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usuallyhats) wrote2014-06-01 03:32 pm
usuallyhats) wrote2014-06-01 03:32 pm
Books and comics read in May 2014
*So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy ed. Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan
Rachel Rising: Fear No Malus
Blue Beetle: End Game
*Keeping It Real - Justina Robson
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
*The Ides of April - Lindsey Davis
Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters
The Steerswoman - Rosemary Kirstein
All The Windwracked Stars - Elizabeth Bear
*Team Ups of the Brave and the Bold
*Morning Glories Vol 1
Wakulla Springs - Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages
Clarissa Oakes - Patrick O'Brian
*A Confusion of Princes - Garth Nix
Cold Steel - Kate Elliott
The Neon Court - Kate Griffin
So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy
I thought this was a very strong anthology; an excellent variety of stories, all engaging with race in different ways and to different extents, on top of being really good sci-fi and/or fantasy. Of course some were better than others and some were more to my tastes than others, but overall the quality was very high - there weren't any stories that I thought weren't worthy of inclusion.
Keeping It Real
I have fairly mixed feelings about this book. I liked the setting a lot: near future, more tech, also elves and faeries. But I found it a bit unevenly written, and it wasn't until about halfway through that I really got into it. I was also frustrated that it kept nearly having queer characters in it and then... not quite? I don't know, it was weird, the text seemed to be pointing that way and then suddenly we'd go off in another direction and pretend it had never happened, like the book got distracted and forgot to confirm it. Anyway. I did really like the heroine, Lila, a cyborg: I loved that there was a lot of emphasis on how physically heavy and powerful she was (though I am not sure how exactly she had room to store all those guns and ammo and telescoping limbs and what not whilst still being basically human shaped), and also I always love a heroine who when cornered defaults to "hit it for a bit; if that doesn't work, try blowing it up". ♥
The Ides of April
LINDSEY DAVIS IS WRITING A NEW ROMAN MYSTERY SERIES ABOUT FALCO'S DAUGHTER I AM SO HAPPY.
Team Ups of the Brave and the Bold
I picked this up to read the Diana, Zatanna and Barbara team up issue, which I liked very much, especially the art: our heroines looked like actual people and it was great. I was a bit iffy on the premise, but I did really love the idea that (skip) Diana inspired Barbara to become Oracle. As for the rest of the book... eh. It wasn't actively awful or anything, but it was basically just a lot of characters I don't really care about (there were no women in it outside of the Diana, Zatanna and Barbara issue) in a lot of not particularly new or interesting stories, which skewed far too much towards being completely convinced of their own Meaningfulness.
Morning Glories Vol 1
...I didn't really like this but I still kind of want to read the next volume??? Luckily the library has chosen not to buy volume 2, thus saving me from myself.
A Confusion of Princes
I mostly enjoyed this YA SF novel, but I keep finding myself framing it in terms of what I didn't like about it: it doesn't have the wild creativity of Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, and the worldbuilding didn't feel as solid as in his Abhorsen books. The central het romance was incredibly predictable and very boring, and as a result I found the ending intensely unsatisfying, as it privileges resolving that aspect over... everything else in the book. But on the other hand I liked that "Prince" is a gender-neutral term (and that sometimes there is absolutely no way of telling the gender of minor characters), that it's clearly not an all-white future (the hero is not white) and that bisexuality is more or less the norm (though the only actual romance was a het one, sigh). Also, one shouldn't judge a book by this of course, but the cover is fab, both in terms of looking really good and more or less representing what the book is about. Well played, cover people.
Rachel Rising: Fear No Malus
Blue Beetle: End Game
*Keeping It Real - Justina Robson
The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver
*The Ides of April - Lindsey Davis
Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters
The Steerswoman - Rosemary Kirstein
All The Windwracked Stars - Elizabeth Bear
*Team Ups of the Brave and the Bold
*Morning Glories Vol 1
Wakulla Springs - Andy Duncan and Ellen Klages
Clarissa Oakes - Patrick O'Brian
*A Confusion of Princes - Garth Nix
Cold Steel - Kate Elliott
The Neon Court - Kate Griffin
So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction and Fantasy
I thought this was a very strong anthology; an excellent variety of stories, all engaging with race in different ways and to different extents, on top of being really good sci-fi and/or fantasy. Of course some were better than others and some were more to my tastes than others, but overall the quality was very high - there weren't any stories that I thought weren't worthy of inclusion.
Keeping It Real
I have fairly mixed feelings about this book. I liked the setting a lot: near future, more tech, also elves and faeries. But I found it a bit unevenly written, and it wasn't until about halfway through that I really got into it. I was also frustrated that it kept nearly having queer characters in it and then... not quite? I don't know, it was weird, the text seemed to be pointing that way and then suddenly we'd go off in another direction and pretend it had never happened, like the book got distracted and forgot to confirm it. Anyway. I did really like the heroine, Lila, a cyborg: I loved that there was a lot of emphasis on how physically heavy and powerful she was (though I am not sure how exactly she had room to store all those guns and ammo and telescoping limbs and what not whilst still being basically human shaped), and also I always love a heroine who when cornered defaults to "hit it for a bit; if that doesn't work, try blowing it up". ♥
The Ides of April
LINDSEY DAVIS IS WRITING A NEW ROMAN MYSTERY SERIES ABOUT FALCO'S DAUGHTER I AM SO HAPPY.
Team Ups of the Brave and the Bold
I picked this up to read the Diana, Zatanna and Barbara team up issue, which I liked very much, especially the art: our heroines looked like actual people and it was great. I was a bit iffy on the premise, but I did really love the idea that (skip) Diana inspired Barbara to become Oracle. As for the rest of the book... eh. It wasn't actively awful or anything, but it was basically just a lot of characters I don't really care about (there were no women in it outside of the Diana, Zatanna and Barbara issue) in a lot of not particularly new or interesting stories, which skewed far too much towards being completely convinced of their own Meaningfulness.
Morning Glories Vol 1
...I didn't really like this but I still kind of want to read the next volume??? Luckily the library has chosen not to buy volume 2, thus saving me from myself.
A Confusion of Princes
I mostly enjoyed this YA SF novel, but I keep finding myself framing it in terms of what I didn't like about it: it doesn't have the wild creativity of Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, and the worldbuilding didn't feel as solid as in his Abhorsen books. The central het romance was incredibly predictable and very boring, and as a result I found the ending intensely unsatisfying, as it privileges resolving that aspect over... everything else in the book. But on the other hand I liked that "Prince" is a gender-neutral term (and that sometimes there is absolutely no way of telling the gender of minor characters), that it's clearly not an all-white future (the hero is not white) and that bisexuality is more or less the norm (though the only actual romance was a het one, sigh). Also, one shouldn't judge a book by this of course, but the cover is fab, both in terms of looking really good and more or less representing what the book is about. Well played, cover people.
no subject
Oh, that is wonderful! I mean, I can't read much at the moment, but one day...!!! That should be awesome.
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How is Blue Beetle going? Is End Game the last volume or are there more after it? I always get confused about that.
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I think there's a couple more volumes still! It's still great; I'm not aflail with love the way I was over the first volume or two, but I definitely like it a whole lot.