Reading Wednesday

[wordsofastory]

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

Comments

[sovay]

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.

I agree that is an instantly more interesting setup to me than the mainstream American romance default.

[wordsofastory]

It's such a shame that the setting was used only to decorate the exact same underlying plot of every Regency romance! But I suppose I shouldn't have really been surprised; the author needs to make money, and so she needs to write what sells.

[sovay]

But I suppose I shouldn't have really been surprised; the author needs to make money, and so she needs to write what sells.

Anyone (English-language) writing Heian-era romances with accurate social conventions?

[wordsofastory]

Not that I know of in the romance genre. There have been a couple of contemporary general-fiction books set in Heian Japan that I quite liked, though. Here are the ones I'd recommend:

Kij Johnson - Fudoki and The Fox Woman. Both of these have fantasy elements, weaving in Japanese mythology and ghost stories into straight-forward stories. Really gorgeous, poetic writing style.
Susan Fromberg Schaeffer - The Snow Fox. Actually this one is mostly a romance, though it wasn't sold under that genre. Also has a slight magic realism tinge.
Liza Dalby - The Tale of Murasaki. Fictionalized retelling of the life of Murasaki Shikibu, the author of The Tale of Genji. Not as good as Genji itself, but much shorter and the author has clearly done her research.

[evelyn_b]

Oh hey, Trevor Noah! I haven't seen him on the Daily Show (didn't know he'd taken over) but I've seen his standup.

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.

:(

[wordsofastory]

I've seen one of his standups! I really enjoyed it; I should check out more.

[curtana]

The Raksura books are some of my favourites at the moment. I did have the same issues as you at first with not really having a sense of what characters looked like, but gradually I've formed mental images of them - fanart has helped! But also because there are no humans in the books, I think she doesn't want to describe them as looking like humans in their groundling forms (although they more or less do, being bipedal, having skin and hair of various shades, etc.) I think she wants to allow for the possibility that they don't look *exactly* like humans, but she can't say "They look like humans except for X", if that makes sense

[wordsofastory]

But also because there are no humans in the books, I think she doesn't want to describe them as looking like humans in their groundling forms (although they more or less do, being bipedal, having skin and hair of various shades, etc.) I think she wants to allow for the possibility that they don't look *exactly* like humans, but she can't say "They look like humans except for X", if that makes sense?

Yeah, that makes total sense. I think there's also a great benefit to leaving the details vague; that way people can picture the Raksura as more or less human, depending on their personal preference. I personally incline toward the 'more human' end of the spectrum, but I know a lot of fantasy fans who love aliens that are truly alien. This approach lets both groups be happy!

There is definitely further world building and more about Raksura society as the series goes on, and more about the connection between the Raksura and the Fell. (And if you like them sufficiently, the author has a Patreon account where she regularly posts missing