Vylar Kaftan

This well-written, intense novella tells the story of .Bee, a telepath, who is imprisoned in a elaborate cave system on the planet Colel-Cab with a fellow telepath. She has no memories of her crime or what came before. But then another voice breaks through….

This is an intimate, internal story, narrated by .Bee herself. The first part of the book takes place and is grounded, so to speak, in the cave system but after that—without giving anything away— her reality is more fluid (there is a water motif throughout the book) and reflects her inner struggle. The second half of the story is like being caught in a group-shared lucid dream and it can be confusing at times. But, all that said, this was a quick, intriguing, worthy read.… (more)

Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water by Vylar Kaftan is a short novella about a woman imprisoned in a cave system on an alien planet. Or so it starts. She does not fully remember who she is or what her crime was, but at least she is not alone. Her fellow prisoner seems to know more than she does but is reluctant to divulge the information.

This novella grabbed me straight away. Even though it is not very clear at first what's happening, I was drawn in my my desire to find out more about the world. I wasn't expecting the story to be about telepaths (probably because I don't pay overly much attention to blurbs), but it played out more interestingly than I would have expected. On the one hand, the plight of telepaths in this future world is central to the story since it's closely bound with the reasons for Bee's imprisonment. On the other hand, the actual conflict is backgrounded with the main focus being on Bee's personal struggle. In a society at war, we are presented with a very stark example of the personal being political.

I don't think I can say much more without spoiling the story, but I found it consistently very readable. The setting and story was a bit unusual, and at the same time the personal journey was very unexceptional in the context of fiction (aside from the parts that were). I recommend Her Silhouette, Drawn in Water to fans of soft science fiction/science fantasy — there's no avoiding the telepathy aspect of the story — and to any readers interested in personal stories with political backdrops.

4 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog.… (more)