Books (Feb-Apr 2014)
Yikes. I've been meaning to post something, anything, for a while now. Here's that books post I've been promising for months, 
littlerhymes! (Includes bonus thoughts on the Veronica Mars movie)
Evenfall by Sonny Hassel and Ais Nym
Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Supergraphic by Tim Leong
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
The Unwritten 7: The Wound by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Birds of Prey 3: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Alex Lei
Birds of Prey 4: Sensei and Student by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Michael Golden
Veronica Mars: the Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Batman Gothic by Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson
Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Evenfall by Sonny Hassel and Ais Nym
Oof. I really did not enjoy this. It's rough - I know the authors are still editing - but even then, it's so full of old-school fannish writing tics that didn't sit well with me (e.g. rapturous physical descriptions masquerading as characterisation). Also, this is triggery as fuck, which I knew going in, but even then there were large chunks I had to skim through because they were so violent and uncomfortable. I guess this is just not my cup of tea, though I probably should've known that as someone who doesn't like H/C. I pushed through to the end because I wanted to know more resolution to the relationship between Sin and Boyd, and the mystery/mission, but even then I was a bit let down (it just…doesn’t make sense. The Agency doesn’t make sense. Their missions don’t make any sense. The plot doesn’t make any sense). Also, I felt the length of this A LOT and I was skimming! I downloaded the other three books in the series but I won’t be going on to read them
Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
A two book graphic novel looking at two sides of the Boxer rebellion in China at the turn of the 19th century. This has a lot of resonance with my background - as a Chinese person, as a Christian - but even though it was an interesting read that I finished in one sitting, I felt a bit cold about it at the end. Boxers features Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy who, having awakened the old gods of his people, leads a ragtag army of villagers to march on Peking to fight the foreigners they see as abusing and belittling the Chinese nation, both physically and spiritually through the spread of Christianity. Saints takes on the other side, as a Chinese peasant girl takes refuge from her low status and unfeeling family in the care of Christian converts and an old French priest, and feels guided towards a calling by visions of Joan of Arc. There are fascinating glimpses of the complex issues of nationality, religious fervour and the intersection between them in both these stories, but the unfolding of the story is unsatisfying in the end. It doesn't help that I liked Saints better but it's a much slimmer volume, and I was slightly bitter about the fate of Little Bao compared to that of Vibiana (and other female characters such as Mei Guan). For representation's sake, I'm glad this exists - but now I want more.
Supergraphic by Tim Leong
Ah, nerd central. Where my love of superhero comics and maths collide. Some of these went over my head but for most part, it was just fun and beautiful and geeky.
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning
I don't normally mind a thinly veiled* celebrity knock-off wish fulfilment tale, and at first this one seemed to be right up my alley. Ellie, a dedicated art gallery assistant, is betrayed by an ex who spills the secret to the tabloids that her estranged father is none other than British rock legend Billy Kay, wreaking havoc - havoc that only her father's hot, young lawyer can save her from. See? Sound fun, right? But errrrm...was I meant to find what transpires romantic? Because what actually exists on the page borders on creepy and awful. David (the lawyer) as written goes from "creepy robot control freak meanie" to "lovely sweet conflicted hero" in milliseconds, and continues to swing back and forth between these characterisations throughout the book, so I couldn't enjoy any of the sweet parts because BAM right around the corner is a moment that spoils it. Also this wants to be feminist - Ellie manages to stay feisty and awesome at her job even in the midst of a maelstrom of crap in her personal and professional life - but also paints almost every other female in unkind, sort of sexist strokes (superfan Georgie is a bitch because of her creepy love for Billy, Billy’s daughter Lara is a bitch and constantly falling out of her dress, etc etc) - while keeping the ultimate villain (Billy) at a remove. So that it's not satisfying in the end when you acknoweldge that he's an asshole because yeah, that's exactly how he's appeared the whole way through, at a distance.
