Marie Brennan's Blog, page 189
February 15, 2013
Dragon roundup
Before I get to the new links, remember that you, too, can receive a handwritten letter from Lady Trent! That runs through the end of the month.
***
Interview with Geeky Pleasures (audio)
Q&A at Preternatura
Interview at Books! Movies! Reviews! Oh My!
I discuss the artwork at Books and Things
Interview at Lost for Words
Guest post on the memoir style at RT Book Reviews
(You thought I was exaggerating when I said I would be EVERYWHERE ON THE INTERNET this month. It ain't even done yet, folks.)
The Books and Things post, by the way, includes another giveaway. That's the only new one I've found in the last few days, though.
***
Was it really only a week ago that I was in . . . where was I on Friday? San Diego. Wow. And barely more than a week since the book came out! But so far, it seems to be going pretty well.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575549.html. Comment here or there.
***
Interview with Geeky Pleasures (audio)
Q&A at Preternatura
Interview at Books! Movies! Reviews! Oh My!
I discuss the artwork at Books and Things
Interview at Lost for Words
Guest post on the memoir style at RT Book Reviews
(You thought I was exaggerating when I said I would be EVERYWHERE ON THE INTERNET this month. It ain't even done yet, folks.)
The Books and Things post, by the way, includes another giveaway. That's the only new one I've found in the last few days, though.
***
Was it really only a week ago that I was in . . . where was I on Friday? San Diego. Wow. And barely more than a week since the book came out! But so far, it seems to be going pretty well.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575549.html. Comment here or there.
February 14, 2013
Happy Retcon Day
Once upon a time, there was a guy who was interested in a girl. He'd been interested in her for a month or two, and they had recently gone out to dinner on (theoretically) non-romantic grounds, so he was intending to ask her out.
He faced a choice, though. The aforementioned dinner had been on February 12th. Should he ask her out on Valentine's Day? No, he decided; that would be (his choice of words) "cheesy." He baked her cookies on the 14th, though, and ultimately asked her out on the 16th.
The two of them dated for many years, and eventually got married. But along the way, a small problem developed.
You see, this guy -- sometimes known to the internet as![[profile]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380840198i/3130798.png)
kniedzw
-- decided, in direct contradiction of his own reasoning before, to declare Valentine's Day their anniversary. The girl -- sometimes known to the internet as
swan_tower
-- is perfectly happy to celebrate the fourteenth of February as Valentine's Day and also their Cookie Anniversary (a very important occasion!), but she objects strenuously to this blatant ret-conning of their past.
(She attempted to settle this matter more firmly by proposing to him on the sixteenth of February seven years after they started dating, in the hopes that it would give that date greater historical weight. No dice.)
At this point, of course, she suspects he's sticking to the point simply because arguing over it has become tradition. But in the meantime, she is celebrating her Cookie Anniversary (nom nom nom), and wishes you all a very happy Retcon Day.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575336.html. Comment here or there.
He faced a choice, though. The aforementioned dinner had been on February 12th. Should he ask her out on Valentine's Day? No, he decided; that would be (his choice of words) "cheesy." He baked her cookies on the 14th, though, and ultimately asked her out on the 16th.
The two of them dated for many years, and eventually got married. But along the way, a small problem developed.
You see, this guy -- sometimes known to the internet as
kniedzw
-- decided, in direct contradiction of his own reasoning before, to declare Valentine's Day their anniversary. The girl -- sometimes known to the internet as
swan_tower
-- is perfectly happy to celebrate the fourteenth of February as Valentine's Day and also their Cookie Anniversary (a very important occasion!), but she objects strenuously to this blatant ret-conning of their past.(She attempted to settle this matter more firmly by proposing to him on the sixteenth of February seven years after they started dating, in the hopes that it would give that date greater historical weight. No dice.)
At this point, of course, she suspects he's sticking to the point simply because arguing over it has become tradition. But in the meantime, she is celebrating her Cookie Anniversary (nom nom nom), and wishes you all a very happy Retcon Day.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575336.html. Comment here or there.
February 13, 2013
Talk to me about tablets
My laptop is, after nearly six years of good-to-middling service, tottering along on its last legs. I'm thinking that at this point it makes the most sense for me to pick up a tablet instead of a full laptop, but I don't really know what to look at.
What's out there right now, that isn't an iPad? (I'm considering that too, but A: I'm a PC user and B: my brother worked on the iPad, so if I need proselytizing and/or information, all I have to do is walk down the street.) What do you recommend? What do you recommend I stay away from?
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575174.html. Comment here or there.
