Books and comics read in February 2014
Monday, 3 March 2014 17:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usuallyhats
The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater
Uncanny X-Force: Let It Bleed
A Tangle of Magicks - Stephanie Burgis
*Adaptation - Malinda Lo
*The Shadowed Sun - NK Jemisin
*The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
*Ironskin - Tina Connolly
*Voices from the Past ed. Scott Harrison and Lee Harris
Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues
Runaways: Rock Zombies
Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire
*Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack and Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation - Margalit Fox
Midnight Blue-Light Special - Seanan McGuire
Doctor Who: Secrets of the TARDIS
Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire
*Stuff Matters: The Strange Story of the Marvellous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World - Mark Midiownik
*Doctor Who: To The Slaughter - Steven Cole
*The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion
Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
Adaptation
Really good YA sci-fi conspiracy thriller, with queer characters! \o/ Hooked me right from the start.
The Shadowed Sun
I'm usually a big fan of NK Jemisin's writing, but this book didn't work for me as well as they usually do. My main issue was that I violently disliked the male lead, and therefore the central romance, which meant I couldn't get absorbed by the book as I usually do with Jemisin's work. There was still a lot of good stuff in it (though I was also somewhat disappointed that the binary gender roles in the book's societies weren't challenged more), and overall I definitely still consider myself a Jemisin fan, but this one I can't really recommend.
The Long Earth
I'd heard rather mixed reviews of this one, which I think helped me like it, because I wasn't expecting it to be mindblowing. And yes, it's rambly, there's not much in the way of plot, the pace is... sedate, the characters don't really make an impact... but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Possibly this is because I read a lot of it on a Sunday evening coach home from London, and was in the mood for something kind of slow but very readable and rather genial? Because that's what it was. The central concept, in which the pattern for a device that allows people to "step" sideways into an effectively infinite series of mostly-uninhabited parallel Earths, is great, and it's unfolded very nicely (even if it definitely works in a fantasy way rather than a sci-fi one). And there was the odd Good-Omensy bit, especially re the eccentric nuns. :D (I think it was also typeset in the same font as the Discworld books, which always adds to my enjoyment through good associations.)
Ironskin
Steampunk retelling of Jane Eyre, which I felt suffered slightly from being a retelling: I could hear the story creaking from time to time in the effort to remain in the Jane Eyre mould. Plus, Jane Eliot was not as vividly drawn as Jane Eyre, whilst Rochart was too close to being Rochester to make a likeable romantic hero. That being said, there was a lot of good stuff too. The setup was great: it's set more or less in a version of 20s England (the writing slipped towards present day US a few times, but not too badly) where the Great War was a guerilla war fought against the fey, and where as a side-effect of the humans' victory, their fey-made technology is starting to fail. Our heroine is an ironskin: a war survivor who wears iron to cover up her battlescars, and also to stop her emotional curse (Jane's, of course, is anger) leaking out and affecting the people around her. I'm not entirely certain how I feel about its handling of disability - it hewed a little close to the "magical disability" trope at times - but again, there was some good stuff re the pernicious effects of having to hide your disability and of being forced to conform to an ableist world.
Voices from the Past
I liked the stories by Paul Cornell, Juliet McKenna and Mary Robinette Kowal in this anthology, but the others, not so much. There was a bit too much "I know, I'll give this story a nasty little twist at the end, that will be fresh and interesting" for me. Also... not all the authors whose names are on the cover actually appeared in the anthology, which was disappointing.
Riddle of the Labyrinth
Fascinating account of the quest to decipher Linear B, with a particular focus on three of the main figures involved. Fox explains very clearly the challenges and techniques involved in deciphering an unknown language written in an unknown script and the whole thing plays out like a very well written detective story: it's incredibly satisfying seeing the pieces finally start to slot into place. Towards the end of the book, Fox describes the transcription of a phrase meaning "larger-sized goblet with three handles" as "exciting", and by that point I wholeheartedly agreed. :D Her quietly passionate championing of Alice Kober, whose intelligence and perseverance built the foundations on which the eventual deciphering rested, and who would most likely have deciphered it herself if she'd had more time, was also very moving.
Stuff Matters
Entertaining look at ten different materials and how they've been moulded by our needs and desires. Rather slight - I couldn't help comparing it to Bee Wilson's Consider the Fork, which had room to get further into how food technology shapes and is shaped by culture - but still a fun read.
Doctor Who: To The Slaughter
This book was mostly fairly average - it had a great opening, in which our heroes accidentally cause chaos in their quest for mercury, but it was also a lot gorier than I enjoy - but it did have some nice Team TARDIS stuff, which lifted it a little. Hugging! Caring about each other! The Doctor kissing Fitz's hand aaaahhhhhh! ♥
The School for Good and Evil
I struggled to rate this book. On the one hand, I thought it needed a bit of an edit, to improve the writing (the first chapter was particularly clunky, though it did get better after that), the characterisation and the worldbuilding. On the other hand, there were some excellent moments of heroism and friendship between Sophie and Agatha, and I liked that it tried to challenge ideas of what good and evil mean, and what their signifiers are, even if it didn't go far enough for my taste. I also liked that it at least attempted to disrupt gender- and heteronormativity, though again, not as much as I would have liked. Hmm. Overall... 2.5 stars? Had potential, could've been better, I wish it had been.
