#under the pendulum sun

[liesmyth]

I looked up under the pendulum sun and I think you might give me brainworms from just reading a little about it

I really recommend it! the shortest way I can describe it is “Victorian Christian missionaries in Faerieland” and it's exactly as unhinged as you'd expect from that tagline. It's a great gothic creepy pastiche, with fantastic fantasy worldbuilding, wonderfully inhuman Fae (cruel! uncaring! hot!) ft. some religious Christian imagery and criticism of missionaries as a concept. It's very #aesthetic and reads like a fever dream. There IS an incest ship but it's only the second most fucked up ship in the book (heroine/Fae Queen is even ✨ worse)

It's not without its flaws but it's one of those books that make me go “this is weird, I haven't read anything like it” which is always a big plus sign in my books

[poetfromthevoid]

Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun (2017) Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Tales and Poems (2007).

[explodingsilver]

Something I wonder, but am too afraid to investigate, is how many of the negative reviews for Under the Pendulum Sun are because of the story's wack-ass pacing (valid complaint) and how many are people being offended that this gothic novel contains gothic elements.

[horror-thriller-brackets]

Propaganda:

Under the Pendulum Sun: The story is set in the 19th century, about a sister on a quest into the land of the fae to find her missing brother, who's a missionary trying to convert them to christianity. But the fae have plans of their own, while the siblings themselves struggle to resist their intense feelings for one another. They're dripping in tension and gothic flare, and SPOILER ALERT- they have a rare happy ending.

[familyromantic]

First submission for the contest from an anonymous!

Hi there, this is my submission for your competition.

My ship is Cathy and Laon, the sister and brother couple from the novel 'Under the Pendulum Sun'.

Beyond just adoring their dynamic, I would love to see them win because there is absolutely no fan art of them whatsoever. The only image of them is on the book's cover but it doesn't line up at all with how they're described in the story itself.

How to describe them- Cathy is a woman in 19th century England on a quest to find her lost beloved brother Laon, a preacher who went on a missionary expedition to convert the legendary fae lands to christianity and hasn't been heard from in some time.

Imagine the gothic deliciousness of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Crimson Peak, etc, but with the fantasy and horror of the fae sprinkled in.

The siblings themselves are dripping in angst, yearning, possessiveness, shame, and intense passion, unable to discern what is fully real yet never losing sight of their love and lust for one another.

There is a scene about midway through, when their tension is reaching boiling point, that the Queen of Fae (who has been shipping them the whole time and been plotting to get them together) arranges a masquerade ball- during which all of the illusions cast on the supernatural denizens is lifted, including on a special dress gifted to Cathy by the Queen. As the true natures of everyone is revealed, so too are the siblings, practically naked and ravenous for one another and barely able to stop themselves from fully crossing that line.

The story is also an intriguing commentary and criticism of religious oppression, social hypocrisy, and imperialism.

The so called "civilised society" of the British Empire that commits atrocity on the regular will demonise them, will never accept them or their love, yet the supposedly barbaric Hell they are in and actual demonic beings will welcome them as family.

So Cathy and Laon willingly choose a hell which will allow them to be happy together, than a misery alone in so called paradise.

[gwenthebard]

The inherent homoeroticism asking another woman to feed you while you knit and vent to her

[toby-du-coeur]

Morality, Redemption & Mirrors in 'Under the Pendulum Sun'

My stream of consciousness after I read this book {it'll make more sense if you've read it, which i 1000% recommend with the caveat of the tw}

full spoilers

tw: [consensual between adults] incest

From an Amazon review - "Under the Pendulum Sun is the story of sinners, pressed into a world where maybe those sins don't count the same way, among creatures who may or may not even have souls to save". I'm trying to pick apart the book's ambiguous ending.... It seems like in the world of the story, whatever is between the Helstones is genuine love, is consensual, and is their truest true nature {as revealed by the trickery of the fae, that's kind of the whole point}. And whether or not they choose to live together as a couple.... their love now is revealed as what it is; it can't be taken back.

