Fletcher, Susan - Alphabet of Dreams

[oyceter]

Mitra and her younger brother Babak are currently living in the City of Bones, caves surrounding the poor part of Rhagae. They're of royal blood, but since their father attempted to overthrow the king, their entire family has been hunted down. Mitra is struggling to just keep herself and Babak fed, and she dreams of Palmyra, where she thinks she

Comments

[katie_m]

that may be why I was partly grumpy that a fantasy story starring a girl of color was a take on a Christian myth

Of course, by current understandings Jesus and his family would probably be considered people of color. I mean, I take your point about wanting the story not to attach itself to a feature of a modern-day dominant culture, but certainly the story of the Nativity itself could be (and has been) very easily read as a minority-focused story. If anything, one reads harder against the grain to fit it comfortably into present-day majorities.

(Of course, then you can talk about the ways in which that very fact can feed into people feeling like a persecuted minority who aren't, but that's even farther off the topic of this post so.)

[oyceter]

Yeah, mostly my grumpiness is more about the Christian emphasis, particularly since Fletcher notes that the Magi are only mentioned brief in one of the New Testament books and only in later Christian mythology did people pin it down as three Magi (based on the gifts). And I tend to read the story as more Christian/European and less Jewish/Middle Eastern because the stories of the three Magi as Fletcher recounts it are from carols and retellings, not directly from history, if that makes sense. Ex. she talks about the sources she was using to use as a foundation of her story and about the original inspiration of her story, and both those sources are from white Christian culture

[penmage]

Have you read Susan Fletcher's Dragon's Milk? I liked that one quite a lot, the other two in the "trilogy" slightly less, but still enjoyed.

[oyceter]

I haven't read any of her other books! Am going to the library today and hopefully will grab more.

[oracne]

I couldn't get into this book, even though I liked the idea that it was set in Persia. I'm still not sure why, when I should have loved it.

[sigh] I am often inarticulate about why books didn't work for me, or about why I adored them, and it drives me nuts.

[oyceter]

I am often inarticulate about why books didn't work for me, or about why I adored them, and it drives me nuts.

Gaaah, yes. I usually just want to write something like: *flail* Go read this I like it it's good really!

I'm better at writing about books that piss me off, eh heh heh, but I suck at writing about books that I didn't dislike but didn't work for me.

[oracne]

I'm better at writing about books that piss me off, eh heh heh, but I suck at writing about books that I didn't dislike but didn't work for me.

That's it, exactly.