*I’m not kidding about ‘thinly veiled’. There’s enough clues in here to make me wonder what kind of dirt Manning has heard about a certain well-respected 80s rocker who is now a ‘Sir’ mostly due to his work on a charity single and who has been in the news recently due to the death of one of his daughters.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
I didn't cry, and I don’t like this book. There, I said it. I guessed pretty closely what the end would be around the first third, and was wholly unsurprised by what came. And I couldn't feel that emotionally involved because the voices in this are SO self-conscious. In the midst of it are some lovely thoughts, some lovely moments; but around all that are hyperintelligent teens making references beyond their years and being so predictable about not being predictable in a story about cancer.
The Unwritten 7: The Wound by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
I’ve been reading this series on and off for a while now and I think it’s hurting my ability to follow the plot coherently - I keep being surprised by things that I probably shouldn’t be. Still totally in to see what happens next.
Birds of Prey 3: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Alex Lei
Birds of Prey 4: Sensei and Student by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Michael Golden
First things first: I really really enjoyed this comic. I picked it up because I'd heard of it before, and by this point I knew enough of the characters separately that I thought it'd be awesome to read about an all-female cast of superheroes. And I was right! Gail Simone writes a great cast of interesting, complex women who are dealing with all sorts of issues, workplace woes, sexism, boyfriend troubles. And on that alone I would 100% keep reading on and finding more volumes of this to read (I started at 3 because my library doesn't seem to have the earlier volumes, though this is the arc where the main 3 - Oracle, Huntress and Black Canary - come together as a team and try to work through their various friendships and issues with each other - so it's not a bad place to start!).
But when I went online to find out more about the series, I realised that a lot of the criticism is (justifiably) levelled at the art - that it's as exploitative and demeaning as the stories aren't. Now I'm going to have to admit that as someone who likes reading comics, I'm kind of bad at looking at art. I know, visual medium, but I'm at heart a stories and word person, and I struggle with visual storytelling at times. So while I did notice the T&A aspect (you can’t miss it), I barrelled on without a second thought. Maybe I've become accustomed to it in comics? Which doesn't excuse it - it raises good points about whether art that really foregrounds these images of women undercuts the good being done in the writing - which I'll keep it in mind as I keep reading on.
Veronica Mars: the Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Look, I enjoyed this a lot more than the movie. And this is where I slide into my rant about the movie in
1,
2,
3…
(spoilers ahoy!)
I have a LOT of feelings about this movie, and like the film, it’s only a tiny bit good. Everything else made me angry or sad.
Let’s start with the plot. The mystery could've been great but everything about its set up was mystifying. So many unanswered, even unasked, questions that meant none of it made sense or made me care about the resolution. How did Carrie Bishop become Bonnie? How did Logan end up with Bonnie? (Bonus: How did Logan end up in JAG? All those caps did him no favours, highlighting Dohring's skinniness and oddly tiny head). And Gia, poor poor Gia, stuck in exposition city in the ‘climatic’ scene. Why did no one ask how Cobb get from being nothing to being an 09er all of a sudden?
And the misdirection with Ruby, Bonnie’s stalker - Gaby Hoffman was funny, but that bring me to the treatment of women in this movie, a particular problem the TV series struggled more and more with as it went on, that’s not remedied here. Apart from Veronica and Mac (and I guess Jamie Lee Curtis and James Franco's assistant), women are: slut shaming bitches (Madison), mental head cases (Ruby, Bonnie), damsels in distress who didn't care enough to be honest with the friend they let die (Gia, Carrie), heartless liars (Celeste Kane) and housewives who are worried about their hair (Piz's mum, though that was a cute, sad detail to that scene). Whereas all the people in power (whether good or corrupt) are men. Yeah, it’s aiming for noir, but if you're going to play with the genre (ie the whole premise of VMars as a character) then DO something with it. One interesting, strong female lead doesn't make up for everything else.
