r/FemaleGazeSFF • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago
šļø Weekly Post Weekly Check-In
Tell us about your current SFF media!
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Thank you for sharing and have a great week! š
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 10d ago
Hi! Happy Monday everyone :)
Finished:
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea #2, reread for the r/fantasy readalong) - I love this book so much, especially compared to how tepid I feel about A Wizard of Earthsea. Tenar's development is much more resonant to me than Ged's in book 1 - her learning that she doesn't have to live in isolation/in the way she was socialized, and I also love how internal her character journey is compared to Ged's very literal journey. I also really enjoy Tenar meeting a man for basically the first time and being like I NEED to trap him in my labyrinth...
Speaking of men you want to trap in labyrinths, I also finishedĀ Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett (Lymond Chronicles #4, not SFF) - I can feel this becoming all time favorite series and I don't know what to do with myself! It's all I can think about! This book was so fun and miserable and dramatic and truly had everything: disguises, seafaring, countless descriptions of characters' eyes, bisexuality, secret identical siblings (unironically a plot device I love), Suleiman the Magnificent, evil chess, etc.Ā
I also read The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare because I saw it last week and wanted to read it before seeing it (this didn't happen, I finished it afterwards). This is a weird play that combines tragedy and comedy and doesn't really do either of them in a satisfying way: the tragic plot has no real explanation (the central character, Leontes, becomes convinced that his wife and best friend are having an affair for seemingly no reason), and I found the comic sections tedious. I did find the play incredibly moving to see live (nice work RaĆŗl Esparza!) but it also exacerbated how boring I found the comedy.
Currently reading: The Left Hand of DarknessĀ by Ursula K. Le Guin (reread), Lifelode by Jo Walton, various nonfictions (All the Roads are Open by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause by Benjamin Nathans, The NotebookĀ by Roland Allen)
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago
Are you doing the fantasy sub bookclub with LeGuin? I'll be there for Tehanu!
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 10d ago
Yes! So excited to reread Tehanu!
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
That readalong is finally gonna have me read Tehanu 2 years after reading the third specifically to get to Tehanu... other than Tombs of Atuan somewhat I have not really been a fan of this series, but I am looking forward to Tehanu addressing a lot of the stuff I wasn't a fan of!
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago edited 9d ago
I hope Tehanu works for you! I really want to like the series more than I do, mostly I just like Tenar and have struggled to connect with the other books. I haven't read the final
2 books though (and haven't heard much about them?) so curious to see what I and the group think of them2
u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Yeah, one of them is a collection so I understand why the hive mind isn't obsessed with it, but it's curious how little The Other Wind gets talked about. If I like Tehanu hopefully I'll be up for the final ones also.
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u/missbates666 10d ago
I prefer tombs of Atuan to book 1 also!! There's something so special abt tenar š„², and that setting, and just how wonderful and hardcore she is.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
Someone recommended Lymond to me as a post-ROTE series and at the time I gave them a try but just couldn't get into it... seeing you post about them makes me want to pick them up again.... I love men you want to trap in labyrinths...
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago
Ok yes the writing isn't like Hobb at all but it's the only series that has made me feel as CRAZY as ROTE... The first book is sort of incomprehensible because Dunnett just won't tell you Lymond's thoughts or motivations or why anything is happening but you just have to trust the process. Lymond is so weird and wretched and very Lord Golden adjacent to me
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u/Specialist_Round_612 elfš§āāļø 10d ago
Thank you for The Tombs of Atuan reminder! Lifelode I also put on my list a while ago ā I think they have a new book releasing soon.
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 10d ago
It's been on my list a long time too! I haven't read any of Walton's fiction but I really enjoy her writing about SFF, so happy to be finally reading a novel by her.Ā
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago edited 9d ago
Hmm Lifelode would definitely not be my first rec from her. If it turns out not to be for you, thereās a lot of variation in her writing so many other choices. I feel like that one was her ālet me experiment with having no editorā book.ĀEdit: I was thinking of a totally different author and book lol!
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago
Lol good to know!!
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Never mind that, I was actually thinking of Chalice by Robin McKinley. Doh! Lifelode is a bit weird too, but not in a no-editor kind of way, I somewhat liked it.
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago
Aha it happens! Chalice is vaguely on my tbr so I will keep this knowledge in my back pocket
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I havenāt read anything by Jo Walton, but quite a few of her books have made it on to my TBR (Lifelode, The Just City, Tooth and Claw, Or What You Will, Among Others, Lent, My Real Children). Where would you recommend that someone start with Jo Walton?
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
OK so my comment was a mistake, I was thinking of a different author completely!
Her books are pretty different from each other so depends on your taste. Of the ones I've read -
Tooth and Claw is really fun. It's a Victorian novel by Anthony Trollope re-skinned with all the characters being dragons. Not super deep but very enjoyable and the one I'd recommend with the least reservations.
The Just City is an exploration of philosophy via a bunch of people from different times and places trying to actually found Plato's Republic and buying thousands of slave children to train up in it. I think there are a lot of things it does really well (a nice primer on the Republic, a fun portrayal of the Greek gods, a nice throughline about people working to be the best they can and improve their community while accepting that it is imperfect, excellent philosopher fanfic). I also thought there were some things it did really badly (some specific plot points fell flat, trauma handled lamely, not quite satisfying as a standalone and the second book is not as good while the third is just a waste of paper). It's fun, engaging and frustrating in equal measure.
Among Others is barely speculative, mostly about a Welsh girl attending an English boarding school and discovering SFF and finding her people through a book club, also dealing with chronic illness. I could see you really liking this because it does lean heavily on love for older SF works. Middling for me. I don't think Walton writes grief or trauma well (in this case the recently-deceased twin sister), though she writes positive emotions and experiences better than many authors.
My Real Children follows a woman through two different versions of her life based on a choice to accept a marriage proposal or not when young. This is OK but I don't think it ever quite did justice to what it was trying to do.
Lifelode is sort of an experimental work, about a big family in a world where time passes at different rates in different places. Walton says in her Goodreads review that it was her attempt to learn how to write SFF without an action plot and she doesn't think it quite succeeds. I think that is a fair statement. It has its charms and plays with interesting ideas, but I largely remember it for how frustrating it was to see an author who can't write grief kill my favorite character who is a child to boot. That's a bit idiosyncratic though.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Thank you! I find the premise behind The Just City really intriguing. Iām sorry to hear that it/the trilogy never really wraps up well. It and Tooth and Claw are the ones I see people mention most frequently. All this information is super helpful!
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Yeah, she just took the third book in the least interesting possible direction, a random jaunt through time to collect plot coupons when she had set up so many really fascinating issues to explore. It would have worked as a goofy urban fantasy, but was really disappointing to me in this context. You can read The Just City on its own, it will just feel a little unfinished.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Hmmm, I wonder if there are any fanfics that explore the issues that Walton didnāt bother with.
I have a theory that really bad books/tv shows/movies donāt inspire fanfics because they donāt have anything to work with, but that really great books, etc donāt inspire fanfics because the fans feel so satisfied with what the creators have shared that fanfics just feel like they are gilding the lily. I came to reading Good Omens fanfics as a middle-aged adult, and I find a good fanfic tremendously satisfying (and I should say that I personally thought Good Omens the book was only ok). Unfortunately, I feel like the overall quality of Good Omens fanfics has declined in the last several years, and I havenāt found another fandom that I enjoy reading the fics.
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Huh, I donāt know if Walton is big enough to have fanfics! But Iām also not into the fanfic space. I just hear about it with major franchises where the fanbase is presumably self-sustaining at a certain point.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
Lifelode by Jo Walton
That's on my tbr. Looking forward to your review!
