Reading roundup

[hamsterwoman]

35. Lois McMaster Bujold, The Hallowed Hunt -- I have some kind of odd apprehension when it comes to LMB's fantasy books. Before I start each one, I hesitate because I'm (somewhat irrationally, at this point) afraid I won't like them. This was true with Chalion and with Paladin of Souls and with this one as well, even though I ended up enjoying

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

Okay, maybe that's just me.

No, I seem to be following the same trajectory, sadly... *makes a note never to re-read Lions of Al-Rassan, just in case*

I'm glad that my reaction to Tigana is not unique just to me -- I was poking around a GGK community on LJ, and was a bit dismayed to discover how many people were rabid fans of it, listed it as their favorite book, and started to wonder if I was missing something... I suppose, if that was the first GGK book I read, I would be impressed, in spite of the hugely annoying flaws -- but since I know he can do so much better...

I do like the Dianora and Brandin storyline, I just... well, kind of how Brandin told her they should've met in Finavir? Yeah, I kind of wish they had met in a different book. One I could actually enjoy more. XP

I remember the rumours in Lions and at least one of the gay characters in Arbonne (I actually really liked Duke Thierry; he had sense), but it really seems to be laid on thick in Tigana, and totally superfluous to plot or character development in many places, whereas I felt the mentions of homosexuality all had some point in the other books.

I haven't read Last Light of the Sun -- I was actually wondering if I should go find that next, because Vikings! I rather like Vikings (although if they're emo Vikings... I don't know...) But I gather that it might not have been a very good book?

[etrangere]

No, I seem to be following the same trajectory, sadly...
I know other people who are at the same point. generalblossom was the one i first heard criticizing his style, and whether that's why or just maturing as a reader, I never could read him again with the same enchantement (and his was my favourite fantasy writer when I was 16, srsly!)

Tigana was the third book I read after Fionnavar and Arbonne. I would have placed it as one of his best along with Lions (which was the fourth and still my favourite ^^). I'm afraid of rereading Lions as well now.

I agree with you the homosexuality was thickly done in Tigana, especially compared with Arbonne (I did like Thierry but he was a very minor character) or Lions (were it's sadly underexploited yet didn't stopped a few slashers I know ^^); especially because the gay was so camp (even as ironic and purposeful self parody) and because of the WTF of the Catriana thing.

Don't read Last Light. It actually has very little Viking, it's more about the Anglo-Saxons I think and it's just a bad book. Even the Sarantine mosaic (which I have zero desire to reread, has WTF romantic pairing and is kind of oddly structured) is better than Last Light.

[hamsterwoman]

Sarantine Mosaic was the first thing by GGK I read, and so I kind of have a soft spot for it, even though the WTF pairing was definitely WTF. But, as you say, the first exposure to GGK leaves a positive impression, so I think I liked the book, though I don't have a fair point of comparison, really. (I haven't felt like re-reading it, either, but I generally don't re-read books, even books I like.) Then I read Lions, which is definitely my favorite, and I think -- I think -- it's actually a really good book, but I am afraid to re-read it now. Then I read The Summer Tree (I haven't read on in the Fionavar Tapestry because our library doesn't seem to have Wandering Fire, but I do want to, mostly for Diarmuid), then Song for Arbonne, and now Tigana -- and my impressions are kind of all over the place. Lions is definitely my favorite, and Tigana is the only book that I came close to kind of hating, but beyond that, I'm not really sure.

Yeah, the campiness of Tomasso's homosexuality was rather... O.o. I was very happy to discover that it was an act, but it was still a bit... disturbing. Although along with the philosophical BDSM, the incest interlude, and the randomness of the final het couples, it all kind of blended into a big ball of "wow, GGK sure does have a weird view of human relationships..."

Thanks for the warning about Last Light. I guess I'll stay away. What about Ysabel -- I've seen that around but haven't been able to decide if I should read it. If you have, is it any good?

[generalblossom]

Oh, speak of the devil and she shows up :) Hi Hamsterwoman, followed a link from etrangere, and very nice to meet you. Do you mind if I follow your blog? I am not very good at following Livejournal through livejournal, but I have become bloglines dependent a while ago.

Don´t ever even think of trying Last Light of the Sun, it´s indeed bad, almost like a caricature. Tigana I remember less well and your arguments about plot and character sound very familiar but I think his later books keep getting worse and worse. I got problems with Al-Rassan but some of those are subjective, that is *my* history and geography and it feels very wrong to have it so condensed, 500 or 800 years of history into 20 or 30. The objection is not ethical exactly, it´s more that i do not find it believable, it feels like pastiche architecture or some fake smell, you see what it´s supposed to be inspired of, but somehow it´s not the real thing.

