Reading Wednesday
What did you just finish?
Lady of the Imperial City by Laura Kitchell. A fairly typical historical romance, but with a twist: this one's set in Heian-era Japan. I admit that alone was enough to get me to read it.
Lady Kirei is highly admired by the nobility of Kyo for her elegant taste and aristocratic accomplishments: writing poetry, making incense, singing, designing fashions, etc. However, since she was raised in exile, she's considered too lowly to become a wife to any gentleman. Her uncle wants to push her into becoming a consort to a prince for the political advantage it will bring the family, but Kirei is holding out for true love.
Lord Yukan is an extremely rich merchant whose trade has led him to travel all around Japan, as well as to China and Korea. He's more used to dealing with peasants and 'barbarians' than the nobility of Kyo. But when the Emperor takes a shine to him and demands that he settle in Kyo, Yukan needs a tutor in social rules - and who better than the stylish Lady Kirei!
The writing and characters are nothing special, but I was charmed enough by the different setting to enjoy the book nonetheless. The conceit of structuring the relationship around etiquette lessons also allows the author to explain things that might otherwise have been confusing to the audience - I think Kitchell at times went a little too far with the "as you know, Bob" dialogue, but it was a good idea. I've read Heian literature before, but sometimes it's nice to read something written by an outsider simply because they tend to elaborate more on topics an insider already knows. Prince Genji doesn't bother to describe an incense judging contest because he knows all the rules already; Lady Kirei can explain what the room looks like and how to choose a judge and what it means to say a certain smell is for winter vs spring and so on.
One thing that bothered me a little - even if it probably is absolutely to be expected for a book selling itself as a romance - is that Kitchell spent a lot of time establishing how the expectations around love are different in Heian Japan, and then proceeds to have her two main characters behave exactly like modern Westerners. She sets up that this is a culture where polygamy is expected, female virginity is not prized, and the male beauty standard is androgynous and delicate. And then we're told that Yukan is masculine and strong and Kirei finds that "confusingly attractive", Kirei is still a virgin because she's been ~saving herself~ for someone she really loves, and they've both longed to dedicate themselves monogamously to their true love. Ah, well. This is the difference between the romance genre and historical fiction.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells. A fantasy novel set on a planet with a multitude of intelligent species, all of whom are menaced by the evil, manipulative, cannibalistic Fell. Our main character is Moon, who sometimes looks like a regular human (...I guess? I had trouble picturing what anyone was supposed to look like in this book) but can also shift into a dragon-like creature, with wings and claws and black scales. Since the only other flying people around are the Fell, he's had to keep this other side of himself hidden ever since he was orphaned and abandoned at a young age.
After spending his whole life being chased from place to place and never quite fitting in anywhere, Moon finally discovers his people: the Raksura, a race of shapeshifters led by fierce queens. Unfortunately this does not lead to an immediate happy ending. On the one hand, Moon turns out to be a consort: an important, highly-prized role, as they are the only ones who can mate with queens. On the other hand, since he is from an unknown bloodline and grew up feral, no queen is immediately eager to mate with him and some of the Raksura want to kick him out entirely. These court politics are even further complicated by the fact that it turns out the Fell have been playing a long-game against the Raksura, and begin attacking and invading immediately after Moon's arrival.
Overall this is a book with a lot of iddy elements that I wish it had indulged a bit more. I would have loved more worldbuilding about Raksura society, particularly its gender politics, and more about the hints of a connection between the Raksura and the Fell, and more time spent lingering on the many H/C scenes that were brushed by too quickly. I was also surprised by how little Moon wallowed in his emotions, given the premise of 'lonely orphan finds a home but people are mean to him'. That could be a plus or minus, depending on what kind of writing you like! I wanted some more emotions, honestly.
This is just the first book of a series, though, and I can hope that all of this stuff is gone into with more detail in the sequels. I certainly liked this one enough to give the rest a chance.
What are you currently reading?
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. Trevor Noah has a book coming out! :D I am hugely fond of him - if you don't recognize the name, he's the new host of The Daily Show, having taken over last year from Jon Stewart. Noah is not, of course, the game-changing politics-defining anchor that Stewart was, but he's sweet and friendly with a dry sense of humor and I like him a lot. I also really like the perspective he's able to give, as a non-American hosting an American news show, though he doesn't delve into that as often as I would like.