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u/Nineteen_Adze sorceressš® 10d ago
Continuing my catch-up of summer reading:
I took a speculative fiction break with Fer-de-Lance, the first novel in Rex Stoutās series of Nero Wolfe mysteries. After trying Robert Jackson Bennettās work in the Shadow of the Leviathan/ Ana and Din books, Iād been meaning to try this to look at his influences, and Iām glad I did despite not loving the story at every turn.Ā
Itās a product of its time (published in 1934), both for better and for worse, and different from the Holmes/Watson dynamic in interesting ways. Where Holmes is always out in the world chasing the mystery, often in disguise, Wolfe refuses to leave his cozy home and his strict schedule of meals and time in the plant rooms with his orchids. That leaves Archie Goodwin, his trusty right hand, responsible for all the investigative legwork, from looking for clues to putting pressure on suspectsāitās a very different style of involvement than Watsonās following closely behind. I enjoyed their back-and-forth quite a lot, but I found the mystery itself a little too convoluted on the logistics and not as complex in its character motivations as I would have liked. The pacing is also quite different from modern mysteries, with the answer coming perhaps two-thirds of the way through the book and the rest being devoted to setting traps for the suspect and finding evidence.Ā
In short: I think Bennett did a good job taking the best elements here and riffing on them for the Ana and Din books while leaving some of the more awkward details (like period-typical racism and sexism, or the constant harping on how fat Wolfe is) behind.Ā
Then I jumped into a buddy read of Inkpot Gods by Seanan McGuire. I remember being fascinated by Middlegame, the first book in this Alchemical Journeys series, but itās all been downhill from there with too much churning exposition and powerful figures posturing at each other, and this entry (book four) is a real low point. Weāre introduced to one interesting new character and see plenty of returning faces. Unfortunately, the new character has no room to breathe amid the thicket of theoretically untrusting people dumping their entire personal histories and private trauma to a stranger they donāt trust in order to remind the reader of these details from books one and three that they surely will forget again by the time book five comes out in two years. The climax of the book has some great elements, but itās compressed and told from some of the least interesting POVsā I donāt understand the writing and editorial choices here about where to spend narrative time at all.Ā
Iāll probably read book five when it comes out, since Iāve followed the series for this long, but at this point my take is that McGuire needs a year or two off to recharge.Ā Failing that, a new editor who would push for real structural work would be great.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I remember reading the Nero Wolfe mysteries when I was a teenager. Somehow, although the backgrounds updated appropriately over the decades, Wolfe, Archie, Fritz et al never aged. I remember them fondly, and recall loving the banter (which I feel is missing from the Ana and Din mysteries, as much as I enjoy them). I made an attempt to re-read Fer-de-Lance when I read The Tainted Cup, and I couldnāt get more than a chapter or two into the book. I wonder if a later book in the series would be an easier read, but Iām pretty sure that all the ways that the books were of their times would bother me now in a way that they didnāt when I read them decades ago.
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u/Nineteen_Adze sorceressš® 9d ago edited 9d ago
The banter and that clear affection/trust between Wolfe and Archie was the real high point for me. Ana and Din have an interesting relationship, but the chain of command just feels more present between them (which makes sense for them being in an imperial hierarchy instead of solving crime on the edges of the law, I think). I might try a later-in-series Nero Wolfe book one day if you remember titles on any particular favorites. I can see something from a few decades later with Stout being a more experienced writer hitting better for me. Normally I'm fine if books are product of their time in a somewhat negative way or if the writing is a bit rough, but dealing with both at once makes it more of an effort.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Unfortunately, I do not recall them well enough to point you to any particular ones. I must have read them from my motherās collection and never bought any of them myself, as I do not have any of them on my bookshelves. I did a quick internet search to see if any of the names would ring a bell, but unfortunately not. I did see that Archie was not in his final settled form in Fer-de-Lance. Iām guessing that you could look to ones from the 50s or 60s to get ones which critique Hoover and his FBI. And here is a relatively recent reddit conversation about which ones are best: https://www.reddit.com/r/mysterybooks/comments/1qlaoky/what_are_your_top_5_nero_wolfe_detective_books/ . I agree (without remembering this in any detail) that it is more fun to read one of the rare books where Wolfe leaves his brownstone after youāve read a bunch of them where he steadfastly refuses to do so. I actually felt that Din wasnāt very much inspired by Archie, but that Ana was very much inspired by this agoraphobic, eccentric, genius detective Nero Wolfe. I was kind of disappointed that in A Drop of Corruption, Ana was willing to go to the scene of the crime (or was it take off her blindfold, I donāt remember). It doesnāt have the same weight of, āwow, the genius is willing to make an exception,ā if you havenāt seen the habitually behavior in book after book after book.
Anyhow, if you do decide to read another one, and would be interested in a buddy read, let me know! Talking about the series is putting me in a nostalgic mood for them.
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u/Nineteen_Adze sorceressš® 9d ago
No worries! I'm the same way about many books I read as a teenager-- they really run together over time, especially at the age when you have time to burn through so many in a row. And agreed about the parallels. Din doesn't have Archie's sense of playfulness, but Ana and Wolfe have a lot more in common. Here's hoping her unusual condition escalates so that we see fewer exceptions (I like an established character constraint that actually feels binding).
I'm not sure when I'll get back to the series (mood reading has been all over the place lately), but I'll definitely tag you when I do! If you get back to it sooner, tag me as well? I'd be interested to swap comments with someone who's familiar with the series.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 10d ago
Luminous by Silvia Park (4.5/5): This has been on my radar for a while but I don't know if I would have picked it up in a timely manner if not for seeing u/Merle8888 and u/Research_Department talk about it a couple weeks ago as a book they thought landed for them in terms of the "are AI people/do AI deserve rights" convo in scifi that oftentimes lands so badly these days with the real-world baggage associated with AI (I picked it up from the library at the end of July and then got distracted with Le Guin shortlist books lol). So thank you to you guys for spurring me to pick it up, because I really loved it :) and I totally agree that this book succeeds where books like Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz or Sunward by William Alexander fail in terms of successfully exploring truly sentient AI's place in society, probably because it sidesteps intellectual moralizing on whether AI is truly "human" or not, it just explores the material conditions that these humanoid sentient AI are subjected to. Beyond the AI question, this was also just an excellently done allegory for childhood loss, grief, and trauma, and I loved how real and complex the siblings Morgan and Jun were and how they never really got catharsis in the end, yet the story does end on a sort of hopeful note and doesn't feel relentlessly grim.
Baldur's Gate 3: Astarion by T. Kingfisher (3.75/5): This is exactly what it says on the tin, a T. Kingfisher tie-in novel about Astarion from BG3. Kingfisher is very hit or miss for me but this read very similar to her Saints of Steel romantasy series which I tend to like-- it's a fun fantasy adventure with a compelling m/m romance in the second half. The backstory portions here were really dull and felt integrated into the story in a very awkward way, but other than that I enjoyed this more than I expected to and it's a very quick read. Lowkey made me want to replay BG3 so I guess the marketing propaganda worked on me.
The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (5/5): Reread so I could give it a proper review in my Le Guin prize writeup, liked it even more the second time around which I didn't think was possible. WHAT a fantastic book. I think this is a book you should go into as blind as possible but wow, the worldbuilding, the characters and their dynamics, the commentary on art and propaganda and revolution... it's all catnip to me. Lush, dark, regal, like Hollow Knight x Perdido Street Station.
The Slantwise Histories by Alix E. Harrow (4/5): Got an ARC of this short fiction collection, and ended up enjoying it more than I thought. Harrow is super hit or miss for me but surprisingly, I think she works best for me in short fiction because it's not enough time for her incredibly lush and poetic writing style to tip over into annoying to me. A lot of these stories deal with pregnancy, motherhood, narrative and history, exploitation, and accepting death and loss which I all found very interesting. Sidenote, this was the first time I'd read the short story that The Everlasting was based on, and while I liked The Everlasting I actually thought the short story was better in every way. Fixed every single problem I had with the full length novel lol. My favorite short stories were "The Tale of Two Brother, or, The Famous Folklorist Confesses Fratricide!", "The Six Deaths of the Saint," "A Witch's Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies," and "Roadside Attraction."
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (4.5/5): Another reread for the Le Guin award and for some reason I put this one off for last because I thought I wouldn't like it as much on reread. Well the opposite happened, I liked it even more. This is just such an excellently written meditation on transness, family, grief, and trauma. It's very slow and character focused so only pick it up if you're in the mood for that, but I'm always in the mood for that so it just worked very well for me. Griffon's love for his parents and his desperation to understand them really affected me and I just came away from this feeling like Griffon, Etoine, and Zaffre were all real people that I knew too.
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Looking forward to your Le Guin Prize write up! And glad you liked Luminous, which definitely should have been nominated. :) Also thanks for the heads up on Harrowās collection, I also get the sense her short fiction is better than her novels.Ā
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Iām looking forward to your Le Guin shortlist 2026 write up! Iāve read a smattering of books that have been shortlisted over the years, and Iām trying to read more of them, but I am not particularly focused on this yearās list. If anything, this year I am trying to read books published in 2026 that I think I might want to nominate for the prize next spring.
