The Stories of Your Lives (June Reading)
Wow, I really failed at serious nonfiction this month.
To Visit the Queen (Diane Duane): I am officially to old to read this novel. no sense. Our characters visit alt!1874 and on their return say, "oh snap, because we have visited alt!1874 we have contaminated our own timeline" which from their mode of discussion they should have known going in, did not share with the audience, and possibly should have thought about before going on their little junket with the wizardly DeLorean. I am also confused about why more attention was not given to the initial 1816 incursion. While time travel is messy and complicated, especially when the worldbuilding includes pan-dimensional beings who interact with time much like humans interact with large buildings - varying entrances and egresses - the novel did not convince me that there was a simpler solution, and oh, maybe going back to alt!1874 was a huge mistake. I am all for character screwups as plot devices, but only if the characters acknowledge that their screwups were mistakes, and not a lapse of narrative attention on the author's part. So the timeline contamination arguments make no sense to me, in addition to being extraordinarily confusing in the context of Duane's Wizard-verse worldbuilding to date. As described, I thought changes in a timeline would spawn new alternate universes, not contaminate the existing 'verse.
This entirely leaves aside the significant problem with two of the secondary characters, who are self-declared pair-bonded cats. While I am all for kinky relationships, Huff and Auhlae's relationship is a writing failure. In the previous book, the series established a norm: cats do not pair-bond. Females go into heat, get laid, and go back to their usual routine. TVtQ violated that norm: it introduced a pair that totally flaunts that, and have a relationship more characteristic of humans. And none of the characters said, "huh. Not normal, but if it works for you, rock on" or words to that effect.
I can't believe I am writing all this about fictional cats' romantic relationships. But it's a massive worldbuilding distraction which consistently threw me out of the story.
Actually, several plot elements just didn't work for me: the cat mummies, Auhlae's and Huff, the Sif'ha and Arhu angst. Two of the three tie together to make me wonder if there isn't some late-game rewriting I am not supposed to have noticed; or if this isn't a series about cat-wizards and the worldgates of New York, but the Story of Arhu the Seer, As Seen By Rhiow, A Technician on Errantry. I don't know. This particular novel seemed below Duane's usual standard, and I may be trying to see something more interesting than exists.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) (Alex Haley, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz): The reinvention of a man, and the names he used in those reinventions: Malcolm Little, Detroit Red, Malcolm X, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. I picked this up because I was curious, and stayed because the two men - X and Haley - told a fascinating story. I am not sure I believe all of it, but I think it's a narrative told by a very smart survivor, and wish I'd read it when I was younger, preferably with a reading group who'd help tear apart the truth from the glosses.
The Book of Night with Moon (Diane Duane): Grand Central Terminal is a NYC hub for trains... and other means of transit. The wizardly team of cats that maintains the worldgates of Grand Central troubleshoot at a deeper level than their norm. Entertaining and coherent; the themes and plot are well aligned.
Zahrah the Windseeker (Nnedi Okorafor): YA novel; teenage girl with special powers braves the Forbidden Forest to find a fabled cure for her dying friend.
Adorable coming of age story. Light, entertaining, predictable (think fast! Will Zahrah's quest fail and her friend die?), and oh, on another planet with magic (magic?) and lots of plant-based tech. It's a straightforward and not particularly subtle story about exploring and growing into the unknown; I'd recommend it for people looking for YA.
I first ran into Nnedi Okorafor's writing in a short story collection a couple of years ago, and thought the story interesting enough that I wanted more, but my library failed me. Eventually, I remembered ILL. So here is a takeaway thought: explore your own environment, and use ILL early and often.
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee): Childhood classic, which I don't really remember reading. I am now old enough to appreciate Lee's dry sense of humor, but I think I am missing the point, because I don't see what makes this book, above many other books, a literary gem.
Overcoming Underearning: Overcome Your Money Fears and Earn What You Deserve (Barbara Stanny): The phrase "throw the book against a wall" is a custom I generally honor in the breach, especially with library books. This is the second book in all of my 26 years which I have closed, contemplated, and deliberately hurled across the room. I really question financial books which promise to raise your income and lower your weight, and I only regret not throwing this across the room sooner.
Numbers: 5 (+ 1 thrown across the room) total. 2 new, 3 rereads; 4 fiction, 1 (mostly?) nonfiction.
