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Catching up on the boooooooks
Sep. 29th, 2018 08:46 pm#69. Blackcollar by Timothy Zahn. 4. Cleverly put together SF thriller about guerrillas fighting years after aliens have conquered Earth. A bit on the sexist side, but it was his first book and it was 1983, so it's kind of understandable. Even the early work shows Zahn's signature tight plotting.
#70. Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy. 3.5. Beautifully written book that hasn't aged well. Dotty artist makes friends with mysterious man who may or may not be a Chinese dragon in human form, they fight crime by which I mean try to figure out what happened to her daughter. At the time, probably ground-breaking in positive portrayals of Asian characters. Now...not so much. I mean, the Asian character is portrayed in a very positive way, but with a slew of kind of squicky assumptions and asides to go along with it. Means well, but kind of uncomfortable from a modern perspective.
#71. The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. 4. Most of the plot beats here are pretty predictable for the marriage-of-convenience arc. There's definitely some missed opportunity, plot-wise - a huge deal is made of the fact that the hero could potentially be hung over a misunderstanding, and his vengeful angry ex is practically handed the info that would let her do so...and it pretty much fizzles. So why the high rating? Because the dialogue is just so damn funny. Laugh-out-loud, my-husband-gives-me-side-eye funny. Really delightful.
#72. Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson. 4. This short story collection clearly comes from a life that has had so much pain that the unexpected grace is like sudden sunlight. Incredibly inventive spec fic, gorgeous language. Stories range from creepy to charming.
#73. Indexing by Seanan McGuire. 4. The 'fairy-tales in the modern world' and 'stories take over people's lives' tropes have been done quite a bit, but McGuire puts her own clever spin on them in this welcome take. It was originally written as a serial, and very much feels it--you get a lot of repetitive explanations and a couple points that kind of contradict each other. But it's snarky good fun.
#74. Reflections by Seanan McGuire. 4. More from Henry and her fairy tale team. This time with more exploration of Sloane's backstory. I wouldn't mind seeing more from this series, but it's definitely time for some new antagonists.
#75. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare. 2.5. Ok, I really loved the wit of The Duchess Deal so I put up with the inexplicable chemistry between the characters (why is she attracted to him again? He's an asshole) and the not-totally-thought-out plot. So I tried another of Dare's books. And...just...no. The lead really is a totally misogynistic asshole who doesn't actually really learn much of a lesson. There is literally no reason for her to be attracted to him. I realize the attitudes are historically accurate. But her attitudes are completely anachronistic, so is it really so much to ask for him to match, or to wonder why someone with her attitude would fall for someone with his? I wanted him to break his stupid neck in that stupid cliff dive. His doctor friend, now he had potential. But the rest of his crew can go die in a fire.
#76. The Underachiever's Manifesto by Ray Bennett. 4. This is actually a fairly well thought out explanation of why we shouldn't try so damn hard. Which I probably should take to heart and probably won't. As it should be, given the topic, it's surprisingly short because unlike most self-help books, it skips the padding. He says what he needs to say and goes off to do other things, just as he recommends.
#77. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Kate Abbott. 4.5. Fascinating history of four female spies in the Civil War - two for the North and two for the South. Southerners Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow are impressive for their boldness while being completely contemptible in their politics and their Southern-belle-melodrama. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Van Lew and Emma Edmonds are much quieter in their attempts to save lives of both Northern soldiers and escaping slaves. I do kind of wish this had been five, not four - Van Lew's African American associate literally lives as a slave in the Confederate White House, passing information out. Mary Bowser is just as clever, brave, and resourceful a spy as the other four, but she's reduced to a footnote in a white woman's story. Still, really interesting stuff.
#78. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. 5. This started out as a Rumpelstiltskin story, but quickly involves two other very different women and their own stories and becomes something much weirder and more interesting. I love bold Jewish moneylender Miryem, farm girl/abuse survivor Wanda, and poor little rich girl married to a literally demonic Tsar Irina. They each think they know what their story will be, and each wind up with something very different. The plot is incredibly complex and interwoven and rarely goes where you think it will, but always ends up somewhere satisfying.
#77. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. 4. While I have a bone to pick with the completely unnecessary plot twist, I still found this book oddly charming. Eleanor is clearly non-neurotypical, but in ways that are deeply believable. (I swear I've had some very similar conversations with a non-neurotypical friend at work.) There's a conflict set up very early on, as she develops a crush on someone clearly unsuitable, that I'll admit I was dreading the resolution of - I was positive it was going to turn into humiliation comedy. Instead, it resolves in an unexpected, much more satisfying way than is telegraphed, which I thoroughly appreciated. On the other hand, while there are differences in brain structure that would result in many of these behaviors, for one of the most critical ones...I'm pretty sure mental illness doesn't work that way. (More details get so very spoilery.) So YMMV.
#78. Brief Cases by Jim Butcher. 4. Short stories from The Dresden Files universe. At this point, the mythology and plot arcs are so dense that the second half of this book is both spoilerific and probably incomprehensible if you haven't read up through Skin Game. (Also, the Bigfoot stories were already collected in Working for Bigfoot.) So if you're up on Dresden, lots of fun. Don't bother if you aren't, though.
#79. A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey. 3.5. More Nan and Sarah. I think Lackey's tired of the fairy tale conceit that's been underlying the Elemental Masters series. I heard it suggested that this one is related to the Pied Piper, but...really, not. Anyway, while there's nothing groundbreaking here, it's cozy Lackey (with some Cthuloid beasties). My biggest complaint is that she kind of alludes to the fate of the human antagonists but loses interest in it. And I'm tired of the birds getting the last word each time.