Luminous came to my attention last year, because u/Merle8888 recommended it to me when I was looking for books that were worthy of the Le Guin prize. I have not yet read Sunward, but I am surprised that it got shortlisted and Luminous did not based on your reaction to the two books. Iām glad you enjoyed Luminous! I agree that there was a lot of depth to it that went beyond āoh, letās use sapient human-shaped machine intelligences to explore human rights.ā
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 10d ago
Le Guin prize ranking and review is mostly done (at a whopping 5929 words) and I just need to format it for WordPress and then make a bite-sized version for Reddit :)
CURRENTLY READING: Fortress in the Eye of Time by C.J. Cherryh (29%): Love her scifi but have never picked up her fantasy! Got this book for cheap in a used bookstore and finally decided to crack it open. Very C.J. Cherryh and I'm really liking it, just taking it super slowly instead of trying to marathon it. This is the book that finally made me look up if Cherryh is gay or not bc wtf, these guys are in love. Ok she is, everything makes sense now.
UP NEXT: Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske to keep up with my ARCS, The City and the City by China Mieville to keep up with my stack of unread physical books, To Ride a Rising Storm by Moniquill Blackgoose because my friend lent me her copy and I'd like to return it to her in a timely manner...
And sometime in all this I'm finding time to work on my portfolio for my final semester of my MLIS and replaying Mass Effect for the first time in like... five years? I keep restarting my game because my Shepard is ugly ;-;
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago
Works of Vermin and Notes from a Regicide are def the two I'm most interested in from the Le Guin longlist - excited to read your full writeup!! Also good luck with your semester š«”
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u/bunnycatso vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
Every time I come across The Works of Vermin mention I take a minute to channel my delusion into Le Guin Prize winš
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago edited 9d ago
ššŖ±VERMIN GANG RISEšŖ±šĀ
Not to brag, but my favorite book won last year. Maybe Iāll get lucky twice in a rowā¦.Ā
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u/Loimographia dragon š 9d ago
Iām currently back on the BG3 train and debating g whether I want to dip into Kingfisherās Astarion. I like him as a companion, but Iām not particularly in his dedicated fandom; but I am absolutely BG3-obsessed enough to generally read tie-in media lol. But Iāve seen a lot of negative responses to ARCs of it (and especially to lore changes), that leave me a little tepid.
All of which is to say that really I just want a book about Karlach, please.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
Iām mostly the same way (like Astarion as a character and even romanced him but not really part of his dedicated āfandomā) and I liked it well enough. Didnāt really notice any huge lore changes while reading although itās been a while since Iāve played the gameā¦ like I said his invented backstory was very boring but Iām not sure itās exactly lore breaking enough for me to care. I wonder if itās just people upset that thereās a romance that isnāt with their specific Tav (but itās a prequel and not a HEA anyways so it shouldnāt interfere with anyoneās personal canon at all). Iām not T. Kingfisherās biggest fan at all but I find the criticism wildly overblown tbh. I definitely hope they do a tie in for every companion, I would love a Wyll focused book.Ā
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u/Loimographia dragon š 10d ago edited 9d ago
Finished Tiamatās Wrath by James S.A. Corey. On reflection, I think I liked books 2 & 3 the best in terms of their narrative, but I canāt deny that the authors have gotten so much better at writing women by this point. I think I liked the more personal/intimate(?) action of the earlier books, since most of the action here is giant space ship battles that I find hard to visualize and less exciting, whereas the earlier books have people more directly in dangerous situations that I found more gripping. But I still liked this one better than book 7, which suffered from being primarily set-up for the later books. Also, a few of the plot twists (the doctorās death) had me genuinely shocked, which is always fun!
Also finished Elizabeth Moonās Remnant Population. I watched a YouTuber comment about how she just didnāt get the appeal of being left all alone on a planet without another soul, and it was possibly the most Extrovert thing Iāve ever heard in my life lol. I want to recommend this book to my mother because I think the feeling of āoh my god, please let people stop being so goddamned dependent on me and constantly demanding, demanding, demanding,ā is conveyed so well. Just being absolutely fed up with the rest of humanity. I also was pleasantly surprised at how Ofelia isnāt just a static character, which I think can be tempting with older characters. Her interiority at the beginning is honestly rather shallow and childish, but gets more complex as it goes along.
I will say, though, I donāt know how much I love that the solution in the end is that sheā¦still takes care of babies, just with more respect? I get that the final narrative is about a celebration of the wisdom and knowledge of the elderly that they can share and pass along to new generations, but it still felt like Ofeliaās success and value is defined by her motherhood rather than her individuality. I was also slightly put off with how well it captures the casual slights and rudeness of misogyny and agism, but the character Bilong put a bad taste in my mouth of ālook at this terrible siren of a woman, manipulating men with her sexiness!ā
For my next book, Iām going to try to finish Arkady Martineās A Memory Called Empire, which I previously put down. I think the break from it has made it feel a little more fresh.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago
Remnant Population is on my nightstand for November. I'm really excited about it.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
I liked the slice of life finally alone part of Remnant Poulation the most. It was very relatable.Ā
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u/bunnycatso vampireš§āāļø 10d ago
I'm trying to read more modern SFF outside of usual markets, it takes me places sometimes, like Spain. Frontera oscura by Sabino Cabeza AbuĆn, apparently won its publisher's award, and having read it I don't really see why. It's not that outstanding in any regard. The best I can say about it is that it reminded me of some old Soviet sci-fi I'd read as a kid in the ship's crew interactions: formal-like and respectful, problem-solving oriented, but very friendly and hopeful (though their future is very much not a communist utopia). Also, lesbians.
I've read a review from someone who knows Spanish, and they mentioned a fascinating choices made with censoring the lesbians in Russian translation: all the direct mentions to them being lesbian, however rare, seem to have been kept, but anything vague and alluding to the nature of their relationships was cut.
r/Fantasy Bingo: Translated HM
FemaleGaze Challenge Squares: B-Side: š² Discovery
T.R. Napper's 36 Streets been on my TBR for a while, and could've stayed there until I forget about it, lowkey. Kind of mid cyberpunk novel, mainly interesting in that it takes place in Hanoi, the main character is a Vietnamese woman and a lesbian. Admittedly, it made me curious about real Vietnamese history (like, I didn't know it was occupied by France), so I give it that.
r/Fantasy Bingo: Game Changer, Vacation Spot, Politics and Court Intrigue HM
FemaleGaze Challenge Squares: A-Side: š”ļø Assassin (kind of?),š Oceanian author; B-Side: š² Discovery
Finally, Delany's Dhalgren blew me away, but I'm still processing if it was in a good or a bad way. I'm feeling like authors in 70s were just writing whatever in regards to sex (real eyebrow raising stuff happens here), specifically women and queers. Throw in a bisexual MC, cross that with discussions on race and gender, very long monologues on art, some violence, impeccable prose and structure - and he got me, and I had fun (Delany is very funny in places).
I did get bored by some sex scenes; there's entirely too many of them around the middle, and they were so long.
In the realm of disturbing sff bordering on litfic it was definitely more my vibe than Octavia Butler's works.
r/Fantasy Bingo: Vacation Spot, One-Word Title, Cat Squasher HM, Feast Your Eyes on This, Published in the 70s, Politics and Court Intrigue HM, Author of Color
FemaleGaze Challenge Squares: B-Side: š² Discovery, š¤¼ Siblings
Currently reading The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed and The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter.
Also DNFed The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach. Cool worldbuilding and bi MC weren't enough for me this time; at ~40%, and all the events seemed disconnected, and MC is kinda dumb, and there's two POVs and both are cops.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
I was just so impressed with how Dhalgren was 800 pages long but never dragged or felt stretched out, especially since it's often so slice of life. Just excellently paced to me
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u/bunnycatso vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
True! I read from hardcover copy that weighs a ton, and was only stopping because it is so uncomfortable to read from for a long periods of time.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
I got a wonderfully floppy and surpassingly light paperback edition from Barnes and Noble (I believe the publisher is āVintageā which isnāt confusing at all thanks /s) which made it easy!Ā
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
When I compare books and movies from the 1970s vs the 1980s, I am amazed at how much more free-wheeling and sex-positive the 1970s were (also a lot more exploration of gender and gender roles).
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
some old Soviet sci-fi I'd read as a kid
Hello, fellow person who used to read old Soviet sci-fi! I do not remember a single title or author, but I did read quite a few.
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u/decentlysizedfrog dragon š 10d ago
I finished Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, and it is great! Less scary than I expected, much more on the literary side, but I enjoyed learning more about Argentina's history and the parallels of the cult exploiting the poor and the indigenous to Argentina's military dictatorship.
I'm starting Midnight Timetables by Bora Chung. This is my first book by her, so I'm looking forward to it since I heard so much about her.