And the reboot end, graaaah. WHY does Veronica have to give up being a lawyer (and all that wasted scholarship money/student loans) just to be a private eye? Was there no way for her to combine the two or work with her dad as a sort of Cliff substitute to bring justice to victims of injustice? Why did we reboot in a way that pretty much invalidates all that's gone before it? I know that they were looking to please fans of the series, but my nostalgia doesn't mean you go back to the past in the future, it allows building on the best parts of it to move forward.
And this issue is clearly seen in the way they deal with Veronica and Logan’s relationship. Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring still have great chemistry so I really wanted to see them together again but eurgh, I can’t believe that at the end of the movie Veronica is literally waiting around for Logan. Rob Thomas continues to refuse the chance to have Veronica and Logan in an actual functioning relationship where they have to spend time with each other, blargh. And I hate hate HATE the addiction metaphor that Veronica belabours through the entire movie about her 'unhealthy' relationship with Logan and Neptune and all they signify - so how am I supposed to root for her to return to him and the place and everything then?? PS I went into this absolutely hating that they brought Piz back because that relationship never worked for me in season 3, but Chris Lowell gets mad props from me hitting it out of the park in the break up scene - I actually cared for Piz at that moment, and loathed the movie for making me angry at how cavalierly Veronica treated him.
My final complaint: not enough Mac and Wallace.
Back to the book. Like I said, I like the book better - but they come as a package deal as it picks up where the movie left off, solves some of the unresolved things bugging me, and is a lot more emotionally accessible. I will always like plucky, intelligent, resourceful detective Veronica, no matter what age she's at. And here, the story has a bit more room to breathe, time to spend with Veronica and her doubts about the choices she's made in the last few weeks since Logan called her again - time that the events and emotions and consequences of both movie and book desperately needs to not feel ridiculously trite. I think between the movie and the book, they had the makings for at least 2/3 of a good season of TV here, which makes me a little sad for what could've been.
Batman Gothic by Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson
Bruce Wayne confronts a nasty reminder of his past as Batman is implored to stop someone who’s creepily killing Gotham gangsters. The story plays with a bunch of gothic horror tropes in a fairly enjoyable way though I don’t know if I particularly buy this backstory for Bruce.
Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
A coming-of-age coming out tale with bonus sadness. The blue-washed art is lovely but the story itself just felt kind of standard and not that well constructed, jumping around timelines and moments in a haphazard way. There’s also not quite enough to make me really engage with Clementine and Emma as people and in their (sometimes inexplicably) tumultuous relationship.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I enjoyed this a lot, and as predicted by those who recommended it to me (thanks
littlerhymes and
alasen), I ripped through it quickly, not wanting to put it down. I love stories about people trying to navigate tricky situations with brains and character, and this has that in spades, as Maia, the unloved half-goblin son of the Emperor of Elfland, takes over his father’s rule after a terrible accident kills his father and those who were being groomed to succeed. Having experienced nothing but his cousin’s abuse and a quiet life of near-exile, he has to use all his smarts and kindness to find out how to rule a people who don’t know and like him, while staying ahead of those who would wish to harm him.
This is just so involving and interesting and I really enjoyed the world Addison creates. So I'm sad that so far she's said she doesn't plan on writing more in this universe because she sets up such an interesting protagonist and culture that I'd happily roll around in more words about Maia and his rule.
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
This is less a memoir and more of a collection of loose thoughts on life from Greer, one of those ‘hey it’s that guy!’ actresses who’s made a career of playing rom-com best friends and oddball comic characters. On reading, she comes across as lovely and grounded but to be honest, she's really not at a level where this is an interesting read. Some bits are fun reads - like her Oscar experience from hell - and her writing is serviceable, but the rest is pretty much a non-event. As a jobbing actor, she can hardly trash anyone for fear of not working again, so her celeb goss isn't that exciting (everyone is lovely! even the not-really-lovely ones!). Also, it seems she's pitched a TV show about her life situation now - though the set up is mildly unusual (she married a divorced man with two pre-teenage kids whose mother is a gorgeous small-town sheriff) but again - it’s just not as interesting as she seems to think it is.
