(no subject)
THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti. 1800s New England. Orphan with one hand is adopted by thief/conman. They go on adventures. Enjoyed this! Although it didn't, perhaps, quite live up to the sound of the premise, it probably didn't because it erred on the side of more realistic. I enjoyed Ren as a protagonist generally, and I think it did a good job of showing some of the grimminess and unpleasantness of being poor in the 1800s while still keeping a sense of fun.
THE HALF-MADE WORLD by Felix Gilman. Steampunk Western where the American West is the battleground for two factions: the Line (servants of the railway who pave the way for progress, enslaving people as they go) and the Gun (outlaws who spread terror and violence and chaos). Meanwhile, a psychologist travels to a mental institution at the end of the world and just wants to do her work, okay? This book could have been cool except for how it let its mythology eat its plotline and rather than just sticking with the interesting character (Liv, the psychologist), we get saddled with two other characters as well who are just unpleasant and boring to read about. Some cool ideas! Wish I'd liked it more!
AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE by David Goodwillie. Failed journalist investigates bombing attack on Manhattan. The PERFECT example of how using the first person perspective can just make your lead character unbearably egotistical, smug, and a pain to read about.
HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu. Time machine repairman muses on time travel and life while searching for his missing father. Despite being in first person, I really enjoyed this! I like books that nerd at me about physics in general, and I thought the conceit of the book, which was really half way between time travel and the ability to move through fictional universes, was very cute and cleverly employed. A bit of a slow-started but fun and touching. Tackled the idea of disconnection in a technological age without getting too preachy about it.
LOLA, CALIFORNIA by Edie Meidav. A lawyer tracks down her childhood friend in California to attempt to reunite her with her father who is ten days away from execution on death row. There might have been some interesting stuff in this book, but it was kind of buried under WADS OF MASSIVE PRETENSION. Don't get me wrong. I like it when stories are lyrical and when the author has obviously spent as much time thinking about how to tell the story as what the story will be, but I draw a line when your writing style actively blocks my ability to understand what you are trying to tell me. The blurb made it sound kind of like a mystery story but yeah, no, don't be fooled.
THE MAGICIAN KING by Lev Grossman. Sequel to the Magicians. Quentin and friends are now the kings and queens of Narnia Fillroy but when Quentin embarks on a quest (because that's what one does in Fillroy), it dumps him and his childhood friend Julia back on Earth. I LOVE THESE BOOKS I LOVE THEM. Many of the small issues I had with the first book (namely that Quentin was a bit of a prat which made it hard to care about his story and there was a lot of people being casually awful to each other) are resolved here since everyone finally grew up a bit. It has all the same whimsy and playfulness mixed with something darker and graver and wrapped up in some immensely astute insights on what it is like to be a restless twenty-something (even if you are a restless twenty-something in a magical kingdom). Oh god, and we actually get Julia's story too, which I am so happy to have even if it is heartbreaking. I can't wait for the next one. (Warning: One scene of non-con sex.)
THE HALF-MADE WORLD by Felix Gilman. Steampunk Western where the American West is the battleground for two factions: the Line (servants of the railway who pave the way for progress, enslaving people as they go) and the Gun (outlaws who spread terror and violence and chaos). Meanwhile, a psychologist travels to a mental institution at the end of the world and just wants to do her work, okay? This book could have been cool except for how it let its mythology eat its plotline and rather than just sticking with the interesting character (Liv, the psychologist), we get saddled with two other characters as well who are just unpleasant and boring to read about. Some cool ideas! Wish I'd liked it more!
AMERICAN SUBVERSIVE by David Goodwillie. Failed journalist investigates bombing attack on Manhattan. The PERFECT example of how using the first person perspective can just make your lead character unbearably egotistical, smug, and a pain to read about.
HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu. Time machine repairman muses on time travel and life while searching for his missing father. Despite being in first person, I really enjoyed this! I like books that nerd at me about physics in general, and I thought the conceit of the book, which was really half way between time travel and the ability to move through fictional universes, was very cute and cleverly employed. A bit of a slow-started but fun and touching. Tackled the idea of disconnection in a technological age without getting too preachy about it.
LOLA, CALIFORNIA by Edie Meidav. A lawyer tracks down her childhood friend in California to attempt to reunite her with her father who is ten days away from execution on death row. There might have been some interesting stuff in this book, but it was kind of buried under WADS OF MASSIVE PRETENSION. Don't get me wrong. I like it when stories are lyrical and when the author has obviously spent as much time thinking about how to tell the story as what the story will be, but I draw a line when your writing style actively blocks my ability to understand what you are trying to tell me. The blurb made it sound kind of like a mystery story but yeah, no, don't be fooled.
THE MAGICIAN KING by Lev Grossman. Sequel to the Magicians. Quentin and friends are now the kings and queens of Narnia Fillroy but when Quentin embarks on a quest (because that's what one does in Fillroy), it dumps him and his childhood friend Julia back on Earth. I LOVE THESE BOOKS I LOVE THEM. Many of the small issues I had with the first book (namely that Quentin was a bit of a prat which made it hard to care about his story and there was a lot of people being casually awful to each other) are resolved here since everyone finally grew up a bit. It has all the same whimsy and playfulness mixed with something darker and graver and wrapped up in some immensely astute insights on what it is like to be a restless twenty-something (even if you are a restless twenty-something in a magical kingdom). Oh god, and we actually get Julia's story too, which I am so happy to have even if it is heartbreaking. I can't wait for the next one. (Warning: One scene of non-con sex.)