Mid-novel posting
OMG so I'm totally reading the best book ever written in the English language. And the thing is that it really isn't but there's a good chance that it could make the list as one of my Favorite Books. I'll have to read it a *lot* more times before I know if it is actually THE favorite book, a position that has belonged to Diane Duane's The Wizard's Dilemma since the end of eighth grade, but so far it's shaping up to make the list.
The book, of course, is by Julie E. Czerneda and is one of the most fantastic things she's written. It's so intense. The characters are compelling -- all of them, even the people who were only secondary characters in the past book in the series have come alive -- even one of the annoying ones had a line that was the most gut-wrenching thing that I've ever read! I keep making these small noises of distress or anticipation or oh-my-god-what-the-crap-is-happening or even just bitch-got-owned! And there are characters I love to love, and one I love to hate at least, though more may be developing over time.
I love the fact that Aryl is my age, with different problems than mine, of course, but something about them seems so gut-wrenchingly familiar (I know that I used gut-wrenching somewhere before but that's serious the one term that comes out of this book for me).
There are scenes that are just so INTENSE (another word I've used before)! Like the one in which the main character has a totally in-depth metaphysical/meaning/purpose of life talk with an alien who doesn't even properly speak her language, and this inability is rendered appropriately in the text -- but here are two strangers having THE talk about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, and one of them is speaking broken English, and it's still the most poignant thing that you've ever read.
And the anguish/loss/yearning/strength/betrayal/community/depth is SO STRONG that these HAVE to be real people. No other choice.
The best part is seeing first contact through the eyes of an alien meeting a human for the first time, in which the human explains important things about being human, and the alien thinks about important things about being alien, and realizes how close they really are but how far apart they may seem...how the difference between stranger and kin can be so difficult to determine and how the mindsets of completely different species can be so similar, despite basic differences...the way that we are all the same, we can all be seen as human as long as we're looking through the right set of eyes...the thing I love the most about Julie's writing is how she manages to emphasize the human-ness of her aliens, even when they're still alien and still obviously different...it's not about the differences, not for her.
And this is really just a rant because I am SO HIGH ON LITERATURE RIGHT NOW and Rebecca's probably sick and tired of me trying to explain these things to her, but I NEED to talk to someone, even if that someone is the internet (hello, electrons!). Some of my non-conversations with Rebecca have sounded like this:
ME: So remember that book you read about the telepathic aliens?
REBECCA: *nods*
ME: So this is technically the same species as those telepathic aliens, except they're less telepathic now than they used to be because it's in the past and they live on a different world and they actually call themselves by a different name. But so there's this girl, and she loves this guy, but this guy is like totally a little bitch and he leaves her (at the time he didn't want to) and then ends up finding this other chick who's almost bitchier than he is, and he's all, "Okay, let's forget about Aryl Sarc and Join with the first girl that bats her eyes at me!" And then he shows up again to ask Aryl for help because they used to be such good friends, and being telepathic, she can FEEL the way he lusts for this other chick! *GAG*
REBECCA: *raised eyebrows*
ME: *sheepish grin* Read the book!
Seriously, I don't even know what it is. But every single time I read a book by Julie, I find myself falling in love with the characters, feeling for their pain, cheering them on through their struggles, gasping at all the right moments and squeeing in blissful happiness when the right people end up together (because there's always a romance...it probably says something about me that the trilogy of hers that I like the least is the one in which there is no romantic involvement between the main character and anyone...and I'm kind of disappointed that she's going to write sequels to that trilogy because I want her to get on with the romance already!). So many people think of science fiction as an exploration of the bizarre, but for me, Julie's sf is essentially about what makes us human, and how these creatures we see as alien can give us such insights into humanity. I find it so fascinating that the majority of her books center around main characters who are alien but have close encounters with human cultures (as well as other alien cultures). Through the eyes of these alien narrators, humans are just another group of aliens. But there are things to be said for humans as well...for instance:
"Humans are brought up with the literature and legends of love. We hope it lives up to its promise; we dream all our lives of finding that one great love. And we're warned of its cost if we do."
"Cost?"
"To risk love is to risk loss. The greater the love...?"
"The greater the loss." (from To Trade the Stars)
In the midst of this alien landscape, Julie Czerneda's works are still full of an intense pride in humanity -- along with a laundry list of our defaults -- of course she doesn't ignore them. But it's the humans who are responsible for telling our alien protagonists about the importance of connection, community, a different kind of togetherness, where there is no fear, only respect and open accountability. Maybe that's a little humanocentric. Probably. But I'm okay with feeling a little important, because at the same time, when I see myself through the eyes of an alien, I am so incredibly humbled.
Someday, I am going to write a dissertation about the importance of alien perspectives in science fiction in shaping a view of humanity in the 21st century...or something like that. Just like I'm going to write a dissertation about the significance of books and reading in children's fantasy novels, and how these novels reinforce the importance of reading and the power that you can gain from it, a power akin to magic. These may be my two big projects sometime when I have time.
