The Blade Between by Sam J. Miller

 

Every now and then I end up reading books in short order that make it seem as though I have some sort of theme, or at least comparison/contrast thing, in mind. I grabbed this because it seemed interesting at the Warehouse-sized Dumpbin I found it in, and I read it tonight for the same reason. The fact it's about a gay creator dealing with the scars of his childhood makes it sound as though it has more in common with Bury Your Gays than it really does. This is much more a novel about hate, and about hanging onto it until you realize it's killing you and everything you hold dear, then letting go; it's also a novel about gentrification and about what gets lost when the developers (and shortly thereafter the hipsters) move in; it's also a novel about love, in the epilogue a preacher delivers a sermon around the idea that love is harder than hate, in many senses. The novel is very worth reading, it has a lot of characters, all operating with their own agendas, all distinct; it has solid language and Miller has a superb ear for dialogue. I suppose there are things in this novel that Chuck Tingle was screaming about, but it's not as tragic as it could be, death isn't so final.