books
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (#1 of 2)
Don't remember if I posted about it yet. As always, Butler makes you think. The work is still surprisingly relevant to today despite being published in 1993. The age-gap in the main relationship was the most thought-provoking thing, I felt; rather mild for Butler I felt. The issue of religion is interesting, and I'm rather curious if one can start a religion the way Lauren does. With Butler's early death, I'm really curious where she would've taken the third book because Earthseed has some colonial themes when it comes to the stars, but there's also some later verses that would hopefully deter colonization. My favorite work of Butler remains "Blood Child," it encapsulates her subject matter really well; sci-fi, leaving you unsure who to sympathize with, grey morality, thought-provoking, and an exploration of power.
"Magic Dreams" by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #6)
Novella (?) found in the Hexed anthology. I love, love, love this short. I daresay after reading it, that Ilona Andrews Gets It, and their lack of flaunting that they Get It makes me love them all the more. We have Dali, Asian (Malaysian IIRC?), and Jim, who's black. Yep, folks that's right, we have an (gasp!) interracial relationship, and it's not really flaunted in our faces and - Can I say again I think they Get It? Dali's mom has the side-eying of the black man, which as Jim points out, is trumped by him being rich, she gives the selling points of her daughter, and - It was a nice encapsulation, and genuinely had me laughing, of this Asian family. (And how family brings a ton of food? So true)
Dali's voice (you can read an excerpt here) I feel is the most unique (?) of the spunky, 1st person POV, heroines Daniels so often writes. Dali's not into ass-kicking, she's a half-blind white tiger shifter, who's a vegetarian and is confused after she changes rather than being a lean mean killing machine. This also plays into her having a different flavor to her sense of humor too. The romance is also wonderful, and my only complaint is why isn't this longer? I need more Dali/Jim! I need more courtship! I need more crazy cat shifter courtship antics!
Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter
I gave up after "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" and even skipped "The Bloody Chamber." Sigh. Salman Rushdie has a great introduction to the collection that really sells the stories to you, but I've come to realize I'm not good with subtle. Incestuous tree of fruit? Great, but I wanted more blatant sexual awakening. Same with "The Tiger's Bride." Sexual awakening? Ok, cool, but getting licked by a tiger until you turn into one - ...Ok, fine, that does sound sexual, but in the story it didn't work for me. And the story I checked this out for because I read it before? Apparently not even in here; I couldn't find it. (I could've sworn the retelling of Red Riding Hood I read where Red kills the wolf and steals his coat was Carter)
Best Friending Meme EverAlso, hello to those added from the above meme. ^^ I guess it's a different kind of meme since it asks questions different than the usual fandom ones. :)
Don't remember if I posted about it yet. As always, Butler makes you think. The work is still surprisingly relevant to today despite being published in 1993. The age-gap in the main relationship was the most thought-provoking thing, I felt; rather mild for Butler I felt. The issue of religion is interesting, and I'm rather curious if one can start a religion the way Lauren does. With Butler's early death, I'm really curious where she would've taken the third book because Earthseed has some colonial themes when it comes to the stars, but there's also some later verses that would hopefully deter colonization. My favorite work of Butler remains "Blood Child," it encapsulates her subject matter really well; sci-fi, leaving you unsure who to sympathize with, grey morality, thought-provoking, and an exploration of power.
"Magic Dreams" by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #6)
Novella (?) found in the Hexed anthology. I love, love, love this short. I daresay after reading it, that Ilona Andrews Gets It, and their lack of flaunting that they Get It makes me love them all the more. We have Dali, Asian (Malaysian IIRC?), and Jim, who's black. Yep, folks that's right, we have an (gasp!) interracial relationship, and it's not really flaunted in our faces and - Can I say again I think they Get It? Dali's mom has the side-eying of the black man, which as Jim points out, is trumped by him being rich, she gives the selling points of her daughter, and - It was a nice encapsulation, and genuinely had me laughing, of this Asian family. (And how family brings a ton of food? So true)
Dali's voice (you can read an excerpt here) I feel is the most unique (?) of the spunky, 1st person POV, heroines Daniels so often writes. Dali's not into ass-kicking, she's a half-blind white tiger shifter, who's a vegetarian and is confused after she changes rather than being a lean mean killing machine. This also plays into her having a different flavor to her sense of humor too. The romance is also wonderful, and my only complaint is why isn't this longer? I need more Dali/Jim! I need more courtship! I need more crazy cat shifter courtship antics!
Burning Your Boats by Angela Carter
I gave up after "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon" and even skipped "The Bloody Chamber." Sigh. Salman Rushdie has a great introduction to the collection that really sells the stories to you, but I've come to realize I'm not good with subtle. Incestuous tree of fruit? Great, but I wanted more blatant sexual awakening. Same with "The Tiger's Bride." Sexual awakening? Ok, cool, but getting licked by a tiger until you turn into one - ...Ok, fine, that does sound sexual, but in the story it didn't work for me. And the story I checked this out for because I read it before? Apparently not even in here; I couldn't find it. (I could've sworn the retelling of Red Riding Hood I read where Red kills the wolf and steals his coat was Carter)
Best Friending Meme EverAlso, hello to those added from the above meme. ^^ I guess it's a different kind of meme since it asks questions different than the usual fandom ones. :)