[hamsterwoman]

Hi! Very nice to meet you too! *happily friends you back*

I got problems with Al-Rassan but some of those are subjective, that is *my* history and geography and it feels very wrong to have it so condensed, 500 or 800 years of history into 20 or 30.

Lions is my favorite GGK, the book that made me start calling myself a fan rather than just picking up his books if I came across them, but I know what you mean. When I've read fantasy books set in Russian or pseudo-Russia (Mercedes Lackey's Fortune's Fool, say, or Sarah Zettl's books), there is definitely an added out-of-story component in how I evaluate them, that additional subjective reaction, which, a lot of the times, is "You've got to be kidding me..." So I definitely understand. Actually, part of why I liked Lions so much is also subjective, in a similar way -- it's so rare to encounter "fantasy Jews" done well, when they're included in the pseudo-historical world at all, and GGK just totally nailed it in Lions, with a major character and some major plot settings, and that alone gives that book major bonus points for me. (I'm Jewish, of Russian/Soviet extraction, for context.)

I am very sad to hear that GGK books are on a decline... but I guess I will just go back and try to find and read the rest of the Fionavar Tapestry, which books at least have a good excuse for being not-really-his-best-work...

By the way, I browsed back in your blog a bit and saw you mention Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life, which I haven't read, but I have read the story that lends it its title, and thought you might be amused by/interested in reading my squeeing on it :). (I'd read only one other short story by him before that, and had actually actively disliked it, so I was completely not expecting "The Story of Your Life" to instantaneously become one of the top 5-10 short stories for me...)

[generalblossom]

I wonder very much what was that story of Ted Chiang´s you read, I have loved every one of them so we disagree on it - but probably Tower of Babylon? Some of his stories are weaker ( and IMO Story of Your Life is a peak which is hard for anybody to top or even equal). Even knowing you already disliked one of the stories, I do recommend the anthology very much, his writing is brilliant and he manages to write such different, so perfectly complete stories about such different things. I was talking to a friend I also love how he puts real science in his stories but manages it so that it is still about the characters.

About GGK, maybe Sarantium duology is still readable - I enjoyed it, I gasped in the right places I suppose, and tried to not be annoyed at the somewhat generic main character whose sex appeal was apparently immense without me understanding why ( bearded middle aged artists of provincial backgrounds cutting a dash with all the most beautiful and powerful ladies of Byzan,.. ahem Sarantium, peculiar). Not that part of the plot is annoying on itself, my annoyance came mostly from the feeling, as a reader, that the author is taking the story too far in unrealistic ways. Not sure if this makes sense.

Last Light of the Sun, just totally avoid, trust me ;)

[hamsterwoman]

Yeah, I liked Sarantium well enough... although the Crispin love subplots did not strike me as particularly realistic either :)

The Ted Chiang story I disliked was "Hell is the Absence of God". I know it's award-winning and all, and the central idea was clever enough, but whatever the opposite of enjoyment is, that's what I got from reading that story. Just very much not my thing.

(The reason I started taking by-story notes on anthologies, btw, to respond to your other comment, is that otherwise I had no memory of what stories I read, or sometimes who had written them. It was very annoying :) So now I make sure to write at least the title/author and a couple of sentences down, and I no longer find myself going, "Hmm... this seems oddly familiar" halfway through a story :)

[generalblossom]

About "Hell Being the Absence of God" having won awards, it´s highly likely that all Ted Chiang short stories won awards ;) He does not write much so not likely to be the author with more awards in the absolute, but if normalized to production somehow, he might be. It is not, IMO, one of his best. But the interesting thing is that all his stories are so very different from the other and I love that he writes about ideas without it drowning out the characters.

Ah, Crispin´s love affairs. My poor eyes suffered so badly from all that rolling around, can not be healthy.

Taking careful notes is a great idea! Yours are incredibly detailed and informative, I am admiring! I too lazy AND also inarticulate and instead of trying to summarize plot or character details more likely to note down things frivolities. Best I can manage is to keep a list of books owned and read, I was hoping to use livejournal for better notekeeping, but ended up not being so good at it. I am sort of into goodreads right now though, it took me ages because the site seems so frustrating if you are not registered and I hate on principle that sort of pressure to register. i did give in - I am not totally converted but am finding it very useful just the same. I will send you an email ( to the LJ email at the info page) with details if you are ever around there.

[hamsterwoman]

I actually think your mini-reviews for books (on your LJ) are wonderfully pithy and concise! (I just tend to ramble on, regardless of topic -- it's hardly a virtue :).

I think I registered on goodreads at some point... I get all excited about various keeping-track-of-books websites, like LibraryThing and this, but ultimately give up on them before really starting to use them... I think the reason I've been able to consistently keep track of my books on LJ is that I'm on there all the time anyway -- whenever it's anything that requires remembering to go to yet another website, the effort just sort of dies on the vine :P