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Re: Book Thread
anonymous
April 19 2014, 00:55:53 UTC
I'm reading Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler. It's very short, but has commentary from the author after every story. The first story is the most interesting - it's technically mpreg, only without the fandom tropes and with a lot of aliens and complex worldbuilding. Obviously it's meant to be unnerving, but I think I reacted more strongly to it than the author intended.
Re: Book Thread
anonymous
April 19 2014, 02:13:34 UTC
In what way?
I love how complicated "Bloodchild" is - the central relationship is creepy as fuck, but also moving. The choice the protagonist makes - how free is it, really? The characters seem sincere, but they're also acting out roles that the society has stuck them in. And the humans: are they slaves? Animals? Pets? People building bridges across incredible gaps? Similarly, the mpreg is horrifying but the story also hits some major hurt-comfort buttons. And elements are kind of hot. I think all of that was intentional - it's unsettling not just because of the content, but because it holds so many different and seemingly contradictory truths.
I also really like "Speech Sounds" - it packs a disproportionate punch for its short length.
Re: Book Thread
anonymous
April 19 2014, 04:52:11 UTC
I just finished Longbourn by Jo Baker. I like microhistory so this was a perfect read for that and the characters were interesting enough. Still, [Spoiler (click to open)]I'm getting tired of the "an upper class male character from book X secretly has a bastard child" plots. It seems to happen a lot with these spin-off books. Yes, I'm sure the upper class men often got the servant girls pregnant, but is it necessary to include it in every book? Just as tiresome is the weird need to assure the reader that while the female main character is definitely a virgin, her love interested has definitely slept with someone else. Is it so bad to imagine that he might be a virgin too? Especially a decent man who knew how women got pregnant and how the society treated unmarried mothers? Or that the woman has had sex too and not gotten pregnant?
Re: Book Thread
anonymous
April 19 2014, 17:42:24 UTC
I just started reading Watching the Dark by Peter Robinson.I have read all his other Inspector Banks novels and liked them.I like reading detective novels on the train to work.
Re: Book Thread: Recs - anything set in Venice
anonymous
April 20 2014, 02:34:28 UTC
City of Masks by Mary Hoffman is a YA portal fantasy, set in an alternate Renaissance Venice.
This one stands alone very well iirc, but it's actually the first of a series, all set in Renaissance Italy. The first few books were lovely but the quality does tail off the further you go.
Re: Book Thread: Recs - anything set in Venice
anonymous
April 20 2014, 02:47:39 UTC
In Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, La Serenissima is the fantasy-analogue for/in the same location as Venice. (Terre d'Ange is France, IIRC England is Albion.) It's sort of pseudo-medieval/Renaissance political machinations plus "the gods are with us" plus magic plus sex-is-very-important fantasy.
Re: Book Thread: Recs - anything set in Venice
anonymous
April 20 2014, 03:05:02 UTC
sa
There's also The Heirs of Alexandria, a fantasy book series largely set in a magic-AU version of Venice.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is set partially in Venice.
I wish I could recall the book or author's name, but I read a mystery/suspense novel maybe 10 or 15 years ago that was at least partially set in Venice and had a nice sense of place. IIRC, one of the main characters was a Jesuit priest, or a former one (he definitely was not celibate or was struggling with celibacy in it), and he was investigating either something to do with rare books or some other history- or church-related shenanigans and the author was likely British or Spanish. Maybe another nonnie will remember.
And (plot-relevant) bits of the House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett are set in 15th century Venice.
Re: Book Thread: Recs - anything set in Venice
anonymous
April 20 2014, 03:20:46 UTC
Well, most of the book isn't set there, but Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell has some very memorable scenes set in early nineteenth-century Venice, with a lot of cool fantasy elements mixed in.
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Who knew dinosaurs could have a Freudian excuse?
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I love how complicated "Bloodchild" is - the central relationship is creepy as fuck, but also moving. The choice the protagonist makes - how free is it, really? The characters seem sincere, but they're also acting out roles that the society has stuck them in. And the humans: are they slaves? Animals? Pets? People building bridges across incredible gaps? Similarly, the mpreg is horrifying but the story also hits some major hurt-comfort buttons. And elements are kind of hot. I think all of that was intentional - it's unsettling not just because of the content, but because it holds so many different and seemingly contradictory truths.
I also really like "Speech Sounds" - it packs a disproportionate punch for its short length.
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This one stands alone very well iirc, but it's actually the first of a series, all set in Renaissance Italy. The first few books were lovely but the quality does tail off the further you go.
Reply
Reply
There's also The Heirs of Alexandria, a fantasy book series largely set in a magic-AU version of Venice.
The Talented Mr. Ripley is set partially in Venice.
I wish I could recall the book or author's name, but I read a mystery/suspense novel maybe 10 or 15 years ago that was at least partially set in Venice and had a nice sense of place. IIRC, one of the main characters was a Jesuit priest, or a former one (he definitely was not celibate or was struggling with celibacy in it), and he was investigating either something to do with rare books or some other history- or church-related shenanigans and the author was likely British or Spanish. Maybe another nonnie will remember.
And (plot-relevant) bits of the House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett are set in 15th century Venice.
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