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Well, I think I’m going to have to make a separate post about my ASOIAF/GOT thoughts and feelings, because I’ve suddenly had a lot more of them than before. I finally got around to watching season 3 of the show and decided to re-read A Storm of Sword and A Feast for Crows so I could re-familiarise myself with canon before I dove into A Dance with Dragons. The great thing about this parallel tv show/book approach is that it gives me an appreciation of the strengths of each medium (as well as highlighting the weaknesses). Having a visual reference also makes it easier for me to keep track of people and places, so since my original read of the first four books eons ago, I now have a greater appreciation for characters and storylines I had little patience for first time around, when all I cared about what racing to find out what happens next.
That helped with reading ADwD because truth be told, not a lot HAPPENS - like every man and their goat has pointed out, GRRM sorely needs an editor. Gah, the PACING of the last two books is so frustrating - it’s not enough in a giant tome to just pop in on a character POV once so you know they're not dead after the heart-in-mouth cliffhanger they experienced in the last book, especially when GRRM then has something else happen in a flash to keep us in suspense AGAIN (this happens TOO OFTEN). Meanwhile, there seem to be so many revisits to Dany’s Meereenese problems which are a turgid, unenjoyable mess for most part.
But even with the morass of new characters introduced with not a lot of time spent exploring who they are and what their motivations are and what they’re all up to (e.g. the various Martells), I was ultimately absorbed in ADwD, as GRRM unravels layer upon layer of plotting across time and place; absorbed, and at times mightily confused. Luckily, Westeros.org exists - and after I lost so much time I didn’t have in the first place reading first the books, I lost even more reading through like eight million forum threads about all the theories of what will be, lol. Bring on the next book!
littlerhymes! (Includes bonus thoughts on the Veronica Mars movie)
Evenfall by Sonny Hassel and Ais Nym
Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
Supergraphic by Tim Leong
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
The Unwritten 7: The Wound by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
Birds of Prey 3: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Alex Lei
Birds of Prey 4: Sensei and Student by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Michael Golden
Veronica Mars: the Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Batman Gothic by Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson
Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
Evenfall by Sonny Hassel and Ais Nym
Oof. I really did not enjoy this. It's rough - I know the authors are still editing - but even then, it's so full of old-school fannish writing tics that didn't sit well with me (e.g. rapturous physical descriptions masquerading as characterisation). Also, this is triggery as fuck, which I knew going in, but even then there were large chunks I had to skim through because they were so violent and uncomfortable. I guess this is just not my cup of tea, though I probably should've known that as someone who doesn't like H/C. I pushed through to the end because I wanted to know more resolution to the relationship between Sin and Boyd, and the mystery/mission, but even then I was a bit let down (it just…doesn’t make sense. The Agency doesn’t make sense. Their missions don’t make any sense. The plot doesn’t make any sense). Also, I felt the length of this A LOT and I was skimming! I downloaded the other three books in the series but I won’t be going on to read them
Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang
A two book graphic novel looking at two sides of the Boxer rebellion in China at the turn of the 19th century. This has a lot of resonance with my background - as a Chinese person, as a Christian - but even though it was an interesting read that I finished in one sitting, I felt a bit cold about it at the end. Boxers features Little Bao, a Chinese peasant boy who, having awakened the old gods of his people, leads a ragtag army of villagers to march on Peking to fight the foreigners they see as abusing and belittling the Chinese nation, both physically and spiritually through the spread of Christianity. Saints takes on the other side, as a Chinese peasant girl takes refuge from her low status and unfeeling family in the care of Christian converts and an old French priest, and feels guided towards a calling by visions of Joan of Arc. There are fascinating glimpses of the complex issues of nationality, religious fervour and the intersection between them in both these stories, but the unfolding of the story is unsatisfying in the end. It doesn't help that I liked Saints better but it's a much slimmer volume, and I was slightly bitter about the fate of Little Bao compared to that of Vibiana (and other female characters such as Mei Guan). For representation's sake, I'm glad this exists - but now I want more.