What's out there right now, that isn't an iPad? (I'm considering that too, but A: I'm a PC user and B: my brother worked on the iPad, so if I need proselytizing and/or information, all I have to do is walk down the street.) What do you recommend? What do you recommend I stay away from?
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/575174.html. Comment here or there.
February 12, 2013
Writing Fight Scenes: Word Choice
[This is a post in my series on how to write fight scenes. Other installments may be found under the tag.]
One of these days, I will actually finish this series of posts. :-) Today, we come one step closer to that goal!
Fight scenes, oddly enough, have certain technical challenges in common with sex scenes. Namely, both of them are primarily concerned with describing physical movement, and in the course of so doing, they have to refer to certain objects and actions again and again and again and again. And if you try to get too creative in the avoidance of repetition, you very rapidly slide down into the abyss of purple prose.
So how do you get around this?
Well, step one is to know what your available words are, and make sure you use them appropriately. In order of increasing specificity, you might call the thing your character is holding a weapon, a blade, a sword, a rapier, a Pappenheimer . . . once you hit that last one, you've almost certainly gotten too specific, unless there are so many rapiers bouncing around the scene that you really need to distinguish one of that particular style from all the others. Or you can get metaphorical -- but that gets dangerous, very fast. If you talk about him using "his tool" . . . yeah.
Objects aren't the only hurdle; motions can be equally tricky. Attack, stab, slice, cut, chop, thrust (again, careful with that one!), lunge, counter, block, parry, dodge, evade, retreat. A few more technical terms are generally familiar enough to pass; riposte, for example, isn't too opaque, or disengage -- that one can be understood in a general sense even if the specific meaning of the word gets lost. Raymond Feist made a good use of actual jargon in one of his Midkemia books; upon being asked why another character was wounded, one of his protagonists said "he tried a beat and counter-thrust when he should have parried in six." It's a fleeting enough line, and in a humorous enough context, that it doesn't matter whether you know what "parrying in six" means; you still get the point. But in general, you want to stay away from that level of technicality.
So what do you say in its place?
I mentioned back at the beginning of this series that you can write a perfectly good fight scene even if you don't know much about fighting, by focusing on things other than the actual movement: the character's physical and mental state, for example. That's one answer here. But there's also a middle ground between specific movements and a generality that leaves the actual motions completely unclear.
The middle ground lies in talking about the significance and the effect of the movements. Instead of saying your rapier fighter disengaged and attacked in four, you can say she saw an opening in her enemy's defense and exploited it. Instead of saying she stabbed her opponent, say she snaked around his wrist to bloody his arm. Forcing him back, smashing aside his defense, retreating desperately, etc -- the point is to make sure your reader understands what the actions mean.
If you find yourself getting caught in a morass of repeated words, step back and ask yourself whether you can shift your focus and get more variety that way. It's the proverbial forest/trees dichotomy: although there are times when it will benefit your story to get into the nuts and bolts of each movement, the flow will often work better if you keep your eye (and your reader's) on the larger picture. Not only does it make things clearer for your reader, it helps you avoid the tedious Tab A Tab B Create Slot C mechanics of "he attacked, she blocked, she stabbed him."
And then you're safe from purple prose. :-)
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574928.html. Comment here or there.
One of these days, I will actually finish this series of posts. :-) Today, we come one step closer to that goal!
Fight scenes, oddly enough, have certain technical challenges in common with sex scenes. Namely, both of them are primarily concerned with describing physical movement, and in the course of so doing, they have to refer to certain objects and actions again and again and again and again. And if you try to get too creative in the avoidance of repetition, you very rapidly slide down into the abyss of purple prose.
So how do you get around this?
Well, step one is to know what your available words are, and make sure you use them appropriately. In order of increasing specificity, you might call the thing your character is holding a weapon, a blade, a sword, a rapier, a Pappenheimer . . . once you hit that last one, you've almost certainly gotten too specific, unless there are so many rapiers bouncing around the scene that you really need to distinguish one of that particular style from all the others. Or you can get metaphorical -- but that gets dangerous, very fast. If you talk about him using "his tool" . . . yeah.
Objects aren't the only hurdle; motions can be equally tricky. Attack, stab, slice, cut, chop, thrust (again, careful with that one!), lunge, counter, block, parry, dodge, evade, retreat. A few more technical terms are generally familiar enough to pass; riposte, for example, isn't too opaque, or disengage -- that one can be understood in a general sense even if the specific meaning of the word gets lost. Raymond Feist made a good use of actual jargon in one of his Midkemia books; upon being asked why another character was wounded, one of his protagonists said "he tried a beat and counter-thrust when he should have parried in six." It's a fleeting enough line, and in a humorous enough context, that it doesn't matter whether you know what "parrying in six" means; you still get the point. But in general, you want to stay away from that level of technicality.
