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Trinity Sight
"Our people are survivors," Calliope's great-grandmother once told her of their Puebloan roots--could Bisabuela's ancient myths be true?
Anthropologist Calliope Santiago awakens to find herself in a strange and sinister wasteland, a shadow of the New Mexico she knew. Empty vehicles litter the road. Everyone has disappeared--or almost everyone. Calliope, heavy-bellied with the twins she carries inside her, must make her way across this dangerous landscape with a group of fellow survivors, confronting violent inhabitants, in search of answers. Long-dead volcanoes erupt, the ground rattles and splits, and monsters come to ominous life. The impossible suddenly real, Calliope will be forced to reconcile the geological record with the heritage she once denied if she wants to survive and deliver her unborn babies into this uncertain new world.
Rooted in indigenous oral-history traditions and contemporary apocalypse fiction, Trinity Sight asks readers to consider science versus faith and personal identity versus ancestral connection. Lyrically written and utterly original, Trinity Sight brings readers to the precipice of the end-of-times and the hope for redemption.
Anthropologist Calliope Santiago awakens to find herself in a strange and sinister wasteland, a shadow of the New Mexico she knew. Empty vehicles litter the road. Everyone has disappeared--or almost everyone. Calliope, heavy-bellied with the twins she carries inside her, must make her way across this dangerous landscape with a group of fellow survivors, confronting violent inhabitants, in search of answers. Long-dead volcanoes erupt, the ground rattles and splits, and monsters come to ominous life. The impossible suddenly real, Calliope will be forced to reconcile the geological record with the heritage she once denied if she wants to survive and deliver her unborn babies into this uncertain new world.
Rooted in indigenous oral-history traditions and contemporary apocalypse fiction, Trinity Sight asks readers to consider science versus faith and personal identity versus ancestral connection. Lyrically written and utterly original, Trinity Sight brings readers to the precipice of the end-of-times and the hope for redemption.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2019
65 people are currently reading
3,507 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Givhan
21books494followersJennifer Givhan is a Mexican-American and Indigenous poet and novelist from the Southwestern desert and the recipient of poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and PEN/Rosenthal Emerging Voices. She holds a Master’s degree from California State University Fullerton and a Master’s in Fine Arts from Warren Wilson College. She is the author of five full-length poetry collections, including Rosa’s Einstein (University of Arizona Press), and the novels Trinity Sight and Jubilee (Blackstone Publishing), which were finalists for the Arizona-New Mexico Book Awards. Her newest poetry collection Belly to the Brutal (Wesleyan University Press) and novel River Woman, River Demon (Blackstone Publishing) both draw from her practice of brujería. Her poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in The New Republic, The Nation, POETRY, TriQuarterly, The Boston Review, The Rumpus, Salon, and many others. She’s received the Southwest Book Award, New Ohio Review’s Poetry Prize, Phoebe Journal’s Greg Grummer Poetry Prize, the Pinch Journal Poetry Prize, and Cutthroat’s Joy Harjo Poetry Prize. Jenn would love to hear from you at jennifergivhan.com and you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for inspiration, prompts, and real talk about the writing life and publishing world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
July 2, 2019
Calliope, a professor, is driving when she experiences what she thinks is an earthquake. But she finds almost all of the population in her area missing--empty cars litter the highways, her neighbors are gone, as are her husband and son. Taking charge of the six-year-old girl from next door, she embarks on a long and nonsensical road trip. Along the way she encounters people turned to stone, Coyote the Trickster, and some very angry Zuni gods, who appear to be getting revenge on the atomic bomb testing of the 1940s. Throughout, Calliope protests that she's a scientist and that none of this can be real. She also falls in love with a traveling stranger, apparently giving up on ever finding her husband again. But through magic and fighting, Calliope and her fellow travelers are returned to the world they know. This could have been a good read, but the prose is positively purple throughout and horribly overdone; the plot has holes the characters walk through, the "science" Calliope and others cite is mostly BS and badly presented to boot, and the characters have no depth. A good developmental edit could have made this a fun and interesting book, but it's too messy and wordy by half.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2020
Non-native people have a problem with things not being spelled out for them, and always insist on writing everything down. Native people know the power of things unspoken. As a Pueblo woman I can't recommend this book, and I can't express my opinions on it. Unlike Jennifer Givhan, who is obviously a non-Native writer, I know when to say things, and when to keep my mouth shut. All that being said, this book is out for people to read, and I guess it will do the harm that the books this author mentioned in her acknowledgements did. Pueblo people will keep on regardless.