That's all of them! I'm all caught up! ...for, like, a day.
#70. Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy. 3.5. Beautifully written book that hasn't aged well. Dotty artist makes friends with mysterious man who may or may not be a Chinese dragon in human form, they fight crime by which I mean try to figure out what happened to her daughter. At the time, probably ground-breaking in positive portrayals of Asian characters. Now...not so much. I mean, the Asian character is portrayed in a very positive way, but with a slew of kind of squicky assumptions and asides to go along with it. Means well, but kind of uncomfortable from a modern perspective.
#71. The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare. 4. Most of the plot beats here are pretty predictable for the marriage-of-convenience arc. There's definitely some missed opportunity, plot-wise - a huge deal is made of the fact that the hero could potentially be hung over a misunderstanding, and his vengeful angry ex is practically handed the info that would let her do so...and it pretty much fizzles. So why the high rating? Because the dialogue is just so damn funny. Laugh-out-loud, my-husband-gives-me-side-eye funny. Really delightful.
#72. Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson. 4. This short story collection clearly comes from a life that has had so much pain that the unexpected grace is like sudden sunlight. Incredibly inventive spec fic, gorgeous language. Stories range from creepy to charming.
#73. Indexing by Seanan McGuire. 4. The 'fairy-tales in the modern world' and 'stories take over people's lives' tropes have been done quite a bit, but McGuire puts her own clever spin on them in this welcome take. It was originally written as a serial, and very much feels it--you get a lot of repetitive explanations and a couple points that kind of contradict each other. But it's snarky good fun.
#74. Reflections by Seanan McGuire. 4. More from Henry and her fairy tale team. This time with more exploration of Sloane's backstory. I wouldn't mind seeing more from this series, but it's definitely time for some new antagonists.
#75. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare. 2.5. Ok, I really loved the wit of The Duchess Deal so I put up with the inexplicable chemistry between the characters (why is she attracted to him again? He's an asshole) and the not-totally-thought-out plot. So I tried another of Dare's books. And...just...no. The lead really is a totally misogynistic asshole who doesn't actually really learn much of a lesson. There is literally no reason for her to be attracted to him. I realize the attitudes are historically accurate. But her attitudes are completely anachronistic, so is it really so much to ask for him to match, or to wonder why someone with her attitude would fall for someone with his? I wanted him to break his stupid neck in that stupid cliff dive. His doctor friend, now he had potential. But the rest of his crew can go die in a fire.
#76. The Underachiever's Manifesto by Ray Bennett. 4. This is actually a fairly well thought out explanation of why we shouldn't try so damn hard. Which I probably should take to heart and probably won't. As it should be, given the topic, it's surprisingly short because unlike most self-help books, it skips the padding. He says what he needs to say and goes off to do other things, just as he recommends.
#77. Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Kate Abbott. 4.5. Fascinating history of four female spies in the Civil War - two for the North and two for the South. Southerners Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow are impressive for their boldness while being completely contemptible in their politics and their Southern-belle-melodrama. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Van Lew and Emma Edmonds are much quieter in their attempts to save lives of both Northern soldiers and escaping slaves. I do kind of wish this had been five, not four - Van Lew's African American associate literally lives as a slave in the Confederate White House, passing information out. Mary Bowser is just as clever, brave, and resourceful a spy as the other four, but she's reduced to a footnote in a white woman's story. Still, really interesting stuff.
#78. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. 5. This started out as a Rumpelstiltskin story, but quickly involves two other very different women and their own stories and becomes something much weirder and more interesting. I love bold Jewish moneylender Miryem, farm girl/abuse survivor Wanda, and poor little rich girl married to a literally demonic Tsar Irina. They each think they know what their story will be, and each wind up with something very different. The plot is incredibly complex and interwoven and rarely goes where you think it will, but always ends up somewhere satisfying.
#77. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. 4. While I have a bone to pick with the completely unnecessary plot twist, I still found this book oddly charming. Eleanor is clearly non-neurotypical, but in ways that are deeply believable. (I swear I've had some very similar conversations with a non-neurotypical friend at work.) There's a conflict set up very early on, as she develops a crush on someone clearly unsuitable, that I'll admit I was dreading the resolution of - I was positive it was going to turn into humiliation comedy. Instead, it resolves in an unexpected, much more satisfying way than is telegraphed, which I thoroughly appreciated. On the other hand, while there are differences in brain structure that would result in many of these behaviors, for one of the most critical ones...I'm pretty sure mental illness doesn't work that way. (More details get so very spoilery.) So YMMV.
#78. Brief Cases by Jim Butcher. 4. Short stories from The Dresden Files universe. At this point, the mythology and plot arcs are so dense that the second half of this book is both spoilerific and probably incomprehensible if you haven't read up through Skin Game. (Also, the Bigfoot stories were already collected in Working for Bigfoot.) So if you're up on Dresden, lots of fun. Don't bother if you aren't, though.
#79. A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey. 3.5. More Nan and Sarah. I think Lackey's tired of the fairy tale conceit that's been underlying the Elemental Masters series. I heard it suggested that this one is related to the Pied Piper, but...really, not. Anyway, while there's nothing groundbreaking here, it's cozy Lackey (with some Cthuloid beasties). My biggest complaint is that she kind of alludes to the fate of the human antagonists but loses interest in it. And I'm tired of the birds getting the last word each time.
That's all of them! I'm all caught up! ...for, like, a day.
