stuff i read 4 january 2020
Feb. 4th, 2020 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tabacoychanelJames S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn (2014) (The Expanse #4) Corey’s strengths are for me twofold: (1) dynamite pacing and (2) snappy dialogue. A few years back I gulped down all three published Expanse novels in a week and then I forgot about them. Before jumping into this, the fourth one, I brushed up on prior events by reading some synopses and imo this series is packing an EXCESSIVE quantity of plot. The planet Ilus is the bone of contention between the colonists who have illegally settled it and the Royal Charter Energy corporation who hold the title to it. It is decided that the way to unstick this sticky snafu of a situation is to shoot James “Galaxy’s Biggest Loose Cannon” Holden at it because “everybody hates him equally, so we can argue he’s impartial.” It only takes 0.3 seconds for the shooting to start. I am obviously here for the found family dynamics—Captain Holden would lay down his life for each and every member of his crew (this book contains a nail-biter of a hostage situation). I am emphatically not here for the existential hand-wringing over “Is Holden a killer?”—no he’s not, can we move on. Holden’s main antagonist is a guy who, if this were the Stanford Prison Study, would be gleefully torturing prisoners & stubbing out cigarettes in their eyes. So they are foils, and it’s impossible to get away from that civilization-vs-barbarism question I have already expressed negative interest in. At the novel’s halfway point there is detonated a literal and metaphorical bomb and the clock ticks down and it’s tense af. The pacing is, as I said, top-notch but also distinctively sci-fi—this is the most sci-fi book to ever sci-fi. I found it engrossing but I think the moral obviousness of it makes it an unlikely candidate for a reread.
Penelope Farmer, Charlotte Sometimes (1969) I love me a passive heroine. I love the ones who punch monsters in the throat, too—these two opinions can coexist—maybe they’re both variations on the theme of We Live in Society. So. Charlotte is thirteen, an age at which one’s identity is still nebulous and unformed, when she arrives at boarding school. Her bed has the magical property of erratically transporting her into the past. Every other morning she wakes up in 1918, in the body of a girl called Clare, and the plot ping-pongs between the two timelines. At one point Charlotte gets “stuck” in 1918, and while she’s anxious to return to her own time she admits “it was a relief to be one person instead of two, even if it was the wrong person.” You can say that again! She goes on to describe Clare as a skin she wears, which she feels “thickening” about her the longer she remains in 1918. The experience of being disoriented by one’s environment and assailed by doubt about one’s identity is, I think, a common one for young adults who are obsessed with questions of who they are vs. how the world sees them. This was cozy and charming but not bloodless: exactly what a children’s book ought to be be.
Steven Burst, Yendi (1987) (Vlad Taltos #2) It honestly feels like reading another Amber novel—this is a compliment bc I find Zelazny’s Amber books unputdownable. What threw me off about Book 1 is that it was structured like a mystery but not executed like one; and to be fair I don’t see how it could have been—we’re inside Vlad’s head the way we’re never inside Sherlock Holmes’s. Can’t keep the twists from the audience if your audience is literally inhabiting the investigator’s head. You can do lots of other cool things with unreliable narrators, which Zelazny did in the Amber books, and whichhamsterwoman assures are coming down the pike for Vlad (w00t can’t wait). Anyway this one’s another mystery that doesn’t feel like a mystery, but I liked it better because the stakes are more commensurate with a mystery: The worst thing that might have happened is …Vlad would have died? Morrolan and Aliera would have been replaced by…somebody else as Head of the House of Dragon? Which would’ve sucked because I like these characters but we’re not talking about the Doom of Middle-Earth here (in this house we are anti-military expansionism and I don’t relish the idea of the Empire starting a war of eastward expansion but I also don’t know any Easterners other than Vlad and Cawti?? “Easterners” is so abstract to me). So I was totally chill with the ratio of telling vs. showing involved in Vlad solving the central mystery aka why is this random dude intent on killing me. I’m on the fence on “would Vlad be a good guy to work for”—on the one hand, the one nonnegotiable quality you want in a minor crime boss is the ability to look after his own; or at the very least avenge them, or failing that to pay wergild to their families. Otoh his tolerance for incompetence is quite low and what happens if you, a minion, don’t make the cut? I liked that Vlad is backed into a corner from the get-go—he’s reactive not proactive for much of the book, and it was so interesting to observe the sort of strategies he reached for. There’s less of the Eastern witchcraft vs Dragaeran sorcery dichotomy that was prominent in Book 1, in favor of a couple of unflinching monologues that address the root of the problem: What’s it like to be perpetually Othered in your own country, what’s it like when being a “successful” immigrant who “makes it” out of the ghetto is no consolation. That final scene with his grandfather hurt me. I’m excited to move onto future books & learn more about the other Houses; what’s operative here is maybe not biological essentialism but it sure is some kind of essentialism that produces sentiments like “every Dragon wants to be Warlord” and the universal purity of contempt for the Teckla.