January 16, 2020
This beautiful book is like nothing I’ve ever read, but if I had to compare it to something, I’d say it’s THE LEFTOVERS meets GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW. Calliope Santiago, an anthropologist and college professor, sees a “shock of light� on her drive home, passes out, and when she awakes, it appears as if she’s entered a post-apocalyptic world. Almost everyone has disappeared (including her husband and son), empty cars clog the roads, and the long-dormant volcano near her home is erupting. As Calliope, pregnant with twins, flees for safety, desperate to find her missing family, she joins other survivors, and embarks on a heart-pounding journey across a shifting, impossible landscape, amidst mythic monsters come to life. I loved this book so much. The prose is gorgeous (which is no surprise; I’ve long been a fan of Jennifer Givhan’s poetry), and the story itself is action-packed, perpetually moving and throwing new adventures and obstacles at its characters. I enjoyed how the book grappled with the contradictions—and sometimes intersection—between science and faith, and I loved how the indigenous myth and folklore vividly sprung to life in Givhan’s skillful hands. At its heart, this wildly imaginative, stunningly inventive story is about a woman who comes to know herself—her strength, her place in the world, her connection to her ancestors—and in giving her that journey, Jennifer Givhan has created a fierce and deeply admirable heroine who readers will find difficult to forget.
February 3, 2020
The first novel I've read in years that I simply couldn't put down. Trinity Sight weaves together two genres that are rarely combined. The deep, resonance of Chican(a)(o)(x) and Indigenous and Puebloan storytelling and language meet dystopian sci-fi in a narrative that feels like it truly could be the near future we are currently earning with climate change, technology, and an inability to understand our relationship with both science and the earth.
This is a truly a masterful debut novel by Jennifer Givehan, with perfectly timed and executed plot, pacing, characters, it felt like an Indiana Jones adventure but with a deeper and much broader understanding of cultures and characters. Bonus: amazing use of geography and landscape, artfully moving between fact and mythology to create New Mexico as its' own character in the reader's mind.
This is a truly a masterful debut novel by Jennifer Givehan, with perfectly timed and executed plot, pacing, characters, it felt like an Indiana Jones adventure but with a deeper and much broader understanding of cultures and characters. Bonus: amazing use of geography and landscape, artfully moving between fact and mythology to create New Mexico as its' own character in the reader's mind.
July 9, 2019
Such a beautiful, lyrical book. I’ve never read anything like it and I hope there are more novels from Givhan in the future.
May 24, 2020
Givhan is a Mexican American poet with family ties to the Laguna Pueblo in West-Central New Mexico and in this, her debut novel, she draws heavily on Indigenous storytelling, especially of the Zuni people. This dystopian sci-fi (questionably labeled as Magical Realism) features a pregnant Mexican American anthropologist named Calliope who wakes up following a car accident in a drastically altered world, absent most of its people. She struggles to reconcile her scientific understanding of the world with her unprecedented circumstances, the echoing words of her Acoma Pueblo great-grandmother, and the input of her eventual traveling companions - the strange prophecies of her neighbor girl Eunjoo, and the stories of the Zuni Physics PHD student, Chance, they meet along the way.�
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Opening so ominously and flirting with the horror genre throughout, this book was an exciting and fascinating read. I feel like a lucky person because I’ve unintentionally read two books in a row that draw quantum mechanics into their plots 😊 I can’t speak to the authenticity of the incorporated Indigenous stories, beliefs, and characters, or even to the #ownvoices protagonist, but I will say I adored Calliope, the kind of strong, smart woman too often absent from mainstream dystopian literature, and a Latina PHD and mother to boot. This is an engrossing and ultimately hopeful book about resilience, I highly recommend it unless you’re studiously avoiding all dystopians in the present moment.
Edited to add - this isn't a place where I speak from authority, but I'm increasingly concerned this book doesn't do right by the Indigenous people it represents, and I need to grapple with that as part of my review.
�
Opening so ominously and flirting with the horror genre throughout, this book was an exciting and fascinating read. I feel like a lucky person because I’ve unintentionally read two books in a row that draw quantum mechanics into their plots 😊 I can’t speak to the authenticity of the incorporated Indigenous stories, beliefs, and characters, or even to the #ownvoices protagonist, but I will say I adored Calliope, the kind of strong, smart woman too often absent from mainstream dystopian literature, and a Latina PHD and mother to boot. This is an engrossing and ultimately hopeful book about resilience, I highly recommend it unless you’re studiously avoiding all dystopians in the present moment.
