I fell to pieces
Rahr, I finished Ancillary Sword tonight, which was not flail-inducing like the first half of Ancillary Justice but still a quite enjoyable read, and brought it immediately back to the library--
Short version: Because it had racked up a whole $1.35 in late fees.
Long version: Because back in November I kept mixing up whether Ancillary Sword or Ancillary Justice was the first book, and the interlibrary loan request delivered what I thought was the second one first, so then I returned it, and then the "first" one came in and I discovered it was in fact the sequel, so then I had to hold onto it and re-request the actual first book and wait for that to come back in, by which time the sequel was already overdue. And when I got far enough into Ancillary Sword [ETA:] Justice, LOL, I'm still doing it [/ETA] to decide I wanted to buy the books to support the author, it was only to discover that a shocking number of stores don't carry them. (Ended up ordering them from Amazon. They're in the mail as we speak.) At least the fines are only a nickel a day.
--and now I'm in that bereft state where you have to resurface from a universe you like,* but you're not ready yet, and also at a loss for what to read next.** Especially as these books came on the heels of the Vampire Chronicles re-reads, another universe I have been known to moon over.
*Mainly thanks to the protagonist being so fabulous: just the right mix of incredible competence, confidence when thrown into unfamiliar and difficult situations, stoicism/self-control, wry humor, intelligence, and physical and emotional vulnerability. And asexuality and atheism and good strong morals and super cool SF technology-driven powers. And an achingly enviable amount and breadth of life experience. Languages, music, cultures. Trying not to say anything spoilery. Also: Space! And worldbuilding that feels pleasantly familiar for a genre fan without being too derivative, IMO, with details that are fresh. And sort of basic but still interesting social justice plots, and some stuff about gender and the necessity of tethering logic to emotion [take that, TOS] and an occasionally unreliable narrator and oh right by the way the dominant race in the galaxy is black, and and.
I see there are 32 stories for it on the AO3, but I'm not ready to try them yet. I want more, but I want more in the sense of I wish the book hadn't ended or that the third one were out already, not that I want gaps filled. Even if the fic summaries and titles look pretty good. Now that I'm not afraid of spoilers I am perusing professional reviews and will have to sort through LJ/DW people's back entries to see who's said stuff about the books before I knew what they were. toft, I seem to recall, recently.
**For tomorrow, there's at least Saga vol. 4. After that, we'll see. Maybe Best American Magazine Writing 2014, but I think I want one more novel first. Thank you again for those feminist SF/F recs last year. I've read two more Le Guin collections and Octavia Butler's Kindred since then, and still want to go for Steerswoman but would prefer to find it in print when it seems to be mostly available for e-readers. Additional recommendations still quite welcome.
(Subject of this post may still be my favorite line from the first book. BTW.)
Short version: Because it had racked up a whole $1.35 in late fees.
Long version: Because back in November I kept mixing up whether Ancillary Sword or Ancillary Justice was the first book, and the interlibrary loan request delivered what I thought was the second one first, so then I returned it, and then the "first" one came in and I discovered it was in fact the sequel, so then I had to hold onto it and re-request the actual first book and wait for that to come back in, by which time the sequel was already overdue. And when I got far enough into Ancillary Sword [ETA:] Justice, LOL, I'm still doing it [/ETA] to decide I wanted to buy the books to support the author, it was only to discover that a shocking number of stores don't carry them. (Ended up ordering them from Amazon. They're in the mail as we speak.) At least the fines are only a nickel a day.
--and now I'm in that bereft state where you have to resurface from a universe you like,* but you're not ready yet, and also at a loss for what to read next.** Especially as these books came on the heels of the Vampire Chronicles re-reads, another universe I have been known to moon over.
*Mainly thanks to the protagonist being so fabulous: just the right mix of incredible competence, confidence when thrown into unfamiliar and difficult situations, stoicism/self-control, wry humor, intelligence, and physical and emotional vulnerability. And asexuality and atheism and good strong morals and super cool SF technology-driven powers. And an achingly enviable amount and breadth of life experience. Languages, music, cultures. Trying not to say anything spoilery. Also: Space! And worldbuilding that feels pleasantly familiar for a genre fan without being too derivative, IMO, with details that are fresh. And sort of basic but still interesting social justice plots, and some stuff about gender and the necessity of tethering logic to emotion [take that, TOS] and an occasionally unreliable narrator and oh right by the way the dominant race in the galaxy is black, and and.
I see there are 32 stories for it on the AO3, but I'm not ready to try them yet. I want more, but I want more in the sense of I wish the book hadn't ended or that the third one were out already, not that I want gaps filled. Even if the fic summaries and titles look pretty good. Now that I'm not afraid of spoilers I am perusing professional reviews and will have to sort through LJ/DW people's back entries to see who's said stuff about the books before I knew what they were. toft, I seem to recall, recently.
**For tomorrow, there's at least Saga vol. 4. After that, we'll see. Maybe Best American Magazine Writing 2014, but I think I want one more novel first. Thank you again for those feminist SF/F recs last year. I've read two more Le Guin collections and Octavia Butler's Kindred since then, and still want to go for Steerswoman but would prefer to find it in print when it seems to be mostly available for e-readers. Additional recommendations still quite welcome.
(Subject of this post may still be my favorite line from the first book. BTW.)