Yuletide recs III -- Strong women
My favourite reading includes strong female characters, but I don't believe women (or men) need to be warriors to be strong. So these women are empowered in their own ways -- as lovers, mothers, friends; working within the system or against it...
China Miéville
Borderlands by Dynamicsymmetry
'Being someone's lover is in itself a process of unseeing. You learn where to look and where not to. You learn which transgressions will result in your exile.' Dynamicsymmetry stretches The City & the City's concept of breach beyond the novel in this clever & thoughtful vignette
Discworld
Going It Alone by Nomad
'You couldn't feed a goat in a dress with ribboned sleeves, or walk a mile through the woods in shoes with pointed toes. But a good bit of lace would strain tea, and beads would fill a tin can noise-maker to scare the birds, and there was never any shortage of uses for unravelled wool and scraps of cloth.' Nomad laces the wicked humour with pathos in this portrait of the young Esme Weatherwax, as sharp as the witch herself
Dogma
Godma, or, The Seven Stages of Grace by Merlin Missy
'Her friends are starting families, yet all they have to worry about are what colleges to save up for, and the hundred little darker worries every parent has about car accidents and child predators. Bethany has to consider the near-surety that her child is destined to wind up murdered for the sake of the rest of the world.' This long loosely knit sequel loops in all the film's players, and successfully balances a suitably offbeat humour with flashes of serious insight
Finnish mythology
All the Old Knives by Selden
'Bind me with red thread, she said to the woods. / Bind my eyes with goat-gut and my mouth with bone splinters. / Bind between my legs with copper, copper teeth and bright red berries.' A fantastic alternative ending for Kyllikki, told in gorgeous harsh colours. Wonderful!
Hainish Cycle
Living the revolution by Leaf Litter
'"They'd be stupid then," Laia told him. "They ought to lock it away for preservation. When we're safely dead, and the revolution with us, it will probably be worth a fortune to the collectors, in their fine libraries of revolutionary books, and their fine counter-revolutionary minds."' This thoughtful view of Laia Odo's philosophies & the problems of running a revolutionary movement, was made for me by a gem of an original character ('The Day Before the Revolution')
Norse mythology
Balance to the Flame by Tristesses
'Loki gives her a thoughtful, intense look, and Sigyn feels her cheeks warm; even after all this time, all this pain, he still has this effect on her. "Do you know, I'm sure that if we tried very hard, we could find a position that allows you to hold the bowl and still lets us enjoy ourselves-"' This lighter than usual take on Sigyn & Loki's story gives plenty of insights into this oddest of couples, and grants Sigyn more power over her fate than the original
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (John le Carré)
First know the truth by Philipa Moss
'Control had invented the job for her, after all, and it was hers to define as she saw fit. Usually this meant that she did as she pleased and relegated dull or mundane tasks to the sharper secretaries.' Insightful portrait of Connie in her prime, at its best in her pitiless assessments of everyone she meets
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer
China Miéville
Borderlands by Dynamicsymmetry
'Being someone's lover is in itself a process of unseeing. You learn where to look and where not to. You learn which transgressions will result in your exile.' Dynamicsymmetry stretches The City & the City's concept of breach beyond the novel in this clever & thoughtful vignette
Discworld
Going It Alone by Nomad
'You couldn't feed a goat in a dress with ribboned sleeves, or walk a mile through the woods in shoes with pointed toes. But a good bit of lace would strain tea, and beads would fill a tin can noise-maker to scare the birds, and there was never any shortage of uses for unravelled wool and scraps of cloth.' Nomad laces the wicked humour with pathos in this portrait of the young Esme Weatherwax, as sharp as the witch herself
Dogma
Godma, or, The Seven Stages of Grace by Merlin Missy
'Her friends are starting families, yet all they have to worry about are what colleges to save up for, and the hundred little darker worries every parent has about car accidents and child predators. Bethany has to consider the near-surety that her child is destined to wind up murdered for the sake of the rest of the world.' This long loosely knit sequel loops in all the film's players, and successfully balances a suitably offbeat humour with flashes of serious insight
Finnish mythology
All the Old Knives by Selden
'Bind me with red thread, she said to the woods. / Bind my eyes with goat-gut and my mouth with bone splinters. / Bind between my legs with copper, copper teeth and bright red berries.' A fantastic alternative ending for Kyllikki, told in gorgeous harsh colours. Wonderful!
Hainish Cycle
Living the revolution by Leaf Litter
'"They'd be stupid then," Laia told him. "They ought to lock it away for preservation. When we're safely dead, and the revolution with us, it will probably be worth a fortune to the collectors, in their fine libraries of revolutionary books, and their fine counter-revolutionary minds."' This thoughtful view of Laia Odo's philosophies & the problems of running a revolutionary movement, was made for me by a gem of an original character ('The Day Before the Revolution')
Norse mythology
Balance to the Flame by Tristesses
'Loki gives her a thoughtful, intense look, and Sigyn feels her cheeks warm; even after all this time, all this pain, he still has this effect on her. "Do you know, I'm sure that if we tried very hard, we could find a position that allows you to hold the bowl and still lets us enjoy ourselves-"' This lighter than usual take on Sigyn & Loki's story gives plenty of insights into this oddest of couples, and grants Sigyn more power over her fate than the original
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (John le Carré)
First know the truth by Philipa Moss
'Control had invented the job for her, after all, and it was hers to define as she saw fit. Usually this meant that she did as she pleased and relegated dull or mundane tasks to the sharper secretaries.' Insightful portrait of Connie in her prime, at its best in her pitiless assessments of everyone she meets
Crossposted from Dreamwidth (with
replies). Reply wherever you prefer