Reading Log 2011
I have decided to keep a log of the books I read, because I've been telling myself to do that for years and haven't actually done it since the sixth grade.
No spoilers, beyond whether I was disappointed or not.
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
Wrede was a big part of my childhood, so in my stalking of the library catalog in search of something to read, this instantly caught my eye. And thank God it did. When I was 15, I read Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series, and while I liked some of the initial ideas, I felt like it got wildly off track, at least off the track of what I thought was interesting. This book (the first in its series) is a bit like Alvin Maker only SO MUCH BETTER. You have the alternate history westward expansion, you have casual magic and the seventh son of a seventh son, only with richer detail and emotional depth. There’s a social background, how the politics work and different sects of people who believe different things without being villainized. You have a female protagonist, the Double Seven’s twin, who was always told she was cursed by being a Thirteenth Child, and most of the time she believes it. And a place where the West is not even close to won, and the direction “Here Be Dragons” is very literal.
That’s the set up, but more than anything I love the background magic, where the small spells are something everyone learns in school, to make bread rise faster and keep bugs out of the house, to draw water easier and ease small pains. Household magic makes the world go round. If you’re going to go for an AU, be it profic or fanfic, that richness of historical background and social organization is absolutely my favorite part. I want to live in the world created here, and it’s fleshed out enough that I can see how that would work, and that’s the mark of a truly fantastic novel.
Blood and Water by Elizabeth Bear
This was a good take on fairies and men set in the modern age (a little dated now by technology and fashion, which occasionally startled me out of it) and I loved the complexity of society and how bonds and allegiances work. I didn’t passionately love it, but I grabbed the sequel from the library anyway.
Earth, Heart, and Stone by (I honestly didn't care enough to look this up)
This had some interesting moments, especially at the first half, but fell a bit too much into roles for the second. The wise and almost otherworldly child, the woman damaged by love (seriously, you gave her enough problems in the first half, a woman can have depth and emotional intimacy problems without giving her a surprise background of sexual assault. This pisses me off. Especially since you are not suddenly magically cured by love.), and the jaded city man whose eyes are opened by the kind country folk. The last I’m simplifying a bit but between the roles and the sudden crisis that drew everyone together in tragedy while conveniently not killing any named characters just broke any suspension of disbelief I had
No spoilers, beyond whether I was disappointed or not.
The Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede
Wrede was a big part of my childhood, so in my stalking of the library catalog in search of something to read, this instantly caught my eye. And thank God it did. When I was 15, I read Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series, and while I liked some of the initial ideas, I felt like it got wildly off track, at least off the track of what I thought was interesting. This book (the first in its series) is a bit like Alvin Maker only SO MUCH BETTER. You have the alternate history westward expansion, you have casual magic and the seventh son of a seventh son, only with richer detail and emotional depth. There’s a social background, how the politics work and different sects of people who believe different things without being villainized. You have a female protagonist, the Double Seven’s twin, who was always told she was cursed by being a Thirteenth Child, and most of the time she believes it. And a place where the West is not even close to won, and the direction “Here Be Dragons” is very literal.
That’s the set up, but more than anything I love the background magic, where the small spells are something everyone learns in school, to make bread rise faster and keep bugs out of the house, to draw water easier and ease small pains. Household magic makes the world go round. If you’re going to go for an AU, be it profic or fanfic, that richness of historical background and social organization is absolutely my favorite part. I want to live in the world created here, and it’s fleshed out enough that I can see how that would work, and that’s the mark of a truly fantastic novel.
Blood and Water by Elizabeth Bear
This was a good take on fairies and men set in the modern age (a little dated now by technology and fashion, which occasionally startled me out of it) and I loved the complexity of society and how bonds and allegiances work. I didn’t passionately love it, but I grabbed the sequel from the library anyway.
Earth, Heart, and Stone by (I honestly didn't care enough to look this up)
This had some interesting moments, especially at the first half, but fell a bit too much into roles for the second. The wise and almost otherworldly child, the woman damaged by love (seriously, you gave her enough problems in the first half, a woman can have depth and emotional intimacy problems without giving her a surprise background of sexual assault. This pisses me off. Especially since you are not suddenly magically cured by love.), and the jaded city man whose eyes are opened by the kind country folk. The last I’m simplifying a bit but between the roles and the sudden crisis that drew everyone together in tragedy while conveniently not killing any named characters just broke any suspension of disbelief I had