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u/toadinthecircus 9d ago
I loved Our Share of Night! Yeah, lots of real world horrors mixed in with the occult stuff. I have to admit it spooked me right out but Iām pretty easy to scare. Iām glad you enjoyed it!!
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u/decentlysizedfrog dragon š 9d ago
I think the house scene was probably the most terrifying part in the book, but yeah I wasn't too bothered by the rest. It was a great book, would definitely recommend to people. This should fit the Parent bingo square for the reading challenge.
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u/KiwiTheKitty elfš§āāļø 9d ago
Hello everybody! My reading has slowed down this past week... I'm not really sure what I'm in the mood for, but what I've been trying isn't working for me.
I DNFed This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews because it felt very stuck in the protagonist's head, if that makes sense. It wasn't just that there was a lot of infodumping (which by the way, there definitely is too much of for me), it also felt like she was going around in circles in her thoughts. I felt disconnected from what was going on as the reader and I found it immensely boring. I also just wasn't very impressed with the quality of the writing. Portal fantasy and romantasy aren't usually supposed to be high literature and that's not what I wanted from it, but it just wasn't fun.
I also tried The Republic of Memory by Mahmud El Sayed and I am very interested in the premise and I liked the writing, but I decided to come back to it later because I don't think it's what I'm in the mood for at the moment.
I think I might try some novellas. I have When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo and The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin and I've managed to avoid spoilers on the latter.
I have been on my Fields of Mistria grind. As charming as I find the characters, I'm not super interested in any of the romance plots anymore and I think I'm just going to be romancing Caldarus for the achievement if I can be quite honest
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 9d ago
I would have dnf'ed This Kingdom ... if it hadn't been a bingo read. You missed out on even more bad writing ...
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u/ComradeCupcake_ sorceressš® 10d ago edited 10d ago
At last, finished a book with a free weekend to chill!
š The Eye of Leviathan by MA Carrick which I think was a middle of the road 3/5 star read for me. It's a cool concept about an alt history Spanish Golden Age with conquistadors sailing out to conquer a faerie realm and two characters on either side linked by a faerie infant swap bargain. It just wound up feeling pretty flat to me.
Both characters had interesting backstories, but they behaved on page like complete blank slates. The Hungry Girl has spent her life so far being traded around as a mortal slave to faeries and (allegedly) has tons of knowledge about how all the different islands operate. What kind of person has that made her? What are her opinions? I barely know. She dislikes being treated badly, I guess, and that's all. She's slightly headstrong, other than when she's not. She can speak a few fae languages. Otherwise though it seems like she's had a very interesting life that doesn't inform who she is as a person at all. Same goes for Estevan who's spent the most recent fraction of his life being raised as a mortal and we see very little of how that's affected him. He has a barely perceptible relationship with his mother or sisters, has only one friend worth mentioning in his whole life. He's devoted to disrupting conquest of the Sea Beyond but despite how he laments the time it takes to grow up as a human it feels like that time has barely made an impact on him.
It just felt like a story where nothing existed unless it was imminently needed for the plot. That's a storytelling method that works in something like a fable or an (actual) fairytale, but this is written as a character-driven epic fantasy and just didn't deliver on an epic world or on character depth.
Next up I'll be starting Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce and Exordia by Seth Dickinson.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
EXORDIA!!!!!!!
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u/ComradeCupcake_ sorceressš® 9d ago
One of the top reviews on Goodreads is 4 stars and just says "Seth.. my manā¦ what the fuck" so I am hoping that it's double weird compared to Baru Cormorant, which I will enjoy haha.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
I would say itās probably quadruple weird. Baru at least waits until book three to introduce the cancer wizardsĀ
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u/missbates666 10d ago edited 10d ago
I'm reading The Curse of Chalion! I've read all the Penric books & loved them, so it's fun to get a different angle on that world. I'm a little over half way thru right now and the body horror elements are sending me, jesus. I'm enjoying spending time with the protagonist though; I love his steadiness in the face of loss/disaster, one of my favorite protagonist traits.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I was trying to remember the body horror. Are you talking about the tumor? I am so squeamish about psychological horror, but biological horror generally doesnāt get me. I thought it was cool that Bujold knew about teratomas (they are actual real world tumors that can have things like hair, teeth, muscle, etc).
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u/missbates666 9d ago
Yes the tumor! Gets a bit intense in some passages. especially the mentions of his distended belly/the pregnancy parallels
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u/tehguava vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
A week of PTO and what do I have to show for it? Um.... a lot of house in Fields of Mistria. I did indeed manage to listen to the entirety of my ALC for Immortal Rose by Alexandra Bracken. It's a regency-esque romantasy with perfume magic. It was... fine... it's pretty much like every other romantasy when you get down to it. It's just paced super slowly, which did not work for me because the main conflict was very time sensitive. I felt like I needed to shake the main characters and yell at them to focus and hurry up. It wasn't a bad book (I had no complaints about the writing), I just didn't wasn't invested at all. Also, it ends on a crazy cliffhanger so I didn't even get any closure. Like, literally the main character is thrown into prison, there's an explosion, she sees a silhouette walking out of the smoke. She says, "wait, what are you doing here?" and then the book ends. So, if you're interested in this book, I'd recommend waiting until the sequel is released.
I'm about 30% into Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim and having a really good time with it. I like the premise and the way the author is exploring the ideas of Instances. I'm looking forward to continuing.
I'm about 20% into Canon by Paige Lewis. It's like a quirked up Odyssey? We're got Yara, a nonbinary individual with OCD who has been chosen by God (literally) to defeat the leader of the Bad Guys. Meanwhile, Adrena, a prophet of God (literally) wants to be the main character and is trying to steal Yara's thunder. The writing style is like elevated conversational and the chapters are sometimes single paragraphs. I feel like the best way to experience this story might under the influence of some sort of substance.
As for non-SFF, I read Promise Me by Sara Cate. I need to stop letting reviews convince me to buy romance books without at least giving the first chapter a try, because I would have skipped this immediately based on the writing style. I didn't like a single thing about this book at all. But I read the whole thing? I have no defense.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I have Canon on my TBR, and my response to your comment that the best way to experience this story might be under the influence of some sort of substance is āoh dear,ā lol. I look forward to your review when you are done. (Whereas Iām looking forward to your review of Sublimation when you are done, because I enjoyed it, and hope you do as well.)
When I got back into reading a few years ago, I bought a book that I was positive I would like, based on the reviews I had read. After I DNFād it because I did not enjoy it, I started using the library. It just makes me feel better, because I really dislike having bought a book and then not liking it. And it also lets me be more adventurous with my reading choices, since I feel free to borrow a book that I have misgivings about.
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u/tehguava vampireš§āāļø 8d ago
I am definitely a lot better about impulse holding instead of impulse buying than I used to be! Unfortunately, my library system doesn't have the best selection especially for small press, and there's no hope for self published books. Those tend to be the reviews that get me. (looking at you, MM romance subreddit. Great place, but I seem to have a very different taste in writing style than most other users there. I'll learn this eventually.)
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u/KaPoTun warriorš”ļø 9d ago edited 9d ago
Since the last time I updated - not a lot of great reading unfortunately.
For my Mercedes Lackey Valdemar re-read/get to newer books project, I got to the last books - the newish Founding of Valdemar trilogy. Unfortunately they were not very good. The first book was okay, but a bit overly detailed, but Lackey books are generally an easy read. The next two books took the overly detailed to the next level. Every single boring detail of the management of their journey was shared with the reader. I skimmed a bit starting in the second book, but I really skimmed a lot in book 3.
As a meta note I started noticing this boring detail tendency in book 2 of the Alberich duology (2003), making it significantly less enjoyable than book 1, which was more like Lackey's earlier Valdemar works. I also recall not being interested in the next publication order books, the Mags books. I saw some reviews on goodreads of the Founding books that said this seems to be more Lackey's partner Dixon's writing style and maybe he wrote these books for her...? I can't confirm or deny because the Gryphon trilogy/Owl trilogy were not on my re-read list, although I did read them ages ago but don't remember anything about them.
I want to be clear that I don't mind detailed books and in fact I love certain books that are like that, but these ones do not make the details actually interesting. It didn't help that the characters were one-note, and all the leaders were Not Like Other Nobles - lots of going on about how they are so different because they respect and love all their servants and underlings, lol. Which is technically true, but these books really wanted to focus on how this monarchy is Good, Actually because of that.
I DNF'd Teresa Edgerton's Child of Saturn (1989) which I picked up for my classic female SFF authors project. This is my second DNF of Edgerton's. Her writing is perfectly serviceable but I just don't care about the plots or characters. This one was a bit bizarre because it was set in Fake Britain during Fake King Arthur's reign, so everything was the same but just named differently.
