Booklog 9 - I gave it my heart but it wanted my soul
First of October, so here is the booklog!
- Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Sequel to Code Name Verity, which I really liked in that way where it went after my heart with a switchblade and I am not sure I could re-read it. This is described as "quieter", which I think is true, but no less devastating.
If Code Name Verity was asking "how did people manage to be World War 2 heroes when they were still human beings?" with a focus on women, then this is asking "how did people SURVIVE - not just the fighting, but the discovery of what humanity was capable of?" I still find this kind of boggling: people didn't know. People genuinely did not know that millions were being led to slaughterhouses, were being piled in trains like animals and left to die, were being experimented upon in the most horrific ways. People didn't know. They didn't WANT to know: the early reports about what was going on were dismissed as exaggerations and misunderstandings.
And honestly, of course they didn't want to know! It seems unbelievable, mad, that anyone could do that to another human being, let alone millions of other human beings. But this book is about what happens when you can't hide from that truth any more. When that truth comes up and literally smacks you in the face. It's gripping, and... okay, it's not subtle, I guess? But it doesn't need to be.
- Reflections by Diana Wynne Jones
This is a collection of reflections on her life and writing, put together just before she died. It's really good: her commentary on her actual writing process is pretty interesting as far as that goes, but her discussion of her genuinely incredible life is fascinating, and omg, her discussion of pacing and plot in Lord of the Rings may be the single best piece of literary criticism I've ever read. It is spectacular. It singlehandedly explains why people call her a genius. It's perfect and effortless and I actually gasped while reading it. If you like Lord of the Rings at all, it may be worth trying to find a copy of this book just for that.
- The Man In The Queue and A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
Murder mysteries featuring Inspector Alan Grant as the detective. They're... okay. I mostly read them because they happened to be what was available and if I don't have a book then I am forced to read cereal packets: they're not that exciting. Alan Grant is okay, but the actual murders and mysteries just don't get me. Specifically, the way that the reveals work: I love that in Agatha Christie, the audience's presumed biases are deliberately messed with even if not ultimately deconstructed, and Tey just doesn't do that. Instead, here, it's "OMG it was a WOMAN". (Twice. Possibly it was reading this twice in a row that made me headdesk a bit.) A Shilling for Candles is probably the bigger sufferer here, as it has more potential, i.e. plotlines that could have been Something and just weren't. Meh?
- Equoid by Charles Stross
A Laundry Files story, and definitely one of those where if you like Charles Stross generally, you'll like this. One of my favourite things about Stross is that he is often blackly hilarious, and this is. It's horror - actually closer to the Lovecraftian horror thing than a lot of his other work, cause the novella format allows a closer focus on that where novels require a lot of stuff that isn't just awfulness. But it's horror where the inherent absurdity in some of it is allowed to BE funny, in its own, uh, special way. The people who suffer are never the subject of mockery, but the sheer overblown exaggeration of the premise is awesome, and embraced as such.
Also, I really like Bob, and getting a glimpse at some of what he was doing when Iris was still his boss is pretty cool.
- Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
YAAAY NEW TOBY DAYE. If you like Toby already, you will like this. If you do not know Toby, goodness, you don't want to start here.
I was highly dubious about the Toby and Tybalt relationship, but actually, it being a Thing In Canon works quite well: I like how it's dealt with. I think the bigger problem is actually going to stop Toby being too powerful to be interesting. In this one, she had to have a bunch of her magic literally taken away (via a pie in the face, which, LOL) in order to do that. Longer term, who knows? But it's either that or the baddies level up. Toby has a LOT of backup these days... and actually, getting to see her assemble them together was fabulous, because yeah, girl! Look what you did! People are on your side!
My prediction - next one is bringing in the Firstborn in a big way. The glimpse of history we got was interesting, and looks like the way to go to me. :D
- Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction by Jo Walton
This is online - it's a short story set in Jo Walton's Small Change universe, which is the single most gut-wrenchingly gripping thing I think I've ever read, even on re-reads when I know exactly what is going to happen. This is basically the short story about what America was like during that universe, and... it's exactly as it should be. Short, almost-but-not-quite-soul-destroying, and perfect.