Edited to add - this isn't a place where I speak from authority, but I'm increasingly concerned this book doesn't do right by the Indigenous people it represents, and I need to grapple with that as part of my review.
September 25, 2019
Trinity Sight by Jennifer Givhan is a breathtakingly beautiful story that touched me to my core. Jennifer is a master at weaving our ancient stories, the ones handed down by our great grandmothers, with more recent apocalyptic historical events and with the current modern-day world. Trinity Sight kept me on the edge of my seat with anticipation, speculating about what would happen next and if the heroine would persevere. Jennifer uses poetic, expressive, and descriptive language to create a moving story that will resonate with readers and remain embedded in our hearts and minds for years to come. I certainly hope Jennifer will be gifting us with further examples of her storytelling talent.
June 4, 2020
Trinity Sight is a horror scifi that steals the ground from beneath you, only to hand it back with an entire city built upon it. Twilightzone-esque twists, strong characters (both male and female), a definitive plot, and the use South American lore, give this book an added layer not often seen in science fiction today. Spanish is used throughout, but it is explained either directly or through context clues so non-Spanish speakers are never forced out of the story. Recommended for those who enjoy logical horror with otherworldly elements, slow pacing, and flushed out characters.
January 9, 2020
This book deals with climate change in a compelling and fresh way, exploring the intersection between ancient intuitive wisdom and contemporary academic intellectual distance. It's a post-apocalyptic narrative that feels somehow hopeful; there's a longing in it for a humanity that pays attention, and a tinge of belief that we can learn to do so.
I loved even the characters who frustrated me, and as the book was ending, I found myself wishing it would magically extend by a few chapters. I hope there's a sequel—a whole series. (And honestly, I hope someone picks this up for film.)
I loved even the characters who frustrated me, and as the book was ending, I found myself wishing it would magically extend by a few chapters. I hope there's a sequel—a whole series. (And honestly, I hope someone picks this up for film.)
March 21, 2020
This was the dumbest set of characters I have encountered in a long while. I don't mean silly, just lacking basic intelligence to solve simple problems or to raise fundamental questions. The plot had more holes than Donutland, and the main character's self-ruminations grew tiresome. For a similar approach to SW Native American culture try Rebecca Roanhorse, whose "Sixth World" series is vastly superior. Or read the late Tony Hillerman mysteries, which are far more evocative of both the land and the people.
January 26, 2019
So excited to read this!!!
January 10, 2020
Trinity Sight is a fast-paced, page turning novel from the onset. It is truly fascinating how poet/author, Jennifer Givhan, masterfully weaves indigenous oral-history and ancestral connections into a contemporary apocalyptic setting. It was hard to put down this gripping tale and when I had to, I found myself thinking of the strong, resilient & courageous Calliope & how this magical adventure would play out. What an awesome TV series or movie this novel would make! Highly recommend this thought-provoking and original story.
July 27, 2020
A beautiful, swirling, metamorphic setting that mixes science and faith. A story that perfectly captures the juxtaposition of family traditions/culture and hard facts. But this story recognizes the way the two are intertwined. The way science influences our cultures and practices. The way faith can push our scientific understanding, because science is malleable and changing.
Following Calliope, we enter a strange, apocalyptic New Mexico. We follow her journey as she steps through time and space into the oral traditions of the Pueblo peoples. We follow her as she navigates her modern ideas with the traditions she has been taught.
We also get glimpses into thriving communities of Native people of the southwest, and of a future world pushing them further to their limits.
This story is one of survival, faith, understanding, family and culture. This is a story about consequences, and generational trauma, and above all, always hope.
Following Calliope, we enter a strange, apocalyptic New Mexico. We follow her journey as she steps through time and space into the oral traditions of the Pueblo peoples. We follow her as she navigates her modern ideas with the traditions she has been taught.
We also get glimpses into thriving communities of Native people of the southwest, and of a future world pushing them further to their limits.
This story is one of survival, faith, understanding, family and culture. This is a story about consequences, and generational trauma, and above all, always hope.
