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Basically a T. Kingfisher binge!
Oct. 31st, 2024 08:38 amI originally meant to post about all the spooky seasonal reading I've been doing, but in practice? I've been finishing up my T. Kingfisher binge. And while she does have some delightful horror (I really love the Sworn Soldier series, particularly What Feasts at Night), in practice I enjoy more of her fantasy stories. Even her fantasy often has a darker edge, but mixed with humor and a sort of wry mundane charm that I absolutely love.
So! I'm going to talk about these two books instead.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher - A sorceress intends to marry a rich man, and only her abused teenage daughter and the man's spinster sister can stand in her way!
( More spoilerrific rambling! )Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher - Another fairytale retelling, because I just love fairytales! Based on a very simple idea: what if the wall of thorns had been meant to keep Sleeping Beauty in, instead of everyone else out?
Or: our story follows Toadling, a kidnapped human who had been raised by fairies (greenteeth, specifically) until she's becomes more fey and less human, and who now guards the wall of thorns and the creature inside.
It's beautiful and sweet and sad (but there is a happy ending!), and mostly I love this because of the beauty of falling in love and being loved by monsters, how Toadling truly loves and misses the greenteeth that raised her more than the humans who are technically her family of birth. There's guilt (oh so much guilt) about having failed in her appointed task and the long exhaustion of trying so hard to protect a world that she's become increasingly distant from.
It's a lovely novella and I devoured it over the course of two days. (Would have been one if I didn't have to go to work!)
And now, actually moving to horror: I really love the slow horror and atmosphere of What Feasts at Night, the incredible texture and feeling of this small hunting lodge and the way that there's sympathy even for the 'monster,' without excusing it. It's just really good and I still find myself thinking about terrifying silences and PTSD.
In contrast… A House With Good Bones just didn't hit me the same way. There were many elements I loved (the slow horror of the garden, the kind wildlife rehabber with her pet vulture who also happens to practice her own magic, the way that even though I'm not normally a huge insect fan reading a book written through the POV of an archaeoentomologist really gave me new appreciation of both archaeology and entomology!) and I can definitely pick up the themes of monstrous family legacies and loneliness and power turned spiteful, it just…I don't know. I feel a little strange leaving this so ambivalent, especially since I try only to write about books I enjoyed and/or felt strongly about, but maybe I just need more time to think about this one. All its little hooks in my brain and feeling unsettled and unsure what to do with that feeling.
Anyways! This was my Spooktober reading and I hope everyone has a safe and happy season!
Books recs! So many books!
May. 31st, 2024 06:11 pmIt's been another six months since I've yelled about books! I've been very fortunate that a lot of library books I've been waitlisted for have come in, and it finally got me off my butt to write about them! Or more accurately: to post the thoughts I've already written!
Books (Fiction)
( The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk )
( The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang )
( Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nacosta )
( The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo )
( The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo )
( The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo )
( Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu )
Graphic Novels
( American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang )
Nonfiction
( Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar )( Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini )
Good books! Good reads! Even with the occasional good frustration!
I have one more book from the library (Mott Street by Ava Chin, which looks at Chinese-American history through family memoir) and then...I expect I'll need a break from reading. I have a few exchange assignments to finish up, then I look forward to diving into a video game. Probably Bastion, unless Control seduces me first. :')
Please let me know your thoughts if you have read any of these! I love yelling about books!!!!
Even more library books!!!
Dec. 9th, 2023 11:09 amIt's been six months since I last posted about books! I've been reading some fanfic, but it's mostly been library books. Per my usual, I'm only blurbing about the books and stories I actually enjoyed, or at least felt compelled and have opinions on!
Books (Fiction)
( Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin )
( Yellowface by R.F. Kuang )
( The Stand-In by Lily Chu )
( The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji )
( The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter )
( Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo )
( Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia )
Books (Nonfiction)
( The New Guys by Meredith Bagby )( An Immense World by Ed Yong )
Memoirs
( Eat a Peach by David Chang )( Fun Home by Alison Bechdel )
Original Work (Short Stories)
So You Want to Kiss Your Nemesis by John Wiswell - 939 words - “Welcome to the Intimate Blade. We find the edge for that special someone in your life. My name is Robin. How can I help you today?”
