(no subject)
So I sewed both sleeves, and gathered one and set it in, cut out the skirt panels, cut into the bottom of skirt panels and sewed them up again, cut into the top to form the apron-front, ironed the plackets that will go on the sides of the apron into shape, cut out the bib, and ironed down three edges on bib to mark where to hem. Not bad for a weekend!
A while back, someone recommended Elizabeth Willey's A Sorceror & A Gentleman as high fantasy with a focus on social matters (rather than a quest, or the magic system, or w/e). I'm halfway in and still interested, but not quite hooked. It's from the '90s and feels bit dated ... I couldn't put my finger on why at first, but it's basically that a) there are a lot of characters, nearly all men, and the women don't really get stuff told from their perspective, and b) the focus is so much on the plot itself rather than building up emotions. I feel like the predominance of YA fantasy over the past two decades has changed the gender balance of casts and made iddy emotional buildup and release a bit more important in adult fantasy as well. People apparently compare this series (because it is a series - I knew going in that it's the second book in a trilogy - the first book is actually set way later and I'm not sure how they connect other than perhaps setting) to the Chronicles of Amber because it involves a big magical family of fighting siblings, but to me the similarity is more in the tone.
For instance, one of our leads, the charming sorcerer Dewar, is compelled by a geas to travel to the extremely powerful Prospero (yes, this book is a little based on The Tempest) and introduce himself. He reveals that his mother is another sorcerer he's kind of hiding from, and that he's terrified of her; it's also very clear from Prospero's questions about when he was born that Prospero is his father. And all that's kind of just ... there? It happened. In 2019 I have come to expect that there will be feels and flashbacks and all that sort of thing. So I have to write that myself, I guess?
I'm interested in seeing where it goes, but I'm not really devouring it.
Original post: https://chocolatepot.dreamwidth.org/1003919.html - please comment on Dreamwidth: https://chocolatepot.dreamwidth.org/1003919.html?mode=reply
A while back, someone recommended Elizabeth Willey's A Sorceror & A Gentleman as high fantasy with a focus on social matters (rather than a quest, or the magic system, or w/e). I'm halfway in and still interested, but not quite hooked. It's from the '90s and feels bit dated ... I couldn't put my finger on why at first, but it's basically that a) there are a lot of characters, nearly all men, and the women don't really get stuff told from their perspective, and b) the focus is so much on the plot itself rather than building up emotions. I feel like the predominance of YA fantasy over the past two decades has changed the gender balance of casts and made iddy emotional buildup and release a bit more important in adult fantasy as well. People apparently compare this series (because it is a series - I knew going in that it's the second book in a trilogy - the first book is actually set way later and I'm not sure how they connect other than perhaps setting) to the Chronicles of Amber because it involves a big magical family of fighting siblings, but to me the similarity is more in the tone.
For instance, one of our leads, the charming sorcerer Dewar, is compelled by a geas to travel to the extremely powerful Prospero (yes, this book is a little based on The Tempest) and introduce himself. He reveals that his mother is another sorcerer he's kind of hiding from, and that he's terrified of her; it's also very clear from Prospero's questions about when he was born that Prospero is his father. And all that's kind of just ... there? It happened. In 2019 I have come to expect that there will be feels and flashbacks and all that sort of thing. So I have to write that myself, I guess?
I'm interested in seeing where it goes, but I'm not really devouring it.
Original post: https://chocolatepot.dreamwidth.org/1003919.html - please comment on Dreamwidth: https://chocolatepot.dreamwidth.org/1003919.html?mode=reply