So what do you say in its place?
I mentioned back at the beginning of this series that you can write a perfectly good fight scene even if you don't know much about fighting, by focusing on things other than the actual movement: the character's physical and mental state, for example. That's one answer here. But there's also a middle ground between specific movements and a generality that leaves the actual motions completely unclear.
The middle ground lies in talking about the significance and the effect of the movements. Instead of saying your rapier fighter disengaged and attacked in four, you can say she saw an opening in her enemy's defense and exploited it. Instead of saying she stabbed her opponent, say she snaked around his wrist to bloody his arm. Forcing him back, smashing aside his defense, retreating desperately, etc -- the point is to make sure your reader understands what the actions mean.
If you find yourself getting caught in a morass of repeated words, step back and ask yourself whether you can shift your focus and get more variety that way. It's the proverbial forest/trees dichotomy: although there are times when it will benefit your story to get into the nuts and bolts of each movement, the flow will often work better if you keep your eye (and your reader's) on the larger picture. Not only does it make things clearer for your reader, it helps you avoid the tedious Tab A Tab B Create Slot C mechanics of "he attacked, she blocked, she stabbed him."
And then you're safe from purple prose. :-)
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574928.html. Comment here or there.
February 11, 2013
Giveaways, as far as the eye can see!
Update on the Con or Bust auction: bidding is up to $35 dollars, having just opened on Saturday. Remember that this copy of A Natural History of Dragons is signed by me and by Todd Lockwood, and furthermore that he drew another dragon on the first page! It's shiiiinyyyyyy . . . .
(I should mention that I'm also auctioning off signed copies of A Star Shall Fall and With Fate Conspire . We now return you to your regularly scheduled ANHoD update.)
Other giveaways: good lord, you can't throw a rock right now without hitting one. I'm probably missing a few, but so far I know of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight underway.
Three new bits of content as well. At Bookish, I talk about how I came up with the different dragon types, and at My Bookish Ways I answer various interview questions. Also, over at No More Grumpy Bookseller, I discuss why Victorian-ish fantasy is so popular right now (or at least, why I like it).
Finally, don't forget that Letters from Lady Trent is underway! I may delay my responses just slightly, to see if I can obtain something Extra Awesome to include in my replies . . . I need to go look into that.
Anyway, there's a few things to entertain you all, and I promise I'll be back soon with non-ANHoD-related blogging!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574477.html. Comment here or there.
(I should mention that I'm also auctioning off signed copies of A Star Shall Fall and With Fate Conspire . We now return you to your regularly scheduled ANHoD update.)
Other giveaways: good lord, you can't throw a rock right now without hitting one. I'm probably missing a few, but so far I know of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight underway.
Three new bits of content as well. At Bookish, I talk about how I came up with the different dragon types, and at My Bookish Ways I answer various interview questions. Also, over at No More Grumpy Bookseller, I discuss why Victorian-ish fantasy is so popular right now (or at least, why I like it).
Finally, don't forget that Letters from Lady Trent is underway! I may delay my responses just slightly, to see if I can obtain something Extra Awesome to include in my replies . . . I need to go look into that.
Anyway, there's a few things to entertain you all, and I promise I'll be back soon with non-ANHoD-related blogging!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574477.html. Comment here or there.
February 10, 2013
End of the (tour) line
Just as a reminder, I have one final stop on my tour, this one local to me. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'll be reading and signing at Borderlands Books starting at 3 p.m. I hope to see some of you there!
February 8, 2013
Tour updates of various sorts
Where am I? What day is it? Friday? I guess I must be in San Diego, then. Wait, no, haven't gotten on a plane yet today -- I'm still in Portland.
(No really, when I woke up it took me an appallingly long time to figure that out, and also which direction to look in for the door.)
Updates! Giveaways first, since those are shiny: in addition to Jim Hines' (which is still ongoing), you can try to win a copy from The Bookish Babes (which has an excerpt and a brief Q&A with me as well) or Book Chick City (also with a guest post and an excerpt).
Or, if you'd rather rely on a charitable donation rather than luck of the draw, I have a DOUBLE-SIGNED COPY up as an auction item for Con or Bust, the travel fund for fans and writers of color to attend conventions. What do I mean by "double-signed"? I mean it has my autograph, and it has Todd Lockwood's -- along with a sketch of a dragon Todd drew inside. So that one's extra-shiny, and the money goes to a good cause.
