Books and memes, two great tastes that ... no, I guess not
The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold
After the events of Legacy, which left Dag half-dead and he and his young wife, Fawn, basically homeless and without purpose, the newlyweds go forth on what's meant to be a delayed honeymoon. The trip has more than one purpose, though, as Lakewalker Dag, one of the people who dedicate their lives to the eradication of the life-draining malices and who carefully live apart from the rest of the world, and Fawn, part of that 'rest of the world' who are normally fiercely suspicious of Lakewalkers, try to find a place in the world for their unconvential marriage and for their lives now that it's clear there's no place for them with the Lakewalkers. A wrench is thrown in the honeymoon to the sea and the journey of self-discovery when they stop off to visit Fawn's family beforehand, and leave accompanied by Whit, the youngest of Fawn's older brothers. While Dag's trying to find a new place for himself in the world, at fifty-plus, twenty-something Whit's on a similar quest, one that doesn't seem to, and may not have, a definite end point.
Passage has a lot of interesting things going on - once I recognized that Bujold was, in a way, taking Dag and Whit, two very different characters, on personal jounreys with very similar purpose, I was fascinated by the potential parallels - but it's told at such a languid pace, almost sleepy, because neither of the point of view characters are in any particular hurry. Indeed, a conclusion of their journey contains the fear that they might be forced to come to a conclusion to a problem that may have no answer, or come to an end without an answer, just as lost as they began. The sleepy pace, very quiet road-novel like, isn't going to suit everyone. Sometimes, I'm not even sure it suits /me/ - not when what driving force of the book is so vague and mostly internal. But it feels like, in an attempt to make the narrative style the same as the previous two Sharing Knife, Bujold missed the opportunity to make Passage live up to its potential. What could have been a great travel novel, full of the characters discovering new things about the world, people, themselves, and each other, ends up being an okay fantasy travel novel, but nothing mind-blowing.
What puzzles me is that Bujold eschews introducing a very obvious third point of view - Whit. I know Bujold can juggle a good half-dozen points of view in a novel, and Whit would be a natural expansion, the missing piece of fleshing out the dichotomies between his character and Dag's. It doesn't help that Fawn seems to have a lot less to do in the book, compared to Dag, and her point of view seems less present, too. It's not that Fawn /doesn't/ have concerns or problems along the same line as Dag's, but while Dag is looking for /something/, Fawn is simply following, and feels like an extension of Dag's plot, instead of having a plot of her own, or sharing equally in Dag's concerns. It's odd, and a bit disappointing, because Beguilement and Legacy saw things much better balanced between them.
There's also a major complication in the Whit subplot, the conclusion of which sees Bujold taking a very easy out, the sort of out I don't expect from an Bujold who usually deals with thing subtlely, with depth and complexity. Really, that kind of sums up a lot of my problems with Passage: it just doesn't feel like Bujold's bringing her A-game. While the plots revolving around Dag are executed in the manner I expect from Bujold, everything else isn't, it feels incomplete or like it was introduced as an afterthought.
There ends up being a large cast of characters, but only some of them actually seem to have a purpose in the novel, while others have a purpose, but don't feel as solid as they can. Much like in Beguilement and Legacy, there are some characters who seem like they could be interesting and have great depth, despite their comparatively minor purpose, if they were developed over the course of several books. But now I'm pretty sure they won't be - part of Dag and Fawn's plot is their isolation from the rest of society, and how they're working towards finding a place, and people, to belong with. As soon as they have community and acceptance, community that they won't be parted with at the end of the book, their story is over. Which is fine ... but it would be nice if Bujold could either find a way to develop their temporary supporting cast better, or cull the less crucial supporting characters and devote that time to other things ... like maybe finding something for Fawn to do besides get defensive on Dag's behalf. And cook.
Although damn, Bujold's description of food in this book is /mouth-watering/.
Passage is enjoyable, but I /know/ Bujold can do better, and I want her to do better, because I've enjoyed the Sharing Knife books and how different they are. There was a lot of potential in this one and I'm left slightly disappointed it wasn't executed in a way that left me blown over, because it feels like it could be. I recognize that Bujold is working in a new genre, one that's more complicated than a lot of people think, and executing it excellently is different from the stuff you need to execute an excellent science fiction or straight fantasy novel. I've been awed enough by Bujold in the past that I'm willing to wait it out while she finds a way to make the romance genre work for her. But, man, at the end of a Bujold novel, I expect to be able to say something more than 'It was pleasant'.
