Week 7: In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (5)

 

 

The thought I had when beginning Sarah Rees Brennan’s In Other Lands, with its common premise, its whiny obsessive protagonist, and its seeming lack of substance, was oh god, I should probably pick another book. I was so sure that I wasn’t going to enjoy it, especially after witnessing its John Hughes movie views of popularity and an arrogant elf that I thought was going to end up being a villain because that’s just what pretty, kind of mean girls end up doing in high school stories.

I initially thought that this book was going to be a sexually frustrated teen, l after a distant girl and then ultimately earning her affection, only to realize that what he really wanted was self-actualization. Snooze.

Oh, how first impressions mislead.

In Other Lands has made its way onto the list of my all time favorite books. Brennan takes the time to build Elliot Schafer into a flawed, smart, idealistic nerd and acknowledges the fact that a lot of the time, people don’t hate nerds because they’re smart, just because they have a sense of entitlement and false superiority. She then lets Elliot grow out of that flawed mentality. She gives him an ideal rarely seen in high fantasy stories, pacifism, and then lets him stick to that ideal for the whole book, proving him right whenever he sticks to his guns (metaphorically speaking). 

And most importantly to my enjoyment of the character, Brennan gives Elliot an active love life. A horny nerd lusting after a pretty elf is not something I want to read for 300+ pages. An accidentally hot diplomat romancing all kinds of fantasy (and non fantasy) people holds a lot more interest.

It bears mentioning that “the sexually explorative bisexual” is a stereotype, Brennan uses the book to comprehensively explore teen sexuality and the attitudes surrounding bisexuality which I, as a teen bisexual, greatly appreciate.

In Other Lands is a fun fantasy romp through a familiar, but ultimately unique fantasy world that handles topics of sexuality, war, and how messed up it is that most fantasy book protagonists are children going into insanely dangerous situations. I couldn't love a book more.

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