''Or What You Will'' is a 2020

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

novel by

Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...

, about

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

and

creativity Creativity is the ability to form novel and valuable Idea, ideas or works using one's imagination. Products of creativity may be intangible (e.g. an idea, scientific theory, Literature, literary work, musical composition, or joke), or a physica ...

. It was first published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

Synopsis

As fantasy author Sylvia Harrison nears the end of her life, her

imaginary friend Imaginary friends (also known as pretend friends, invisible friends or made-up friends) are a psychological and a social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than physical reali ...

— a separate consciousness who has lived inside her head since childhood, whom she has used as the basis for all her favorite characters, and who will die when she does — devises a plan to make them both immortal... a plan which involves the book Sylvia is currently writing.

Reception

''Or What You Will'' won the 2022

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award ...

.2022 Mythopoeic Awards
by

Mike Glyer Mike Glyer (born February 16, 1953) is both the editor and publisher of the long-running science fiction fan newszine ''File 770''. He has won the Hugo Award 12 times in two categories: ''File 770'' won the Best Fanzine Hugo in 1984, 1985, 1989 ...

, at

File 770 ''File 770'' is a long-running science fiction fanzine, newszine, and blog site published and administered by Mike Glyer. It has been published every year since 1978, and has won a record eight Hugo Awards for Best Fanzine, with the first w ...

; published July 31, 2022; retrieved August 1, 2022 '' Vox'' called ''Or What you Will'' "a playful book about breaking through constraints and expanding past your limits", which despite being "narrated by an incorporeal spirit" is infused with "a deep and palpable and sensual joy: of food, of art, of history, of books and learning".In this joyous fantasy novel, books and art are the key to cheating death
by Constance Grady, at '' Vox''; published July 30, 2020; retrieved July 7, 2021 ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' considered it a "gorgeous, deeply philosophical work" and a "nuanced meditation on reality and fiction", lauding Walton for "shift(ing) effortlessly between Sylvia's life, Florentine history, and the plot unfolding in ylvia's novel-in-progress.Or What You Will
reviewed at ''

''; published April 2, 2020; retrieved July 7, 2021 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' observed the presence of

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

and

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...

, historical figures who play major roles in several of Walton's other novels, but noted that the novel "doesn't have quite the philosophical heft of those prior works" and is instead "a deeply personal work and a charming love letter to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

."OR WHAT YOU WILL
reviewed at ''

''; published June 3, 2020; retrieved July 7, 2021 In ''

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of r ...

'',

Gary K. Wolfe Gary K. Wolfe (born Gary Kent Wolfe in 1946) is an American science fiction editor, critic and biographer. He is an emeritus Professor of Humanities in Roosevelt University's Evelyn T. Stone College of Professional Studies. Life Wolfe was bo ...

lauded it as "undeniably touching", with "sharp critical insights about fantasy" that help to make the novel "a critical fiction, carrying on its own negotiations between differing ideas of history, biography, and imagination".Gary. K. Wolfe Reviews Or What You Will by Jo Walton
in ''

''; published July 12, 2020; retrieved July 7, 2021

Origins

Walton has described the novel's origins as including a visit to Florence at the invitation of

Ada Palmer Ada Palmer (born June 9, 1981) is an American historian and writer and winner of the 2017 Astounding Award for Best New Writer, John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her first novel, ''Too Like the Lightning'', was published in May 2016. T ...

, a panel at a science fiction convention in which James D. Macdonald described having a

repertory theatre A repertory theatre, also called repertory, rep, true rep or stock, which are also called producing theatres, is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom ...

of characters in his head, and an overall dissatisfaction with the endings of ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' and ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

''.“Or What You Will” Reimagines Shakespeare’s Imagined Italy
by Megan Otto, at the ''

Chicago Review of Books The ''Chicago Review of Books'' is an online literary publication of StoryStudio Chicago that reviews recent books covering diverse genres, presses, voices, and media. The magazine was started in 2016 by founding editor Adam Morgan. It is consi ...

''; published July 6, 2020; retrieved July 7, 2021

References

{{Jo Walton Novels set in Montreal Novels set in Florence Novels based on works by William Shakespeare Metafictional novels Canadian fantasy novels 2020 British novels Novels by Jo Walton 2020 Canadian novels Welsh fantasy novels Tor Books books