Umeboshi by Rebecca Nakaba - 3k words - Chain emails, auguries, and disconnection. This is weird and hurty and fucks me up a little.
The Lily and the Horn by Catherynne Valente - War conducted via poisons and antidotes, and two women separated by years and obligation.
I feel like certain patterns in my reading are pretty obvious; I'm always interested in more queer stories of course, but I'm actively trying to read more books written across the Asian diaspora. I love fantasy and science-fiction, but also enjoy historical novels and am trying to broaden my reading genres.
Currently, I'm reading Network Effect by Martha Wells. I feel like I'm one of the few people who doesn't love Murderbot (I just bounced off the short stories and dislike the style. I can recognize the craft in the story, but it's not something I enjoy) so I'm trying the novel instead to see if it works better for me this way.
If you have read or are interested in any of these books, gimme a shout! I love talking books. :D Tell me if you're reading anything interesting too! I can always add to my miles-long TBR pile!
SO MANY LIBRARY BOOKS!!!!
Jun. 13th, 2023 09:23 pmIt's been a while since I've posted about books, so I'm going to jump right in!!!
Books (Fiction)
( When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole )
( A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark )
( Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark )
( The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao )
Books: Nonfiction
( Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit )This was a lot of reading, and I still want to finish a few library books (and the first draft of the Fraud Squad hatemance fic!) before switching over to video games. :')
Hope you've been reading and playing good things, please share if there's anything fun you'd recommend!
Pride 2023 - F/F and F/NB recs!!!!
Jun. 4th, 2023 09:09 pmIn honor of Pride, have some of my favorite F/F and F/NB reads!
Short stories (available online)
- Radcliffe Hall by Miyuki Jane Pinckard - 40k word novella, with a Japanese student attending an American women's college in 1908. It's a Gothic novel with the characters encountering the supernatural, which is no less malevolent than systemic racism and homophobia.
- The First Stop Is Always the Last by John Wiswell - Short and sweet time loop flirtation!
- Scallop by J.L. Akagi - A woman begins growing eyes all over her body, and struggles to hide them. All the warnings for body horror, eye injury, and referenced sexual assault.
- The World Ends in Salty Fingers and Sugared Lips by Jen Reese - Time loop story about the end of the world and the ways we try to deal with the crushing uncertainty of the inevitable.
Romance
- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston - Subway time travel romance! August moves to New York and meets Jane, a butch punk from the 70s who’s trapped on the subway. It’s warm and sweet and funny, with all the feels and queer found family goodness.
- Fatal Fidelity by Rien Gray - Dark romance/erotic suspense featuring a bi femme fatale and a nonbinary assassin! The series begins with Love Kills Twice, in which Justine hires an assassin to get rid of her abusive husband…unaware that Campbell was also hired to kill her. Absolutely delicious.
- Feminine Pursuits series by Olivia Waite - While I’m listing it as a series, each novel is entirely stand-alone! These are a set of historical F/F novels featuring women in arts and science (and beekeeping!) making their way and falling in love with one another!
- Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan - Historical romance as two older women (73 and 69 years old, respectively!) plot the downfall of an absolutely Terrible Nephew who deserves everything that happens to him. An absolutely delicious comedic romp.
- The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz - An AI repair technician and an autonomous robot who runs a small tea shop, set in a retro-futuristic America. It’s warm and gentle and yearning in very good ways.
Horror/Suspense
- Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin - Gender apocalypse featuring trans women! A virus has turned anyone with over a certain level of testosterone into cannibal rape monsters, so we’re following our trans protagonists as they try to survive feral men, murderous TERFs, and a sociopathic bunker brat. This deserves a LOT of content warnings but it’s also been blurbed as a ‘bleeding love letter to trans women’ and it really is.