Now given the foundational texts of THIS world {with Adam rejecting his equal 'sibling' Lilith for an even more incest-y Eve & this causing the outcasting of the fae}, the Helstones' love should be good as Mab says, and should be a redemptive recapitulation of that original act - especially given that they are called to fairyland/hell. By lies & trickery Mab has given them the truth of love, rather than their living a false life in the human world. They in their forbidden nature & desires belong more to the fae order, so that it is the fae who have first redeemed them - a humility that makes them in turn the perfect missionaries. {It won't be this prideful holier-than-thou colonialism. With the translation of the Enochian book that places the fae within Christianity, the Helstones can offer the fae's own story back to them - just as the fae have offered Cathy & Laon's own hearts to them. It is an equal exchange of gifts.}

From the perspective of the fae, they've given these humans the redemptive gift of a new Eden. To the humans, they've committed the worst sin. And both parties agree that it is this action that makes the Helstones suited to bring the fae into Christianity. It is both sin and redemption, like Christ dying accursed {except this 'cross' is about the love of two rather than the death of one, which *chef's kiss*}. Because this is the harrowing of a new hell, and to bring in the margins always requires scandalising, challenging and changing the ways of the centre.

The Helstones are juxtaposed with the Roches. The Roches were a clean, straight cishet Christian couple on the outside - and yet the spirit of their love was about power, abuse, secrets & [corrupting] knowledge. He lured her to Arcadia, used her and drove her mad, so she killed him. They failed the test of Arcadia. {p.s. this was patently the husband's fault, what a dick} Cath & Laon are a sinful and scandalous kind of couple on the outside, yet their love is pure and honest so that they pass the test of Arcadia. The Roches saw the mirror and tore each other apart; Cathy and Leon see the mirror and love.

[pyrrhic-corona]

Just finished Under the Pendulum Sun

It was a very different sort of book. I think I liked it? But it was so confusing and sad sometimes, I feel like I’m still processing through it. I absolutely adored the world building though, I love a fey story that emphasizes both their beauty and monstrosity.

[shipcestuous]

Have you read Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeanette Ng? It's a Victorian gothic fantasy novel, and the incest is between the two main protagonists, Catherine and Laon, who are brother and sister. They end up together. Also, The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements has incest as well, again between the two main protagonists, only they are half siblings, and the heroine only finds out after they sleep together. Unfortunately, he gets shot at the end and dies.

I'm a bad incest blogger because I haven't read Under the Pendulum Sun yet. I know it will be great, I've heard so many good things. That is one I will definitely read

It's so funny you mentioned that at this time because I was reading this article about AI art generators from Gizmodo. The author of the article mentions that he has just read Under the Pendulum Sun and uses the prompt ��A man and woman stand under a pendulum sun in the heart of Arcadia.” to test the generators. So the article is full of incest fanart. Here are some of the best ones (the first of three in each case):

Re: The Coffin Path, this is the first I'm hearing of it so it's very exciting to have some new canon to add to the lists! Thank you!

[liesmyth]

I just finished Under the Pendulum Sun from after your reccomendation and:

1- this books fucking amazing, and like, the ending felt a little ruahed but this is still probably entering my top 3 books

2- Modern AU Mab must have the most unethical RPF game, girl takes shipping to an extreme (like 50% a joke)

I'M SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT!! Gothic pastiche freaky book my beloved <3 Mab is sooo hot. modern AU Mab would be the producer of one of those dating shows (think the bachelor) except she runs them like the stamford prison experiment

[poetfromthevoid]

For Why? indicates that we do not know the reason for a thing—that we are ignorant; and ignorance proves nothing—it proves only that you’re ignorant.

Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun (2017).

[cabbagequeen323]

@siena-sevenwits

I don't believe we're mutuals, but can I recommend 'Under the Pendulum Sun' by Jeannette Ng? It's a Victorian Gothic novel about a universe where fairyland is discovered by the British Empire, who proceed to attempt to evangelize them. The main character's brother was the first missionary and disappeared and she travels to find him. It's not actually very religious, despite the premise, but it is creepy and deeply weird and one of my all time favorite books.

Spooky but not really all that terrifying book recs, O my mutuals with good taste in books? (that includes you, yes, you)

[bethrnoora]

it's so difficult to be very into fae shit and folktales in the age of internet tryhardism

[alintalzin]

I agree. Such a fantastic book.

book review: Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun (2017)

Genre: Gothic fantasy

Is it the main pairing: Yes

Is it canon: Yes

Is it explicit: No

Is it endgame: Yes

Is it shippable: It is lit

Bottom line: HOW IS THIS BOOK EVEN REAL. When they put me in the ground I hope they bury me with a copy of this book so I can read it in the afterlife.