Penelope Farmer, Charlotte Sometimes (1969) I love me a passive heroine. I love the ones who punch monsters in the throat, too—these two opinions can coexist—maybe they’re both variations on the theme of We Live in Society. So. Charlotte is thirteen, an age at which one’s identity is still nebulous and unformed, when she arrives at boarding school. Her bed has the magical property of erratically transporting her into the past. Every other morning she wakes up in 1918, in the body of a girl called Clare, and the plot ping-pongs between the two timelines. At one point Charlotte gets “stuck” in 1918, and while she’s anxious to return to her own time she admits “it was a relief to be one person instead of two, even if it was the wrong person.” You can say that again! She goes on to describe Clare as a skin she wears, which she feels “thickening” about her the longer she remains in 1918. The experience of being disoriented by one’s environment and assailed by doubt about one’s identity is, I think, a common one for young adults who are obsessed with questions of who they are vs. how the world sees them. This was cozy and charming but not bloodless: exactly what a children’s book ought to be be.
Steven Burst, Yendi (1987) (Vlad Taltos #2) It honestly feels like reading another Amber novel—this is a compliment bc I find Zelazny’s Amber books unputdownable. What threw me off about Book 1 is that it was structured like a mystery but not executed like one; and to be fair I don’t see how it could have been—we’re inside Vlad’s head the way we’re never inside Sherlock Holmes’s. Can’t keep the twists from the audience if your audience is literally inhabiting the investigator’s head. You can do lots of other cool things with unreliable narrators, which Zelazny did in the Amber books, and which
hamsterwoman assures are coming down the pike for Vlad (w00t can’t wait). Anyway this one’s another mystery that doesn’t feel like a mystery, but I liked it better because the stakes are more commensurate with a mystery: The worst thing that might have happened is …Vlad would have died? Morrolan and Aliera would have been replaced by…somebody else as Head of the House of Dragon? Which would’ve sucked because I like these characters but we’re not talking about the Doom of Middle-Earth here (in this house we are anti-military expansionism and I don’t relish the idea of the Empire starting a war of eastward expansion but I also don’t know any Easterners other than Vlad and Cawti?? “Easterners” is so abstract to me). So I was totally chill with the ratio of telling vs. showing involved in Vlad solving the central mystery aka why is this random dude intent on killing me. I’m on the fence on “would Vlad be a good guy to work for”—on the one hand, the one nonnegotiable quality you want in a minor crime boss is the ability to look after his own; or at the very least avenge them, or failing that to pay wergild to their families. Otoh his tolerance for incompetence is quite low and what happens if you, a minion, don’t make the cut? I liked that Vlad is backed into a corner from the get-go—he’s reactive not proactive for much of the book, and it was so interesting to observe the sort of strategies he reached for. There’s less of the Eastern witchcraft vs Dragaeran sorcery dichotomy that was prominent in Book 1, in favor of a couple of unflinching monologues that address the root of the problem: What’s it like to be perpetually Othered in your own country, what’s it like when being a “successful” immigrant who “makes it” out of the ghetto is no consolation. That final scene with his grandfather hurt me. I’m excited to move onto future books & learn more about the other Houses; what’s operative here is maybe not biological essentialism but it sure is some kind of essentialism that produces sentiments like “every Dragon wants to be Warlord” and the universal purity of contempt for the Teckla.
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Date: 2020-02-06 09:02 pm (UTC)It honestly feels like reading another Amber novel—this is a compliment
Brust would take it as one, I'm sure, because he's a huge Amber fanboy (his oldest child is named Corwin, for starters :P)
Also, LOL, I've read this book at least 3 times by now, and I still can't remember the plot for shit. I was reading your comments about the stakes of this book, and going, "??? oh yeahhhh, there is a mob war in this book, isn't there XD" This seems to only happen with me with Yendi. If Brust has somehow managed this obfuscation on purpose, I think actual sorcery is at play XD
but I also don’t know any Easterners other than Vlad and Cawti?? “Easterners” is so abstract to me
Interesting how that is, isn't it? :) (Well, and Vlad's grandpa, now :) (I have thoughts on Vlad's sense of self-identity as an Easterner, but I think I'll hold off on sharing them until you've read a couple more of the books, which is where my own thoughts come from.)
the one nonnegotiable quality you want in a minor crime boss is the ability to look after his own; or at the very least avenge them, or failing that to pay wergild to their families.
Ahaha, I see you have strong opinions on this score XD You're right that his standards are high, though, yeah. (Funnily enough, if forced to pick some characters who are like me, Kragar would be one among a fairly short list (the others being Willow from Buffy and Perscitia), but I don't think I'd want to work for Vlad. A bit too ambitious for my taste, even the fact that I wouldn't want to be in the Jhereg aside.)
in favor of a couple of unflinching monologues that address the root of the problem: What’s it like to be perpetually Othered in your own country, what’s it like when being a “successful” immigrant who “makes it” out of the ghetto is no consolation.
I'm glad it sounds like this aspect is working for you, which I was hoping it would!
but it sure is some kind of essentialism
Indeed :)
and the universal purity of contempt for the Teckla.