- Blackwater Sister by Zen Cho - A Malaysian-American lesbian moves to Malaysia with her family, where she is haunted by her grandmother’s ghost. Her grandmother is out for supernatural revenge, involving our protagonist with gangsters and a terrifying goddess.
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - Historical crime novel in which a thief poses as a lady’s maid for a con, and ends up developing feelings for the mark. Except the lady’s not as innocent as she seems, and it’s difficult to add more without spoiling the novel but it’s good!
Science fiction
- A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine - Ambassador Mahit Dzmare travels to the capital of the interstellar Teixcalaanli Empire, discovers that her predecessor has died, and must find not only who murdered him, but why—while trying not to get murdered herself, and trying to maintain her small station’s independence from Teixcalaan’s ever-expanding empire. And there is a sequel but that has its own plot and requires you to read this one anyway!
- Passing Strange by Ellen Klages - Set in San Francisco, built on artifice and delight as we follow a group of queer women both present and in the 1940s. Central story is a romance, two women trying to navigate both joy and the brutality of the worlds they inhabit.
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - An epistolary love story across time and space, in far futures and alternative pasts as two rival agents—post-singularity Red and bio-consciousness Blue—foil and thwart one another.
Fantasy
- The Burning Kingdoms by Tasha Suri - Indian-inspired fantasy trilogy (third book coming in 2024!) that follows a captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic who navigate the the tension between their different loyalties and the politics of empire. Just! So good!
- The Kingston Cycle by C.L. Polk - A fantasy trilogy (that’s actually complete!) set in a world where witches are persecuted and placed in asylums…while secretly, the witches of elite families use that power in service of the crown. The first book (Witchmark) starts with a murder mystery and a doctor with PTSD who follows that mystery to government secrets that force him to confront his estranged family. It’s also M/M, but the sequels (Stormsong and Soulstar) center around F/F and F/NB main pairings, respectively.
- The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir - The first book starts with swordjock butches and lesbian necromancers in space going through (essentially) a haunted mansion together, and it just keeps going after that! It’s delightful, deranged, and full of fantastic characters I want to gnaw on!
- When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo - A beautiful frame story with a very fairytale feel, where the cleric Chih is telling the story of a tiger and her lover, a female scholar, to a trio of hungry tigers who threaten to eat them if Chih tells the story incorrectly!
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark - Mystery and magic and suspense in a steampunk Cairo, set forty years after magic returned to the world! The first female agent for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities is assigned to discover who murdered members of a secret cult. In addition to solving the case, she’s also assigned a rookie partner to train, and navigating the surprise return of her girlfriend, who has her own secrets! This is a really fun romp, full of joy and wonder. (And Fatma’s fabulous suits!)
Nonfiction
- In the Dream House by Carmen Machado - A memoir about surviving domestic abuse, with each chapter using a different trope or genre convention to not only explore the way the relationship affected her sense of self, but also about trying (or failing) to find that representation in cultural history. It’s a rough read in places, but absolutely worth it if you’re in a space to handle that sort of content. (And in case it’s not obvious: her ex was another woman. Abuse isn’t limited by gender.)
Happy reading, and I’m happy to take recs too! ;)
Currently reading
Apr. 28th, 2023 06:27 pmSo I've been reading Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them by Dan Saladino, and really enjoying it so far! The writing is engaging and I find the topic interesting, especially as he talks about how the loss of biodiversity risks us losing traditional foodways and more vulnerable to crop losses due to disease and climate change.
I've heard of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before, but never the world's first seed bank: the Vavilov Institute, founded in 1921 by a Russian scientist dedicated to ending world hunger. His ideas fell out of favor with Stalin and he was sent to a prison camp in 1940. During WW2, though:
Just!!! How is this not amazing? It’s sad and heroic and all I can think about is the strength of purpose it must have been to been literally dying of starvation while surrounded by the food that could have saved their lives, but still holding on to hope that these could be useful to replenishing food after the war, and for future generations.