February 8, 2020
This book was an enthralling read. The first few chapters set up mysteriously. There was no grounding, which worked for the book because it placed us in the same situation as the protagonist. We were thrown into chaos from the first page and wanted nothing more than to figure out what was happening and how to stop it.
Once I had a footing in the setting, I couldn't put it down. The plot was intense; the turns and surprises twisted my expectations for dystopian novels. The language was sensational and, at times, definitely read like poet-turned-novelist (more poets should write novels).
I appreciated the way the worldbuilding happened in this book: subtlely and over time. I take issues with books that gave genre elements when the genre elements have an extensive backstory that begins early on, or we cannot grasp one part of the world before we move into another aspect. This book avoids all of that and masterfully pulls you more and more into a reality that is unlike any you might have expected.
Also, I love seeing moms as protagonists. And I especially loved seeing a mom pregnant with twins as a protagonist. We don't see this often and it feels good to read about other moms in a dystopian world. Like, moms would kick ass in dystopians. Why aren't there more as protagonists in dystopians?
Once I had a footing in the setting, I couldn't put it down. The plot was intense; the turns and surprises twisted my expectations for dystopian novels. The language was sensational and, at times, definitely read like poet-turned-novelist (more poets should write novels).
I appreciated the way the worldbuilding happened in this book: subtlely and over time. I take issues with books that gave genre elements when the genre elements have an extensive backstory that begins early on, or we cannot grasp one part of the world before we move into another aspect. This book avoids all of that and masterfully pulls you more and more into a reality that is unlike any you might have expected.
Also, I love seeing moms as protagonists. And I especially loved seeing a mom pregnant with twins as a protagonist. We don't see this often and it feels good to read about other moms in a dystopian world. Like, moms would kick ass in dystopians. Why aren't there more as protagonists in dystopians?
August 4, 2022
A roller-coaster ride into the magical world of the Ancients, what is there not to like in this amazing book? Striking poetic descriptions yet a gripping page-turner that will keep you awake all night, and filled with emotions as you cannot help but empathize with all the wonderful characters: Calliope, pregnant with twins and pining for her lost family; Chance, the Zuni Indian who's more of a man than anyone she's ever met before; the little Korean girl-next-door who becomes like a daughter for Calliope; Amy, the brash young woman who's a dancer and knows how to fly planes; Mara, the scientist's daughter who witnessed the first nuclear explosion at Trinity Site (hence the title).
This is the kind of book that makes you think long after you've reached the end: It's many things, an exploration of parallel worlds but it is also a strong reminder that we should pay more attention to this one: Indigenous people cannot be overlooked or ignored, they are rich in the kind of knowledge the West has lost. We ignore them at our own risk. But this is not a novel that lectures, it's always and at all times hugely entertaining, strong storytelling and a remarkable poetic ability to express feelings, to draw the reader in. An experience not to be missed.
This is the kind of book that makes you think long after you've reached the end: It's many things, an exploration of parallel worlds but it is also a strong reminder that we should pay more attention to this one: Indigenous people cannot be overlooked or ignored, they are rich in the kind of knowledge the West has lost. We ignore them at our own risk. But this is not a novel that lectures, it's always and at all times hugely entertaining, strong storytelling and a remarkable poetic ability to express feelings, to draw the reader in. An experience not to be missed.
November 1, 2020
I originally I picked this book up because it was a “Staff Pick� and because of the ‘rona I didn’t want to pick it up and put it back. I didn’t read the back or anything. You can imagine my surprise when I was quarantining/vacationing in my home town of Santa Fe when I started to read it and it was a strong female lead, Apocalypse, folk lore story. I really loved parts one and two of the story, I felt the action and camaraderie really pushed the book forward. I also speak Spanish which definitely made the read smoother.
I felt the last part was a bit disconnected from the first two parts but perhaps that’s why it was separated into a three part book.
I really enjoyed this book, it was original, gripping, an excellent, if apocalyptic, view into New Mexico Culture. That said I probably liked it more because I know about the myriad of nations and cultures in NM. I speak Spanish. I am familiar with the Kokopelli and Native stories. If you are not familiar with these things hopefully this book can still entertain you or inspire you to learn more about these fascinating cultures.
I felt the last part was a bit disconnected from the first two parts but perhaps that’s why it was separated into a three part book.