To Visit the Queen (Diane Duane): I am officially to old to read this novel. no sense. Our characters visit alt!1874 and on their return say, "oh snap, because we have visited alt!1874 we have contaminated our own timeline" which from their mode of discussion they should have known going in, did not share with the audience, and possibly should have thought about before going on their little junket with the wizardly DeLorean. I am also confused about why more attention was not given to the initial 1816 incursion. While time travel is messy and complicated, especially when the worldbuilding includes pan-dimensional beings who interact with time much like humans interact with large buildings - varying entrances and egresses - the novel did not convince me that there was a simpler solution, and oh, maybe going back to alt!1874 was a huge mistake. I am all for character screwups as plot devices, but only if the characters acknowledge that their screwups were mistakes, and not a lapse of narrative attention on the author's part. So the timeline contamination arguments make no sense to me, in addition to being extraordinarily confusing in the context of Duane's Wizard-verse worldbuilding to date. As described, I thought changes in a timeline would spawn new alternate universes, not contaminate the existing 'verse.
This entirely leaves aside the significant problem with two of the secondary characters, who are self-declared pair-bonded cats. While I am all for kinky relationships, Huff and Auhlae's relationship is a writing failure. In the previous book, the series established a norm: cats do not pair-bond. Females go into heat, get laid, and go back to their usual routine. TVtQ violated that norm: it introduced a pair that totally flaunts that, and have a relationship more characteristic of humans. And none of the characters said, "huh. Not normal, but if it works for you, rock on" or words to that effect.
I can't believe I am writing all this about fictional cats' romantic relationships. But it's a massive worldbuilding distraction which consistently threw me out of the story.
Actually, several plot elements just didn't work for me: the cat mummies, Auhlae's and Huff, the Sif'ha and Arhu angst. Two of the three tie together to make me wonder if there isn't some late-game rewriting I am not supposed to have noticed; or if this isn't a series about cat-wizards and the worldgates of New York, but the Story of Arhu the Seer, As Seen By Rhiow, A Technician on Errantry. I don't know. This particular novel seemed below Duane's usual standard, and I may be trying to see something more interesting than exists.
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (as told to Alex Haley) (Alex Haley, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz): The reinvention of a man, and the names he used in those reinventions: Malcolm Little, Detroit Red, Malcolm X, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. I picked this up because I was curious, and stayed because the two men - X and Haley - told a fascinating story. I am not sure I believe all of it, but I think it's a narrative told by a very smart survivor, and wish I'd read it when I was younger, preferably with a reading group who'd help tear apart the truth from the glosses.
The Book of Night with Moon (Diane Duane): Grand Central Terminal is a NYC hub for trains... and other means of transit. The wizardly team of cats that maintains the worldgates of Grand Central troubleshoot at a deeper level than their norm. Entertaining and coherent; the themes and plot are well aligned.
Zahrah the Windseeker (Nnedi Okorafor): YA novel; teenage girl with special powers braves the Forbidden Forest to find a fabled cure for her dying friend.
Adorable coming of age story. Light, entertaining, predictable (think fast! Will Zahrah's quest fail and her friend die?), and oh, on another planet with magic (magic?) and lots of plant-based tech. It's a straightforward and not particularly subtle story about exploring and growing into the unknown; I'd recommend it for people looking for YA.
I first ran into Nnedi Okorafor's writing in a short story collection a couple of years ago, and thought the story interesting enough that I wanted more, but my library failed me. Eventually, I remembered ILL. So here is a takeaway thought: explore your own environment, and use ILL early and often.
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee): Childhood classic, which I don't really remember reading. I am now old enough to appreciate Lee's dry sense of humor, but I think I am missing the point, because I don't see what makes this book, above many other books, a literary gem.
Overcoming Underearning: Overcome Your Money Fears and Earn What You Deserve (Barbara Stanny): The phrase "throw the book against a wall" is a custom I generally honor in the breach, especially with library books. This is the second book in all of my 26 years which I have closed, contemplated, and deliberately hurled across the room. I really question financial books which promise to raise your income and lower your weight, and I only regret not throwing this across the room sooner.
Numbers: 5 (+ 1 thrown across the room) total. 2 new, 3 rereads; 4 fiction, 1 (mostly?) nonfiction.