Friday, this meme - Comment and I'll list 7 interests from your profile in a reply. Then you do an entry about what they mean and why you are interested in them - was about on a couple journals. I played on Noel's and Meg's, because hey, why not? It was Friday.
Bear the Idiot Eater, Collin Sri'vastra, Concussing Kou-chan, Evil Hand Envy, Fuuma/Keiichi, Gunnerkrigg Court, Hating English Majors, Kick the Lim Lim, Meat Furniture, Ninja Muffins, Opposing the Shoemaker Conspiracy, Sock Puppets with Ties, Where's My Cow?
Bear the Idiot Eater: Once upon a time, it was the last season of Angel. And it was /terrible/. (I know you aren't a Whedon fan, but at the time I still was, and even I and other Whedon fans found it terrible, so.) And, late at night, I was chatting with fellow Whedon fan bell, and we somehow got on to discussing ways to fix the series/spin it off. This was after an episode in which there was a trippy dream sequence, the highlight of which was a bear that wandered around on its hind legs and smashed a fish bowl, I think, earning the thanks of another character in the dream (... look, it wasn't a very good episode, and the delivery of the line 'Thank you, Bear' was hilarious at the time). We decided Bear should get its own show, with our respective favourite characters - Wesley and Lindsey the Lawyer with the Evil Hand, who would have pointless gay UST. Bear's series would be all about eating characters from Buffy and Angel who ended up being needlessly stupid and angsty. We called it Bear: The Idiot Eater. It was beautiful and for a time I had an icon about it. ... It's a very complicated interest.
Collin Sri'vastra: One of the main character's in the webcomic Friendly Hostility. Before that, he was a character in the author's previous webcomic, Boy Meets Boy, where, when he was introduced, was asexual and also a huge asshole. I identified with him quite a lot at the time, because self-described asexuals in fiction are quite rare, even on the internets. He's no longer asexual, which makes me sad, but I'm still very fond of the character, who is an asshole portrayed by someone who's not afraid to show that the assholeishness isn't something that should be admired (I'm looking at you, House writers).
Concussing Kou-chan: Clearly you weren't around during the summer I actually wrote some fanfic. Specifically, Matentai Loki Ragnarok fanfic. Even more specifically, Loki fanfic about the incredibly marginal character of Kakinouchi Koutarou getting hit in the head a lot and accidentally having sex, or thinking he had sex, with adult Loki. Seriously. I wrote three stories about this. It was a /series/. I wrote some other Loki fanfic and it became a /running joke/. Also I just like hitting people in the head (I did the same thing with Shishido in Prince of Tennis and Sam Winchester in Supernatural).
Evil Hand Envy: I really wish I had an evil hand with a mind of its own somedays, so I could blame it for punching someone in the nards.
Fuuma/Keiichi: ONCE UPON A TIME, I acknowledged CLAMP's existence. And I read X. And I loved Keiichi at a time when the mailing list loathed him and his attempts to get between Fuuma and Kamui. And bell said 'Actually, Keiichi kind of looks like Fuuma, but fair and happy and not evil' and thus did it become that Keiichi was Fuuma's non-evil doppleganger which was why he liked Kamui so very much. Except we guessed Kamui was probably going to die tragically, angstily, and heroically at the never-to-happen end of X, and ... stuff would happen and Fuuma and Keiichi would continue to exist and have sex with each other in his absence the end.
Gunnerkrigg Court: More webcomic stuff. Probably one of the best out there, Gunnerkrigg Court is about a young girl at a slightly creepy boarding school and the mystery surrounding it and her dead parents. Sometimes it's quietly serious, sometimes quietly funny. It's got a very distinctive look and for some reason I don't have it bookmarked on my laptop, so I'm quite behind in reading it. I really should fix that. It's /excellent/.
Hating English Majors: I ended up being an English major accidentally and spent a lot of time hating my major, and other English majors, who I found shamelessly pretentious and incapable of actually enjoying books, and who looked down their noses at things like genre fiction, comic books, and video games (actual statement overheard: "I can't read fantasy novels. They're full of /dragons/"). Oddly enough, it wasn't until I was taking the seminar classes (the advanced degree program meant to prepare students who would go on to graduate school) that I found English majors who I didn't want to punch in the face all the time. /They/ talked about comic books and wanting to kick characters into lakes because they were SO STUPID AND ANNOYING and it was kind of like I had found my people. But regular English majors - most annoying people ever.