I really enjoyed this book, it was original, gripping, an excellent, if apocalyptic, view into New Mexico Culture. That said I probably liked it more because I know about the myriad of nations and cultures in NM. I speak Spanish. I am familiar with the Kokopelli and Native stories. If you are not familiar with these things hopefully this book can still entertain you or inspire you to learn more about these fascinating cultures.
November 4, 2019
The central idea of this novel has a tremendous amount of potential. The Zuni gods return to reclaim their lands. And the first part of the novel as three women attempt to navigate an empty and disturbing world around them is brilliant. The three women - Calliope, Amy, and Eunjoo - all bring different strengths and weaknesses to their quest to reunite with their disappeared loved ones.
But then Chance shows up to guide the way. Ironically, this is where the novel, itself, loses its narrative way. The action comes quick and brutal, as the Zuni gods pursue and attack with merciless intensity. As does the central mystery of the great disappearance of all the people and places that populated these character's lives. A few incidental characters are introduced to provide victims and background.
By the last third of the novel, the story really falls apart. And the ultimate resolution is tacked on and terrible. Overall, a great idea but fails in the the execution.
But then Chance shows up to guide the way. Ironically, this is where the novel, itself, loses its narrative way. The action comes quick and brutal, as the Zuni gods pursue and attack with merciless intensity. As does the central mystery of the great disappearance of all the people and places that populated these character's lives. A few incidental characters are introduced to provide victims and background.
By the last third of the novel, the story really falls apart. And the ultimate resolution is tacked on and terrible. Overall, a great idea but fails in the the execution.
October 21, 2019
I predict this fantastic novel will sweep the New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards and land on a best-seller list familiar to you. The poet in me fell for the lyrical language, the bibliophile fell for the plot complexity, the sci-fantasy reader in me fell for the unique plot, so rare in this genre, the humanitarian in me fell for the delicious, hardy, thoroughly believable characters.
I know its a cliché but clichés happen because they are a repeated truth;
I) I could not put Trinity Sight down and I bet you won't be able to either.
II) It is a must read for all book lovers and a double must read for people of the Southwest, people living in multi-cultural communities, people who understand the importance of myth and myth making, people who love magical realism. Just get this book.
I know its a cliché but clichés happen because they are a repeated truth;
I) I could not put Trinity Sight down and I bet you won't be able to either.
II) It is a must read for all book lovers and a double must read for people of the Southwest, people living in multi-cultural communities, people who understand the importance of myth and myth making, people who love magical realism. Just get this book.
December 9, 2019
Jenn Givhan weaves indigenous (Puebloan and Zuni) history, mythology, storytelling and culture in this spiritual and end-of-times journey by a strong Mexican-American woman. I loved Givhan's ability to tell a urgent apocalyptic story--frighteningly plausible based on our environmental crisis--and has the reader ask deeper questions about how we relate to one another, how we lose or regain ancestral knowledge, and how we can find our way back home after living a life bereft of community and live-giving ancestral gifts taken from us through capitalism, modernity, and assimilation. This novel is brilliant, complex, and belongs on the shelf with Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Victor LaValle, and Octavia Butler. I can't wait to read more novels by Givhan.
December 10, 2022
This book was very moving to me. The relationship between the main characters, in spite of the wild and unpredictable environment they face, shows a deep understanding of how humans express affection for one another in these conditions. Many elements brought to mind my own relationship to my own mother and family, including my spiritual ancestry, in a way that is very relevant and powerful to today's society. I think we all could more frequently remember how powerful our love is as a force in the universe, and this book made me feel motivated to do good in this spirit. Lastly, the inclusion of the natural environment as a powerful character in the narrative was a fascinating literary element that added a lot to the story as a whole.
August 14, 2020
**3.5 stars**
My best friend told me this was one of the books she wishes more people would read. I understand why.
This is truly a new take on the apocalypse. Calliope is not the easiest character to like. I excused a lot of it since she was separated from her family, clearly overwhelmed, AND heavily pregnant with twins.
I've never read anything like this. Jennifer Givhan's descriptions truly brought things to life.
My best friend told me this was one of the books she wishes more people would read. I understand why.
This is truly a new take on the apocalypse. Calliope is not the easiest character to like. I excused a lot of it since she was separated from her family, clearly overwhelmed, AND heavily pregnant with twins.
I've never read anything like this. Jennifer Givhan's descriptions truly brought things to life.
April 17, 2021
I like to read books cold - the less I know the better. I was immediately caught off guard - this book is describing my neighborhood! Trinity Sight was a beautiful book (although sometimes I had to put it down, because I'm easily scared.)