Supergraphic by Tim Leong
Ah, nerd central. Where my love of superhero comics and maths collide. Some of these went over my head but for most part, it was just fun and beautiful and geeky.
It Felt Like A Kiss by Sarra Manning
I don't normally mind a thinly veiled* celebrity knock-off wish fulfilment tale, and at first this one seemed to be right up my alley. Ellie, a dedicated art gallery assistant, is betrayed by an ex who spills the secret to the tabloids that her estranged father is none other than British rock legend Billy Kay, wreaking havoc - havoc that only her father's hot, young lawyer can save her from. See? Sound fun, right? But errrrm...was I meant to find what transpires romantic? Because what actually exists on the page borders on creepy and awful. David (the lawyer) as written goes from "creepy robot control freak meanie" to "lovely sweet conflicted hero" in milliseconds, and continues to swing back and forth between these characterisations throughout the book, so I couldn't enjoy any of the sweet parts because BAM right around the corner is a moment that spoils it. Also this wants to be feminist - Ellie manages to stay feisty and awesome at her job even in the midst of a maelstrom of crap in her personal and professional life - but also paints almost every other female in unkind, sort of sexist strokes (superfan Georgie is a bitch because of her creepy love for Billy, Billy’s daughter Lara is a bitch and constantly falling out of her dress, etc etc) - while keeping the ultimate villain (Billy) at a remove. So that it's not satisfying in the end when you acknoweldge that he's an asshole because yeah, that's exactly how he's appeared the whole way through, at a distance.
*I’m not kidding about ‘thinly veiled’. There’s enough clues in here to make me wonder what kind of dirt Manning has heard about a certain well-respected 80s rocker who is now a ‘Sir’ mostly due to his work on a charity single and who has been in the news recently due to the death of one of his daughters.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green
I didn't cry, and I don’t like this book. There, I said it. I guessed pretty closely what the end would be around the first third, and was wholly unsurprised by what came. And I couldn't feel that emotionally involved because the voices in this are SO self-conscious. In the midst of it are some lovely thoughts, some lovely moments; but around all that are hyperintelligent teens making references beyond their years and being so predictable about not being predictable in a story about cancer.
The Unwritten 7: The Wound by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
I’ve been reading this series on and off for a while now and I think it’s hurting my ability to follow the plot coherently - I keep being surprised by things that I probably shouldn’t be. Still totally in to see what happens next.
Birds of Prey 3: Of Like Minds by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Alex Lei
Birds of Prey 4: Sensei and Student by Gail Simone, Ed Benes, Michael Golden
First things first: I really really enjoyed this comic. I picked it up because I'd heard of it before, and by this point I knew enough of the characters separately that I thought it'd be awesome to read about an all-female cast of superheroes. And I was right! Gail Simone writes a great cast of interesting, complex women who are dealing with all sorts of issues, workplace woes, sexism, boyfriend troubles. And on that alone I would 100% keep reading on and finding more volumes of this to read (I started at 3 because my library doesn't seem to have the earlier volumes, though this is the arc where the main 3 - Oracle, Huntress and Black Canary - come together as a team and try to work through their various friendships and issues with each other - so it's not a bad place to start!).
But when I went online to find out more about the series, I realised that a lot of the criticism is (justifiably) levelled at the art - that it's as exploitative and demeaning as the stories aren't. Now I'm going to have to admit that as someone who likes reading comics, I'm kind of bad at looking at art. I know, visual medium, but I'm at heart a stories and word person, and I struggle with visual storytelling at times. So while I did notice the T&A aspect (you can’t miss it), I barrelled on without a second thought. Maybe I've become accustomed to it in comics? Which doesn't excuse it - it raises good points about whether art that really foregrounds these images of women undercuts the good being done in the writing - which I'll keep it in mind as I keep reading on.