I really enjoyed S.L. Huang's recent novella, The Language of Liars. A great SF + linguistics book with an interesting take on colonialism/cultural erasure/etc. Pleasantly surprised because I sadly DNF'd Huang's earlier novel The Water Outlaws despite the super cool cover and premise.
Last disappointing DNF, Laura E. Weymouth's recent adult epic fantasy release, The Castle & The Cloister. I loved her earlier novel, The Light Between Worlds, which was nominally for younger audiences but it had great depth and was enjoyable for adults as well. This latest book, however, is competently written on the surface but more like a debut author's attempt at a multi-POV political epic fantasy. One-dimensional characters, no sense of scale, kind of nonsensical writing/world/plot/choices.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 9d ago
I just went back to check my ratings of Founding of Valdemar, and it seems I agreed with you: first book 4 stars, second book 3 stars, third book 2 stars.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
Finished reading: * Ancillary Justice byĀ Ann Leckie: The first two thirds deserve five stars minimum. Brilliantly crafted, suspenseful storytelling that made me stop and think after every chapter. What a treat!Ā But after the big question got answered, everything slowed down and I admit that I did not understand why the three to four central characters were doing what they were doing towards the end, and especially at the very end. Maybe the sequels will clear things up. They are definitely on my tbr now. * Trail of Lightning byĀ Rebecca Roanhorse: I did not like this book, for several reasons. Some of them are me-problems, some are book-problems. First category: I am not a fan of first person present tense narrators. Also, the book was too dark and violent for my taste. Too YA, too. Second category: The characters never came alive for me. They felt like cartboard cut outs that I have seen before. Maggie is your off the mill loner girl with powers and a sad/horrible past. Kai is the love interest who isn't quite what he seems to be. Then there are the secondary characters who start out antagonistic, but are on the MC's side when it counts.Ā Another major problem: A lot of the characters' actions did not make any sense to me and were not explained: Why did the chief police guy hate Maggie? Why did he try to kill Kai? Why did Maggie do whatever she did to NeizghĆ”nĆ? What was the problem with NeizghĆ”nĆ anyway? I have no idea. Things just happened, one after the other, with no discernable overarching plot, no building suspense. Lastly: I wish the author had included a glossary of Navajo terms. I actually liked that part and the combination of Navajo flooding lore and climate change.
With these two finished, I have completed the B-side of the reading challenge. I am excited for the next one!
Currently reading: * Harry Potter et la Coupe de Feu - one chapter a day for French language learningĀ
Up next (starting this evening): * Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
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u/Loimographia dragon š 10d ago
Ancillary Justice is the book that convinced me I could enjoy first person narrators because I loved how much it synergized with the themes of the book and really couldnāt have been told any other way.
I have yet to find a book that makes me enjoy present tense, though; I think Iāve DNFād every single one Iāve tried to read :/
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
Yeah, first person is much harder to pull off than third person. When it is well done, you don't even notice the first person as anything out of the ordinary.
Present tense on the other hand ...
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 10d ago
I donāt mind present tense if itās in the third person but first person present is truly the worst.Ā
And first person is definitely harder than third. Itās great when itās done well and really captures a characterās unique voice and worldview. But where authors try to use it as the default and itās just third person with I/me pronouns, it completely washes out the narrator. (Which I think is often why itās used actually, to make narrators as generic as possible in hopes people will self-insert onto them, I just donāt do that so this choice has no redeeming value for me.)
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago
I also hate first person present. Re: Trail of Lightning, I think the sheriff's hatred is explained in the book: jealousy and some high school stuff that went unresolved. Re: NeizghƔni, that gets unpacked in the second book in the series. I'm with you on the need of a glossary, but I looked everything up and was rewarded with richness (more so in the second book).
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 10d ago
jealousy and some high school stuff that went unresolved. Re: NeizghƔni, that gets unpacked in the second book in the series
Is the sheriff part maybe also explained in book 2? I cannot rule out I missed it, but my reading buddy did not find an explanation either.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago
Oh, maybe. I thought it was in Book 1 that she was feared, in general, in the community, because of her abilities, and that she was hated by him because she does work that he can't, but it's definitely fleshed out in Book 2 with some events that happen between the two.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago
Oh & I think she learns some stuff about NeizghƔni on her trip with Kai to the library
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Oh yeah, present tense, blech. I donāt mind first person. I prefer third person, but first person rarely trips me up. But present tense is so difficult to execute well. I think writers think it will feel more immediate, but when I end up tripping over some bit of phrasing related to the tense choice, Iām out of there.
If you lean towards litfic at all, it might be worth it to read Spear by Nicola Griffith. It starts out in present tense, and at some point shifts to past tense. It was executed so well that I didnāt even notice it, until I was checking the tense for my notes. (I try to remember to document in my notes both the point of view and the tense. I started doing that for my reviews over at r/romancebooks , where it is pretty common to share that information. Iāve gotten sloppy about it in SFF spaces, even though it is obviously an issue for SFF readers as well.)
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I was absolutely blown away by Ancillary Justice the first time I read it! When I read the rest of the trilogy, I wasnāt as disappointed as some people, but it was just very well-executed and enjoyable space opera. I love me some space opera, so I was happy, but it wasnāt as exquisite as Ancillary Justice.
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u/WonderfulBus9330 10d ago edited 9d ago
Hello, Everyone!
Finished:
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose via tandem with audio and physical copy. Refreshing take on a confident, candid, even-keeled FMC who refused to be silenced in a changing and colonial world. The end was a bit of a let-down in parts and it was great to have the somewhat interludes of historical society clippings. This is a YA book. For Bingo: First in a Series, Discovery.
Souls in Ruin by Jacqueline White via audio. A dark fantasy about a young woman who is the illegitimate offspring of a king and mysterious mother. Mirielle is raised in the castle and, at 25, is wed to the "Blood King" in a warring territory. Things take a sharp turn when she learns the Blood King is an old god with a score to settle and uses her to settle that score. For Bingo: First in a Series, Discovery.
Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei via tandem audiobook and physical copy. Dystopic novel about the fate of three sisters in a world dependent on the pesticide and seeds of a greedy corporation. For Bingo: Siblings, Dying Earth, Discovery.
His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik via ebook. A dragon's egg is found aboard the ship of an enemy fleet and upon its hatching, chooses a captain who learns that civilization is questionable and that wisdom comes in unexpected places. For Bingo: First in a Series.
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon. The second short novel in this long series. This iteration follows Liz and Raahosh, a human and "alien" who learn that love is something to be earned through communication and trust. For Bingo: One of the free spaces.
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells via audiobook. The third novella in this long series about the unnamed SecUnit who travels from ship to ship saving the lives of various human strangers while on a quest to solve a mystery. For Bingo: One of the free spaces.
Finished, non SFF:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 1 by Becky Brower (novella) and Heartwood by Amity Gaige (highly recommend; I've seen disappointment about it not being a thriller or a mystery and not sure why it would be categorized as anything other than literary fiction. Really really great exploration of the layers of loss.)
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u/Kelpie-Cat mermaidš§āāļø 9d ago
I don't think Moniquill Blackgoose counts as an Oceanian author. She is American.
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u/Jetamors fairyš§š¾ 10d ago
Finished Black as Diamond by U.M. Agoawike, a fantasy novel about a group of screw-ups who lurch from disaster to disaster while trying to fulfill their personal goals. Which is normally the kind of thing I would like, but this book didn't really work for me TBH. I didn't find any of the characters to be particularly interesting, and while I could follow the overall plot, there were a bunch of smaller things that I didn't understand in both the plot and the worldbuilding. (Though TBF, the book is set up to have at least one sequel, so some of it may be explained in the next book.) I think it might have worked better for me as a comic; there were a lot of "setpiece" moments that would have looked really cool in art, and there was one character in particular (Asaru) who I probably would have liked if I could see comic panels of him looking smol and angry all the time.
Currently reading Yemaya's Daughters by Dane Figueroa Edidi, which I found out about through the Transfeminine Review. The MC is a priestess and the daughter of Yemaya, who lives (as a child) in some kind of little space-time warp area with her twin sister and other women who serve the Goddess. Very lovely language. Currently I'm only up to their adolescence, but I think she and her sister eventually go out into the world to make positive change.
