Name: Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat'a
ISBN: 9781773632377

Katlia

Land-Water-Sky/Ndè-Tı-Yat'a is the debut novel from Dene author Katlįà. Set in Canada's far north, this layered composite novel traverses space and time, from a community being stalked by a dark presence, a group of teenagers out for a dangerous joyride, to an archeological site on a mysterious island that holds a powerful secret.

Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat'a

Fraser Simons

A strong debut. This traces the path, or perhaps even the mythology, of an ancient ‘evil’ plaguing the North from before colonial times to 2030. It jumps forward in time linearly, building a new interconnected short story with a new character each time, slowly making the connections apparent up to the final conclusion. 

It’s a fairly satisfying story this way too, using time to draw parallels between colonialism and state oppression and this natural, ages old opponent. I thought this was pretty solid, but it does have sophomoric issues. Not all of the stories connective tissue works that well toward the conclusion and feels superfluous. Some characters are more well realized than others. The language is minimal and doesn’t get in the way. Earlier stories are really evocative and have some natural momentum to them that others do that, and the verbiage and diction reflects that, somewhat miring those particular stories. 

But in a 167 page book, it’s not as though it’s truly bogged down, and the setup in the beginning is enticing enough to get through it just to see how it all comes to a head. I also liked how the archeologist, Hank, was pretty indicative of both academics and how white people tend to interact with indigenous people, and it didn’t feel shoe horned in. If there’s any word to describe the book in its totality, I think it’s organic. Looking forward to what the author produces next with such a strong first effort.

Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat'a

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