Anyway. He's got a book! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://brigdh.dreamwidth.org/27128.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Lady of the Imperial City by Laura Kitchell. A fairly typical historical romance, but with a twist: this one's set in Heian-era Japan. I admit that alone was enough to get me to read it.
Lady Kirei is highly admired by the nobility of Kyo for her elegant taste and aristocratic accomplishments: writing poetry, making incense, singing, designing fashions, etc. However, since she was raised in exile, she's considered too lowly to become a wife to any gentleman. Her uncle wants to push her into becoming a consort to a prince for the political advantage it will bring the family, but Kirei is holding out for true love.
Lord Yukan is an extremely rich merchant whose trade has led him to travel all around Japan, as well as to China and Korea. He's more used to dealing with peasants and 'barbarians' than the nobility of Kyo. But when the Emperor takes a shine to him and demands that he settle in Kyo, Yukan needs a tutor in social rules - and who better than the stylish Lady Kirei!
The writing and characters are nothing special, but I was charmed enough by the different setting to enjoy the book nonetheless. The conceit of structuring the relationship around etiquette lessons also allows the author to explain things that might otherwise have been confusing to the audience - I think Kitchell at times went a little too far with the "as you know, Bob" dialogue, but it was a good idea. I've read Heian literature before, but sometimes it's nice to read something written by an outsider simply because they tend to elaborate more on topics an insider already knows. Prince Genji doesn't bother to describe an incense judging contest because he knows all the rules already; Lady Kirei can explain what the room looks like and how to choose a judge and what it means to say a certain smell is for winter vs spring and so on.
One thing that bothered me a little - even if it probably is absolutely to be expected for a book selling itself as a romance - is that Kitchell spent a lot of time establishing how the expectations around love are different in Heian Japan, and then proceeds to have her two main characters behave exactly like modern Westerners. She sets up that this is a culture where polygamy is expected, female virginity is not prized, and the male beauty standard is androgynous and delicate. And then we're told that Yukan is masculine and strong and Kirei finds that "confusingly attractive", Kirei is still a virgin because she's been ~saving herself~ for someone she really loves, and they've both longed to dedicate themselves monogamously to their true love. Ah, well. This is the difference between the romance genre and historical fiction.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells. A fantasy novel set on a planet with a multitude of intelligent species, all of whom are menaced by the evil, manipulative, cannibalistic Fell. Our main character is Moon, who sometimes looks like a regular human (...I guess? I had trouble picturing what anyone was supposed to look like in this book) but can also shift into a dragon-like creature, with wings and claws and black scales. Since the only other flying people around are the Fell, he's had to keep this other side of himself hidden ever since he was orphaned and abandoned at a young age.
After spending his whole life being chased from place to place and never quite fitting in anywhere, Moon finally discovers his people: the Raksura, a race of shapeshifters led by fierce queens. Unfortunately this does not lead to an immediate happy ending. On the one hand, Moon turns out to be a consort: an important, highly-prized role, as they are the only ones who can mate with queens. On the other hand, since he is from an unknown bloodline and grew up feral, no queen is immediately eager to mate with him and some of the Raksura want to kick him out entirely. These court politics are even further complicated by the fact that it turns out the Fell have been playing a long-game against the Raksura, and begin attacking and invading immediately after Moon's arrival.
Overall this is a book with a lot of iddy elements that I wish it had indulged a bit more. I would have loved more worldbuilding about Raksura society, particularly its gender politics, and more about the hints of a connection between the Raksura and the Fell, and more time spent lingering on the many H/C scenes that were brushed by too quickly. I was also surprised by how little Moon wallowed in his emotions, given the premise of 'lonely orphan finds a home but people are mean to him'. That could be a plus or minus, depending on what kind of writing you like! I wanted some more emotions, honestly.
This is just the first book of a series, though, and I can hope that all of this stuff is gone into with more detail in the sequels. I certainly liked this one enough to give the rest a chance.
What are you currently reading?
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. Trevor Noah has a book coming out! :D I am hugely fond of him - if you don't recognize the name, he's the new host of The Daily Show, having taken over last year from Jon Stewart. Noah is not, of course, the game-changing politics-defining anchor that Stewart was, but he's sweet and friendly with a dry sense of humor and I like him a lot. I also really like the perspective he's able to give, as a non-American hosting an American news show, though he doesn't delve into that as often as I would like.
Anyway. He's got a book! :D
This entry was originally posted at http://brigdh.dreamwidth.org/27128.html. Please comment there using OpenID.