LARA'S MEDIA CONSUMED LIST OF 2017!
LARA'S MEDIA CONSUMED LIST OF 2017!
I haven't done one for this year yet. Come on, Lara!
~:~booksbooksbooks~:~
Jan 1-May 5
The Crystal Shard
*The Halfling's Gem, R.A Salvatore
---- No.1 below
The Dark Tower
*The Drawing of the Three, Steven King
---- No.2 below
Magic's Pawn
Magic's Price
* Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey
---- No.3 below
After Atlas, Emma Newman
---- No.4 below
Lightless, C.A Higgins
---- Meh. N.5
* (some fantasy book that was famous and I got 40 pages in., I'll check the author when I get back to Zhongguo.
---- meh.
The Medusa Frequency, Russel Hoban
---- N.6
* Crystal Society, Raelfinn
---- N.7
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
---- ♥♥♥ N.8
A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E Schwab
---- N.9
Peripheral, William Gibson
---- Excellent!
Neuromancer, William Gibson
---- re^read
---- lawd, it's still great
short stories
Our Lady of Chernobyl, Greg Egan
---- SF Club
Yuanyuan's Bubbles, Liu Cixin
---- SF Club
The Island, Peter Watts
---- SF Club
Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling, Ted Chiang
---- SF Club
something else I can't think of, I'll look it up when I get back to China
---- SF Club
Kyrie, Poul Anderson
~:~comisscomicscomics~:~
Jan 1-May 5
Infinite Loop, ???
---- Read on recommendation. Decent, but a lil too anvilicious for me, even though I agree with the premise.
~:~moviesmoviesmovies~:~
Jan 1-May 5
Alice in Wonderland
---- re^watch
---- with family
*FotR
---- re^watch
---- with Caitlin, in bus on way to Wencui's
Otesanek
---- self. This was amazing.
Blue Velvet
---- with SF Club
Metropolis
---- with Eszter
This Is Spinal Tap
---- with SF Club
Arrival
---- with Eszter
[a documentary about space research in China
---- with Alex, at Bookworm
Gravity
---- self, on plane
Raiders of the Lost Ark
---- with Apa, at home
Rogue One
---- with family, back home
~:~showsshowsshows~:~
Jan 1-May 5
John Oliver,
---- all episodes, as they come out
Westworld
---- eps 1-9 (half-finished with 9)
---- watched on planes to HU and US. WOW.
~:~:~:~
NOTES AND REVIEWS
1) The Crystal Shard
*The Halfling's Gem, R.A Salvatore
---- I thought I should read some Salvatore, to know where the tropes, in their most classic form, come from. So I tried. I did try. But lawdy lawd, these are bad. They are the epitome of Generic Fantasy. Tired, overwrought, too proud of its own vocabulary, and too worshipping of its own characters.
2) The Dark Tower
*The Drawing of the Three, Steven King
---- Again, I tried. The first book pulled you along, sure. The second lagged, and also I don't like reading about druggies.
But throughout both of them was a strain of something I'd seen in other books, and very, very much dislike: every single female character who is encountered is sexualized/has a sexual role. Doesn't matter if they're only onpage of a bit piece. They're either Maiden/Mother/Whore, or they're encountered sexually, or - and this was what made me put the second book down - they're pathologized sexually. Bleh. I don't need that.
3) Last Herald-Mage Trilogy -- Mercedes Lackey
---- I thought I should finally read some Lackey, to know her style of Generic Fantasy. It was okay... Not great, but very light, like a meringue. Everyone is SO EMOTIONAL, and no one knows how to handle emotions like adults. Also, dumb politics are dumb.
4) After Atlas, Emma Newman
---- WOW. This was a strong, good book! Not a happy one, but if an unhappy book can make me keep on reading it? Good damn job!
I feel like Newman has grown stratospherically since Book 1. In planetfall, she did a good job, but made some authorial decisions I was iffy about. This one: Bam. BAM. Knocked it RIGHT OUT OF THE PARK. Emotional tenor like Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent!
5) Lightless, C.A Higgins
---- After After Atlas, this one was... meh. Tried to be Dark N Srs, but lacked the oomph and the closeness of everything in AA. I felt like it was a thought exercise.
6) The Medusa Frequency, Russel Hoban
---- Russell Hoban writing a Middle-Aged Professor Midlife Crisis book. I was disappointed.
7) I started CS for SF Club. I'm sure it was fine as a book, but it was headed directly into GOT-level itnerpersonal politicking territory, and that jsut tired me out: everyone is so nasty, no one is happy, and everyone just thinks of political gain. I want adventure, not arguments.
8) The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
---- THIS WAS AMAZING. I LOVED IT. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I feel like the end was a bit rushed, but it was a harsh ending, so I understand that. SUCH AMAZING WRITING AND RESEARCH. Russell knows her shit and everyone else's shit! wowwwww. <3
9) A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E Schwab
---- I wrote like this when I was 19. I am both glad that I am no longer 19, and glad that my writing can now encompass the complexity of different economic, societal, cultural, and etc factors that influence different worlds. This complexity was not what I found in Darker Shade: who on earth, when given a choice of drinking establishments, would say "hey, guys, I know! Let's go get drinks at The Scorched Bone! We gonna get crunk~". Point is: you cannot have a monopolar world, where only darkness and forever-cannibalism and backstabbing are the order of the day, because people like happiness and stability and try to maintain that. (And if your answer is "well that's why [highlight for SPOILERS] they're going to attack/try to get into Red London", well I'd say FRIGGIN NONSENSE, because it's presented as all about attacking and conquoring evulz, not about motivation, God, Gold, and Glory, etc. Also, the anachronistic speech and behaviors are exceedingly irritating.
