Comments | hamsterwoman: Reading roundup with Raven Tower and Hugo homework

hamsterwoman

Reading roundup with Raven Tower and Hugo homework

May 11, 2019 18:58

The Hugo packet is out and voting is open (I continue to be so impressed with how on-the-ball Dublin is, after San Jose. Also, I really like this voting interface -- it's so much more intuitive and user friendly!) Anyway, that seems like a good time to do a delayed (and paltry) reading roundup:

12. Paper Girls, vol 5, (Brian K Vaughan, art by ( Read more... )

gn, a: nnedi okorafor, a: brooke bolander, a: ann leckie, hugo homework, a: sarah gailey, rivers of london, a: brian vaughan, a: rebecca roanhorse, short stories, a: saladin ahmed, a: aliette de bodard, a: john allison

Comments 14

aletheiafelinea May 12 2019, 22:03:59 UTC

I was also disappointed that the characters (T'Challa, Shuri, M'Baku) weren't like their MCU versions.Yeah, not surprised. I try reading Marvel once in a while, for the same reasons I go to fics - I want more of what the canon started. (Well, technically it's the comics that started the movies, but you know what I mean.) Saying it's a hit and miss to me would be an overstatement - it's like a constant overwhelming miss with some scattered lone isles of hits here and there. Just finding art that doesn't suck is a rare win. XP Though I noticed that art I like tends to go with decent-ish writing. Still, while I found a few Marvel comics that I remember fondly, I couldn't say I found yet anything actually comparable with good novels or movies and best fics. They seem to be more about single scenes than whole plots... Talking with a friend who isn't into Marvel, I theorized once or two that the whole superhero genre (as it seems to me) is about characters, the same way the crime & mystery is about plots, the fantasy is about setting, the ( ... )

hamsterwoman May 12 2019, 23:48:22 UTC

(Well, technically it's the comics that started the movies, but you know what I mean.)

I do, heh. And, yeah, I recognize that the comics are the "real" canon, but I definitely prefer MCU.

"What 'What now?' You got a character, that's it."

Hm, interesting! I don't feel that I've tried enough superhero comics to come to any conclusion, besides that they are not my thing, but I think you're right about certain genres "prioritizing" certain elements of the story. Although a sci-fi story that has only ideas and no character draw is unlikely to work for me except maybe in very short format, same with fantasy settings. And may explain why I like things like fantasy/sci-fi police procedurals a lot -- because they've got to have at least TWO things, being a genre mashup :P

and it does seem to be on the realistic-ish side instead of the mwahahing overlordy tackyness for 8yoOne word of warning about Abbott realisticness -- there is a central "good vs evil" / light vs dark thing going in the cosmography, which didn't bother me, because I ( ... )

aletheiafelinea May 13 2019, 20:34:52 UTC

I recognize that the comics are the "real" canon, but I definitely prefer MCU.
With the aforementioned friend we use a term "local canon", so we no longer bother with deciding which canon is the canon in fandoms/franchises like this. All of them are, this way. :D That is, some are primary and there's a line of inspiration, of course, not to mention some are more or less popular/influential, but such differences aside, all local canons are essentially equal.

I don't feel that I've tried enough superhero comics to come to any conclusion
As I see it, my theory applies to the genre in all media, not just comics. MCU movies also seem to work like this, to a degree.

Although a sci-fi story that has only ideas and no character draw is unlikely to work for me except maybe in very short format, same with fantasy settings.
Most certainly, same here. That is, I can appreciate them on the intellectual level, but it's not enough to love them; it'll stay impersonal. And I like genre-mongrels as well. Especially crime plots in less common settings ( ... )

hamsterwoman May 13 2019, 21:37:55 UTC

Ooh, I like the concept of "local canon ( ... )

qwentoozla May 13 2019, 08:56:40 UTC

I just read The Raven Tower myself! I definitely agree that this one had a much slower start than her previous books--her other books all hooked me immediately, but this one took longer. I preferred the story about the rock's history more too, especially before the stories began to get closer to connecting. And you make a good point that Eolo never really has much agency. It's like the character is just sort of there just for the purpose of having someone to address/using second person. I never felt like I truly got a feel for who Eolo is. I also thought of Eolo as a trans guy at first, but I did clock the "I'm not a woman" rather than "I'm a man" thing.

