The Other Valley
Reddit take
Not enough linked mention summaries yet; the source excerpts below are the evidence.
Pros
- My favorite novels from 2024, in order: - The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard (hard mode!)
- Some that you might feel have a similar vibe: The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
- Read this for 2024 bingo and LOVED it! Very glad to see others picking it up, it's so well-written and crafted. Timey-wimey books are not usually my thing but this was such an interesting take on the concept.
- This book is so good!!!!! I'm so glad you loved it!! It's still my #1 pick for "novel from 2024 that made me think the most"
- The Other Valley wasn't on my radar at all until it starting coming up repeatedly by reviewers I trust on this sub... I ended up binge reading it over the course of 3 days in the middle of an already very crowded weekend. ... this book i...
Cons
- I liked reading about the Conseil vetting program -- those sections were tense and provided interesting food for thought. On the other hand, the romantic subplot didn't work for me. ... I was also a bit bored overall, and now that Odile...
- I’ve read the first half, and it’s fine, but what’s bugging me is that this is such an imaginative idea for a setting and yet it’s completely underutilized. I don’t understand why the only thing people use the other valleys for is to loo...
- The no quotation marks stuff didn't bother me because I'm listening to the audiobook. The tradeoff is that I don't particularly like the narrator's voice, so IDK if that's worth it.
- I honestly found it pretty boring so far. Apparently I don't find this lit fic style coming of age story to be very interesting (I think if I'm going to read a book that's literary leaning spec fic, I need it to be a bit more experimenta...
- I'm enjoying everything except the author's cursed decision to write dialogue without any marks to distinguish it from narration. 100% would not have purchased the book if I knew, I deeply hate this style.
Sentiment
9 positive (60%) · 3 mixed (20%) · 3 negative (20%)
Trust + time weighted score: +42% · raw score 40%
What redditors said (10 of 15)
My favorite novels from 2024, in order: - The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard (hard mode!)
Some that you might feel have a similar vibe: The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
I liked reading about the Conseil vetting program -- those sections were tense and provided interesting food for thought. On the other hand, the romantic subplot didn't work for me. ... I was also a bit bored overall, and now that Odile quit Conseil training I'm not sure if I want to continue.
I’ve read the first half, and it’s fine, but what’s bugging me is that this is such an imaginative idea for a setting and yet it’s completely underutilized. I don’t understand why the only thing people use the other valleys for is to look at people who’ve died. In fact, that seems like one of the least helpful things you could do with it.
The no quotation marks stuff didn't bother me because I'm listening to the audiobook. The tradeoff is that I don't particularly like the narrator's voice, so IDK if that's worth it.
I honestly found it pretty boring so far. Apparently I don't find this lit fic style coming of age story to be very interesting (I think if I'm going to read a book that's literary leaning spec fic, I need it to be a bit more experimental). Not a lot was going on here besides basic coming of age stuff
I'm enjoying everything except the author's cursed decision to write dialogue without any marks to distinguish it from narration. 100% would not have purchased the book if I knew, I deeply hate this style.
Read this for 2024 bingo and LOVED it! Very glad to see others picking it up, it's so well-written and crafted. Timey-wimey books are not usually my thing but this was such an interesting take on the concept.
This book is so good!!!!! I'm so glad you loved it!! It's still my #1 pick for "novel from 2024 that made me think the most"
Avoid if You Dislike: Time travel that makes very little sense when you pick it apart, fast-paced novels... I anticipate that many readers will have problems related to the worldbuilding and time travel elements, which don't particularly hold up under any amount of scrutiny (it rarely does I think, but this book is especially hand-waivy).
Compare
The Other Valley vs 11/22/63The Other Valley vs Project Hail MaryThe Other Valley vs The Gone World
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