The more serious and thoughtful half of the post

[laylalawlor]

I started to include this with the previous entry, but decided that it needed to be on its own.

Hmm. Not really sure where to start with this. I guess the short version is that there's this shiny new YA fantasy novel by Patricia Wrede called "The Thirteenth Child", in which the basic premise -- okay, quoting from the glowing review at Tor.com:

Comments

[ndgmtlcd]

Yes, you're right, it's wrong to let this go without a mention. As Diderot once said: Il faut encourager la vertu et décourager le vice

[laylalawlor]

Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to the discussion

[kadymae]

Y'know, while I appreciate how problematic Novik's books are -- and the grace with which she has handled having this pointed out -- the big difference between her and Wrede is that she has sat down and thought about the ways in which the world is different.

And while I've always wondered where Laurence gets his attitude of White Male English superiority, given that England is not a colonial power, I understand that it's part and parcel the "age of sail" genre, and I like how she's exploring how bass-ackwards his attitude is.

But I also like the extent to which she's thought out the ways in which the power balence in the world is different *because* of the dragons and that the fact that nations have "air forces" changes things immensely and that England's not going to become a major empire and that the Americas will not be colonized.

[spiralsheep]

I haven't read the Temeraire books but... (drive-by-suggestion for fannish handwaving)....

I've always wondered where Laurence gets his attitude of White Male English superiority, given that England is not a colonial power

Protestantism? The whole "God is a Yorkshireman English" was strong even apart from colonialism, although that probably strengthened it further.

/speculative handwaving

[kadymae]

Protestantism? The whole "God is a Yorkshireman English" was strong even apart from colonialism, although that probably strengthened it further.

Aha! That really makes sense now that I think about it. Thanks!

[laylalawlor]

... would you believe that, despite having read the novels relatively recently, I somehow managed to miss the lack of a British empire? Or at least I don't remember it. *blinks* (In my own defense, I read the books very fast and frequently in airports.)

I do think that Novik's books are focused much more heavily on the squee! shiny! factor than on serious world-building. And honestly, I don't think Wrede's world-building would have come in for such heavy scrutiny if she hadn't started off with such a problematic premise. Not that I'm saying it's a bad thing in any way that she's getting that scrutiny -- actually I've found the discussions on the history of the Americas far more fascinating than Wrede's book sounds (and I've learned a lot). But I think people are a lot more willing to give you a pass for lazy or inadequate world-building if you aren't using it to prop up a premise that sets off immediate warning bells.