June 15, 2021
A post-apocalyptic horror story? Another Stephen King wannabe? But, hey, as we know, there is only one Stephen King, EVER, and sometimes even Stephen King isn’t Stephen King. Now I do not think that emulating the Master was Jennifer Givhan’s intention, but still, you know. On the other hand, I never did fully grasp just what Ms. Givhan’s intentions were, though I know she had some. It’s just that the formulaic nature of this genre kept shouting to be heard. However, the lady does entertain and, as often as not, that’s quite enough.
Blinding flashes, an assumed nuclear incident, and, poof! . . . everyone’s gone. Cars and homes abandoned like the Rapture. Well, most everyone. Calliope, a Ph.D. archaeologist and hugely pregnant with twins, begins that obligatory trek/journey/quest in search of missing family � her mother, husband, and son, Phoenix. She is accompanied by the small Asian girl from next door, a six-year-old seer/clairvoyant/visionary, and, along the way they meet others wandering in the desert. They’re joined by Amy who is delightful, my hands-down favorite, a heavily tattooed young lady working her way through college as an exotic dancer who, it so happens, can also fly a plane. A plane will come in handy when those monstrous kachina dolls appear, and wouldn’t you know there’s a wee yellow one right over there. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check!
But hold up! Calliope needs a………a what, a circus? No, silly, she needs a man. With a rifle. Handsome Native American physicist named Chance Guardian. Now please put the appellation anvil away, Ms. Givhan, ‘cause we get it, but damn right and check anyway. I hope he shows up for my apocalypse, but if he does I don’t want to be preggers, and I’ll just call him Cousin Bob. So they’re off. On Chance’s home reservation they discover that they had it backward all along. Alternate realities, parallel universes, you know - of course, and check!
So is there any merit here, or am I just being a curmudgeon? Both, I think, but for sure, I’m being a curmudgeon. It’s way more fun that way. While this first novel surely could be improved, that’s true more often than not, and this one keeps you reading. Future plans, Ms. Givhan? I’d like to see you give it another go.
Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley. I would like to thank the publisher and the author for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.
Blinding flashes, an assumed nuclear incident, and, poof! . . . everyone’s gone. Cars and homes abandoned like the Rapture. Well, most everyone. Calliope, a Ph.D. archaeologist and hugely pregnant with twins, begins that obligatory trek/journey/quest in search of missing family � her mother, husband, and son, Phoenix. She is accompanied by the small Asian girl from next door, a six-year-old seer/clairvoyant/visionary, and, along the way they meet others wandering in the desert. They’re joined by Amy who is delightful, my hands-down favorite, a heavily tattooed young lady working her way through college as an exotic dancer who, it so happens, can also fly a plane. A plane will come in handy when those monstrous kachina dolls appear, and wouldn’t you know there’s a wee yellow one right over there. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check!
But hold up! Calliope needs a………a what, a circus? No, silly, she needs a man. With a rifle. Handsome Native American physicist named Chance Guardian. Now please put the appellation anvil away, Ms. Givhan, ‘cause we get it, but damn right and check anyway. I hope he shows up for my apocalypse, but if he does I don’t want to be preggers, and I’ll just call him Cousin Bob. So they’re off. On Chance’s home reservation they discover that they had it backward all along. Alternate realities, parallel universes, you know - of course, and check!
So is there any merit here, or am I just being a curmudgeon? Both, I think, but for sure, I’m being a curmudgeon. It’s way more fun that way. While this first novel surely could be improved, that’s true more often than not, and this one keeps you reading. Future plans, Ms. Givhan? I’d like to see you give it another go.
Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided to me by Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley. I would like to thank the publisher and the author for providing me this opportunity. All opinions expressed herein are my own.
November 22, 2024
it took a bit of time to get into. but i liked this one! it was definitely cool to learn about a whole diff culture thru a book! we love reading for that! and the sci fi elements are ALWAYS a bonus for me tbh ❤️ well written and engaging plot !
June 29, 2020
Calliope awakens after what she suspects is an earthquake, and everything that is supposed to be, isn't. She can't find her family, in fact, there aren't many people around at all with the exception of her neighbor's daughter Eunjoo. Eunjoo seems to know a lot for a 6-year-old, but Calliope spends a lot of time placating her rather than actually listening to her.