I've heard of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault before, but never the world's first seed bank: the Vavilov Institute, founded in 1921 by a Russian scientist dedicated to ending world hunger. His ideas fell out of favor with Stalin and he was sent to a prison camp in 1940. During WW2, though:
….his seed collection came close to being lost as the German Army blockaded Leningrad in a 28-month siege. The Soviets had plans in place to save works of art from the city’s galleries but had done little to protect the seed bank. The Nazis, however, recognised its potential as a future food resource and saw the institute as an asset they needed to target. Fortunately, Vavilov had so inspired his fellow scientists that they moved hundreds of boxes of seeds to a basement and took shifts inside the dark building, in the sub-zero temperatures, to protect he collection. What happened next is well known to botanists, but it’s a story we should all know.
Surrounded by seeds they could have eaten, the caretakers of the collection faced hunger rather than jeopardize the genetic resource. By the end of the 900-day siege, in the spring of 1944, nine of them had died of starvation, including the curator of the rice collection. He was found at his desk surrounded by bags of rice. ‘We were students of Vavilov,’ one survivor said, explaining their heroic efforts to protect the seeds. By then, Nikolai Vavilov was already dead. In 1943, at the age of fifty-five, he was claimed by the very thing he had spent his life working to prevent: starvation. He died in a Soviet prison and was buried in an unmarked grave.
This book includes foods thought to have gone extinct, but which have been brought ‘back to life’ and restored to farmers’ fields because their seeds were collected by Vavilov and his colleagues and kept safe inside the institute. Nearly a century after his dead, a new generation is following in Vavilov’s footsteps.
Just!!! How is this not amazing? It’s sad and heroic and all I can think about is the strength of purpose it must have been to been literally dying of starvation while surrounded by the food that could have saved their lives, but still holding on to hope that these could be useful to replenishing food after the war, and for future generations.
[Fic Recs] Short Stories and Books!
Apr. 6th, 2023 09:09 pmOriginal Work (Short Stories)
Rabbit Test by Samantha Mills - 7k word story about reproductive rights and autonomy over generations and throughout history. It's dark and biting and uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort I want to sit with. Mind the warnings re: sexual assault, abuse, traumatic miscarriage, psych ward treatment, and suicide.
Unname Me at the Altar by Ashaye Brown - 2.8k words. Three generations of family in one home, and a grandparent whose name changes daily, serving as a living altar to their ancestors. Content warnings for character death and references to war and mass killings. It’s short and bitey and a testament to grief and survival and the impermanence of memory.
Skin by Isha Karki - 4.9k words. The daughter of Nepalese immigrants wears different skins around her wealthy boyfriend, her academic advisor, and her family. Content warnings for body horror, racism, misogyny, and references to sati and death/burning. This gave me such chills, both for its way of depicting assimilation (or the attempt thereof) in the pursuit of safety, and also carries echoes of selkie wives.
The Storyteller by Rhea Roy - 1.4k words. Mala Auntie goes to the crossroads to make a deal with the Devil. She wants her dead husband back; and don’t we know how these stories go? I love how this one plays with folklore (Mala Auntie studied the literature of far-off places during her post-grad!) and riddles. A happy ending and great palate cleanser compared to some of my other recs!
Books (Fiction)
( Radcliffe Hall by Miyuki Jane Pinckard )
( You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo )
( The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz )
( The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia )
( Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin )
( On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong )
( A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine )
( The Demon of the House of Hua by Maria Ying )
Nonfiction
( Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine )
My brain's been mush lately and I plan to read mostly romance novels and fanfic for a bit, maybe play some viddy games. I keep wanting to finish writing Awoo AU too, but...I think that this point I need to accept that I'm just tired and my brain needs a break. I'll keep plinking at it, but am trying to take the pressure off.
If you've read any of these and have thoughts or feels, please feel free to yell about it with me!!!!
