Comments | ms_legerdemain: this place about to blow

ms_legerdemain

this place about to blow

Feb 17, 2011 20:05

10 Reasons You Should Read A Companion To Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear

I. Hot canon men having hot canon sex. And not 'fade to black' or 'distantly implied' sex. Canon sex. Now, I'm not a complete whore for smut, but it is nice to find something that's well written, with a decent plot and good characters AND good sex scenes.
( The other nine... )

books

Comments 8

ragingfirefall February 17 2011, 11:33:02 UTC

I take it you enjoyed the rec, then? *looks smug*

(Wait - am I giving myself too much credit here? I know this book came up in conversation between us and I know I knew about it beforehand, but was it I or Amazon who actually advised you to look it up?)

Anyway, I'll definitely add it to my To Read list, then. I was a little put off because I heard it was very dark and I wasn't in the mood for seriously heavy stuff at the time, but if you say it's not so terrible I'll trust your judgment. I may regret doing so, but I'll trust it. :p

Thanks!

ms_legerdemain February 17 2011, 11:45:52 UTC

Tehe, I'll let you take the credit. I was having a shitty day, so my excitement when I opened my letterbox and, quite unexpectedly, found two of the three books I've ordered was extreme. xD

Yeah, I'd heard that too. I'd looked it up on some forum and gotten everyone screaming about violence and bestiality, so I was a little hesitant (good thing I trust Sarah Monette). However, I'm actually a bit perplexed as to why so many people were so disturbed ( ... )

ragingfirefall February 17 2011, 12:14:50 UTC

Ah, yes, this makes sense to me now. XD When I read Amazon reviews declaiming its intensity, I took it to be an unusually gritty sort of fantasy, one that combined the darker (rather than lighter) elements of both Monette's and Bear's work. But now I gather it's one of those situations where everybody else seems to be acting according to different standards from me. :p

I think that, like you, I'm at least partially desensitised to kinks and gore often considered a bit much in the mainstream. The funny thing is, though, that half the works that have desensitised me aren't actually that obscure. As you've pointed out, a lot of the more traditional and mainstream fantasy actually features pretty twisted stuff. Hell, a lot of books I consider comfort reads are actually quite disturbing, which I somehow don't even register once I love the books enough to look past it.

(Tamir Triad is a prime example. Bone Doll's Twin is possibly my favourite book, and reading it is a joy to me - but, when I stop to think about it, all the blood and ( ... )

xglimpsex February 17 2011, 15:41:58 UTC

It is in my Amazon shopping cart RIGHT NOW. I'll have to wait until later tonight to buy it, seeing as I hate putting up my CC number when I'm at school-- a ton of my friends are computer science people, they lecture me about public network purchasing. ^^'

Yay books!

gypsygrrl420 February 17 2011, 18:10:59 UTC

I loved the Doctrine series, though the final book was a bit of a disappointment. That said, you know she has an LJ, right?

I actually missed Companion but am about to rectify that *opens link to Amazon*

I loved Mildmay, and wished him and Felix would have gotten together. *g*

ms_legerdemain February 17 2011, 20:59:52 UTC

Oh, I was rereading Corambis last night and it was both destroying me as a person and rebuilding my soul all at the same time. :p Yes, I just tracked it down. I love authors who are also on LJ.

It's great. xD I really like Elizabeth Bear as well, so it was a right treat of a novel. I think I found it comforting because it was similar to a lot of the fantasy I read when I was younger, but also had all the boylove elements I like. The perfect combination.

Mildmay just breaks my heart. He really does. I just want to snuggle him and tell him that he is beautiful and intelligent and amazing. That said, I get ridiculously emotional over Felix. I know he can be a bastard, but he tugs at my heartstrings more than any other character ( ... )

gypsygrrl420 February 18 2011, 03:25:21 UTC

I think Mildmay sometimes informs my mental canon of Shuuhei, depending on the bunny I'm playing with. And yes, the ending of Corambis did leave it open for the two of them to get together.

And please--rant away. You're the only other person I know who's read the series, and it's one of my favorites. The first three books had me walking about in a black mood for weeks after--which was fantastic for my own writing (non-fic), if not that great for my head.

blood_crow February 17 2011, 22:25:30 UTC

Yay, canon gaydom! The last book I read that revolved around actual gaydom was way too long ago. So I'll remember to pick this one up, eventually, when I'm able to read without getting distracted by other things. :|

One thing that always gets me with fantasy/sci-fi books is the names. I just hate the names because they always throw me out of the book for like, a whole minute. Just seeing that name there made me pause as I tried to figure out how it was pronounced.