I haven't done one for this year yet. Come on, Lara!
~:~booksbooksbooks~:~
Jan 1-May 5
The Crystal Shard
*The Halfling's Gem, R.A Salvatore
---- No.1 below
The Dark Tower
*The Drawing of the Three, Steven King
---- No.2 below
Magic's Pawn
Magic's Price
* Magic's Promise, Mercedes Lackey
---- No.3 below
After Atlas, Emma Newman
---- No.4 below
Lightless, C.A Higgins
---- Meh. N.5
* (some fantasy book that was famous and I got 40 pages in., I'll check the author when I get back to Zhongguo.
---- meh.
The Medusa Frequency, Russel Hoban
---- N.6
* Crystal Society, Raelfinn
---- N.7
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
---- ♥♥♥ N.8
A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E Schwab
---- N.9
Peripheral, William Gibson
---- Excellent!
Neuromancer, William Gibson
---- re^read
---- lawd, it's still great
short stories
Our Lady of Chernobyl, Greg Egan
---- SF Club
Yuanyuan's Bubbles, Liu Cixin
---- SF Club
The Island, Peter Watts
---- SF Club
Truth of Fact, Truth of Feeling, Ted Chiang
---- SF Club
something else I can't think of, I'll look it up when I get back to China
---- SF Club
Kyrie, Poul Anderson
~:~comisscomicscomics~:~
Jan 1-May 5
Infinite Loop, ???
---- Read on recommendation. Decent, but a lil too anvilicious for me, even though I agree with the premise.
~:~moviesmoviesmovies~:~
Jan 1-May 5
Alice in Wonderland
---- re^watch
---- with family
*FotR
---- re^watch
---- with Caitlin, in bus on way to Wencui's
Otesanek
---- self. This was amazing.
Blue Velvet
---- with SF Club
Metropolis
---- with Eszter
This Is Spinal Tap
---- with SF Club
Arrival
---- with Eszter
[a documentary about space research in China
---- with Alex, at Bookworm
Gravity
---- self, on plane
Raiders of the Lost Ark
---- with Apa, at home
Rogue One
---- with family, back home
~:~showsshowsshows~:~
Jan 1-May 5
John Oliver,
---- all episodes, as they come out
Westworld
---- eps 1-9 (half-finished with 9)
---- watched on planes to HU and US. WOW.
~:~:~:~
NOTES AND REVIEWS
1) The Crystal Shard
*The Halfling's Gem, R.A Salvatore
---- I thought I should read some Salvatore, to know where the tropes, in their most classic form, come from. So I tried. I did try. But lawdy lawd, these are bad. They are the epitome of Generic Fantasy. Tired, overwrought, too proud of its own vocabulary, and too worshipping of its own characters.
2) The Dark Tower
*The Drawing of the Three, Steven King
---- Again, I tried. The first book pulled you along, sure. The second lagged, and also I don't like reading about druggies.
But throughout both of them was a strain of something I'd seen in other books, and very, very much dislike: every single female character who is encountered is sexualized/has a sexual role. Doesn't matter if they're only onpage of a bit piece. They're either Maiden/Mother/Whore, or they're encountered sexually, or - and this was what made me put the second book down - they're pathologized sexually. Bleh. I don't need that.
3) Last Herald-Mage Trilogy -- Mercedes Lackey
---- I thought I should finally read some Lackey, to know her style of Generic Fantasy. It was okay... Not great, but very light, like a meringue. Everyone is SO EMOTIONAL, and no one knows how to handle emotions like adults. Also, dumb politics are dumb.
4) After Atlas, Emma Newman
---- WOW. This was a strong, good book! Not a happy one, but if an unhappy book can make me keep on reading it? Good damn job!
I feel like Newman has grown stratospherically since Book 1. In planetfall, she did a good job, but made some authorial decisions I was iffy about. This one: Bam. BAM. Knocked it RIGHT OUT OF THE PARK. Emotional tenor like Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Excellent!
5) Lightless, C.A Higgins
---- After After Atlas, this one was... meh. Tried to be Dark N Srs, but lacked the oomph and the closeness of everything in AA. I felt like it was a thought exercise.
6) The Medusa Frequency, Russel Hoban
---- Russell Hoban writing a Middle-Aged Professor Midlife Crisis book. I was disappointed.
7) I started CS for SF Club. I'm sure it was fine as a book, but it was headed directly into GOT-level itnerpersonal politicking territory, and that jsut tired me out: everyone is so nasty, no one is happy, and everyone just thinks of political gain. I want adventure, not arguments.
8) The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
---- THIS WAS AMAZING. I LOVED IT. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I feel like the end was a bit rushed, but it was a harsh ending, so I understand that. SUCH AMAZING WRITING AND RESEARCH. Russell knows her shit and everyone else's shit! wowwwww. <3
9) A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E Schwab
---- I wrote like this when I was 19. I am both glad that I am no longer 19, and glad that my writing can now encompass the complexity of different economic, societal, cultural, and etc factors that influence different worlds. This complexity was not what I found in Darker Shade: who on earth, when given a choice of drinking establishments, would say "hey, guys, I know! Let's go get drinks at The Scorched Bone! We gonna get crunk~". Point is: you cannot have a monopolar world, where only darkness and forever-cannibalism and backstabbing are the order of the day, because people like happiness and stability and try to maintain that. (And if your answer is "well that's why [highlight for SPOILERS] they're going to attack/try to get into Red London", well I'd say FRIGGIN NONSENSE, because it's presented as all about attacking and conquoring evulz, not about motivation, God, Gold, and Glory, etc. Also, the anachronistic speech and behaviors are exceedingly irritating.