Veronica Mars: the Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
Look, I enjoyed this a lot more than the movie. And this is where I slide into my rant about the movie in
1,
2,
3…
(spoilers ahoy!)
I have a LOT of feelings about this movie, and like the film, it’s only a tiny bit good. Everything else made me angry or sad.
Let’s start with the plot. The mystery could've been great but everything about its set up was mystifying. So many unanswered, even unasked, questions that meant none of it made sense or made me care about the resolution. How did Carrie Bishop become Bonnie? How did Logan end up with Bonnie? (Bonus: How did Logan end up in JAG? All those caps did him no favours, highlighting Dohring's skinniness and oddly tiny head). And Gia, poor poor Gia, stuck in exposition city in the ‘climatic’ scene. Why did no one ask how Cobb get from being nothing to being an 09er all of a sudden?
And the misdirection with Ruby, Bonnie’s stalker - Gaby Hoffman was funny, but that bring me to the treatment of women in this movie, a particular problem the TV series struggled more and more with as it went on, that’s not remedied here. Apart from Veronica and Mac (and I guess Jamie Lee Curtis and James Franco's assistant), women are: slut shaming bitches (Madison), mental head cases (Ruby, Bonnie), damsels in distress who didn't care enough to be honest with the friend they let die (Gia, Carrie), heartless liars (Celeste Kane) and housewives who are worried about their hair (Piz's mum, though that was a cute, sad detail to that scene). Whereas all the people in power (whether good or corrupt) are men. Yeah, it’s aiming for noir, but if you're going to play with the genre (ie the whole premise of VMars as a character) then DO something with it. One interesting, strong female lead doesn't make up for everything else.
And the reboot end, graaaah. WHY does Veronica have to give up being a lawyer (and all that wasted scholarship money/student loans) just to be a private eye? Was there no way for her to combine the two or work with her dad as a sort of Cliff substitute to bring justice to victims of injustice? Why did we reboot in a way that pretty much invalidates all that's gone before it? I know that they were looking to please fans of the series, but my nostalgia doesn't mean you go back to the past in the future, it allows building on the best parts of it to move forward.
And this issue is clearly seen in the way they deal with Veronica and Logan’s relationship. Kristen Bell and Jason Dohring still have great chemistry so I really wanted to see them together again but eurgh, I can’t believe that at the end of the movie Veronica is literally waiting around for Logan. Rob Thomas continues to refuse the chance to have Veronica and Logan in an actual functioning relationship where they have to spend time with each other, blargh. And I hate hate HATE the addiction metaphor that Veronica belabours through the entire movie about her 'unhealthy' relationship with Logan and Neptune and all they signify - so how am I supposed to root for her to return to him and the place and everything then?? PS I went into this absolutely hating that they brought Piz back because that relationship never worked for me in season 3, but Chris Lowell gets mad props from me hitting it out of the park in the break up scene - I actually cared for Piz at that moment, and loathed the movie for making me angry at how cavalierly Veronica treated him.
My final complaint: not enough Mac and Wallace.
Back to the book. Like I said, I like the book better - but they come as a package deal as it picks up where the movie left off, solves some of the unresolved things bugging me, and is a lot more emotionally accessible. I will always like plucky, intelligent, resourceful detective Veronica, no matter what age she's at. And here, the story has a bit more room to breathe, time to spend with Veronica and her doubts about the choices she's made in the last few weeks since Logan called her again - time that the events and emotions and consequences of both movie and book desperately needs to not feel ridiculously trite. I think between the movie and the book, they had the makings for at least 2/3 of a good season of TV here, which makes me a little sad for what could've been.