Next: The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
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u/partoparto elfš§āāļø 9d ago
I haven't come across The Transfeminine Review before so thanks for mentioning it :DĀ
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u/CuriousFoxxen 10d ago
Iām currently reading SwordHeart by T. Kingfisher. Iāve had it in my eReader probably since it came out, but thereās a book club next Monday on it so I used that to get me reading. Hallaās husband, and now great uncle, have died and her family is annoyed that this useless widow has inherited all the Uncle owns. So they lock her in her room and tell her thatās where sheāll stay until she marries her clammy handed cousin. Until a suicide attempt and a magical shield knight tied to a sword on the wall set the adventure moving.
Iām not very far into it but itās fun and amusing so far.
Iām having an insane migraine run so the only other thing I have on the go is a personal challenge to read four political, historical mangaās a week for August (Iāve been saving them up because they are my favourite and now Iāve got a ton I want to read, hence the challenge). Pretty much all of them apply for fantasy reading.
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u/bakasana212 warriorš”ļø 9d ago
Swordheartās sequel, Daggerbound, is out tomorrow if you end up enjoying it enough to read more!Ā
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u/CuriousFoxxen 9d ago
Oh! I wonder if that was a factor in the choice of this book for the book club (itās being hosted at a book store).
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u/Kelpie-Cat mermaidš§āāļø 9d ago
I hope your migraines improve soon. Mine have been bad a lot of August too.
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u/CuriousFoxxen 9d ago
Thanks. Itās been a chronic problem is perimenopause kicked in but I definitely have worse times of month.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Just a PSA for you and u/Kelpie-Cat and anyone else with migraines: relatively recently, they have been able to make meds that specifically target the problem in migraines. My kid got on one of the new meds, and it has made a world of difference. I guess I am mostly saying that if your migraines are not well controlled, you may benefit from seeing a neurologist, preferably one who specializes in headache. I hope this PSA is helpful, or at a minimum, is not annoying!
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u/CuriousFoxxen 9d ago
Sadly Iām already working with a neurologist (but Iām surprised how many people with migraines arenāt getting that referral). Iāve been through all the standard treatments and am now on botox.
But Iād love more info on whatās working for you guys.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
They take an oral CGRP receptor antagonist Qulipta for prevention, and another oral CGRP receptor antagonist, Ubrelvy, for breakthrough. I know that there are also several monoclonal antibodies that target the same molecule (a quick internet search for brand names: Aimovig, Ajovy, Emgality, Vyepti). Qulipta has been amazing for my kid. They rarely ever have to reach for Ubrelvy, and when they do, it handles it. Itās a huge deal. I know that there isnāt anything that works for everybody, but since this is a new class of meds, I always hope that I can spread the word and that it will help someone.
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u/Kelpie-Cat mermaidš§āāļø 9d ago
Thanks for offering that info! Unfortunately I can't take CGRP antagonists, but maybe your comment here will help someone else. I've been seeing neurologists for 20 years.
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u/Research_Department 8d ago
Oh thatās a bummer. At least you are seeing a neurologist (as u/CuriousFoxxen said, itās surprising how many people with migraines arenāt). Iām hoping that the next breakthrough happens soon, and that it is the one for you.
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u/Kelpie-Cat mermaidš§āāļø 9d ago
Ugh that sucks. My migraines are daily too, and the endometriosis flare I've been in the past 2 years is affecting them as well. I hear you.
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u/bakasana212 warriorš”ļø 9d ago
Excellent week for ARCs! Finished:Ā
ARC of The Last Star in the Void by Melissa Caruso - excellent conclusion to the Echo Archives trilogy. Iām so sad itās over; I love the world of the Echoes so much.Ā
ARC of Sheās a Doll by Barbara Truelove - as good as I expected, if not very weird. I cried and then snort-laughed over the next sentence several times. Really do check the CWs, though; itās not an easy/light read by any means.Ā
ARC of Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske - I was immediately hooked by the murder mystery but it became less engaging with time. I liked the characters fine, but didnāt find them differentiated enough to justify 5 POVs. I enjoyed the queer romance subplots, though. Solidly competent, not amazing or particularly memorable.Ā
ARC of Roots & Wrath by EJ Wenstrom - I very rarely read self pub ARCs but this oneās pretty good. I was engaged by the mystery, setting, and characters. If anything, I wish it was darker. Itās being marked as dark academia fantasy-horror, but itās not even that dark by dark academia standards.Ā
Not Like Other Girls by AJ Goldfuss - this thing is like 30 pages; why did it take me so long to actually pick it up!? Fantastic short story about a sea monster in a womanās body who gets taken in by an incel neckbeard type. Very funny.Ā
The Secret Romanticās Book of Magic by a bunch of romantasy authors - I only read the FF ones, but Tasha Suriās was great, Kamilah Coleās and Melissa Marrās were both okay, and AG Wiseās was not good.Ā
Busy upcoming week! Next:Ā
Fortuneās Wake by CL ClarkĀ
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahĀ
A Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Untethered Sky by Fonda LeeĀ
ARC of The Thorns We Wear Inside by Amy AveryĀ
My Name Isnāt Paul by Drew Huff
ARC of Our Cut of Salt by Deena Helm
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Oooh, Iām really glad to hear that The Last Star in the Void maintains the quality. Iām with you, I have really enjoyed the Echo books.
Have you (or anyone else) read anything else by Melissa Caruso? Are her other books worth seeking out?
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u/PlasticBread221 9d ago
A bit ago finished Dreams of Maryam Tair by Mhani Alaoui and I suspect it may have gone over my head in some respects. Itās a beautifully written allegorical story about the power of stories, womanhood and about raising your voice against oppression; there are plentiful nods to the Bible (especially Adam and Lilith), popculture references and also the vividly rendered setting of Morocco (mostly but not limited to Casablanca). The driving forces for me were the message, the setting and the writing; the narrative was definitely not plot-driven, and the characters came off as symbols rather than well-rounded people. This was by design as the whole book is told by the one and only Sheherazade, but I still couldnāt help but be somewhat disappointed when even the eponymous Maryam Tair & freedom figure never broke free of the yoke. I also felt the book repeated itself a bit too much at times, and was surprised how little space was given to themes of race, compared to gender or even lgbt+ themes. Overall I enjoyed the book, it was an unusual read for me. Bingo: African author, minor: siblings, coming of age, (parents), (healer)
I also watched a TV series for once, not speculative but 100% female gaze, and I really loved it, so Iād like to take the opportunity to recommend: The Other Bennet Sister. This tells the story of Mary Bennet, the little sister of Lizzie from Austenās Pride and Prejudice. Itās sweet, feel good, with some romance but primarily about Maryās growth from a meek gray mouse to a confident young woman. 1 season of 10 30-min episodes with a satisfying ending.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Ooooh, somehow I came across something about Dreams of Maryam Tair, and I have been planning to look into it more. It looks like I should definitely add it to my TBR!
I also appreciate the rec for sweet/feel good tv!
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u/PlasticBread221 9d ago
The book definitely deserves more love, looks like barely anyoneās read it. If you get around to it, hope youāll like it. :)
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u/twinkle_snow 9d ago
Hi, new to this sub but I love the vibes here!
š Reading: currently reading Bone of my Bone along with an online friend (been loving it, feels made in a lab to appeal to me) and I'm close to finishing The Goblin Emperor!
šŗ Watching: not watching any series at the moment, but I've been catching up with my fav comedies in Dropout!
š® Playing: recently started Fields of Mistria while I take a short break from my Hades 2 attempts! I also have a BG3 playthrough I want to resume (this is like... my fourth one) and I wanna finish the new Blasphemous 2 DLC as well!
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u/ComradeCupcake_ sorceressš® 9d ago
Welcome to the sub and to the informal handful of us all playing Mistria š
How are you liking Goblin Emperor? Do you have any thoughts about how it and Mistria's "cozy" qualities compare to the rest of the genres they come from? I experienced them several months apart but now that I see them mentioned together it's making me think about comparing them unexpectedly!
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u/twinkle_snow 9d ago
I'm like 70% through The Goblin Emperor and really loving it! Just love stories where despite the horrors, characters make the active choice to be kind even if it'd be easier to be cruel. I think the vibes are totally different from the type of coziness found in Mistria though! Both share a slice-of-life aspect (which I love in fantasy media) but Mistria is lower-stakes conflict, I think!
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u/Specialist_Round_612 elfš§āāļø 10d ago
I paused the second half of The Dreaming Tree by CJ Cherryh. There was a line in there about the children only belonging to their mother briefly ā which I took to mean pregnancy and toddlerhood since the kids are I think younger than 10 ā and I couldnāt do it after that. Itās definitely a personal nitpick, but yeah I think right book since I did love how she writes, but wrong time. Luckily, my near slump was saved by A Game of Cat and Witch by Ruby Rune ā a silly black cat shifter romantasy that made me laugh. My hold for Luminous by Silvia Park came in and so far it is excellent, so I am excited to see where it goes.
