Historical Fantasy
This I've read more of.
The Great War, David Almond et al
Okay, so, strictly speaking, a lot of this is straight-up historical fiction. However, at least two of the more memorable stories have some supernatural elements to them, plus I didn't feel like writing another review yesterday, so it's in this post.
The Great War, contrary to its call number in my local library, is not nonfiction, but is in fact a series of short stories inspired by objects dating from World War I. There's things like a helmet, a zeppelin bomb nose cone, a soldier's writing kit, Princess Mary's Christmas gift to the soldiers, et cetera. And, like any short story collection, there are hits and there are misses.
For example, the story based off the Christmas gift is really excellent, about a boy and his sister examining one of the gifts, and the boy stealing a cigarette with far-reaching consequences. Then there's the zeppelin one (Don't Call It Glory, I think), which I found... curiously impenetrable, and the writing case one, which seemed largely unrelated to the War itself. Then there's Each Slow Dusk, toward the end of the book, which was the only story that actually hurt under my breastbone, the way some stories can get you.
It's a beautifully laid-out book, with marvellous illustrations but hit or miss stories. I wish there were more stories that talked about the Central Powers, as most of this book seemed to be set in England. I wish also that it wasn't categorized as nonfiction, because it really isn't. Still, it does a good job of showing the long-term effects of the war. Worth reading if you're interested in WWI, but maybe not for everyone.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. It is so anti-war I can't even, and a lot of the narrators are girls, but everyone's white and mostly British.
Firebird, Mercedes Lackey
Okay, now we're into straight-up historical fantasy.
Firebird is a long-form novel based off the Russian legend of the Katschei, an evil sorcerer who hid his heart away and was defeated by Ivan, a tsar's son, with the help of the titular Firebird. The description on Goodreads bears only a slight resemblance to the actual plot, so I'll try to write a better one. Ilya Ivanovitch is the least valued of his father's eight sons, to the point that he can remain more or less invisible among them despite being the smartest and best-intentioned among them. Though we only have Ilya's word for that, as he's the POV character. Someone begins stealing his violent father's cherries, and Ilya discovers that it's the Firebird before being beaten nearly to death by his brothers. He decides to pretend to be a fool, in order to protect himself. Things happen, and he ends up at the Katschei's palace, having fallen deeply in love with one of the Katschei's captive maidens, and determines to defeat the Katschei and save her.
This has a lot of the usual Lackey flaws. It's really infodumpy and heavy on the description, with most of the plot shoved into the last half of the book to disquieting effect, about three different plot twists in the last ten pages, and a few dropped plot threads. That said, it is entertaining, and Ilya is a reasonably likable protagonist, although there's a lot of really oogy attitudes toward sex and consent, particularly in the first half of the book.
Eh. If you like Russian mythology or are a Lackey completist, this is a nice book to read. If you don't, ditch it. Not worth the time.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. The Firebird is unmistakably the most powerful character in the story, despite being sidelined in favor of Ilya's efforts, but again, she is sidelined, and most of the book is about a white dude. Still, it did introduce me to the fascinating concept of rusalkas.
Magic Below Stairs, Caroline Stevermer
I think I may not be as fair to this book as one might hope, because it is a loose sequel to my beloved Sorcery and Cecelia, and does not contain my favorite character, which is to say Cecy herself. Also Kate is barely in it. That said, it's a competently written and very entertaining short book about a young boy who joins the Schofield household on the eve of their return to the Sir-Hilary-cursed house.
Frederick, our hero, has also acquired a brownie friend somewhere along the way. Billy Bly may or may not have adjusted the livery to allow Frederick to be hired, and definitely came along to the house with Frederick, thereby saving several people's lives and Frederick's livelihood.
It's a sweet little story that doesn't quite gloss over the realities of belowstairs life, but doesn't really dig into it either. Frederick comes of age a bit, Thomas gets yelled at some more, and I closed the book feeling satisfied, if not thrilled. Entertaining, if not great.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. Frederick is a poor young orphan who makes good and several girls make the story possible, but other than that it's pretty conventional.
The Kingdom of Little Wounds, Susann Cokal
This book was described to me as "a fairy tale about syphilis," which meant of course that I had to read it.
