Let's be honest, the urban/paranormal fantasy sub-genre is glutted at this point in time. Like all genres, UF has varying degrees or classes of writers (or books). You have books that are quick, fun reads, kinda guilty pleasures or "B" movies; such as the Kitty Norville books. You have books whose authors believe they are making some type of message, but really aren't; a "B" movie with pretensions. You have books that can rise above the "B" level with a little more something, like Dresden Files.Then you have Benighted, an entirely different kettle of fish. It is either literature or it borders on literature. Where it stands, comes down to the reader’s liking of Whitfield’s style.If you are expecting standard UF or PF fare, Benighted is not the book for you. It is nothing like Anita Blake, Women of the Otherworld, or The Hollows. It is a difficult and challenging book. It's not a light read. It is, however, a rewarding and thought provoking read.Several weeks back, I read and reviewed The Summoningand said I was tired of race being used simply in terms of romantic angst, and how females leads weren’t really different in terms of looks. This is not the case with Benighted. Whitfield’s set-up is quite simple. In a world where most of the population goes furry every month, the small minority that doesn’t is the agency that patrols the furry population when they hit their monthly. Whitfield’s main character, Lola, is a bareback (yes, I know there is a different meaning to that word) which means she is not a lune (werewolf). Because of this, she and the others like her, experience discrimination every single day. This allows Whitfield to actually look at the effects of such discrimination on people. Too often in UF we get lip service to the idea of discrimination (or racism or sexism). If you look at the popular series, however, there is no in-depth analysis of it. Anita Blake, Elena, and Kitty are all non-human and are segregated out of the human society because of what they are, yet in their books we mostly see them functioning in a society where they are not the minority. Anita has (or had) one strict human friend, Elena had one human boyfriend, who she dumped, and Kitty has her family, but the werewolves and vampires get more play. The characters who are supposedly outsiders are actually part of the in-group of the novel. In those novels, in terms of characters, strict humans are the minority, and very rarely do central characters behave as if they have been effected by an -ism; they might have to hide, but outright discrimination doesn’t really seem to occur or should it, like in Kitty Takes a Holiday, it lacks depth. Benighted, Lola is part of the minority. It effects her whole life. It effects her outlook on life. It effects her relationships.Benighted is in a basic sense a mystery. Lola wants to find a murderer. The book, however, transcends that. It transcends the basic werewolf or vampire plot. What the reader gets, and this is what makes the book an uncomfortable read, is the effect of discrimination on the minority and the majority. Whitfield asks and answers, what happens in a caste system. While the minority in the book is based on a lack of transformation, Lola could be any minority in today’s real world. On top of the theme of discrimination, Whitford examines the role of law and justice in such a society. Lola is not an angel; she is particularly unlikable. I do not even know how I feel about her. Lola is a real character and this means she is heavily flawed. What is important, and what makes the book though provoking, is that the reader is never shown which side is right, not really. Do Lola and her co-workers go too far? Do the lunes go too far? The book leaves the reader with a feeling of disquiet because of the questions about society, race, and social class that it raises.tttAdditionally, Whitfield has really thought about how her lunes would work and what the laws of society would be in terms of applying to them, at least in furry form. She is the only writer I have seen who takes a woman’s monthly cycle into account and how it would be affected by changing. Benighted is not an easy book, and it is true that Whitfield’s prose could be tighter in places, but it is a worthy, thought provoking book.
Lola Galley non è un licantropo. In un mondo in cui i lica sono la razza dominante lei fa parte della ristretta cerchia dei senzapelo. I senzapelo non hanno diritto ad una vita privilegiata, né ad un istruzione. Vengono prelevati da piccoli e cresciuti in appositi nidi, dove solo i più forti sopravvivono per essere poi addestrati a fare la ronda nelle notti di luna piena. Lola è quanto di più vicino ci sia tra la sua gente ad un avvocato. Ha una sorella lica ed un amante lica. Ma questo non è un problema. Il problema sembra essere una strana tendenza dei lica ad aggredire gli agenti Dorla, un corpo speciale di poliziotti che sorveglia le notti di plenilunio. Lola stessa ne fa parte, anche se la cosa comincia a crearle qualche problema. L’indagine viene affidata a lei, e contemporaneamente le viene affidata la difesa di uno dei sospetti. Le cosa sembrano complicarsi ancora di più quando un suo diretto collaboratore viene ucciso. Lola si trova al centro del conflitto, a fare da bersaglio a causa delle pressioni sociali sempre più forti tra i lica ed i senzapelo. E quello che scoprirà alla fine la lascerà senza speranza, in un mondo in cui quelli come lei sembrano in estinzione. O forse è lei ad augurarsi che lo siano…L’atmosfera noir è il punto forte di questo romanzo, che potrebbe essere un normale racconto d’indagine poliziesca, non fosse per il tocco fantasy dato dalla presenza dei licantropi nella struttura sociale in un mondo, per altri versi assai simile al nostro. Lola vive il disincanto ed il cinismo che intere generazioni di detective noir hanno respirato da che esiste il genere. E tutto questo senza che per un attimo si avverta il peso del già noto. I suoi superiori sono come ci si immagina debbano essere i capi di una struttura poliziesca in un mondo dominato da persone privilegiate. Corruzione e disperazione sembrano la regola. Incomunicabilità ed odio sono alla base dei rapporti sociali. Lola scivola lentamente da un idealismo puro in una sorta di cinico disincanto, seguendo la spirale di ambiguità che la circonda e minaccia costantemente la sua sopravvivenza. E il modo che sceglierà per uscirne è il solo possibile in un mondo che sembra radicato nel suo voler difendere a tutti i costi i privilegi di pochi a totale discapito di un’intera popolazione sottomessa. Anna Maria Pelella
Do You like book Benighted (2006)?