Kick the Lim Lim: There is a game called Planescape: Torment. In this game, in one of the market areas, there is a man selling little frog-like creatures called lim lims as pets. Your character can 'pet the lim lim', 'talk to the lim lim', 'play with the lim lim', and 'kick the lim lim'. If you kick the lim lim three times, a giant lim lim comes and kills you. You can also buy lim lims for pets, but they will eventually die, because lim lims are some kind of giant adorable transuniverse scam. Best friend Matt and I decided that Kick the Lim Lim would be an awesome name for a geeky punk band, and in a lot of Ninja and Roommate sketches, Erik is wearing a Kick the Lim Lim shirt. I think the band may even be mentioned in a story.
Meat Furniture: I can't remember how it became so, but this is one of the eighty million fake band names Mooncalf and I have come up between us - I'm pretty sure she also has it listed as an interest. The actual name of the band was supposed to be Feng-Shui Meat Furniture. Possibly it had to do with someone bulky being used as furniture? Or treated as furniture? It's a really good question ...
Ninja Muffins: This was a Ninja and Roommate story, Meg! About Ray foiling an evil Christian bakesale with ninja muffins. Which were regular muffins that he burnt black in a frying pan.
Opposing the Shoemaker Conspiracy: THERE IS A CONSPIRACY ON THE PART OF SHOEMAKERS TO GUARANTEE THAT FOOTWEAR OF THE KIND I LIKE IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET IN MY SIZE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING COMFORTABLE AND I HAVE HAD TIMES WHEN I HAVE GONE TO EVERY SHOE STORE IN THE CITY AND ENDED UP SHOELESS OH GOD I HATE THOSE BASTARDS.
Sock Puppets with Ties: Are awesome. Many years ago, I did a very loving and careful drawing of a character in his school uniform, with a sock on his hand, and his tie tied around the 'neck' of the sock. I used very high quality pens and I still kind of love this drawing, and the idea and phrase in general.
Where's My Cow?: A meta-children's book and an actual children's book by Terry Pratchett. The actual book is very pretty and fun to read to small children. The meta-book features in Pratchett's hardboiled cop character reading it as part of a nightly, not-to-be-missed routine with his infant son. It is kind of symbolic of everything I love about that paricular plot development.
After the events of Legacy, which left Dag half-dead and he and his young wife, Fawn, basically homeless and without purpose, the newlyweds go forth on what's meant to be a delayed honeymoon. The trip has more than one purpose, though, as Lakewalker Dag, one of the people who dedicate their lives to the eradication of the life-draining malices and who carefully live apart from the rest of the world, and Fawn, part of that 'rest of the world' who are normally fiercely suspicious of Lakewalkers, try to find a place in the world for their unconvential marriage and for their lives now that it's clear there's no place for them with the Lakewalkers. A wrench is thrown in the honeymoon to the sea and the journey of self-discovery when they stop off to visit Fawn's family beforehand, and leave accompanied by Whit, the youngest of Fawn's older brothers. While Dag's trying to find a new place for himself in the world, at fifty-plus, twenty-something Whit's on a similar quest, one that doesn't seem to, and may not have, a definite end point.
Passage has a lot of interesting things going on - once I recognized that Bujold was, in a way, taking Dag and Whit, two very different characters, on personal jounreys with very similar purpose, I was fascinated by the potential parallels - but it's told at such a languid pace, almost sleepy, because neither of the point of view characters are in any particular hurry. Indeed, a conclusion of their journey contains the fear that they might be forced to come to a conclusion to a problem that may have no answer, or come to an end without an answer, just as lost as they began. The sleepy pace, very quiet road-novel like, isn't going to suit everyone. Sometimes, I'm not even sure it suits /me/ - not when what driving force of the book is so vague and mostly internal. But it feels like, in an attempt to make the narrative style the same as the previous two Sharing Knife, Bujold missed the opportunity to make Passage live up to its potential. What could have been a great travel novel, full of the characters discovering new things about the world, people, themselves, and each other, ends up being an okay fantasy travel novel, but nothing mind-blowing.
What puzzles me is that Bujold eschews introducing a very obvious third point of view - Whit. I know Bujold can juggle a good half-dozen points of view in a novel, and Whit would be a natural expansion, the missing piece of fleshing out the dichotomies between his character and Dag's. It doesn't help that Fawn seems to have a lot less to do in the book, compared to Dag, and her point of view seems less present, too. It's not that Fawn /doesn't/ have concerns or problems along the same line as Dag's, but while Dag is looking for /something/, Fawn is simply following, and feels like an extension of Dag's plot, instead of having a plot of her own, or sharing equally in Dag's concerns. It's odd, and a bit disappointing, because Beguilement and Legacy saw things much better balanced between them.