And now I'm gonna go because it's getting late and I should be doing things that are more important...like finishing Riders of the Storm (!) and thinking about that homework stuff (oh yeah, that stuff).
The book, of course, is by Julie E. Czerneda and is one of the most fantastic things she's written. It's so intense. The characters are compelling -- all of them, even the people who were only secondary characters in the past book in the series have come alive -- even one of the annoying ones had a line that was the most gut-wrenching thing that I've ever read! I keep making these small noises of distress or anticipation or oh-my-god-what-the-crap-is-happening or even just bitch-got-owned! And there are characters I love to love, and one I love to hate at least, though more may be developing over time.
I love the fact that Aryl is my age, with different problems than mine, of course, but something about them seems so gut-wrenchingly familiar (I know that I used gut-wrenching somewhere before but that's serious the one term that comes out of this book for me).
There are scenes that are just so INTENSE (another word I've used before)! Like the one in which the main character has a totally in-depth metaphysical/meaning/purpose of life talk with an alien who doesn't even properly speak her language, and this inability is rendered appropriately in the text -- but here are two strangers having THE talk about the meaning of life, the universe, and everything, and one of them is speaking broken English, and it's still the most poignant thing that you've ever read.
And the anguish/loss/yearning/strength/betrayal/community/depth is SO STRONG that these HAVE to be real people. No other choice.
The best part is seeing first contact through the eyes of an alien meeting a human for the first time, in which the human explains important things about being human, and the alien thinks about important things about being alien, and realizes how close they really are but how far apart they may seem...how the difference between stranger and kin can be so difficult to determine and how the mindsets of completely different species can be so similar, despite basic differences...the way that we are all the same, we can all be seen as human as long as we're looking through the right set of eyes...the thing I love the most about Julie's writing is how she manages to emphasize the human-ness of her aliens, even when they're still alien and still obviously different...it's not about the differences, not for her.
And this is really just a rant because I am SO HIGH ON LITERATURE RIGHT NOW and Rebecca's probably sick and tired of me trying to explain these things to her, but I NEED to talk to someone, even if that someone is the internet (hello, electrons!). Some of my non-conversations with Rebecca have sounded like this:
ME: So remember that book you read about the telepathic aliens?
REBECCA: *nods*
ME: So this is technically the same species as those telepathic aliens, except they're less telepathic now than they used to be because it's in the past and they live on a different world and they actually call themselves by a different name. But so there's this girl, and she loves this guy, but this guy is like totally a little bitch and he leaves her (at the time he didn't want to) and then ends up finding this other chick who's almost bitchier than he is, and he's all, "Okay, let's forget about Aryl Sarc and Join with the first girl that bats her eyes at me!" And then he shows up again to ask Aryl for help because they used to be such good friends, and being telepathic, she can FEEL the way he lusts for this other chick! *GAG*
REBECCA: *raised eyebrows*
ME: *sheepish grin* Read the book!
Seriously, I don't even know what it is. But every single time I read a book by Julie, I find myself falling in love with the characters, feeling for their pain, cheering them on through their struggles, gasping at all the right moments and squeeing in blissful happiness when the right people end up together (because there's always a romance...it probably says something about me that the trilogy of hers that I like the least is the one in which there is no romantic involvement between the main character and anyone...and I'm kind of disappointed that she's going to write sequels to that trilogy because I want her to get on with the romance already!). So many people think of science fiction as an exploration of the bizarre, but for me, Julie's sf is essentially about what makes us human, and how these creatures we see as alien can give us such insights into humanity. I find it so fascinating that the majority of her books center around main characters who are alien but have close encounters with human cultures (as well as other alien cultures). Through the eyes of these alien narrators, humans are just another group of aliens. But there are things to be said for humans as well...for instance:
"Humans are brought up with the literature and legends of love. We hope it lives up to its promise; we dream all our lives of finding that one great love. And we're warned of its cost if we do."
"Cost?"
"To risk love is to risk loss. The greater the love...?"
"The greater the loss." (from To Trade the Stars)
In the midst of this alien landscape, Julie Czerneda's works are still full of an intense pride in humanity -- along with a laundry list of our defaults -- of course she doesn't ignore them. But it's the humans who are responsible for telling our alien protagonists about the importance of connection, community, a different kind of togetherness, where there is no fear, only respect and open accountability. Maybe that's a little humanocentric. Probably. But I'm okay with feeling a little important, because at the same time, when I see myself through the eyes of an alien, I am so incredibly humbled.
Someday, I am going to write a dissertation about the importance of alien perspectives in science fiction in shaping a view of humanity in the 21st century...or something like that. Just like I'm going to write a dissertation about the significance of books and reading in children's fantasy novels, and how these novels reinforce the importance of reading and the power that you can gain from it, a power akin to magic. These may be my two big projects sometime when I have time.
And now I'm gonna go because it's getting late and I should be doing things that are more important...like finishing Riders of the Storm (!) and thinking about that homework stuff (oh yeah, that stuff).