Okay, first of all, people describe this book as young adult. It's not young adult. This is adult fantasy, with rape and murder and horrific deaths in gory detail left and right. And, you know, it's about syphilis. So there's that.
The Kingdom of Little Wounds mostly follows two people, Ava Bingham and Midi Sorte, as they try to survive the political infighting and bloody feuds following the death of the oldest princess on her wedding night. Further deaths only deepen the intrigues and plots, and both of them keep getting dragged deeper and deeper into the horrors that ensue. And make no mistake, there are a lot of horrors. I've mentioned the rape and the murder and the horrific deaths, but there's also a number of body parts kept as relics and a frankly nauseating thing made out of them later, as well as numerous other really upsetting things.
I was also uneasy about Midi as a character. Her portrayal felt vaguely racist in a way that I can't really put my finger on. Also, I am the pastiest white girl you'll ever meet, so if I'm wrong, please tell me, I am thrilled to be wrong about this. However, I was really glad to see a black woman in an otherwise lily-white book. She was, however, the only one, and there was a queer character but only one, and so on.
So, it was a good if very disturbing book, with some diversity that may or may not have been mishandled. I genuinely don't know whether or not to recommend it. To people who like court politics, maybe, but it's really gory, too. I don't know. If it sounds interesting.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. Major characters are representational, even if they are only one.
Ghost Talkers, Mary Robinette Kowal
MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL HOW DARE YOU TEAR ME APART LIKE THIS.
Ahem. I picked up Ghost Talkers because I got to see Ms. Kowal in person and she read from it and it sounded like a fascinating premise. During World War I, the British army has developed something called The Spirit Corps, which on paper is there to encourage the troops and build up morale, but in reality is a bunch of mediums who glean information from the ghosts of the fallen. What a great idea for a book!
Our heroine, Ginger, is one of these mediums and an American heiress engaged to a captain in the intelligence corps. Ginger's comfort-- as much as there is in WWI-- is shaken when a ghost reports to her that he was murdered in that very camp, and destroyed entirely when a spoilery thing happens. Ginger's attempt to solve what's happening takes her from the Spirit Corps headquarters to the front (with cameo by JRR Tolkien himself!) to a POW camp. It's a pretty straightforward mystery, but it's beautifully (and heartbreakingly) written, with great worldbuilding for a great idea. It's also refreshingly diverse and female-centric, something that I have found sadly lacking in a lot of WWI-era novels. They're near the front lines, yes, but the Spirit Corps is largely composed of women and disabled people, with quite a few POC (including one major character and one minor one) scattered in between.
So, yes, this is a brutal book by virtue of the setting if nothing else, but it's wonderfully written. Kowal will make you thank her for every twist and heartbreak. Worth the read for everyone, IMO.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Women, disabled folks, and POC save the day. War, particularly WWI, is horrific. Tolkien appears. All is well.
The Sherwood Ring, Elizabeth Marie Pope
Huzzah, my childhood!
The Sherwood Ring is the story of Peggy Grahame, an orphan sent to live with her uncle in Rest-and-be-thankful, their ancestral estate. While there, Peggy meets a nice young man that her uncle inexplicably orders out of the house, and then she meets a series of ghosts who explain the Revolutionary-era spy shenanigans that took place in the house, as well as why her uncle dislikes the nice young man so much. The ghosts know they're dead, but they don't seem to care very much. It honestly seems like they hang around Rest-and-be-thankful because it's a nice house and there's not much better to do, and Barbara can mock her brother in peace.
It's such a charming and delightful story. There's no real fear in the ghosts, just amusement. Peggy is having fun with her new mystery story and nice young man. Uncle Enos is the only one who doesn't seem delighted by all events, but there's a reason for that and he chills out toward the end of the book. Cute story, adorable characters, and spy shenanigans. Also contains a young man proposing to a young lady as he is passing out because she successfully drugged him and apparently that turns him on. Recommended to everyone.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. Peggy, Barbara, and Eleanor are all major viewpoint characters, but they're also white, as is everyone in the book.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/421839.html. Please comment over there if possible.