There's also a major complication in the Whit subplot, the conclusion of which sees Bujold taking a very easy out, the sort of out I don't expect from an Bujold who usually deals with thing subtlely, with depth and complexity. Really, that kind of sums up a lot of my problems with Passage: it just doesn't feel like Bujold's bringing her A-game. While the plots revolving around Dag are executed in the manner I expect from Bujold, everything else isn't, it feels incomplete or like it was introduced as an afterthought.
There ends up being a large cast of characters, but only some of them actually seem to have a purpose in the novel, while others have a purpose, but don't feel as solid as they can. Much like in Beguilement and Legacy, there are some characters who seem like they could be interesting and have great depth, despite their comparatively minor purpose, if they were developed over the course of several books. But now I'm pretty sure they won't be - part of Dag and Fawn's plot is their isolation from the rest of society, and how they're working towards finding a place, and people, to belong with. As soon as they have community and acceptance, community that they won't be parted with at the end of the book, their story is over. Which is fine ... but it would be nice if Bujold could either find a way to develop their temporary supporting cast better, or cull the less crucial supporting characters and devote that time to other things ... like maybe finding something for Fawn to do besides get defensive on Dag's behalf. And cook.
Although damn, Bujold's description of food in this book is /mouth-watering/.
Passage is enjoyable, but I /know/ Bujold can do better, and I want her to do better, because I've enjoyed the Sharing Knife books and how different they are. There was a lot of potential in this one and I'm left slightly disappointed it wasn't executed in a way that left me blown over, because it feels like it could be. I recognize that Bujold is working in a new genre, one that's more complicated than a lot of people think, and executing it excellently is different from the stuff you need to execute an excellent science fiction or straight fantasy novel. I've been awed enough by Bujold in the past that I'm willing to wait it out while she finds a way to make the romance genre work for her. But, man, at the end of a Bujold novel, I expect to be able to say something more than 'It was pleasant'.
Friday, this meme - Comment and I'll list 7 interests from your profile in a reply. Then you do an entry about what they mean and why you are interested in them - was about on a couple journals. I played on Noel's and Meg's, because hey, why not? It was Friday.
Bear the Idiot Eater, Collin Sri'vastra, Concussing Kou-chan, Evil Hand Envy, Fuuma/Keiichi, Gunnerkrigg Court, Hating English Majors, Kick the Lim Lim, Meat Furniture, Ninja Muffins, Opposing the Shoemaker Conspiracy, Sock Puppets with Ties, Where's My Cow?
Bear the Idiot Eater: Once upon a time, it was the last season of Angel. And it was /terrible/. (I know you aren't a Whedon fan, but at the time I still was, and even I and other Whedon fans found it terrible, so.) And, late at night, I was chatting with fellow Whedon fan bell, and we somehow got on to discussing ways to fix the series/spin it off. This was after an episode in which there was a trippy dream sequence, the highlight of which was a bear that wandered around on its hind legs and smashed a fish bowl, I think, earning the thanks of another character in the dream (... look, it wasn't a very good episode, and the delivery of the line 'Thank you, Bear' was hilarious at the time). We decided Bear should get its own show, with our respective favourite characters - Wesley and Lindsey the Lawyer with the Evil Hand, who would have pointless gay UST. Bear's series would be all about eating characters from Buffy and Angel who ended up being needlessly stupid and angsty. We called it Bear: The Idiot Eater. It was beautiful and for a time I had an icon about it. ... It's a very complicated interest.
Collin Sri'vastra: One of the main character's in the webcomic Friendly Hostility. Before that, he was a character in the author's previous webcomic, Boy Meets Boy, where, when he was introduced, was asexual and also a huge asshole. I identified with him quite a lot at the time, because self-described asexuals in fiction are quite rare, even on the internets. He's no longer asexual, which makes me sad, but I'm still very fond of the character, who is an asshole portrayed by someone who's not afraid to show that the assholeishness isn't something that should be admired (I'm looking at you, House writers).
