book list, November and December 2019
It's time for the continuing adventures of Liz and her reading list! These are the books I read in November and December of 2019. Click on the cuts for summaries and reactions. I reserve the right to spoil all hell out of any book if spoilery bits are what I feel like talking about.
The Edge of Worlds, by Martha Wells
-----Books of the Raksura, part 4. A reread, because reasons.
Harbors of the Sun, by Martha Wells
-----Direct sequel to The Edge of Worlds -- or rather, part two of a single story chopped into two volumes for length reasons. Also a reread.
All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
-----Murderbot Diaries part 1. A reread, because reasons.
Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 2. A reread, because reasons.
Rogue Protocol, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 3. A reread, because reasons.
Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 4. A reread, because reasons.
This Star Shall Abide, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----First book in a science fiction trilogy; this and book 2 are pretty solidly YA-level, but book 3 (which was written nearly a decade after the second) is not -- which is to say that, although the writing doesn't change on a sentence-and-paragraph level, the protagonist is no longer YA-age and his concerns are therefore different. Anyway, this was a reread for my Yuletide assignment. I initially read this series when I was... I think around middle school, or possibly just before that? So, 11-ish to 14-ish, give or take. I liked book 3 best, which at the time was because book three is explicitly a crossover with one of Engdahl's other series (the duology of Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil) but I think also because I liked the philosophical theme and because the protagonist finally starts to get over his adolescent angst and self-preoccupation.
Um. Where was I? Right. So the basic setting of book 1 is that Noren (our protagonist) has just turned sixteen and is feeling very "I am not like these other people" about his society, which is admittedly a very restrictive theocracy. It's pretty clear from early on that the technological situation is deeply fishy, but one learns the details of that backstory as well as the reasons for the sociological weirdness, along with Norren as he's arrested for heresy and brought in to the City where the ruling Scholars work to make him recant.
Engdahl's writing is clunky, and I wish to god she'd bothered to name a bunch of background characters, but I guess it's true to Norren's character not to focus on anyone other than himself and Talyra (his almost-fiancée). The exposition of the backstory is also clunkier than I remembered, and from twenty-odd years on, it's screamingly obvious that Engdahl did not carry through her "the City is not sexist" idea very well in practice since each book only really has ONE female character with a major speaking role (Talyra in books 1 and 2, and Lianne in book 3; Beris has a very minor tertiary role in books 2 and 3 and Veldry a minor secondary role in book 3; and there are NO other named female characters though the First Scholar's unnamed dead wife and his equally unnamed partner in genetic research do have a few lines each, and the second is plot-relevant in book 3) and all the background Scholars save one in book 3 are male, though unnamed background female Technicians do appear. But the point of the story is mostly about the search for truth and the nature of faith, and that aspect holds up fine.
Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----Book two, in which the Scholars establish an outpost beyond the Tomorrow Mountains (title drop! all the titles in this series are actually quotes from an important section of the culture's own religious texts, btw), Noren has a crisis of not-faith and won't talk to anyone about it so it builds until he does something stupid and drastic, and an unexpected deus-ex-machina saves the day (at least for the moment).
The Doors of the Universe, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----Book three, in which Engdahl's unexamined background sexism leads to a completely unnecessary plot development (I have read her explanation for it, which is on her website, and I am not convinced -- especially since one of the points later raised in this very book is about the necessity of breaking free from ingrained patterns of thought that are no longer useful or survival-oriented, and therefore her primary reason for that plot choice is undercut by her own words) but anyway, we get into genetics and stuff and expand the universe a bit. Also, I do like Lianne a lot, and the theme that life continues and people aren't stuck in forever-mourning after a loved one's death, even if I still think Engdahl did Talyra dirty by not trusting her to deal constructively with even part of the truth. (Also, while finding new love is a great theme, a man finding a best female friend while still having a faithful and fulfilling marriage is also a great theme, and a lot more interesting for its rarity even today! And we were cheated of getting to see Lianne and Talyra be friends and talk about their shared yet different views on faith! Um. I may have strong feelings on this issue...)
Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World, by John H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein
-----Definitely worth reading, though some of the ancient history parts are a little shallow and the book badly needed another copy-editing pass.
Nine Goblins, by T. Kingfisher
-----An entertaining though rather slight fantasy about a group of goblin soldiers who get magically flung way behind enemy lines and team up with an elvish veterinarian to figure out what happened and how to get home. Vernon's take on magic as a peculiarly outward-directed form of mental illness is interesting, and the backstory about the origin of the war is both briskly humorous and all too plausible, given, you know, people.