Batman Gothic by Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson
Bruce Wayne confronts a nasty reminder of his past as Batman is implored to stop someone who’s creepily killing Gotham gangsters. The story plays with a bunch of gothic horror tropes in a fairly enjoyable way though I don’t know if I particularly buy this backstory for Bruce.
Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
A coming-of-age coming out tale with bonus sadness. The blue-washed art is lovely but the story itself just felt kind of standard and not that well constructed, jumping around timelines and moments in a haphazard way. There’s also not quite enough to make me really engage with Clementine and Emma as people and in their (sometimes inexplicably) tumultuous relationship.
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
I enjoyed this a lot, and as predicted by those who recommended it to me (thanks
littlerhymes and
alasen), I ripped through it quickly, not wanting to put it down. I love stories about people trying to navigate tricky situations with brains and character, and this has that in spades, as Maia, the unloved half-goblin son of the Emperor of Elfland, takes over his father’s rule after a terrible accident kills his father and those who were being groomed to succeed. Having experienced nothing but his cousin’s abuse and a quiet life of near-exile, he has to use all his smarts and kindness to find out how to rule a people who don’t know and like him, while staying ahead of those who would wish to harm him.
This is just so involving and interesting and I really enjoyed the world Addison creates. So I'm sad that so far she's said she doesn't plan on writing more in this universe because she sets up such an interesting protagonist and culture that I'd happily roll around in more words about Maia and his rule.
I Don’t Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer
This is less a memoir and more of a collection of loose thoughts on life from Greer, one of those ‘hey it’s that guy!’ actresses who’s made a career of playing rom-com best friends and oddball comic characters. On reading, she comes across as lovely and grounded but to be honest, she's really not at a level where this is an interesting read. Some bits are fun reads - like her Oscar experience from hell - and her writing is serviceable, but the rest is pretty much a non-event. As a jobbing actor, she can hardly trash anyone for fear of not working again, so her celeb goss isn't that exciting (everyone is lovely! even the not-really-lovely ones!). Also, it seems she's pitched a TV show about her life situation now - though the set up is mildly unusual (she married a divorced man with two pre-teenage kids whose mother is a gorgeous small-town sheriff) but again - it’s just not as interesting as she seems to think it is.
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Well, I think I’m going to have to make a separate post about my ASOIAF/GOT thoughts and feelings, because I’ve suddenly had a lot more of them than before. I finally got around to watching season 3 of the show and decided to re-read A Storm of Sword and A Feast for Crows so I could re-familiarise myself with canon before I dove into A Dance with Dragons. The great thing about this parallel tv show/book approach is that it gives me an appreciation of the strengths of each medium (as well as highlighting the weaknesses). Having a visual reference also makes it easier for me to keep track of people and places, so since my original read of the first four books eons ago, I now have a greater appreciation for characters and storylines I had little patience for first time around, when all I cared about what racing to find out what happens next.
That helped with reading ADwD because truth be told, not a lot HAPPENS - like every man and their goat has pointed out, GRRM sorely needs an editor. Gah, the PACING of the last two books is so frustrating - it’s not enough in a giant tome to just pop in on a character POV once so you know they're not dead after the heart-in-mouth cliffhanger they experienced in the last book, especially when GRRM then has something else happen in a flash to keep us in suspense AGAIN (this happens TOO OFTEN). Meanwhile, there seem to be so many revisits to Dany’s Meereenese problems which are a turgid, unenjoyable mess for most part.
But even with the morass of new characters introduced with not a lot of time spent exploring who they are and what their motivations are and what they’re all up to (e.g. the various Martells), I was ultimately absorbed in ADwD, as GRRM unravels layer upon layer of plotting across time and place; absorbed, and at times mightily confused. Luckily, Westeros.org exists - and after I lost so much time I didn’t have in the first place reading first the books, I lost even more reading through like eight million forum threads about all the theories of what will be, lol. Bring on the next book!