Wednesday Reading
Sep. 13th, 2017 09:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chomijiI've actually been mainlining new (new to me, anyway) fiction like nobody's business. I had a lot queued up for the vacation last month, and for various reasons, I didn't get to it. Now I have. Some quick takes:
The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin is everything most reviewers have said. Very satisfying ending to a very dark, sad series. Happy was not going to happen, but hopeful *did*, and beautifully so. It was a positive ending that was most definitely earned. And I really loved the world-building all over again.
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett also ended its series well, if a trifle oddly. Alas, most of my favorite characters didn't survive. There were nods to all sorts of other works, including rather a lot of Terry Pratchett, I realized after finishing the book.
Murderbot: All Systems Red (novella) by Martha Wells was a lot of fun, about a snarky, introverted android that has circumvented its "restraining bolt" programming and becomes something of a sleuth+superhero on behalf of its humans. There are already three more Murderbot stories in the pipeline. Yay!
The Furthest Station (novella) by Ben Aaronovitch at first disappointed me because I didn't realize it was a novella. But viewed in that light, it was an enjoyable brief addition to the Peter Grant/Rivers of London series. The identity of the cute little tyke whom Peter encounters was absolutely no surprise to me, though.
The Gates of Tagmeth by P.C. Hodgell was OK. These most recent Kencyrath books have rather disappointed me. I respect Baen for acquiring and continuing this series, and even attempting to obtain suitable cover art in the last couple of volumes (although crap, I still think that even a casual persual of DeviantArt would turn up better choices), but holy crud, a good editor would have helped the last few a lot, I think. And Baen is not the publisher to supply that. Jame and her fated love still generate no heat that I can discern, sadly, and I wish PCH hadn't matched up Kindrie as she did. I like both characters, but not together. This makes me think of the manga Fruits Basket, where the mangaka seemingly decided that everybody needed to be matched up at the end, regardless of whether it made any sense. Also, poor Lyra is becoming a pawn of fate/God's chew-toy more than is necessary, IMO.
What Did You Eat Yesterday? vol. 12 by Fumi Yoshinaga continues Ken and Shiro's low-key relationship and Shiro's cookery. This volume seemed to have less melodrama/tension than the last few (nothing dire happens to either partner's family, for example), although someone makes Shiro a very interesting proposal ... and the results are both very funny and very realistic.
Ooku vol. 12, also by Fumi Yoshinaga surprised me because ... they solved the problem of the redface pox. And yet it is not the end of the series! I do have to say that in retrospect, I feel a little ... ticked off? that the solution comes under the reign of the first male shogun in ages (although his mother thinks she is still in control of things) and by the efforts of an exclusively male team (although they all constantly acknowledge the inspiration of the late lamented cross-dressing genius Hiraga Gennai, who was cis-female). That might not be a worthy way to feel, but that's how it is.
Reading Now
The Brightest Fell, which is the latest installment of Seanan McGuire's October Daye series. Speaking of people who are chew-toys of the divine: Toby continues to be messed with physically and magically, over and over. I do have to say that one of the events had me going "Oh, no, not again."
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Date: 2017-09-14 02:42 am (UTC)Does this mean they have stopped drawing her with breasts?
and I wish PCH hadn't matched up Kindrie as she did.
Oh, dear.
I am very fond of Kindrie (whom I had thought was ace-to-queer and if anything at all interested in Tori) and I am now apprehensive.
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Date: 2017-09-14 11:48 am (UTC)Your take on Kindrie was also mine. I'm crabby and out of sorts about what she's doing with him.
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Date: 2017-09-14 06:03 pm (UTC)Aaargh.
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Date: 2017-09-14 04:11 am (UTC)I haven't been in a real hurry to read Gates of Tagmeth--to be honest, I don't think there's been a really good Kencyrath book since Seeker's Mask (although I have liked a lot of bits of the later ones) and the whole thing with the Karnids in Sea of Time left a really bad taste in my mouth. I'm also not a huge fan of Kindrie/Kirien. It just seems kind of boring, especially since we don't get to see it developing. Lyra becoming God's chew-toy sounds kind of promising, though--I do like it when awful things happen to my favorite characters, though of course it depends on how it's handled.
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Date: 2017-09-14 11:47 am (UTC)Actually, I meant Tori. I guess my attempt to be circumspect was just klutzy. Their lack of chemistry is really grating. Also, when PCH writes Tori POV, he's just such a helpless woobie. That's probably a big part of why I don't find their relationship interesting: I find competence sexy.
The Lyra thing is just ... it's like she's the designated bit of chaos, and it's becoming predictable. Jame destroys things, but Lyra just pulls them out of shape. If Lyra shows up, you know there's going to be misunderstandings and hurt feelings and an interruption of any progress that was going to be made. At least at this time she shows some signs of learning.
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Date: 2017-09-14 06:46 pm (UTC)Agreed, although I have often felt that the later ones didn't need to be as many books as they are—I recognize that the Overton window for chronology got really crunched after Seeker's Mask, but three or four novels to cover Jame's time at Tentir does not necessarily feel like the correct pacing. (I was honestly always vaguely hoping Hodgell would realize the ancient internet joke that after God Stalk taking a year, Dark of the Moon taking a month, and Seeker's Mask taking a week, naturally To Ride a Rathorn would be the Ulysses of the Kencyrath, with Jame getting up at the start of the day and Tentir collapsing in ruins by midnight.)
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Date: 2017-09-15 12:59 am (UTC)>> naturally To Ride a Rathorn would be the Ulysses of the Kencyrath, with Jame getting up at the start of the day and Tentir collapsing in ruins by midnight<<
Awesome - that would be so Jame!
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Date: 2017-09-14 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-09-15 01:02 am (UTC)Yeah, I'm just wondering why she made that choice!
(Also, Yoshinga-san, whyyy can't you re-visit your light sex comedies with your new, improved gorgeous drawing skills? Ichigenme was so much fun and I would love to see something like that in her current style.)