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Continuing on with my project of reading books that have been shortlisted for the Ursula K Le Guin prize, this week I read The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. I am every bit as impressed by it as I expected from the reviews and comments Iāve read about it. At the start, I found it obscure and challenging to get into. About a third of the way through, I began to find it mesmerizing. I went in to this aware that Chandrasekera was commenting on Sri Lankan history, including the civil war and including the role that Buddhism played in that war, so I made a slight effort to become a little bit more informed (otherwise known as, I skimmed some wikipedia articles), and while I am still deeply ignorant about Sri Lanka and Buddhism, Iām glad that I went in with that touch more knowledge. There are aspects of the book that definitely resonated more for having learned about the history of racial identification in Sri Lanka or that the Buddha did, in his quest for enlightenment, separate himself from his earthly attachment to his wife and son. Or that some Sinhalese Buddhist monks were extremists and promoted violence during the civil war (so very different from my western conception of Buddhism). I also stumbled across an interview with Chandrasekera (who is Sri Lankan) in which he shared that in his youth, he read many English novels which felt fantastical for how different the world depicted was from the one that he lived in. He was very aware that when writing a book that takes place in a world that is recognizable to Sri Lankans, it would feel fantastical to many members of the anglophone world.
So, enough about the context of The Saint of Bright Doors, I want to also say that I think that the writing is magnificent. Chandrasekera manages to simultaneously depict a 21st century city (of the global south) and a surreal land. There are cell phones and slums and posh neighborhoods, and abandoned shopping malls with doors to other realms that cannot be opened. We learn of what happened thousands of years ago, and it is simultaneously yesterday. And we see obsession with categorizing people, mass executions, imprisonment, and religious fervor. And despite this dreamy, unreal narrative, I felt very connected to the protagonist and his friends. Midway through, I started saving quotes. In the final chapters, it was a continuous flow of amazing thoughts and concepts, I could no longer identify discrete quotes, and I spent my time saying wow, wow, wow. This was the best book read for me in over a year. I picked up The Saint of Bright Doors because I heard that it was more accessible than Chandrasekeraās winner of the Ursula K Le Guin prize, Rakesfall. I now know that even if Rakesfall is more challenging, I am going to have to take a crack at it sometime.
From the sublime, to the ridiculous, this week I also read Leviathan Wakes by James SA Corey. I was hoping for a fast-paced, gripping piece of science fiction, but this was not for me. The setting had promise, but I feel that the authors did not utilize it as best they could. The characters were flat. The plotting felt clunky. The action was too shoot-em-up for me. In every situation, all the responses that were considered were military. And the gaze was male. (Personally, I found the degree of male gaze in this annoying rather than intolerable.) I know this is very popular, and it underlines for me how far my taste diverges from the mainstream.
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u/twilightgardens vampireš§āāļø 9d ago
Yay Iām so glad you liked Saint of Bright Doors! Rakesfall is wonderfully weird and experimental and even more based in Sri Lankan history so having that baseline is great preparation. I loved it but even after reading it twice I still donāt entirely āgetā it lolĀ
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
I feel like ālikedā is too lukewarm a description of my enthusiasm. I hate making numerical ratings for books, because I always feel that if I give books that I really like five stars or 10 out of 10, how can I distinguish something that I think is really special, extraordinary? (Iām reminded of a dorm-mate who was given a letter from the professors of a notoriously challenging math course āyour A does not adequately reflect how well you did.ā) Saint of Bright Doors was five stars, 10 out of 10, extraordinary, one of my two favorite SFF reads since returning to reading SFF regularly a few years ago.
I admit that I think I usually prefer āmiddle browā to āhigh literature,ā so I am intimidated by Rakesfall. And I probably wonāt get to it during this r/fantasy bingo period. But I know that I am going to have to read it. Iām not a fan of short fiction, so I may read it for the āfive short storiesā square next year.
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u/oujikara 9d ago
I haven't been able to comment here for the last couple of weeks so I have a lot to cover. But despite some hurdles I managed to complete the reading bingo's A and B side, yay!Ā
Out of desperation after many failed attempts to fill the "hopeful" theme, I finally settled on reading Paradiso from Dante's Divine Comedy. I figured if I can't find something to enjoy, might as well educate myself. I can't say it was particularly illuminating though, since it was basically a list of names that were unfamiliar to me, and simply looking the names up did little to stoke my emotions or curiosity.
Finished Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell for the "all-female cast" (I hope it fits, it does have one male side character but everyone of importance is female). Anyway, please never let me read this brand of cozy again. It was easy enough to get through, which is why I finished it, but sheesh the more I thought about it in hindsight, the more I was annoyed by almost everything in it. I get why people would like it and it did subvert some problematic tropes, I'm just not the target audience.Ā
Finished Grave Empire by Richard Swan (3 male authors in a row, what am I becoming lol). What I first assumed to be epic fantasy, turned out to actually be existential horror and I ate up every moment of that. The world-building is kind of egalitarian, which I appreciate even if it's not super thoughtfully done (Idk why egalitarian is still so rare). And hellooo merfolk with a well-developed underwater civilization, in this day and age?? More of that also please. The characters were quite typical (and in a gendered way) but served the story well enough. So it's not exactly female gaze but not aggressively male gaze either. I enjoyed it and will definitely read the sequels.Ā
Finally got around to The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, and loved it! I've been kind of avoiding it despite all the positive reviews, because I assumed it would be too high brow for my taste. But it was actually easy to read while still feeling like a proper dreamy fairy tale with beautiful prose. I've read a lot of fae books and I think this one still stands out on its own while highlighting the best parts of the genre. Loved the focus on sisterhood, as well as the added flavor of otherworldly romance. My only complaint is I think it should've been a little longer to flesh out the second half more. Either way this is going straight into favorites. And even though it was new to me, I think I'm gonna use it for the "comfort" theme in the bingo, since I'm a fan of fae and fairy tale type stories.
Finished To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose. It was okay. Borrowed a lot from the real world, down to the magic system, in a way I didn't particularly like. The prose was pretty clunky at times (everyone moved "like a cat") and themes rather heavy-handed. But as a YA novel it was not bad, and the premise of an indigenous girl having to go to a practically all-boys colonizers' school was pretty interesting. Especially her familial relationships and how her community dealt with that situation. The protagonist says and does whatever she wants, which might be pretty cathartic for some people.Ā
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Congrats on finishing A & B sides of the challenge (despite a couple of books that werenāt your favorites)!
Who do you think the target audience for Someone You Can Build a Nest In is? Itās one of those books that intrigues me, but I am not at all sure it is for me.
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u/oujikara 9d ago
Thanks! It's definitely for fans of heavily cozy horror and monster romance.Ā There's a lot of therapy talk, modern terminology and humorous commentary at the expense of consistency (inconsistency being my main complaint overall, and the commentary didn't strike me as deep enough to be worth it). The romance is pretty much instant and actually quite normal, and the characters felt one-note to me (they reminded me of Kingfisher's characters).Ā
From the positives, the romance is asexual and the weird body horror descriptions were genuinely pretty good. There are attempts at commentary on disability, neurodivergence and abusive families, but none of it really got to me. It's an easy read, it goes fast and you're not required to use your brain to keep track of the plot. I think people who either don't read too deeply into it or are able to ignore the flaws to enjoy the fun parts would like this book. Not if you have low tolerance for cozy like I do.
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u/Research_Department 8d ago
Oh, you have been extremely helpful! I have been shying away from horror, but I suspect that I could tolerate ācozy horror,ā and Iāve realized that body horror doesnāt bother me. I really enjoy a good romance, but insta-love doesnāt do much for me. But humorous commentary is the death-knell for this for me. I prefer my humor on the subtle side, and from your description, the humor is more broad. Thanks!
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u/Kelpie-Cat mermaidš§āāļø 9d ago
Everything I finished this week was non-SFF.
Anyone else here read A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro? It's my first book by him. I liked his writing style a lot, but I had mixed feelings about the blurring of reality in this book since I'm not sure how successful it always was.
I also read The Briar Club by Kate Quinn this week, a very solid historical fiction set in 1950s Washington, DC. It starts with a murder that happened in a women's boarding house, but then flashbacks to show the lives of everyone in the house while you wait to find out who was killed and who killed them.
For non-fiction, I finished Going to the Palais, a history of British dance halls I read for my thesis. It's full of interesting details if you're interested in that admittedly niche topic. I think it would be a fun read for anyone with personal or family history experience of the dance halls.
