Reading roundup: RoL GN #4 + Philosopher's Flight

[hamsterwoman]

1. Ben Aaronovitch, Detective Stories (RoL comic #4) -- also the last currently-out thing in terms of in-universe chronology, the only one taking place after The Hanging Tree. Unlike the first three books, it's a collection of short stories (four individual ones) linked by the framing narrative of Peter's final interview in the process of getting

Comments

[hamsterwoman]

It wouldn't surprise me if he did have the next part written, and the publisher just decided to break it into two books (or even three books, since I'm guessing there's a post-war thing, too, which deals with the erosion of philosopher rights)

it sounded like Miller thought he'd earned a gold star or something for throwing in some female characters. XD

I see what you mean from the dedication, yeah -- based on that I would've kind of expected a female-protagonist story, too. But since I actually liked the story he wrote, I can't say the dedication bothered me much, personally.

I'm curious what he would do with a female protagonist, too. I like a lot of the women Robert interacts with -- his mother, Angie, Jake, Gertrude, Essie -- and would be happy to see something from any of their POVs, for example. But, like, if I think about male authors who have written books with female protagonists -- especially first person POV protagonists with sole POV -- which I've truly loved, I come up with Pratchett and... that's about it, pretty much? Oh, OK, looking through my tags, also Adam Rex (for a midgrade audience), Max Gladstone (some of the time, anyway), and Scott Westerfeld if I relax the "sole POV" criterion. It's not a great track record, and I'd rather have a book I love with a male protagonist and a bunch of great secondary character women than a book with a female protagonist that isn't as great.

And I'm glad I finally recced a book that you read and liked! Ha

Ha! This one was definitely a home run :D

[ms_geekette]

Hmm, I can't think of any male authors whose sole female POVs that I've found better than ok/good. I actually can't think of any that I've read other than Greg Rucka. Although looking at my Goodreads, I enjoyed what Val Emmich did with The Reminders. And I forgot about Jasper Fforde (although I remember you didn't like The Eyre Affair). I guess most of the sole female protagonists I read are by women. Most of the books I do read are by women. So maybe I shouldn't be hoping for Miller's take on a female protagonist. Maybe the dedication was just him acknowledging that this is as close as he can come. Hopefully his next dedication won't be as controversial for me. ;-)

[hamsterwoman]

I guess most of the sole female protagonists I read are by women.

Same for me (and it's also true that most of the books I read are by women, at least since I've started keeping tack). Haven't read Rucka or Val Emmich, and Fforde's prose just generally didn't win me over, though I can't recall whether any of it had to do with Thursday's POV specifically -- probably not?

Hopefully his next dedication won't be as controversial for me. ;-)

:))

[ms_geekette]

Haven't read Rucka or Val Emmich, and Fforde's prose just generally didn't win me over, though I can't recall whether any of it had to do with Thursday's POV specifically -- probably not?

Rucka almost exclusively writes action heroines, so there's usually more about the action rather than the heroine themselves. I've been reading Batwoman and he does get into her childhood and off-time, though. Val Emmich is a musician and his female protagonist has a similar condition to what Marilu Henner has where she can remember specific days, so his female protagonist came across a bit precious since he was writing about a kid. I still liked it a lot, though. Probably what I like most about Jasper Fforde is his worldbuilding rather than his characters. So, I guess Tom Miller came across the right combo of worldbuilding and character for me. I have a feeling I won't like The Philosopher's War as much because the newness will have worn off a bit.

[hamsterwoman]

I have a feeling I won't like The Philosopher's War as much because the newness will have worn off a bit.

I worry about that a little bit, too, but hoping I will continue to be sufficiently geeked by the minutiae of the world, and the fun characters, that I'll continue to enjoy it a lot.

[ms_geekette]

I came across this cover for The Philospher's War. It was mislabeled as another edition of The Philospher's Flight, so I don't know if it's the final cover.