into a discussion about it. There are some interesting elements, including a few new types of terra indigene and more information about Intuits. Sadly the plot was simplistic to the point of feeling dull and stretched out. I also found the shifts in perspective from first person for Vicki and third person for everyone else disorienting.
Since the plot was minimal, I expected more development for the cast, but they fell a bit short. Julian, an Intuit whose abilities have caused difficulties in his life, was probably the most engaging character, but we received a stronger sense of his problems than his personality. The protagonist, Vicki, suffers a host of anxiety and self-confidence issues as a result of her abusive marriage. While I'm all for exploring these issues, again, they eclipsed her personality. What I'll recall about Vicki is that she suffers trauma from being victimized for so long, and that she insists on speaking like a socially inept teenage girl ("vigorous appendage" and "yummy lawyer" are the most cringey offenders).
I also wasn't sure why the Others didn't... simply... eat the ex husband and his entourage. In the Lakeside Courtyard, we're told that Simon holds back so he can improve human/Others relations, and because he's on human territory. This story took place in terra indigene territory. The Others killed some of the offenders early on, but left others alone until the last possible moment. Why? The books stress over and over again that problematic humans are food in the wild country. The only reason to hold off on destroying the humans that don't follow their rules in this book is so that we'll have a completed story line, and that killed my suspension of disbelief.
I'm also unsure of why the terra indigene developed much interest in Vicki at all. In Meg's case, we watched her build relationships with individual Others by being kind and acting as they had never seen a human or terra indigene act before. In Vicki's case, she was initially protected because her property was important to the terra indigene for its potential to improve relations between them and humans, but she isn't really shown befriending them bit-by-bit, like Meg was.
Bottom line: I don't mind that I read it, but I won't read it again or recommend it.