Benighted is not a book to start with false expectations. If you are looking for a story which focuses on the fantasy elements and worldbuilding, or a supernatural drama, this is not the book for you. Benighted is depressing as all get out, and that needs to be understood going in.Its protagonist and narrator is Lola Galley, a "bareback" in a world filled with lycanthropes. "Barebacks" (a derogatory term for non-lycanthropes), or nons, are conscripted at a young age into DORLA, the organization which runs the world during the full moon, and which handles crimes committed by people while they are transformed. DORLA is generally disliked by the public because of the power they wield, and, since all nons are by default DORLA employees, this results a good deal of friction between the tiny non population and the rest of the world. All of this is important, but it's not the heart of the story.What makes this book worth reading is its complete emotional realism. Lola, despite being only in her twenties, is run down and older than she should be. She's paid very little money for doing a very dangerous job and has no real prospects for improving her situation. She distrusts everyone outside of DORLA and they distrust her in kind. The book is, along with being an engaging mystery, a chronicle of her experience as both a perpetual outsider and a member of a highly insular organization of dubious ethical standards. She lives through things that are less than palatable, and over the course of the story herself does some things which are arguably worse. The psychology is fascinating and drives a thoroughly engrossing plot. If you can stomach the depression, absolutely worth reading.
—MG
I picked this book off the bookshelf at the library on a whim. I was looking for new authors without long, multi-book series started yet. The premise was interesting: a human cop living/working/surviving in a world of werewolves.It's a dark world; it's a dark book. Humanity is slowly being bred out/killed off. Although the author didn't say it, I had the feeling that humanity was a recessive gene, getting more recessive each generation. Yet the werewolves, or lupines, need humans to keep society/civilization going during the full moon.In the interview with the author in the endnotes, the author was asked about the non-use of the word werewolves. She noted that the term had become weighted with connotations and she wanted a term which would not bring up those connotations. She makes a good point.I enjoyed this book, even though it's a dark book. The main character didn't like herself or her humanity. The lupines did not appreciate humanity's contributions to society. The future is not bright and shiny with possibilities for humans. Yet the protagonist is going to keep trying because she hasn't a choice. Humans are limited by their own humanity.
—Laura
For those born feet-first, life is normal. Civil rights are enshrined in law, the world is a comfortable place, and every full moon night, you lock yourself in a secure room to fur up in peace. But for those born head-first, the damage done is more than just physical. For a non, locked in his or her human skin, is first and foremost a conscript, drafted at eighteen into DORLA, the Department for the Ongoing Regulation of Lycanthropic Activity.For a DORLA agent, insultingly referred to as a 'bareback', full moon creates a battle zone, where they patrol the silent night in search of citizens breaking the curfew. The rest of the month is a civil service nightmare, mopping up the after-effects of the trespasses, the fights and the maulings. DORLA has lasted centuries, since the Inquisition first set it up, and it's no less hated now than it was then.Lola Galley, twenty-eight and already a scarred veteran, is assigned to defend a curfew-breaker who mutilated a good friend of hers. She doesn't want the case, but she's used to doing things she doesn't want. Only something happens: her maimed friend is murdered before her client can be tried.Lola wants justice. She'll settle for the truth. But in a divided world, asking for the truth may bring answers that you don't want to hear.a difficult, edgy, damaged book - much like Lola herself - this isnt an easy read, with no traditional story with no traditional ending, but it's a journey for Lola. albeit a hard and painful one.
—Tal