Concussing Kou-chan: Clearly you weren't around during the summer I actually wrote some fanfic. Specifically, Matentai Loki Ragnarok fanfic. Even more specifically, Loki fanfic about the incredibly marginal character of Kakinouchi Koutarou getting hit in the head a lot and accidentally having sex, or thinking he had sex, with adult Loki. Seriously. I wrote three stories about this. It was a /series/. I wrote some other Loki fanfic and it became a /running joke/. Also I just like hitting people in the head (I did the same thing with Shishido in Prince of Tennis and Sam Winchester in Supernatural).
Evil Hand Envy: I really wish I had an evil hand with a mind of its own somedays, so I could blame it for punching someone in the nards.
Fuuma/Keiichi: ONCE UPON A TIME, I acknowledged CLAMP's existence. And I read X. And I loved Keiichi at a time when the mailing list loathed him and his attempts to get between Fuuma and Kamui. And bell said 'Actually, Keiichi kind of looks like Fuuma, but fair and happy and not evil' and thus did it become that Keiichi was Fuuma's non-evil doppleganger which was why he liked Kamui so very much. Except we guessed Kamui was probably going to die tragically, angstily, and heroically at the never-to-happen end of X, and ... stuff would happen and Fuuma and Keiichi would continue to exist and have sex with each other in his absence the end.
Gunnerkrigg Court: More webcomic stuff. Probably one of the best out there, Gunnerkrigg Court is about a young girl at a slightly creepy boarding school and the mystery surrounding it and her dead parents. Sometimes it's quietly serious, sometimes quietly funny. It's got a very distinctive look and for some reason I don't have it bookmarked on my laptop, so I'm quite behind in reading it. I really should fix that. It's /excellent/.
Hating English Majors: I ended up being an English major accidentally and spent a lot of time hating my major, and other English majors, who I found shamelessly pretentious and incapable of actually enjoying books, and who looked down their noses at things like genre fiction, comic books, and video games (actual statement overheard: "I can't read fantasy novels. They're full of /dragons/"). Oddly enough, it wasn't until I was taking the seminar classes (the advanced degree program meant to prepare students who would go on to graduate school) that I found English majors who I didn't want to punch in the face all the time. /They/ talked about comic books and wanting to kick characters into lakes because they were SO STUPID AND ANNOYING and it was kind of like I had found my people. But regular English majors - most annoying people ever.
Kick the Lim Lim: There is a game called Planescape: Torment. In this game, in one of the market areas, there is a man selling little frog-like creatures called lim lims as pets. Your character can 'pet the lim lim', 'talk to the lim lim', 'play with the lim lim', and 'kick the lim lim'. If you kick the lim lim three times, a giant lim lim comes and kills you. You can also buy lim lims for pets, but they will eventually die, because lim lims are some kind of giant adorable transuniverse scam. Best friend Matt and I decided that Kick the Lim Lim would be an awesome name for a geeky punk band, and in a lot of Ninja and Roommate sketches, Erik is wearing a Kick the Lim Lim shirt. I think the band may even be mentioned in a story.
Meat Furniture: I can't remember how it became so, but this is one of the eighty million fake band names Mooncalf and I have come up between us - I'm pretty sure she also has it listed as an interest. The actual name of the band was supposed to be Feng-Shui Meat Furniture. Possibly it had to do with someone bulky being used as furniture? Or treated as furniture? It's a really good question ...
Ninja Muffins: This was a Ninja and Roommate story, Meg! About Ray foiling an evil Christian bakesale with ninja muffins. Which were regular muffins that he burnt black in a frying pan.
Opposing the Shoemaker Conspiracy: THERE IS A CONSPIRACY ON THE PART OF SHOEMAKERS TO GUARANTEE THAT FOOTWEAR OF THE KIND I LIKE IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET IN MY SIZE WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING COMFORTABLE AND I HAVE HAD TIMES WHEN I HAVE GONE TO EVERY SHOE STORE IN THE CITY AND ENDED UP SHOELESS OH GOD I HATE THOSE BASTARDS.
Sock Puppets with Ties: Are awesome. Many years ago, I did a very loving and careful drawing of a character in his school uniform, with a sock on his hand, and his tie tied around the 'neck' of the sock. I used very high quality pens and I still kind of love this drawing, and the idea and phrase in general.
Where's My Cow?: A meta-children's book and an actual children's book by Terry Pratchett. The actual book is very pretty and fun to read to small children. The meta-book features in Pratchett's hardboiled cop character reading it as part of a nightly, not-to-be-missed routine with his infant son. It is kind of symbolic of everything I love about that paricular plot development.