Rabbit Test by Samantha Mills - 7k word story about reproductive rights and autonomy over generations and throughout history. It's dark and biting and uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort I want to sit with. Mind the warnings re: sexual assault, abuse, traumatic miscarriage, psych ward treatment, and suicide.
Unname Me at the Altar by Ashaye Brown - 2.8k words. Three generations of family in one home, and a grandparent whose name changes daily, serving as a living altar to their ancestors. Content warnings for character death and references to war and mass killings. It’s short and bitey and a testament to grief and survival and the impermanence of memory.
Skin by Isha Karki - 4.9k words. The daughter of Nepalese immigrants wears different skins around her wealthy boyfriend, her academic advisor, and her family. Content warnings for body horror, racism, misogyny, and references to sati and death/burning. This gave me such chills, both for its way of depicting assimilation (or the attempt thereof) in the pursuit of safety, and also carries echoes of selkie wives.
The Storyteller by Rhea Roy - 1.4k words. Mala Auntie goes to the crossroads to make a deal with the Devil. She wants her dead husband back; and don’t we know how these stories go? I love how this one plays with folklore (Mala Auntie studied the literature of far-off places during her post-grad!) and riddles. A happy ending and great palate cleanser compared to some of my other recs!
Books (Fiction)
( Radcliffe Hall by Miyuki Jane Pinckard )
( You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo )
( The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz )
( The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia )
( Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin )
( On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong )
( A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine )
( The Demon of the House of Hua by Maria Ying )
Nonfiction
( Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine )
My brain's been mush lately and I plan to read mostly romance novels and fanfic for a bit, maybe play some viddy games. I keep wanting to finish writing Awoo AU too, but...I think that this point I need to accept that I'm just tired and my brain needs a break. I'll keep plinking at it, but am trying to take the pressure off.
If you've read any of these and have thoughts or feels, please feel free to yell about it with me!!!!
Romance novel bonanza!!!!
Jun. 29th, 2021 01:52 pmWork has been exhausting, I’ve had very little brain for writing or gaming lately, so obviously that means it’s time to read a bunch of romance novels!
( Love Bleeds Deep by Rien Gray )
( The Pingkang Li Mysteries (no spoilers) )
( The Pingkang Li Mysteries (more spoilers and yelling) )
But oh my GOD I have come to realize how much I love romance novels!!!!
I have some other books to read first (like...books I’ve already purchased, mumble mumble, so I should read those before buying new books), but I already have the next Pingkang Li mystery, The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan, and How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole on my ‘want to read’ list!
Anyone else have any good reads or recs? I’m mostly interested in romances featuring POC.
( Love Bleeds Deep by Rien Gray )
( The Pingkang Li Mysteries (no spoilers) )
( The Pingkang Li Mysteries (more spoilers and yelling) )
But oh my GOD I have come to realize how much I love romance novels!!!!
I have some other books to read first (like...books I’ve already purchased, mumble mumble, so I should read those before buying new books), but I already have the next Pingkang Li mystery, The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan, and How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole on my ‘want to read’ list!
Anyone else have any good reads or recs? I’m mostly interested in romances featuring POC.
Books….so many good books, so little time!
( Fiction )
( Nonfiction )
( Poetry )
I am currently working on longfic, but once I have more free time for reading again I anticipate catching up on a number of short story magazines. And fanfic, of course. ;)
Hopefully you've all been reading and consuming good stuff as well! Tell me about your current faves? :D
[Fic Recs] Fanfic and other stories!