The Great War, David Almond et al
Okay, so, strictly speaking, a lot of this is straight-up historical fiction. However, at least two of the more memorable stories have some supernatural elements to them, plus I didn't feel like writing another review yesterday, so it's in this post.
The Great War, contrary to its call number in my local library, is not nonfiction, but is in fact a series of short stories inspired by objects dating from World War I. There's things like a helmet, a zeppelin bomb nose cone, a soldier's writing kit, Princess Mary's Christmas gift to the soldiers, et cetera. And, like any short story collection, there are hits and there are misses.
For example, the story based off the Christmas gift is really excellent, about a boy and his sister examining one of the gifts, and the boy stealing a cigarette with far-reaching consequences. Then there's the zeppelin one (Don't Call It Glory, I think), which I found... curiously impenetrable, and the writing case one, which seemed largely unrelated to the War itself. Then there's Each Slow Dusk, toward the end of the book, which was the only story that actually hurt under my breastbone, the way some stories can get you.
It's a beautifully laid-out book, with marvellous illustrations but hit or miss stories. I wish there were more stories that talked about the Central Powers, as most of this book seemed to be set in England. I wish also that it wasn't categorized as nonfiction, because it really isn't. Still, it does a good job of showing the long-term effects of the war. Worth reading if you're interested in WWI, but maybe not for everyone.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. It is so anti-war I can't even, and a lot of the narrators are girls, but everyone's white and mostly British.
Firebird, Mercedes Lackey
Okay, now we're into straight-up historical fantasy.
Firebird is a long-form novel based off the Russian legend of the Katschei, an evil sorcerer who hid his heart away and was defeated by Ivan, a tsar's son, with the help of the titular Firebird. The description on Goodreads bears only a slight resemblance to the actual plot, so I'll try to write a better one. Ilya Ivanovitch is the least valued of his father's eight sons, to the point that he can remain more or less invisible among them despite being the smartest and best-intentioned among them. Though we only have Ilya's word for that, as he's the POV character. Someone begins stealing his violent father's cherries, and Ilya discovers that it's the Firebird before being beaten nearly to death by his brothers. He decides to pretend to be a fool, in order to protect himself. Things happen, and he ends up at the Katschei's palace, having fallen deeply in love with one of the Katschei's captive maidens, and determines to defeat the Katschei and save her.
This has a lot of the usual Lackey flaws. It's really infodumpy and heavy on the description, with most of the plot shoved into the last half of the book to disquieting effect, about three different plot twists in the last ten pages, and a few dropped plot threads. That said, it is entertaining, and Ilya is a reasonably likable protagonist, although there's a lot of really oogy attitudes toward sex and consent, particularly in the first half of the book.
Eh. If you like Russian mythology or are a Lackey completist, this is a nice book to read. If you don't, ditch it. Not worth the time.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. The Firebird is unmistakably the most powerful character in the story, despite being sidelined in favor of Ilya's efforts, but again, she is sidelined, and most of the book is about a white dude. Still, it did introduce me to the fascinating concept of rusalkas.
Magic Below Stairs, Caroline Stevermer
I think I may not be as fair to this book as one might hope, because it is a loose sequel to my beloved Sorcery and Cecelia, and does not contain my favorite character, which is to say Cecy herself. Also Kate is barely in it. That said, it's a competently written and very entertaining short book about a young boy who joins the Schofield household on the eve of their return to the Sir-Hilary-cursed house.
Frederick, our hero, has also acquired a brownie friend somewhere along the way. Billy Bly may or may not have adjusted the livery to allow Frederick to be hired, and definitely came along to the house with Frederick, thereby saving several people's lives and Frederick's livelihood.
It's a sweet little story that doesn't quite gloss over the realities of belowstairs life, but doesn't really dig into it either. Frederick comes of age a bit, Thomas gets yelled at some more, and I closed the book feeling satisfied, if not thrilled. Entertaining, if not great.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. Frederick is a poor young orphan who makes good and several girls make the story possible, but other than that it's pretty conventional.
The Kingdom of Little Wounds, Susann Cokal
This book was described to me as "a fairy tale about syphilis," which meant of course that I had to read it.