Miss Catherine Helstone, a clergyman’s daughter, sets sail for the infidel lands where her brother Laon is a missionary and from whence his letters home have grown increasingly cryptic and erratic. The twist is, he’s not spreading the Good Word in India or Africa or the New World — he’s in Fairie asdfgkkjkdfjdk. Catherine hasn’t seen him in three years. She’s so worried about him that she strong-arms the Missionary Society of London into bankrolling her ticket to Arcadia, on the grounds that the previous guy who held the post met a messy & mysterious end, and she is the properest person to prevent the same fate befalling Laon. Because she’s highkey in love with him. Well, that revelation takes half the book to unfold, however the opening line is “My brother and I grew up dreaming of new worlds.” For the first 25% of the book she doesn’t even lay eyes on Laon, she just shows up in Arcadia and stays in his house while he’s gone on some unspecified errand. And what a house it is.

I feel like I’ve spent my whole life reading about impossibly grand, potentially sentient haunted houses. Such houses are drenched in secrets. You need a first-person narrator to really experience the affect of the house, preferably someone who’s unfamiliar with the setting and disoriented by the mind games it plays: Jane Eyre in Mr. Rochester’s house leaps to mind. Jane Eyre btw nearly marries her first cousin to take up the missionary life with him (before deciding to go back to Rochester). See, the reason Jane’s cousin proposed to her was because ties of blood were thought to be not strong enough to bind—when you’re out in the field converting heathens you need an acknowledged romantic attachment. So the fact that Cathy follows her brother to Arcadia tells you everything about how important he is to her. She would have followed him to perdition. Think of that immortal Sylvia Plath quote: I love him to hell and back and heaven and back, and have and do and will.

To return to the subject of incest in haunted houses: The Fall of the House of Usher? Atmospheric, creepy af, but the implied relationship is presented decidedly unsympathetically. The Thirteenth Tale? The incest is canon but you are not supposed to be rooting for the incestuous couple. Crimson Peak? She’s mentally ill and it’s not even the fucked-up kind of shippable a la Jaime/Cersei. Flowers in the Attic? Shippable, but the dubious consent squicks me out. A Spell of Winter? Comes closest, in that they were 100% in love, but it was a situational in love if you know what I mean—where is my tormented passion with 200 pages of obsessive pining??? Now do you see why I lost my fucking mind when I read Under the Pendulum Sun? I have been waiting for this book for MY ENTIRE GODDAMN LIFE.

Keep reading

[1000-year-old-virgin]

Books I’ve Read In 2022

This year I read the average amount of books I usually do. I was so touched to read my first book with a LGBTQ+ protagonist. It's embarrassing that it took my library so long to provide access to characters/books connected to the LGBTQ+ community.

But yeah this year was amazing for inclusivity. Most of the books had main characters from the Black community and the LGBTQ+ community.

1. Ariah - B. R. Sanders

A touching LGBTQ+ fantasy that reflects our real life society issues and fantastical issues while displaying a collection of identities.

2. Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James

This is an amazing Afrocentric fantasy book. Never before have I read a fantasy that focused on Africa instead of the typical European medieval setting with a LGBTQ+ protagonist.

It's written well but a lot of parts were tough to read because they were so disturbing but if you have the guts to read past those parts then its an amazing read that I couldn't put down.

3. Hollow Kingdom - Kira Jane Buxton

Fun! Couldn't put this book down. Love reading books with animal protagonist.

4. The Good Luck Girls - Charlotte Nicole Davis

Thrilling fantasy book with a Black female lead and LGBTQ+ representation.

5. Under the Pendulum Sun : a novel of the Fae - Jeannette Ng

6. Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant

A Tense horror/Sci-Fi book with a LGBTQ+ lead protagonist. I also appreciate the X-Men references that are peppered throughout the book.

7. A Gathering of Old Men - Ernest J. Gaines

A book similar to "To Kill A Mocking Bird" that brought out so many emotions. Mostly of rage and deep sadness. Excellent book but definitely hard to read sometimes. I loved it so much though and I'm actually planning on watching the movie now.

8. Lord of the White Hell, Book 1 - Ginn Hale

Another LGBTQ+ lead book in the fantasy genre that takes place at an academy. Loved this book and I'm so excited to read part 2.

9. X-men Chaos Engine: Doctor Doom

10. X-men Chaos Engine: Magneto

11. X-men Chaos Engine: Red Skull

Steven A. Roman

Psylocke is the main character in this trilogy! Nuff said! Plus, they're one of the best X-Men books I've ever read. I must confess this is my second round of reading them and I don't usually read books more than once in my life.

[liesmyth]

ok i have to say thank you for recommending under the pendulum sun because it was amazing but also fuck you because i have no idea if ng is writing a sequel or not and i CRAVE ONE… my brain is so filled with thoughts abt the delightfully fucked up fairyland they cooked up

aaah I'm so happy you enjoyed it! it's SO delightfully fucked up