Well, next book is Teckla, so you(/Vlad) actually get to meet a few. And I'm really curious what you'll think of one particular major thing in it (as well as the book as a whole, of course).
Non-Vlad things:
I've been meaning to check out The Expanse books but also have heard diametrically opposed yay/nay calls on them from people that make me a tad apprehensive. What do you think, based on what you know of my reading tastes, are they likely to work for me?
Her bed has the magical property of erratically transporting her into the past. Every other morning she wakes up in 1918, in the body of a girl called Clare,
I read this and was like, wait, why does this sound so familiar? Where was I reading about Charlotte Sometimes literally just the other day?? And then I realized: in My Real Children XD (I'd started it when you first sent me the book and then had to put it aside because the dementia POV was hitting too close to home. But A Terrible Country (which I'm still reading, but slowly, 'cos I'm needing lighter/more cheerful things to complement Cyteen) showed me that at this point I'm sufficiently zen about my grandmother's memory issues to tackle it again, and I decided to start from the beginning.
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Date: 2020-02-09 03:22 pm (UTC)and I still can't remember the plot for shit
lol it does seem the plot is merely the vehicle for delivering a lot of Vlad's emotional trauma
if forced to pick some characters who are like me, Kragar would be one among a fairly short list
from the little I have seen of him I ca actually sorta see this! :squints: looking forward to getting to know him better in future books. although i gotta tell you, that one scene when Vlad summons Kragar into his office and has him role-play with a comamnd of "You're [Big Bad]" but he didn't say "pretend you're [Big Bad]" and i almost had a coronary because i thought the plot twist was that Vlad's lieutant was double-crossing him and this was an inside job! lmao
Ok, The Expanse. I think I'd say a qualified yes for you, based on the fact that it's very science-positive in a way you would eat up. But there's probably other aspects I haven't considered haha. I can only tell you that i personally just am not that invested in the core cast. There's a lot of minor one-off POVs and they're usually fine but with a series of this scope, you stay for the main cast, let's not kid ourselves. There's a pretty clear contrast between The Expanse and, say, Firefly, which is also about the crew of an independent vessel ("independent" as in not affiliated with either of the two major power factions in this universe) and I am one hundred times more attached to Inara and Book than I am to any of these Expanse characters. I picked Inara and Book bc those are the two I probably care least about. What you're problem won't be: it won't be the dialogue, which is somewhere between "fine" and "excellent." The dialogue really is very strong. I think at this point I'm keeping up with this series out of a misplaced sense of obligation to my IRL friend, whom I introduced it to and now he's got his wife and FIVE KIDS all into it and they've watched the TV series twice?? meanwhile i leant him my copy of Shards of Honor and also Warrior's Apprentice and he decided not to keep reading. I mean talk about a chasm of differing taste!!*
*full disclosure my friend K's favorite author is Brandon Sanderson so i think that makes his tastes inherently suspect ETA: I mean he read the Cordelia and Miles books he just decided they weren't the best thing since sliced bread, which opinion is alien to my worldview. I totally get why A Terribly Country might be slow going what with Cyteen eating up your docket of reading time btw! I'm halway into Teckla and oh man did not expect to be rooting for Cawti what is HAPPENING to me
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Date: 2020-02-09 06:13 pm (UTC)Haha, Cawti's ideological awakening was the Thing I alluded to in my comment above, so I'm very curious how the book will work for you from that perspective (but also don't want to say too much until you're at least through Phoenix). :D
But looking forward to commenting on OTHER things once you do your write-up for Teckla :)
I totally get why A Terribly Country might be slow going what with Cyteen eating up your docket of reading time
It's more the conservation of heavy stuff, because I am also, in parallel, reading T.Kingfisher's Swordheart (adorable, and feels both lightly Bujoldian, in the fantasy vein, and lightly Discworldian, while also being a cute romance) and a YA post-dystopian novel, but those are definitely lighter things, and so can help balance out Cyteen.
Thank you for The Expanse thoughts! I have recently discovered/confirmed that dialogue is the most important part of prose for me, so that is definitely a point in favor. And, well, I'm no stranger to imprinting on a secondary or even tertiary character in a long-ass series, though I do think my likelihood of continuing with those, if I don't at least like the principals, has dropped as I've gotten older and also as opportunities for genre reading have increased.
his tastes inherently suspect ETA: I mean he read the Cordelia and Miles books he just decided they weren't the best thing since sliced bread, which opinion is alien to my worldview
I'm forced to agree that his tastes are clearly not to be trusted, lol! XD
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Date: 2020-02-10 03:06 am (UTC)eta forgot to make this face :DDD at Brust naming his kid Corwin :DDD
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Date: 2020-05-24 02:07 am (UTC)I wrote Charlotte Sometimes for Yuletide this past year!
I actually found the book very unsettling, though more so when I read it at the target age than I did on my reread for Yuletide. The way that Charlotte was losing herself was deeply disturbing.