Then there's Mara, who is desperately looking for her girlfriend Trudy, who is Calliope's aunt. She's running into a lot of the same thing's Calliope is. The only difference is this is something that has happened to Mara before, several decades previous. Both women must fight to stay alive in an ever-changing world and find a way to return to their families.
So I didn't care much for Calliope. I understand that she's a scientist and that her beliefs are rooted in facts, but when you're faced with situation after situation of the unbelievable, there comes a point when you have to accept that your previous truths no longer apply. I also didn't much care for how Givhan felt the need to always point out race, "middle-aged white man" and "embraced the white girl", and on, it just wasn't needed, especially after we had already met these people.
When I take out the few things I didn't like, there is a lot to like in Trinity Sight. I especially loved Eunjoo and her ability to look beyond, she was wise beyond her years and made for an exceptional character. The book is steeped in Zuni folklore, and its story and ending are based around the belief that the lore is more than just that. It blends science and lore in a magical and fantastical tale, that once you're ready to believe, becomes believable. The writing was excellent and the story was well told.
Then there's Mara, who is desperately looking for her girlfriend Trudy, who is Calliope's aunt. She's running into a lot of the same thing's Calliope is. The only difference is this is something that has happened to Mara before, several decades previous. Both women must fight to stay alive in an ever-changing world and find a way to return to their families.
So I didn't care much for Calliope. I understand that she's a scientist and that her beliefs are rooted in facts, but when you're faced with situation after situation of the unbelievable, there comes a point when you have to accept that your previous truths no longer apply. I also didn't much care for how Givhan felt the need to always point out race, "middle-aged white man" and "embraced the white girl", and on, it just wasn't needed, especially after we had already met these people.
When I take out the few things I didn't like, there is a lot to like in Trinity Sight. I especially loved Eunjoo and her ability to look beyond, she was wise beyond her years and made for an exceptional character. The book is steeped in Zuni folklore, and its story and ending are based around the belief that the lore is more than just that. It blends science and lore in a magical and fantastical tale, that once you're ready to believe, becomes believable. The writing was excellent and the story was well told.
May 29, 2020
After a bright flash leads to a traffic accident, Anthropologist Calliope Santiago awakens to find herself alone amongst the abandoned vehicles littering the road. Heavily pregnant with twins with no cell service, Calliope must find her way home to her husband and son on what has become a strange and sinister wasteland where everyone has disappeared.
One by one, Calliope stumbles across fellow survivors that ban together to find answers and confront the violent inhabitants and mythical creatures that inhabit their new reality. With the stories of her grandmother's native people coming to life around her, science-minded Calliope must reconcile her new experiences with the heritage she once denied if she wants to survive and safely deliver her unborn babies.
Steeped in the traditions of the native people of New Mexico, and immersed in the oral history tradition, Trinity Sight seamlessly navigates the science versus faith question while delving our characters into the debate on personal identity and modern habits versus ancestral connections and heritage. Engrossed in Calliope's journey as she struggles to deal with the stories from her grandmother becoming real and her scientific knowledge of the world, readers are taken on a magical journey that ended much too quickly.
One by one, Calliope stumbles across fellow survivors that ban together to find answers and confront the violent inhabitants and mythical creatures that inhabit their new reality. With the stories of her grandmother's native people coming to life around her, science-minded Calliope must reconcile her new experiences with the heritage she once denied if she wants to survive and safely deliver her unborn babies.
Steeped in the traditions of the native people of New Mexico, and immersed in the oral history tradition, Trinity Sight seamlessly navigates the science versus faith question while delving our characters into the debate on personal identity and modern habits versus ancestral connections and heritage. Engrossed in Calliope's journey as she struggles to deal with the stories from her grandmother becoming real and her scientific knowledge of the world, readers are taken on a magical journey that ended much too quickly.
December 6, 2019
Loved it!
This is a gripping tale that digs deep at the crossroads of myth, science, and philosophy. The author's poetic gifts shine through in creating characters that are not only memorable but so easy to develop a deep love for: Eunjoo, Amy, Chance, Mara. The only character that grated on my nerves was the protagonist herself, Calliope... and only because I so profoundly identifiedwith her. That doctor in anthropology character hit uncomfortably close to home for this doctor in sociology!
