Sunshine

Self-Insertion:

First thing I immediately noticed about this book was that it was written in first person. Well, I should say, the first thing I noticed was the dedication which read: “To Peter, my Mel and my Con wrapped up in one (slightly untidy) package. Hey, am I lucky or what?”

First person and a dedication like that always raise a red flag. I’ve read a fair amount of fan-fiction, particularly in the realm of vampires. I’m a big fan of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” and Kouta Hirano’s “Hellsing.” So, one of the first thing you worry about when seeing first person and such a dedication is that the book will be a self-insertion narrative full of lust, irrelevant or pointless plot, and heaps of trash or smut.

Thankfully Robin McKinley did not go this route. Further, she wrote the first person quite well, and it was at times rather disorganized, as minds often are. It felt genuine in that respect.

Information Dumps:

One of the things that struck me in this book is that almost immediately there was an enormous information dump. It was all about the protagonist’s, Rae/Sunshine’s, world. And she really kind of just goes on and on about the world, how she understands it, what little corner of it she occupies, and so on. As the book progresses it reveals just how incomplete her knowledge is and how much she forgot to say in the beginning.

I found this different than most books where the author often uses setting and other people to explain the world and its rules to the protagonist, and the reader benefits. In this case the protagonist, seemingly cognizant of having an audience, goes into long asides of background and information for the benefit of her readers.

You get used to it.

Knowledge:

As stated above, you learn most of the information about Sunshine’s world as she chooses to reveal it to you, and occasionally when she conveys new things she learned.

The really big, and sometimes frustrating. Limiting factor is that Sunshine’s curiosity does not match the readers. She refuses to ask questions, to inquire, or to discover information that she finds gross, icky, or terrifying. This leaves the reader some blanks that have hints dancing around them but no firm answers. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At the same time, it would be nice to see the lead character grow past her “disgusting / fear” shell more often.

Prejudices:

An interesting aspect of this book is that you step into a world of prejudice. The prejudice is primarily against vampires, but the mentioned government exercises it against most non-humans and magic handlers to one extent or another.

To Sunshine the world is very light vs. dark and good vs. evil. And, while by the end of the book there is a seeming acceptance that all evil, at least in one case, might not be as evil as other evil, she still thinks of herself as at least somewhat tainted. She is not able to let go of her prejudice and no one else around her seems to grow or change in this regard either. There are some characters with little or no prejudice, and I perhaps find this the most refreshing.

I find this an interesting contrast to J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” where the protagonist, Harry, is devoid of prejudice and never really takes on any of the prejudices, in fact, continuously rebukes those who are prejudiced.

The reason this is particularly interesting in this book is because Sunshine allies herself / is allied with a vampire, a creature of “evil.” In books where no alliances occur and the vampire is always evil, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” for example, it is understandable that the characters never delve into the shades of grey between good and evil. It is less understandable here.

First Person / Journal:

Another comparison I’d like to draw to Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” is the journal / first person style. In “Dracula” the story primarily unfolds in letters and journal entries. The language is more thought out and often high minded.

In Sunshine it is written in first person, but not as a journal, nor memoir, nor any particular format, I mean, there is a logical progression and time moves forwards, but this brings me to my last issue / topic of discussion and comment.

Tenses / Timeline:

The tenses in this book sometimes strike me as odd. I did not really check, but it seems that the book is all written in past tense. At times the book seems more set in the present than others, but this is intermixed with occasional thoughts that indicate that the narrator (Sunshine) is looking back. It is not disorienting or distracting, but it gives an odd sense of lack of time while passage of time is expressly mentioned.

It is nowhere as bad as the loops in Henry Baum’s “The American Book of the Dead.”

Lastly, something funny…  (an exchange between my girlfriend and I about the book, as she suggested I read it, and it is one of her favorites):

Me: “You curl up in pools of sunlight, like cooking/baking, and your favorite fairy tale is ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Did Robin McKinley write ‘Sunshine’ with you in mind?”

Girlfriend: “That thought crossed my mind when I read that the first time. That’s actually one of the last books I read by her.”
Me: “On second thought, Rae/Sunshine doesn’t get sunburn often. That and she can do magic. Guess it wasn’t quite you after all. ( ;  ”