Apr. 30th, 2021 08:52 amI realized that I have been sitting on a number of these fic recs since November 2020, and am not quite sure why I never posted any of them! I hope you enjoy, please consider this a delightful grab-bag of fic. :')
( Borderlands )
( Bridgerton )
( Dragon Age )
( Fallout )
( Fire Emblem: Three Houses )
( Harry Potter )
( Horizon: Zero Dawn )
( The Locked Tomb Trilogy )
( Mass Effect )
( A Memory Called Empire )
( Monster Prom )
( Original Work )
( The Old Guard )
( Stardew Valley )
( Books (fiction) )
( Borderlands )
( Bridgerton )
( Dragon Age )
( Fallout )
( Fire Emblem: Three Houses )
( Harry Potter )
( Horizon: Zero Dawn )
( The Locked Tomb Trilogy )
( Mass Effect )
( A Memory Called Empire )
( Monster Prom )
( Original Work )
( The Old Guard )
( Stardew Valley )
( Books (fiction) )
That's it! That's the deets! I still have about 3 dozen fics marked for later on AO3, and look forward to more reading! Feel free to share any thoughts or comments on what you've been reading lately! <3
[Book Recs] Original Work and Nonfiction!
Nov. 19th, 2020 10:28 amDang but it's been a while since I posted about what I've been reading!!!
I've shifted from writing about EVERY book I've read to just posting the highlights (therefore, some short stories and romance novels didn't make the cut. Neither did a book about pre-NASA rocketry), but I've read a lot lately! Most of it good! :D
I've been reading so many good things!!!
May. 4th, 2020 10:07 amIt's been a busy few weeks for me, but I have this week off for staycation and I've been reading lots of excellent fiction lately!
( Short Stories (available online) )
( Books )
( The Half of It (Film) )
I hope you've all been consuming some quality media! Share any recent faves? :D
( Short Stories (available online) )
( Books )
( The Half of It (Film) )
I hope you've all been consuming some quality media! Share any recent faves? :D
Shawl - Everfair
Feb. 22nd, 2020 11:21 amPosting two book reviews in one day? What madness! :P
I’ve been looking forward to reading Nisi Shawl’s Everfair for quite a while! Steampunk alt-history where British socialists purchase land in the Congo in an effort to create a safe haven for refugees from King Leopold’s atrocities? Where these socialists work with American-American missionaries and with the indigenous people (whose land it originally was, before being stolen by King Leopold and sold to the society) and develop the technology and intelligence to hold their own against the European powers? Awesome hook! I’m all for it!
Except...egads, it covers a massive span of time. I know I’ve criticized The Black Tides of Heaven for jumping around and not giving me space to inhabit the characters, but it’s even worse with this. It’s a thick book at almost 400 pages, but it covers over three decades and as many wars, plus the 34 characters listed at the front of the book alone! Chapters are given with the location and date (example: “Bookerville, Everfair, April 1896”) but individual chapters can jump months, years, or a decade between them! The characters are diverse and fascinating, with their own flaws and competing interests, but because we get so little time dwelling with them it feels impersonal, like we are witnessing them only do what is the bare minimum to progress the greater story rather than develop their relationships with one another.
Which I’ve come to realize is my biggest passion in any book. I rarely read for clever plot or engaging worldbuilding alone; I read because I want to care about the characters and spend time with them. Doubly so if I plan to reread the book.
And I am not rereading Everfair.
That aside, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed this book more if I were more familiar with the history or the genre it’s criticizing. I haven’t read a lot (or any) steampunk and am mostly familiar with it as the shiny neo-Victorian aesthetique and technology. By its very definition, I am aware that this subgenre tends to run distressingly towards nostalgia for imperialism and colonialism. And the fictional country of Everfair is planted squarely in the midst of that, with interesting juxtapositions as we see Lisette’s exhilaration on her borrowed bicycle and then, in the next chapter, Wilson’s horror at the atrocities committed in the harvest of the necessary rubber. The book also loves to explore foods and clothing, particularly incorporating African dress and culture, which—in hindsight—feels as much a pushback against Eurocentrism.
I also enjoyed many of the characters, but again, which we actually got to spend more time with them interacting and exploring their histories. Lisette is one of the characters we follow most consistently, and I find her fascinating on her intelligence operations, and how she chooses to emphasize (or downplay) her mixed racial background, as a white-passing French woman who is one-sixteenth Black. I also really enjoyed our few chapters with Fwendi, a young African woman with a prosthetic arm and who is also gifted with the ability to ride cats, inhabiting their senses and directing them to spy or retrieve information. And I wish we got to spend more time with Wilson, and the crisis of faith as he went from a Christian missionary to assimilating into the Congolese religion.