I really liked the way the gods worked in this book--it was definitely a different worldbuilding. I also noticed and appreciated how consistent the Xulahn's grammar mistakes were!

I liked the way the very non-linear storytelling with an obscured role for the primary narrator makes the story hang together and then unfold. That was definitely the best thing about the book for me! I ( ... )

hamsterwoman May 13 2019, 21:42:12 UTC

I preferred the story about the rock's history more too,

I'm impressed by how many people seem to agree on this, considering that the protagonist of those is a rock that doesn't move anywhere or do much of anything XP

It's like the character is just sort of there just for the purpose of having someone to address/using second person.

Yeah... I can't really think of a purpose beyond that.

I also noticed and appreciated how consistent the Xulahn's grammar mistakes were!

Oh, cool! My co-reader found the grammar mistakes annoying while I was geeking out about them, so I'm glad to hear I was not alone in this :)

Not my favorite Leckie either -- that would be probably Provenance, followed by Ancillary Sword (which, I clearly prefer her doing smaller, character-focused stories with families and a lot of comedy; so it's probably not surprising Raven Tower isn't one of those favorites, though I do appreciate what it's doing, and how.)

qwentoozla May 14 2019, 06:13:09 UTC

I'm impressed by how many people seem to agree on this, considering that the protagonist of those is a rock that doesn't move anywhere or do much of anything XP

Haha, so true! Now that I think about it, maybe it's that the rock has more personality than the other characters, somehow. XD

I loved Provenance too! She is very good at comedy. I think Ancillary Justice might still be my favorite though. She's definitely an author to watch.

hamsterwoman May 14 2019, 08:32:23 UTC

maybe it's that the rock has more personality than the other characters, somehow. XD

That's true, actually, haha. I mean, it's not a totally fair comparison, because the rock IS the narrator, after all, in everything we know about everyone else is inferred by the rock, but still. Like, Mawat and Eolo and Tikaz have personality traits, but they tend to be fairly one-note: Eolo is competent and steady, Mawat has a temper and is stubborn, Tikaz is... also stubborn, I guess? and sharp-tongued.

She is very good at comedy.

She is! And distinctly non-human characters. And especially comedy involving distinctly non-human characters, like the Translators in the Ancillary books or the Geck ambassador in Provenance. I really missed that here!

a_phoenixdragon May 13 2019, 23:30:32 UTC

*HUGS*

hamsterwoman May 14 2019, 00:57:22 UTC

:)

Happy belated Mother's Day! Hope you and the family were able to celebrate

a_phoenixdragon May 14 2019, 02:48:53 UTC

Thank you, honey! I hope you had a superb Mother's Day!

We had a lovely celebration in our own, odd little way, lol!

hamsterwoman May 14 2019, 03:24:20 UTC

Oh good! :)

We celebrated, too, with family, which is the important thing.

failte_aoife May 16 2019, 18:47:22 UTC

I had been going back and forth about wanting to read Trail of Lightning because on the one hand an Urban Fantasy but with Native Americans sounded interesting but on the other hand dystopian/post-apocalyptic settings rarely do much for me and now that you said that it's a bit too much horror and gore for you I'll probably give it a pass because my tolerance levels for that are very low (yes...despite my love for serial killer documentaries).

Tea Master & The Detective sort of left me feeling "Well, this was certainly a book and I have now read this book" It was...nice but like you I felt that with that premise I should have loved it. If she ever writes another book about those characters I will probably give it a try once it's on sale but it didn't make me want to check out the rest of that universe

hamsterwoman May 16 2019, 23:03:07 UTC

I will say that the post-apocalyptic setting in itself does not feel particularly dystopian -- it's long enough after the apocalypse (climate change event which drowned a lot of the US) that the new normal is firmly established, and it's kind of rough, but not too terribly depressing -- like, luxuries are scarce, but people don't seem to be starving, and there's corruption, but when isn't there? The gory parts are also fairly short and fairly well confined, so I think one could skip over them. But if both of those things are deterrents for you, I don't know that the book has enough of a draw beyond "urban fantasy but with Native Americans" to, like, push through that. On the gore side, if you come across it and read the first chapter and are fine with it, the rest would probably also be fine? (there's one scene one part that I found worse, but I feel like it sets the tone well)

If she ever writes another book about those characters I will probably give it a try once it's on sale but it didn't make me want to check out the rest of ( ... )