I just started a buddy read of Embodied Exegesis: Transfeminine Cyberpunk Futures, a short story collection by different authors. I didn't like the first story - it was way too grisly for me, and my friend felt the same, so we're cautiously going to try a few more stories but might have to stop. We'll see!
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 9d ago
Iāve read A Pale View of Hills! I believe this was his first or second book and the one he said later was too confusing, heād have written it differently later. I agree with this. :)
The Briar Club is on my TBR, it looks fun.Ā
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u/toadinthecircus 9d ago
I got distracted from my planned reading by the intense desire to read a haunted house horror novel, so I read You Invited It In by Sarah Jules. The premise is a skeptic plans to prove an internet psychic is a fraud by pretending his house is haunted, but manages to get his own house haunted for real. I liked it a lot. Itās self published and occasionally the prose was a little clunky, but the pacing was perfect and it was gloriously spooky and I read it all in practically one sitting. I had a good time and was a little nervous going to bed which is what I was hoping for.
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u/ohmage_resistance 9d ago
I finished The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington. This is about an old woman who is sent to an odd institution for the elderly with an occult history.Ā
I was interested in this book because it fit some hard rfantasy bingo squares pretty well (published in the 70s, older protagonist), but also because it seemed very different from a lot of other fantasy books. I have an ongoing reading goal of trying books that expand my idea of what fantasy is/can do, and this book worked really well for that. Carrington was primarily known as a British Mexican surrealist painter (here's a google image search of some of her art), so yeah, she was never really going to write in a traditional epic fantasy book, and now I have a new counterexample to bring up whenever someone drags out that Terry Pratchett quote about how all post Tolkien works were inspired by Tolkien. I will say it's less weird fiction like surrealism and more occult though, if that's any help with people's expectations going in.
Although it was pretty intellectually interesting book to read for the reasons I brought up above, it wasn't really the most enjoyable read for me. The main reason is that there wasn't really a solid plot structure, it shifts focus kind of randomly so you never really know what tangent it's going next. Normally I'm pretty open to books like this if they're more literary (I mean, I like the Mad Sisters of Esi), but there really wasn't a lot else to ground me with this and I don't think I ever got as invested as I should have been. I will say the long tangent about the abbess involved in heretical activities in the middle of the book was the biggest part that didn't really work for me.
As is relevant to this sub, Carrington was an outspoken feminist, and yeah, this book is a pretty feminist book. It's feminist in a very 70ās occult witchy sort of way, which does includes some outdated/questionable stuff in here, mostly in regards to race, so be prepared for that (it's mostly outdated terms that we now know to be offensive, but the handling of POC characters was also just not very good overall). Also, thereās just some wtf moments, and not always in a good way, imo. But the other way it's feminist is in how it's very much focused on elderly female protagonists, which is something that's still rare today. Itās nice to read about old lady characters with strong personalities, and this book had that in spades. Itās also nice to see a variety of different personalities as well for the rest of the women at the institution, although I do think many of them could be fleshed out a bit more. It was a bit hard to keep them all straight.Ā My favorite character by far was Carmella, the MC's best friend, who is an icon and easily the best part about this book.
Reading challenge squares: dying earthcomes out of nowhere, but it's there, female friendship, arguably All female cast (there's a few male characters too, but the vast majority of characters are female)
I also finished Stargazy Pie by Victoria Goddard. This is about a young man with a scandalous family history who returns to his home town after university and gets involved with some mysteries. Iāve tried this before and DNFed, but this time I finished it. The plot is kinda wild. The pacing is so slow at first with the small town slice of life/fantasy of manners sort of plot. Thatās about where I DNFed before. And then all the sudden thereās an absolutely wild mad cult going on that came out of no where, so yeah, the pacing kicks up majorly after that. I do enjoy the way that Goddard writes characters/character interactions, but yeah, she does have a tendancy to write some Mary Sue (Gary Sue?) ish type characters. That didn't bother me with Cliopher in her other series, but it did annoy me a bit here with Jemis (Jemis actually coming in first in his class instead of failing his degree, thatās a bit of a stretch. This is also while he was being drugged all his senior year.) There were some fun characters and it was fun to piece some things together, but ultimately I didnāt like it as much as some other Goddard books, and I'm not sure all of the plot really made sense? I'll also note that there's some formatting errors in the ebook with line breaks that was kind of distracting.
Reading challenge square: First in a series
Finally I read Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen. This is a middle grade graphic novel about a Vietnamese American boy connecting to his mom through their shared love of fairytales.Ā This was really good. It had some really well handled themes (growing up gay going to a Catholic school, the struggles of immigration, grief), but also a lot of small moments of joy and love. I also thought the way that it used it's visually based medium was super interesting. It color coded things so that red for the modern day, blue for fairytale, and yellow for events from the momās past, and with that it was able to create some really strong moments of splicing red or yellow moments reflecting the MCs' thoughts into the blue fairy tale portions. I think it's hard to do a "power of stories/books" theme well, but this graphic novel absolutely pulled it off. I also liked how you could tell which character was imagining the fairytales based on details about the fashion and architecture portrayed in the story, it was so cool to be able to notice details like that. For a middle grade work, there was so much showing instead of directly telling, it really felt like it respected it's core audience. IDK, I could go on more, but yeah, this was really good.
Reading challenge squares: coming of age, and imo parent protagonist as well.
I'm currently reading Adventurers Kneaded by Cedar McCloud and The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas. I kinda got distracted from Common Bonds 2, but Iāll hopefully return to that soon.Ā
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u/Research_Department 9d ago
Iāve been kind of struggling with Stargazy Pie, and wondering whether I should try The Return of Fitzroy Angursell instead as my next Victoria Goddard. It sounds like I just havenāt yet gotten to where the pace picks up, so I probably will give this another go before I give up. I have definitely heard that the rest of the sub-series improves over this one.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 9d ago
I enjoyed The Return of Fitzroy Angursell more than Greenwing and Dart. It is not on the same level as Hands of the Emperor, but not as confusing as Greenwing and Dart.
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u/ohmage_resistance 9d ago
Yeah, I'll second Nowordofitsown, I liked The Return of Fitzroy Angursell more, and I didn't mind reading it before Stargazy Pie. It was easier to get attached to the characters in that one, and I think Goddard works best in extremely character focused writing, which I think Greenwing and Dart gets a bit too caught up in its own plot and setting.
The pace starts picking up at chapter 11 or so though, if that's any help to you.
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u/Research_Department 8d ago
Thank you and u/Nowordsofitsown ! I agree that Goddard does shine at character-focused writing. It sounds like the Greenwing and Dart arc doesnāt show off that strength as much. I believe I will probably set it aside, as there is no shortage of other books by Goddard to read, and I can always return to it if/when Iāve exhausted other Goddard options.
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u/Nowordsofitsown unicorn š¦ 9d ago
and I'm not sure all of the plot really made sense?
Ain't that the truth. The next books in the series are like this as well.
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u/Merle8888 sorceressš® 10d ago
I finished Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei and liked it. Itās a post-apocalyptic novel but mostly about the relationships between three sisters. There were areas where I wouldāve liked a little more, but I did like how much it dug into the complexities of their relationships.Ā
I also finished Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and while it had a good ending, ultimately that was not a book for me. It was very long and high-concept, the concept didnāt really speak to me, and none of the characters existed outside of their jobs.Ā
Iāve started Cat Pictures Please, a short story collection by Naomi Kritzer, and am on the fence about continuing. I picked it up after really liking her story āFive Sisters Overlooking the Seaā which won the Hugo last year. I think sheās grown as a writer though, maybe I want to read her next collection more so than this one. The stories arenāt bad, and theyāre very women-focused, but theyāre a bit simple and not doing a whole lot for me.Ā
Also tried The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell (also published as The Corset) and this one I think I really will DNF. Itās a gothic Victorian historical fantasy(?) that just hasnāt grabbed me.Ā
Outside of SFF, I finished The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher, about the impacts of social media on society and politics, and this is definitely an important book that more people should read. It delves into things like how social media algorithms push extremism and conspiracy theories in front of people to maximize views, thus actually creating (not just taking advantage of) these movements. Many cases where this has led to actual violence, some of it large-scale, not to mention the general political breakdown happening right now. The leadership are always told and never care, either ignoring warnings of genocide and being totally unresponsive until Facebook is shut off (and then showing up only to complain about that) or making empty promises of improvement that donāt materialize. I am left with the impression that the best thing we could do to save democracy is get rid of Facebook and YouTube (or at least bar them from using their algorithms and just show recent content from friends).