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I'll get the audiobook post up later today, but right at the moment I am going to take a nap.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
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The Edge of Worlds, by Martha Wells
-----Books of the Raksura, part 4. A reread, because reasons.
Harbors of the Sun, by Martha Wells
-----Direct sequel to The Edge of Worlds -- or rather, part two of a single story chopped into two volumes for length reasons. Also a reread.
All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
-----Murderbot Diaries part 1. A reread, because reasons.
Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 2. A reread, because reasons.
Rogue Protocol, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 3. A reread, because reasons.
Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells
----- Murderbot Diaries part 4. A reread, because reasons.
This Star Shall Abide, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----First book in a science fiction trilogy; this and book 2 are pretty solidly YA-level, but book 3 (which was written nearly a decade after the second) is not -- which is to say that, although the writing doesn't change on a sentence-and-paragraph level, the protagonist is no longer YA-age and his concerns are therefore different. Anyway, this was a reread for my Yuletide assignment. I initially read this series when I was... I think around middle school, or possibly just before that? So, 11-ish to 14-ish, give or take. I liked book 3 best, which at the time was because book three is explicitly a crossover with one of Engdahl's other series (the duology of Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil) but I think also because I liked the philosophical theme and because the protagonist finally starts to get over his adolescent angst and self-preoccupation.
Um. Where was I? Right. So the basic setting of book 1 is that Noren (our protagonist) has just turned sixteen and is feeling very "I am not like these other people" about his society, which is admittedly a very restrictive theocracy. It's pretty clear from early on that the technological situation is deeply fishy, but one learns the details of that backstory as well as the reasons for the sociological weirdness, along with Norren as he's arrested for heresy and brought in to the City where the ruling Scholars work to make him recant.
Engdahl's writing is clunky, and I wish to god she'd bothered to name a bunch of background characters, but I guess it's true to Norren's character not to focus on anyone other than himself and Talyra (his almost-fiancée). The exposition of the backstory is also clunkier than I remembered, and from twenty-odd years on, it's screamingly obvious that Engdahl did not carry through her "the City is not sexist" idea very well in practice since each book only really has ONE female character with a major speaking role (Talyra in books 1 and 2, and Lianne in book 3; Beris has a very minor tertiary role in books 2 and 3 and Veldry a minor secondary role in book 3; and there are NO other named female characters though the First Scholar's unnamed dead wife and his equally unnamed partner in genetic research do have a few lines each, and the second is plot-relevant in book 3) and all the background Scholars save one in book 3 are male, though unnamed background female Technicians do appear. But the point of the story is mostly about the search for truth and the nature of faith, and that aspect holds up fine.
Beyond the Tomorrow Mountains, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----Book two, in which the Scholars establish an outpost beyond the Tomorrow Mountains (title drop! all the titles in this series are actually quotes from an important section of the culture's own religious texts, btw), Noren has a crisis of not-faith and won't talk to anyone about it so it builds until he does something stupid and drastic, and an unexpected deus-ex-machina saves the day (at least for the moment).
The Doors of the Universe, by Sylvia Engdahl
-----Book three, in which Engdahl's unexamined background sexism leads to a completely unnecessary plot development (I have read her explanation for it, which is on her website, and I am not convinced -- especially since one of the points later raised in this very book is about the necessity of breaking free from ingrained patterns of thought that are no longer useful or survival-oriented, and therefore her primary reason for that plot choice is undercut by her own words) but anyway, we get into genetics and stuff and expand the universe a bit. Also, I do like Lianne a lot, and the theme that life continues and people aren't stuck in forever-mourning after a loved one's death, even if I still think Engdahl did Talyra dirty by not trusting her to deal constructively with even part of the truth. (Also, while finding new love is a great theme, a man finding a best female friend while still having a faithful and fulfilling marriage is also a great theme, and a lot more interesting for its rarity even today! And we were cheated of getting to see Lianne and Talyra be friends and talk about their shared yet different views on faith! Um. I may have strong feelings on this issue...)
Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World, by John H. Halpern, MD, and David Blistein
-----Definitely worth reading, though some of the ancient history parts are a little shallow and the book badly needed another copy-editing pass.
Nine Goblins, by T. Kingfisher
-----An entertaining though rather slight fantasy about a group of goblin soldiers who get magically flung way behind enemy lines and team up with an elvish veterinarian to figure out what happened and how to get home. Vernon's take on magic as a peculiarly outward-directed form of mental illness is interesting, and the backstory about the origin of the war is both briskly humorous and all too plausible, given, you know, people.
---------------
I'll get the audiobook post up later today, but right at the moment I am going to take a nap.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so over here on Dreamwidth, where there are currently (
comments)