New Book Alert: Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality (Overture for the Overawed) by Francessca Bella; Descriptive Character Driven Science Fiction Novel Goes Deceptively Deep Into Concepts of Heroism and Belief
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Stop me if you heard this one: a young woman leads a rebellion, fights a dictatorship, and finds the courage within herself to become the heroine that her people need. She becomes the leader of her new community and obtains legendary, almost mythical status.
Well, on the surface Francessca Bella's novel, Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality Overture for the Overawed, appears to be that kind of book about that kind of heroine. But if you look deeper, you will see more meaning behind the book. You will see the human being behind the legend.
The heroine that has achieved legendary status after her rebellious heroism is Calista Soleil who is the Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality (say that five times fast). Besides having an awesomely alliterative moniker, Calista also is the Overseer of the Port of Sunshinescence in the Principality of Sunshinescence (another mouthful). Her people are very spiritual and worship the sun as a goddess. Many admire Calista as much as they admire the sun. Many would love to just bask in her loveliness. Everyone thinks of her as a great leader and heroine. Everyone except sometimes Calista Soleil.
Calista feels that she has lost her way so she returns to her alma mater, Chromia Academy. When that doesn't work out, she tries to send a message to her family. While communicating with them, she sees a frightening image of a firebird, a phoenix, striking the Earth. Over the centuries, because of war, pollution, and greed, Earth is blocked from the sun. The people of Earth have mostly been reduced to a barbaric survivalist existence willing to listen to the latest fanatical cult leader who says that the moon is all that they need.
Calista fears that the Phoenix is the sun's final warning, the anger that humanity took advantage of its resources long enough and now will be destroyed. She wants to go to Earth to help the people. Calista gets assistance on her mission with her new friends, Lavender, a scientist who once worked for the sinister and secretive Moonbow Laboratories and Sagen, who also worked for Moonbow and is handy with a weapon, and willing to use them despite objections from the pacifistic Calista. The trio face not only the people of Earth but a cult leader who wants the Earthlings to turn from the sun and worship the moon.
What makes this book stand out is the Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality herself, or rather the alleged Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality. Despite her legendary status, Calista doesn't always feel fancy, fanciful, or fantastic. We aren't shown the legend that led her to these titles. We are given hints here and there but that's not what this book is about. This is about what happens after the goal is achieved and the new leader is made. This is meant to peel away the legend and see that there is a real person, a real person of flaws and virtues, a complex human being. Somehow in exploring Calista's humanity makes her even more heroic.
In many ways, Calista exemplifies all of the positive traits that someone of her station should possess. She is very courageous and thirsty for adventure. She goes to Earth knowing full well the state that it's in and that she may not return. She exhibits good leadership skills and takes decisive action. When she, Lavender, and Sagen find themselves in a trap and encounter betrayal, Calista is able to get them out. She also shows a compassionate side in that she is willing to help the Earthlings get out of the predicament that they are in. She also befriends Teal, an Earth citizen who is quite intelligent and would be a good candidate to attend Chromia Academy. Perhaps, Calista sees something of her younger self in her, so she encourages Teal in her intellectual pursuits. Like the sun that she represents, Calista tries to exhibit warmth and light to all around her.
Optimum word is tries because Calista does not always succeed. Sometimes the reasons are found within herself. Ironically, someone who represents the sun's warmth also acts very cold, forbidding, and polarizing. She acts in a very arrogant manner at times. When she visits Chromia Academy, she doesn't remember the names of the student or even an instructor who came to the school and made an enormous impact on her young life. She came to the school hoping to find some positive connections but instead all she remembers is how isolated that she was.
The isolation continues when she is with her family. Calista realizes that her people depend on her so much that they have forgotten to think for themselves. They are enchanted by the image that they created around her and in some ways so is she.
Calista is at times guilty of many of the things that she accuses others of being. She thinks that the Earthlings she encounters are mostly intolerant and judgemental but fails to recognize those attributes within herself. Her younger brother, Tybalt and sister, Berrie at first accompany her. But when they are told that the journey is dangerous and even fatal, they turn around and go back. Rather than expressing concern about her sibling's safety or understanding their decision, Calista berates them and calls them cowards. Then she stridently declares that few can be as brave as she can.
Even though she later supports Teal when she learns what a big help that she has been, she is at first surprised that someone from Earth is so intelligent. She also says that not just anybody can join the Chromia Academy, only the elite with connections. Luckily, she ends up becoming that connection so she is able to drop much of her earlier snobbery.
Calista can be uncompromising in her views. She gets into a science vs. spirituality debate with Lavender and argues with Sagen about using weapons even in self defense. She criticizes the fear mongering Moonite cult for denying the evidence of the sun's presence and their insistence of only living for the moon. However, she is just as single minded in her devotion in the sun and has a cult-like following herself (not one of her designs, but she still wields the same power.) In fact, this aspect of the book could be a metaphor for many of the views that people hold on to nowadays. I won't say which views but it's not hard to connect the dots.
To her credit, Calista knows that she has those negative qualities and works to change them within herself. One of Calista's signs of maturity is her willingness to see her friend's sides and work together with them.
In her journey to her past, she tries to find the adventurous brave young woman that she once was before her pride and following got the better of her. Perhaps, she feels that she is unworthy of the titles that she has received. This adventure on Earth is a source of self-redemption to become a better person, one who earns the right to be called the Fancy Fanciful Fantasticality.
These negative and positive qualities are what actually make Calista a great character. The conflicts with the Moonite cult, the Earth citizens, and the elements are important. But the biggest conflict of all is the one with herself.
With a very human protagonist who saves the Earth and learns about herself, Bella's book truly is fancy, fanciful, and fantastical.