I am also aflail with love for Seanan McGuire's stuff, but not really in a way where I wanted to say things about the individual books? READ THEM, THEY'RE GREAT.
Uncanny X-Force: Let It Bleed
A Tangle of Magicks - Stephanie Burgis
*Adaptation - Malinda Lo
*The Shadowed Sun - NK Jemisin
*The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
*Ironskin - Tina Connolly
*Voices from the Past ed. Scott Harrison and Lee Harris
Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues
Runaways: Rock Zombies
Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire
*Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack and Ancient Code and the Uncovering of a Lost Civilisation - Margalit Fox
Midnight Blue-Light Special - Seanan McGuire
Doctor Who: Secrets of the TARDIS
Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire
*Stuff Matters: The Strange Story of the Marvellous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World - Mark Midiownik
*Doctor Who: To The Slaughter - Steven Cole
*The School for Good and Evil - Soman Chainani
White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion
Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett
Adaptation
Really good YA sci-fi conspiracy thriller, with queer characters! \o/ Hooked me right from the start.
The Shadowed Sun
I'm usually a big fan of NK Jemisin's writing, but this book didn't work for me as well as they usually do. My main issue was that I violently disliked the male lead, and therefore the central romance, which meant I couldn't get absorbed by the book as I usually do with Jemisin's work. There was still a lot of good stuff in it (though I was also somewhat disappointed that the binary gender roles in the book's societies weren't challenged more), and overall I definitely still consider myself a Jemisin fan, but this one I can't really recommend.
The Long Earth
I'd heard rather mixed reviews of this one, which I think helped me like it, because I wasn't expecting it to be mindblowing. And yes, it's rambly, there's not much in the way of plot, the pace is... sedate, the characters don't really make an impact... but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Possibly this is because I read a lot of it on a Sunday evening coach home from London, and was in the mood for something kind of slow but very readable and rather genial? Because that's what it was. The central concept, in which the pattern for a device that allows people to "step" sideways into an effectively infinite series of mostly-uninhabited parallel Earths, is great, and it's unfolded very nicely (even if it definitely works in a fantasy way rather than a sci-fi one). And there was the odd Good-Omensy bit, especially re the eccentric nuns. :D (I think it was also typeset in the same font as the Discworld books, which always adds to my enjoyment through good associations.)
Ironskin
Steampunk retelling of Jane Eyre, which I felt suffered slightly from being a retelling: I could hear the story creaking from time to time in the effort to remain in the Jane Eyre mould. Plus, Jane Eliot was not as vividly drawn as Jane Eyre, whilst Rochart was too close to being Rochester to make a likeable romantic hero. That being said, there was a lot of good stuff too. The setup was great: it's set more or less in a version of 20s England (the writing slipped towards present day US a few times, but not too badly) where the Great War was a guerilla war fought against the fey, and where as a side-effect of the humans' victory, their fey-made technology is starting to fail. Our heroine is an ironskin: a war survivor who wears iron to cover up her battlescars, and also to stop her emotional curse (Jane's, of course, is anger) leaking out and affecting the people around her. I'm not entirely certain how I feel about its handling of disability - it hewed a little close to the "magical disability" trope at times - but again, there was some good stuff re the pernicious effects of having to hide your disability and of being forced to conform to an ableist world.
Voices from the Past
I liked the stories by Paul Cornell, Juliet McKenna and Mary Robinette Kowal in this anthology, but the others, not so much. There was a bit too much "I know, I'll give this story a nasty little twist at the end, that will be fresh and interesting" for me. Also... not all the authors whose names are on the cover actually appeared in the anthology, which was disappointing.
Riddle of the Labyrinth
Fascinating account of the quest to decipher Linear B, with a particular focus on three of the main figures involved. Fox explains very clearly the challenges and techniques involved in deciphering an unknown language written in an unknown script and the whole thing plays out like a very well written detective story: it's incredibly satisfying seeing the pieces finally start to slot into place. Towards the end of the book, Fox describes the transcription of a phrase meaning "larger-sized goblet with three handles" as "exciting", and by that point I wholeheartedly agreed. :D Her quietly passionate championing of Alice Kober, whose intelligence and perseverance built the foundations on which the eventual deciphering rested, and who would most likely have deciphered it herself if she'd had more time, was also very moving.
Stuff Matters
Entertaining look at ten different materials and how they've been moulded by our needs and desires. Rather slight - I couldn't help comparing it to Bee Wilson's Consider the Fork, which had room to get further into how food technology shapes and is shaped by culture - but still a fun read.