All of their narratives are intertwined, and because there is no single narrator or POV, I think that’s part of the book’s strength: it’s complicated. Intricate. Countries and nations take shape because of the efforts of many, not one.
But it also leaves me with fewer emotional hooks, because we touch on so many characters so lightly; I often had to use the page with the list of characters as a quick refresher on who’s who.
At the end of the day, I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. And that’s okay.
I’ve been looking forward to reading Nisi Shawl’s Everfair for quite a while! Steampunk alt-history where British socialists purchase land in the Congo in an effort to create a safe haven for refugees from King Leopold’s atrocities? Where these socialists work with American-American missionaries and with the indigenous people (whose land it originally was, before being stolen by King Leopold and sold to the society) and develop the technology and intelligence to hold their own against the European powers? Awesome hook! I’m all for it!
Except...egads, it covers a massive span of time. I know I’ve criticized The Black Tides of Heaven for jumping around and not giving me space to inhabit the characters, but it’s even worse with this. It’s a thick book at almost 400 pages, but it covers over three decades and as many wars, plus the 34 characters listed at the front of the book alone! Chapters are given with the location and date (example: “Bookerville, Everfair, April 1896”) but individual chapters can jump months, years, or a decade between them! The characters are diverse and fascinating, with their own flaws and competing interests, but because we get so little time dwelling with them it feels impersonal, like we are witnessing them only do what is the bare minimum to progress the greater story rather than develop their relationships with one another.
Which I’ve come to realize is my biggest passion in any book. I rarely read for clever plot or engaging worldbuilding alone; I read because I want to care about the characters and spend time with them. Doubly so if I plan to reread the book.
And I am not rereading Everfair.
That aside, I have a feeling I would have enjoyed this book more if I were more familiar with the history or the genre it’s criticizing. I haven’t read a lot (or any) steampunk and am mostly familiar with it as the shiny neo-Victorian aesthetique and technology. By its very definition, I am aware that this subgenre tends to run distressingly towards nostalgia for imperialism and colonialism. And the fictional country of Everfair is planted squarely in the midst of that, with interesting juxtapositions as we see Lisette’s exhilaration on her borrowed bicycle and then, in the next chapter, Wilson’s horror at the atrocities committed in the harvest of the necessary rubber. The book also loves to explore foods and clothing, particularly incorporating African dress and culture, which—in hindsight—feels as much a pushback against Eurocentrism.
I also enjoyed many of the characters, but again, which we actually got to spend more time with them interacting and exploring their histories. Lisette is one of the characters we follow most consistently, and I find her fascinating on her intelligence operations, and how she chooses to emphasize (or downplay) her mixed racial background, as a white-passing French woman who is one-sixteenth Black. I also really enjoyed our few chapters with Fwendi, a young African woman with a prosthetic arm and who is also gifted with the ability to ride cats, inhabiting their senses and directing them to spy or retrieve information. And I wish we got to spend more time with Wilson, and the crisis of faith as he went from a Christian missionary to assimilating into the Congolese religion.
All of their narratives are intertwined, and because there is no single narrator or POV, I think that’s part of the book’s strength: it’s complicated. Intricate. Countries and nations take shape because of the efforts of many, not one.
But it also leaves me with fewer emotional hooks, because we touch on so many characters so lightly; I often had to use the page with the list of characters as a quick refresher on who’s who.
At the end of the day, I don't think I'm the target audience for this book. And that’s okay.
Muir - Gideon the Ninth
Feb. 9th, 2020 12:11 pmGideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is my absolute favorite book I’ve read in a while. (I was about to say all year, but as we’re only in February, that feels like damning it with faint praise!)