Okay, first of all, people describe this book as young adult. It's not young adult. This is adult fantasy, with rape and murder and horrific deaths in gory detail left and right. And, you know, it's about syphilis. So there's that.
The Kingdom of Little Wounds mostly follows two people, Ava Bingham and Midi Sorte, as they try to survive the political infighting and bloody feuds following the death of the oldest princess on her wedding night. Further deaths only deepen the intrigues and plots, and both of them keep getting dragged deeper and deeper into the horrors that ensue. And make no mistake, there are a lot of horrors. I've mentioned the rape and the murder and the horrific deaths, but there's also a number of body parts kept as relics and a frankly nauseating thing made out of them later, as well as numerous other really upsetting things.
I was also uneasy about Midi as a character. Her portrayal felt vaguely racist in a way that I can't really put my finger on. Also, I am the pastiest white girl you'll ever meet, so if I'm wrong, please tell me, I am thrilled to be wrong about this. However, I was really glad to see a black woman in an otherwise lily-white book. She was, however, the only one, and there was a queer character but only one, and so on.
So, it was a good if very disturbing book, with some diversity that may or may not have been mishandled. I genuinely don't know whether or not to recommend it. To people who like court politics, maybe, but it's really gory, too. I don't know. If it sounds interesting.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 3--fascists have problems. Major characters are representational, even if they are only one.
Ghost Talkers, Mary Robinette Kowal
MARY ROBINETTE KOWAL HOW DARE YOU TEAR ME APART LIKE THIS.
Ahem. I picked up Ghost Talkers because I got to see Ms. Kowal in person and she read from it and it sounded like a fascinating premise. During World War I, the British army has developed something called The Spirit Corps, which on paper is there to encourage the troops and build up morale, but in reality is a bunch of mediums who glean information from the ghosts of the fallen. What a great idea for a book!
Our heroine, Ginger, is one of these mediums and an American heiress engaged to a captain in the intelligence corps. Ginger's comfort-- as much as there is in WWI-- is shaken when a ghost reports to her that he was murdered in that very camp, and destroyed entirely when a spoilery thing happens. Ginger's attempt to solve what's happening takes her from the Spirit Corps headquarters to the front (with cameo by JRR Tolkien himself!) to a POW camp. It's a pretty straightforward mystery, but it's beautifully (and heartbreakingly) written, with great worldbuilding for a great idea. It's also refreshingly diverse and female-centric, something that I have found sadly lacking in a lot of WWI-era novels. They're near the front lines, yes, but the Spirit Corps is largely composed of women and disabled people, with quite a few POC (including one major character and one minor one) scattered in between.
So, yes, this is a brutal book by virtue of the setting if nothing else, but it's wonderfully written. Kowal will make you thank her for every twist and heartbreak. Worth the read for everyone, IMO.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 5--fascists will froth at the mouth. Women, disabled folks, and POC save the day. War, particularly WWI, is horrific. Tolkien appears. All is well.
The Sherwood Ring, Elizabeth Marie Pope
Huzzah, my childhood!
The Sherwood Ring is the story of Peggy Grahame, an orphan sent to live with her uncle in Rest-and-be-thankful, their ancestral estate. While there, Peggy meets a nice young man that her uncle inexplicably orders out of the house, and then she meets a series of ghosts who explain the Revolutionary-era spy shenanigans that took place in the house, as well as why her uncle dislikes the nice young man so much. The ghosts know they're dead, but they don't seem to care very much. It honestly seems like they hang around Rest-and-be-thankful because it's a nice house and there's not much better to do, and Barbara can mock her brother in peace.
It's such a charming and delightful story. There's no real fear in the ghosts, just amusement. Peggy is having fun with her new mystery story and nice young man. Uncle Enos is the only one who doesn't seem delighted by all events, but there's a reason for that and he chills out toward the end of the book. Cute story, adorable characters, and spy shenanigans. Also contains a young man proposing to a young lady as he is passing out because she successfully drugged him and apparently that turns him on. Recommended to everyone.
Fuck Fascists Factor: 2--fascists have slight problems. Peggy, Barbara, and Eleanor are all major viewpoint characters, but they're also white, as is everyone in the book.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/421839.html. Please comment over there if possible.