Trinity Sight tells a heartrending story about human pain and hope, rooted in the gorgeousness of southwestern Indigenous and Nuevo Mexicana sensibilities. I'm grateful to Jennifer Givhan for gifting us a very pregnant (and allegorical) action hero who manages to transform from an individual whose brilliant analytical mind keeps her disconnected from myth and physicality, into the embodiment and birther of a new communal body, intellect, spirit, and future. In the course of reading this powerfully told story, I grew to deeply cherish Calliope and, in turn, to cherish myself (and us humans) a bit more.
This is a gripping tale that digs deep at the crossroads of myth, science, and philosophy. The author's poetic gifts shine through in creating characters that are not only memorable but so easy to develop a deep love for: Eunjoo, Amy, Chance, Mara. The only character that grated on my nerves was the protagonist herself, Calliope... and only because I so profoundly identifiedwith her. That doctor in anthropology character hit uncomfortably close to home for this doctor in sociology!
Trinity Sight tells a heartrending story about human pain and hope, rooted in the gorgeousness of southwestern Indigenous and Nuevo Mexicana sensibilities. I'm grateful to Jennifer Givhan for gifting us a very pregnant (and allegorical) action hero who manages to transform from an individual whose brilliant analytical mind keeps her disconnected from myth and physicality, into the embodiment and birther of a new communal body, intellect, spirit, and future. In the course of reading this powerfully told story, I grew to deeply cherish Calliope and, in turn, to cherish myself (and us humans) a bit more.
October 2, 2020
I really, really wanted to like this more than I did. The strong points of TRINITY SIGHT lie in its ties to Puebloan mythology and oral storytelling....and largely ended there for me. The characters all fell flat, and Calliope in particular became annoying by the end of the book. Her stubbornness + science-based view, intended to be the foil for Chance's more open-minded point of view, end up being a huge turn off. The thing that's fascinating about dangerously stubborn characters for me is the learning curve they go through and sacrifices they make, and Calliope just. never. learned—and the people around her suffered because of it. The other characters felt two-dimensional for me. Plot was okay, with the help of the mythology ties—the world is ending!! where is my family!! can only lend itself to so much nuance. The ending was wishy-washy—no complicated tie-ups here. By the time I realized I wasn't a fan, I was at the point where I just wanted to push through and finish. Come for the mythology, stay for the...well, I guess I would tell you that you don't have to stay. Bummer.
February 26, 2020
EDIT: I am SO glad that I revisited this book after having technical issues with my ARC last summer. This book was incredible. It's an expansive journey and yet an intimate perspective. It put me through the ringer emotionally, and it was such an interesting look at a culture that I'm really unfamiliar with. Right now I'm just so interested in learning about ancestral lands, reconciling historical accounts, and wrestling with faith and truth. This gives you all of that, including compelling characters to root for.
I DNFed this book, but it feels incredibly unfair to rate it because for some reason, my PDF/arc was difficult to view. I got a rainbow wheel every time I tried to read it, and there were parts of the PDF I couldn't view. I definitely want to read this book, though. Hope to pick up a physical copy when I can. :/
I DNFed this book, but it feels incredibly unfair to rate it because for some reason, my PDF/arc was difficult to view. I got a rainbow wheel every time I tried to read it, and there were parts of the PDF I couldn't view. I definitely want to read this book, though. Hope to pick up a physical copy when I can. :/
March 12, 2021
When I read a book this is what I'm looking for. This tale was so beautiful, complicated, historic, and well researched. The characters were fleshed out and alive. Every line was magic.
I love the names this author chooses for her characters as well. They are like music.
The book starts off with a literal bang and our professor protagonist is alone, completely, in an abandoned world. She saves, or is saved by, a neighbor child she hadn't really known before. Together they go out to find the few other survivors of whatever catastrophe caused that bang.
There are storms, earthquakes, and ancient gods. There is a sustainable farm and a reservation and the important abandoned gas station with roving animals (a need in any apocalyptic novel).
There is also romance and new friends.
You want to read this book. Trust me.
I love the names this author chooses for her characters as well. They are like music.
The book starts off with a literal bang and our professor protagonist is alone, completely, in an abandoned world. She saves, or is saved by, a neighbor child she hadn't really known before. Together they go out to find the few other survivors of whatever catastrophe caused that bang.
There are storms, earthquakes, and ancient gods. There is a sustainable farm and a reservation and the important abandoned gas station with roving animals (a need in any apocalyptic novel).
There is also romance and new friends.
You want to read this book. Trust me.
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