{"id":9356,"date":"2017-10-25T12:44:53","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T16:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9356"},"modified":"2025-08-11T20:39:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T00:39:39","slug":"child-of-a-rainless-year-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9356","title":{"rendered":"Child of a Rainless Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Child of a Rainless Year<\/a><\/em> (2005) Jane Lindskold<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mira Fenn was nine when her mother disappeared, and she was sent away to Ohio to live with foster parents. The further she goes from her time in Las Vegas New Mexico, the stranger her early childhood seems.<\/p>\n

Especially her mother.<\/p>\n

I watched, mesmerized, as Mother transformed herself from a pale ghost into the beauty who still commanded legions of admirers. Fear throbbed tight and hard within my chest. No longer did I want to be discovered, for I knew I had stumbled on a mystery greater and more terrible than that of Bluebeard\u2019s murdered wives. I had seen the secret magic of color, and how color made lies truth and truth lies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It isn’t until her 50s, until the couple her raised her–whom she thinks of as her true parents–dies in an accident that she truly decides to look into her past, and what happened to her mother.<\/p>\n

Mother noticed only rarely, and then in such a personal fashion that the one so noticed would cringe, wishing to have that egotism turned elsewhere, anywhere else, rather than suffer the wails mourning the wrong done to \u201cmy\u201d\u2014\u201c my child,\u201d \u201cmy efforts,\u201d \u201cmy pain,\u201d \u201cmy sacrifice,\u201d \u201cmy \u2026\u201d Truly, for her, nothing existed outside of that curtaining veil of self.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of my favorite bits of this story are when she finally returns to her childhood home, to find it different, but also as she remembered it.<\/p>\n

The lock turned with a minimal amount of stiffness, and I pushed open the door, automatically reaching up for the light switch. I didn\u2019t find it, not until I adjusted and slid my hand down.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is not an adventure story, but rather a look into the past and into what makes us different from our parents. We are more than the product of our genes, more than the product of those who raised us.<\/p>\n

We are even more than we think ourselves.<\/p>\n

Sometimes we need beauty and grandeur to inspire us to be the best we can be\u2014 to remind us of what humans are capable of when they turn their minds to something beyond the purely practical. We have the capacity for art, for beauty. I think we should use it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I said, this is not an adventure but an unfolding. It’s also lovely and one of my favorite books by Jane Lindskold–so much of this story has taken up residence in my brain, and popped up at unexpected times. Which is what, to me, makes a good story.<\/p>\n

Rating: 9\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Publisher: Tor Books <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold Mira Fenn was nine when her mother disappeared, and she was sent away to Ohio to live with foster parents. The further she goes from her time in Las Vegas New Mexico, the stranger her early childhood seems. Especially her mother. I watched, mesmerized, as Mother transformed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,2,48,41,34],"tags":[737,137,695],"class_list":["post-9356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-10","category-fantasy","category-female","category-reread","category-urban-fantasy","tag-ghosts","tag-jane-lindskold","tag-middle-aged-protagonist"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2qU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22139,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22139","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":0},"title":"Child of a Rainless Year","author":"Michelle","date":"August 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold This is an odd story--the fantastic elements are initially subtle, and initially you aren't even sure that what you are reading is a fantasy. It is, but not one of vampires and witches, but one of subtle powers, hidden from plain sight.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Child of a Rainless Year","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Child-of-a-Rainless-Year-e1511018267543.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":462,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/462","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":1},"title":"Child of a Rainless Year","author":"Michelle","date":"October 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold Although I have Jane Lindskold's series starting with Through a Wolf's Eyes I've never read it, because I simply haven't been in the mood for a long series. However, I picked up and read Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls which I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Child-of-a-Rainless-Year.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5258,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5258","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":2},"title":"Child of a Rainless Year","author":"Michelle","date":"May 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold I recently picked this up as an ebook, when I found it on sale. I'd read it before and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was pleased to be able to get it electronically. This is urban fantasy, which means it does not have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/Child-of-a-Rainless-Year-e1510881403378.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":875,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/875","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":3},"title":"Thirteen Orphans: Breaking the Wall","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Thirteen Orphans: Breaking the Wall (2008) Jane Lindskold I really like Jane Lindskold's writing. Brenda Morris thinks she is simply taking a vacation with her father, but she quickly learns the trip is much more--that her father took her to California to introduce her to her magical heritage. Unfortunately, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"thirteen_orphans","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/thirteen_orhpans.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5943,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5943","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":4},"title":"Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls","author":"Michelle","date":"June 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (1994) Jane Lindskold This is an unusual book, part fantasy, part science fiction. I generally dislike SF, but the fantasy elements are a bit heavier, and the story is mostly about Sarah--much of the technology takes place in the background until the end of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"brother-to-dragons","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/brother-to-dragons.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":490,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/490","url_meta":{"origin":9356,"position":5},"title":"The Buried Pyramid","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Buried Pyramid (2004) Jane Lindskold I spent the first two thirds of this book mildly wondering why it was classified as a fantasy. Then the fantasy kicked in, but I'd given up caring whether it was fantasy or historical fiction long before. I just wanted to know what happened.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Buried-Pyramid.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9356\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}