- Playing With Fire by Derek Landy
This is Skullduggery Pleasant book 2, and it's... good? I didn't like it as much as I liked the first one, or, well, I enjoyed it less. It didn't do anything much the first one didn't, and I was reading this at a point when I was less in the mood for it than I was for the first one. I still love Valkyrie herself, and the adventure is pretty good. I liked that the thing with the reflection was a proper problem, and I hope future books don't wuss out on that. I will probably read all the rest eventually.
- The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly
This is a novel that is also kind of a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. It's very good... I can't speak to its historical accuracy, but it did a very good job of portraying a woman who was very bright and politically capable in a world where most ways of expressing that were shut down hard, and who would have MASSIVELY benefitted from antibiotics, a therapist who knows what post-traumatic stress disorder is, and maybe some mood stabilisers. Oh, and who could also do with a whole lot less opium in her diet, but is living in a world where patent medicines full of the stuff were everywhere.
I really liked its portrayal of slavery, actually. Here it is a huge, fundamental issue, but it's not simplified, even though slavery itself is never excused as anything but a horrific thing to do to someone. White characters more than once make decisions that have massive affects on black characters that are not foreseen, and the way that those play out rang really true to me. Also, I like that we don't JUST see the world through Mary Todd Lincoln's eyes: it makes her more human, somehow, as well as providing the weight of actual experience that comes with the other POV being from a black character. And it's super readable, even if it is maybe a bit longer than it needed to be.
- Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild
Goddamn but it always looks to me like I have massively misspelt Streatfeild's name! Aaah. Oh well. This is a re-read - I read a bunch of her books as a small child, I bloody loved Ballet Shoes - and it is exactly what I remember it being. Perfect Victoriana, with orphans and awful adults and some nice ones and a girl at the centre of it all with a big soul. It's not going to bring about any revolutions or anything, but I was in the mood for a story like a small china doll, and this is.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/116966.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
- Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
Sequel to Code Name Verity, which I really liked in that way where it went after my heart with a switchblade and I am not sure I could re-read it. This is described as "quieter", which I think is true, but no less devastating.
If Code Name Verity was asking "how did people manage to be World War 2 heroes when they were still human beings?" with a focus on women, then this is asking "how did people SURVIVE - not just the fighting, but the discovery of what humanity was capable of?" I still find this kind of boggling: people didn't know. People genuinely did not know that millions were being led to slaughterhouses, were being piled in trains like animals and left to die, were being experimented upon in the most horrific ways. People didn't know. They didn't WANT to know: the early reports about what was going on were dismissed as exaggerations and misunderstandings.
And honestly, of course they didn't want to know! It seems unbelievable, mad, that anyone could do that to another human being, let alone millions of other human beings. But this book is about what happens when you can't hide from that truth any more. When that truth comes up and literally smacks you in the face. It's gripping, and... okay, it's not subtle, I guess? But it doesn't need to be.
- Reflections by Diana Wynne Jones
This is a collection of reflections on her life and writing, put together just before she died. It's really good: her commentary on her actual writing process is pretty interesting as far as that goes, but her discussion of her genuinely incredible life is fascinating, and omg, her discussion of pacing and plot in Lord of the Rings may be the single best piece of literary criticism I've ever read. It is spectacular. It singlehandedly explains why people call her a genius. It's perfect and effortless and I actually gasped while reading it. If you like Lord of the Rings at all, it may be worth trying to find a copy of this book just for that.
- The Man In The Queue and A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
Murder mysteries featuring Inspector Alan Grant as the detective. They're... okay. I mostly read them because they happened to be what was available and if I don't have a book then I am forced to read cereal packets: they're not that exciting. Alan Grant is okay, but the actual murders and mysteries just don't get me. Specifically, the way that the reveals work: I love that in Agatha Christie, the audience's presumed biases are deliberately messed with even if not ultimately deconstructed, and Tey just doesn't do that. Instead, here, it's "OMG it was a WOMAN". (Twice. Possibly it was reading this twice in a row that made me headdesk a bit.) A Shilling for Candles is probably the bigger sufferer here, as it has more potential, i.e. plotlines that could have been Something and just weren't. Meh?