Doctor Who: To The Slaughter
This book was mostly fairly average - it had a great opening, in which our heroes accidentally cause chaos in their quest for mercury, but it was also a lot gorier than I enjoy - but it did have some nice Team TARDIS stuff, which lifted it a little. Hugging! Caring about each other! The Doctor kissing Fitz's hand aaaahhhhhh! ♥
The School for Good and Evil
I struggled to rate this book. On the one hand, I thought it needed a bit of an edit, to improve the writing (the first chapter was particularly clunky, though it did get better after that), the characterisation and the worldbuilding. On the other hand, there were some excellent moments of heroism and friendship between Sophie and Agatha, and I liked that it tried to challenge ideas of what good and evil mean, and what their signifiers are, even if it didn't go far enough for my taste. I also liked that it at least attempted to disrupt gender- and heteronormativity, though again, not as much as I would have liked. Hmm. Overall... 2.5 stars? Had potential, could've been better, I wish it had been.
I am also aflail with love for Seanan McGuire's stuff, but not really in a way where I wanted to say things about the individual books? READ THEM, THEY'RE GREAT.
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no subject
Date: 3 Mar 2014 23:31 (UTC)Made it about two chapters into Good and Evil. The bad writing! It burns! I kind of skimmed to see if it was going to get better, but eventually decided that life was far too short.
no subject
Date: 3 Mar 2014 23:32 (UTC)no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2014 09:42 (UTC)The writing definitely got better after the first few chapters of Good and Evil, but as a whole it never really lived up to what it was trying to do, which made it quite frustrating to read. :(
no subject
Date: 3 Mar 2014 17:51 (UTC)Just had a look at 'Voices from the Past' on Amazon as I didn't know Juliet had a story in it.
Think I'll have to say 'Riddles of the Labyrinth' for a time when I'm not engrossed in reading an epic series of epic fantasy series. (ie when I've finished (re)reading Robin Hobb!)
no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2014 09:33 (UTC)I really need to read more of her work, I've been meaning to try it for ages!
Robin Hobb! ♥ I've only read her first trilogy, but am looking forward to more of her stuff.
no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2014 10:29 (UTC)Do! She writes such brilliantly intelligent stories - lots of smart, kick-arse women who don't need men to validate them - a successful businesswoman/spy, a very successful warrior woman, and the main character in 3 of the 5 books in her first series is a thief who refuses to let wizards boss her around or make her go on their highly dangerous quests without first ensuring she gets plenty of remuneration! :D
I love Hobb's tales of Fitz and the Fool (and the 3rd series featuring them is going to begin at the end of this month with hte publication of Fool's Assassin!) I am less fond of the Liveship Traders trilogy, largely because all the characters get on my nerves for the first book and a half - then they become more bearable. Still haven't read the Rain Wild Chronicles, though they're next up on my list as I suspect the new F&F series is a cross-over with the RWC series.
no subject
Date: 8 Mar 2014 19:54 (UTC)They sound awesome! Can I jump in with the most recent series without being completely confused? The library doesn't have many of her earlier volumes.
no subject
Date: 8 Mar 2014 20:03 (UTC)Actually, the answer's the same either way - both of the latest series will make more sense if you've read the earlier books because characters cross-over and events are linked through the shared world each author's multiple series share - but I know that Juliet, in particular, has tried to write her various series (I believe it's 5 series now - or possibly only 4!) so that you can jump in later than at the beginning. If it helps, Juliet's books are coming out as ebooks from Wizard's Tower. Not sure of the prices because I've been buying the paperbacks from the outset, but it might be worth trying out the free sample from Amazon if you've got a Kindle/Kindle app.
Here's The Thief's Gamble (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Thiefs-Gamble-Tales-Einarinn-ebook/dp/B009PNTDB0/michelefry00) - her very first book.
(I'll understand if you choose not to buy them, since you work in a library!)
no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 10:30 (UTC)(I do tend to default to library for books nowadays, just because that way I can get a better selection for less money - but I'm not averse to buying stuff if that's the only way! :))
no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 10:56 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 10:59 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 11:00 (UTC)*nods* I try not to have too many library books out at once, so that I can slip in one of my own every now and then.
no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 11:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 11:04 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 11:05 (UTC)no subject
Date: 11 Mar 2014 11:20 (UTC)no subject
Date: 3 Mar 2014 18:07 (UTC)Is Queen of Plagues good? I read the first issue of Gail Simone's Red Sonja and then quit because it was expensive, but I've been hearing good things.
no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2014 09:35 (UTC)It is good! It skews a bit darker than I really like, but it's still definitely worth reading.
no subject
Date: 4 Mar 2014 17:03 (UTC)Oh cool! Good to know.
no subject
Date: 8 Mar 2014 19:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 8 Mar 2014 20:35 (UTC)