Tag-style summary: Lesbian necromancers and stalwart cavaliers….in spaaaace! Exploring haunted mansions and vying for the favor of the deathless Emperor! Enemies to...enemies(?)!!! So much sword-jocking!
Somewhat more coherent summary: Gideon is the fight-jock of the dying Ninth House. She is extremely good with a sword, desperate to get away from the House that raised her, and is paired with Harrowhark, the necromantic heir of the Ninth House. They have hated each other since they were children, and tried to kill each other multiple times, but are thrown together with the heirs of the other Houses in an effort to solve the mysteries of an ancient mansion in order to prove themselves worthy of a place at the Emperor’s side.
Gideon is extremely gay and I love her!!! She is a bundle of impulses, bad decisions, and impressive muscles. She treats her dirty magazines and her longsword as her most treasured possessions, develops fitful crushes and admiration of various pretty ladies, and despite the book itself never actually using the term ‘lesbian’ it’s extremely damn obvious from the way Gideon talks about the women she admires versus the men she deals with. Which I’m mentioning specifically because of a conversation I had with a friend: I feel like in a lot of online spaces (and partially as a backlash against queerbaiting in media) there’s this idea that unless a character kisses another character on-screen or comes out to say “yes, I am extremely gay today, pass the ketchup” it’s not ‘real’ representation. And as someone who is yes, extremely vocal about being bi when I’m in a safe space, I both feel and resent it; I will talk about my attractions, but I don’t sigh languidly across the breakfast table to say “today, I am feeling beautifully bisexual.” Not usually, at least.
Tl;dr labels are good for those who want it, and yes Gideon is extremely a lesbian, but someone who is perusing the page and miffed that Gideon never actually uses that specific word to describe herself are missing the forest for the trees.
The book is gleefully macabre and beautifully written, with wonderful fight scenes that are incredibly over the top (in such FUN ways!) and punchy and just! Fun! I’m swooning and sighing and had to take a break to cry in a few places, but it’s just. Wonderful.
( Now, for more spoilery yelling: )
Tag-style summary: Lesbian necromancers and stalwart cavaliers….in spaaaace! Exploring haunted mansions and vying for the favor of the deathless Emperor! Enemies to...enemies(?)!!! So much sword-jocking!
Somewhat more coherent summary: Gideon is the fight-jock of the dying Ninth House. She is extremely good with a sword, desperate to get away from the House that raised her, and is paired with Harrowhark, the necromantic heir of the Ninth House. They have hated each other since they were children, and tried to kill each other multiple times, but are thrown together with the heirs of the other Houses in an effort to solve the mysteries of an ancient mansion in order to prove themselves worthy of a place at the Emperor’s side.
Gideon is extremely gay and I love her!!! She is a bundle of impulses, bad decisions, and impressive muscles. She treats her dirty magazines and her longsword as her most treasured possessions, develops fitful crushes and admiration of various pretty ladies, and despite the book itself never actually using the term ‘lesbian’ it’s extremely damn obvious from the way Gideon talks about the women she admires versus the men she deals with. Which I’m mentioning specifically because of a conversation I had with a friend: I feel like in a lot of online spaces (and partially as a backlash against queerbaiting in media) there’s this idea that unless a character kisses another character on-screen or comes out to say “yes, I am extremely gay today, pass the ketchup” it’s not ‘real’ representation. And as someone who is yes, extremely vocal about being bi when I’m in a safe space, I both feel and resent it; I will talk about my attractions, but I don’t sigh languidly across the breakfast table to say “today, I am feeling beautifully bisexual.” Not usually, at least.
Tl;dr labels are good for those who want it, and yes Gideon is extremely a lesbian, but someone who is perusing the page and miffed that Gideon never actually uses that specific word to describe herself are missing the forest for the trees.
The book is gleefully macabre and beautifully written, with wonderful fight scenes that are incredibly over the top (in such FUN ways!) and punchy and just! Fun! I’m swooning and sighing and had to take a break to cry in a few places, but it’s just. Wonderful.
( Now, for more spoilery yelling: )