- Equoid by Charles Stross
A Laundry Files story, and definitely one of those where if you like Charles Stross generally, you'll like this. One of my favourite things about Stross is that he is often blackly hilarious, and this is. It's horror - actually closer to the Lovecraftian horror thing than a lot of his other work, cause the novella format allows a closer focus on that where novels require a lot of stuff that isn't just awfulness. But it's horror where the inherent absurdity in some of it is allowed to BE funny, in its own, uh, special way. The people who suffer are never the subject of mockery, but the sheer overblown exaggeration of the premise is awesome, and embraced as such.
Also, I really like Bob, and getting a glimpse at some of what he was doing when Iris was still his boss is pretty cool.
- Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire
YAAAY NEW TOBY DAYE. If you like Toby already, you will like this. If you do not know Toby, goodness, you don't want to start here.
I was highly dubious about the Toby and Tybalt relationship, but actually, it being a Thing In Canon works quite well: I like how it's dealt with. I think the bigger problem is actually going to stop Toby being too powerful to be interesting. In this one, she had to have a bunch of her magic literally taken away (via a pie in the face, which, LOL) in order to do that. Longer term, who knows? But it's either that or the baddies level up. Toby has a LOT of backup these days... and actually, getting to see her assemble them together was fabulous, because yeah, girl! Look what you did! People are on your side!
My prediction - next one is bringing in the Firstborn in a big way. The glimpse of history we got was interesting, and looks like the way to go to me. :D
- Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction by Jo Walton
This is online - it's a short story set in Jo Walton's Small Change universe, which is the single most gut-wrenchingly gripping thing I think I've ever read, even on re-reads when I know exactly what is going to happen. This is basically the short story about what America was like during that universe, and... it's exactly as it should be. Short, almost-but-not-quite-soul-destroying, and perfect.
- Playing With Fire by Derek Landy
This is Skullduggery Pleasant book 2, and it's... good? I didn't like it as much as I liked the first one, or, well, I enjoyed it less. It didn't do anything much the first one didn't, and I was reading this at a point when I was less in the mood for it than I was for the first one. I still love Valkyrie herself, and the adventure is pretty good. I liked that the thing with the reflection was a proper problem, and I hope future books don't wuss out on that. I will probably read all the rest eventually.
- The Emancipator's Wife by Barbara Hambly
This is a novel that is also kind of a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. It's very good... I can't speak to its historical accuracy, but it did a very good job of portraying a woman who was very bright and politically capable in a world where most ways of expressing that were shut down hard, and who would have MASSIVELY benefitted from antibiotics, a therapist who knows what post-traumatic stress disorder is, and maybe some mood stabilisers. Oh, and who could also do with a whole lot less opium in her diet, but is living in a world where patent medicines full of the stuff were everywhere.
I really liked its portrayal of slavery, actually. Here it is a huge, fundamental issue, but it's not simplified, even though slavery itself is never excused as anything but a horrific thing to do to someone. White characters more than once make decisions that have massive affects on black characters that are not foreseen, and the way that those play out rang really true to me. Also, I like that we don't JUST see the world through Mary Todd Lincoln's eyes: it makes her more human, somehow, as well as providing the weight of actual experience that comes with the other POV being from a black character. And it's super readable, even if it is maybe a bit longer than it needed to be.
- Thursday's Child by Noel Streatfeild
Goddamn but it always looks to me like I have massively misspelt Streatfeild's name! Aaah. Oh well. This is a re-read - I read a bunch of her books as a small child, I bloody loved Ballet Shoes - and it is exactly what I remember it being. Perfect Victoriana, with orphans and awful adults and some nice ones and a girl at the centre of it all with a big soul. It's not going to bring about any revolutions or anything, but I was in the mood for a story like a small china doll, and this is.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/116966.html. Please comment there using OpenID.