Guest posts etc not mentioned above:
"The Literary World of Pulp Adventure (and Dragons)", Book Spot Central -- in which I talk about switching gears to a more adventurous tone
"My Favorite Bit", Mary Robinette Kowal's site -- in which I talk about Indiana Jones-style archaeology and the ancient Draconean civilization
On Being a Tabletop RPG Gamer and Writing", Geeky Pleasures -- pretty much what it says on the tin!
"Folklore Makes the (Fictional) World Go Round", Book View Cafe -- my usual Friday post, but this time digressing slightly to discuss ANHoD
Video of my reading and Q&A in Seattle
And finally, not directly related to ANHoD but live right now anyway, another SF Signal Mind Meld, wherein I discuss print and ebooks (luddite that I am) with a bunch of other people.
. . . I think that's it, at least for now. And if you'll pardon me, I have to go catch a plane!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574242.html. Comment here or there.
(No really, when I woke up it took me an appallingly long time to figure that out, and also which direction to look in for the door.)
Updates! Giveaways first, since those are shiny: in addition to Jim Hines' (which is still ongoing), you can try to win a copy from The Bookish Babes (which has an excerpt and a brief Q&A with me as well) or Book Chick City (also with a guest post and an excerpt).
Or, if you'd rather rely on a charitable donation rather than luck of the draw, I have a DOUBLE-SIGNED COPY up as an auction item for Con or Bust, the travel fund for fans and writers of color to attend conventions. What do I mean by "double-signed"? I mean it has my autograph, and it has Todd Lockwood's -- along with a sketch of a dragon Todd drew inside. So that one's extra-shiny, and the money goes to a good cause.
Guest posts etc not mentioned above:
"The Literary World of Pulp Adventure (and Dragons)", Book Spot Central -- in which I talk about switching gears to a more adventurous tone
"My Favorite Bit", Mary Robinette Kowal's site -- in which I talk about Indiana Jones-style archaeology and the ancient Draconean civilization
On Being a Tabletop RPG Gamer and Writing", Geeky Pleasures -- pretty much what it says on the tin!
"Folklore Makes the (Fictional) World Go Round", Book View Cafe -- my usual Friday post, but this time digressing slightly to discuss ANHoD
Video of my reading and Q&A in Seattle
And finally, not directly related to ANHoD but live right now anyway, another SF Signal Mind Meld, wherein I discuss print and ebooks (luddite that I am) with a bunch of other people.
. . . I think that's it, at least for now. And if you'll pardon me, I have to go catch a plane!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574242.html. Comment here or there.
February 5, 2013
A Natural History of Dragons!
Grrrrrrrrrreetings and salutations, O Internets. Today is a frabjous day for me, as it is the day that A Natural History of Dragons goes on sale in reputable bookshops everywhere!
(The ones who started selling it early are also probably reputable. They just jumped the gun a bit, is all.)
Don't forget that I will be participating in the Month of Letters Challenge; check that link for details on how to get your own hand-written letter from Lady Trent. You have all month!
***
There are going to be a lot of sightings of me around the Internet for the next month and more, as I undertake a blog tour for this book. Rather than spamming you with links every time an interview or guest post goes live, I'm going to collate them into round-ups. As of today, we have the following:
A giveaway at Jim Hines' blog. He provided an excellent blurb for A Natural History of Dragons, so Tor sent him four finished copies of the book, of which he is giving away three. But wait, there's more! He has signed the back of the book, under his blurb, and I am sending him stickers so they can be autographed by me, too. In fact, it's possible that Daniel Fox (the blurber beneath him in that photo) will also be contributing. If you can snag one of these, and then track down Melanie Rawn and Todd Lockwood, you'll have the most thoroughly signed copy of this novel in existence! To get a copy, head on over to Jim's blog and write your own blurb for the fake book Mary's Angels (previously featured in his Aicardi Foundation fundraiser).
"Why Do Dragons Look Like That?" A PW Tip Sheet, wherein you can see some of the interior sketches from the book, and read my thoughts on why I chose those parts of the story to be illustrated.
"An Interview with Lady Trent, Dragon Naturalist" From the Tor/Forge newsletter, an in-character interview of Lady Trent, by a muckraking journalist of her own world. :-)
"The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe" An entirely silly interview with me, featuring seventeenth-century profanity!
Blog Critics interview -- and finally, a more serious and thorough interview, where I talk about academia and female protagonists.
***
Finally, a quick reminder that tomorrow I embark on my book tour. If you're in Seattle, Portland, San Diego, or San Francisco, please do stop by and say hi!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574047.html. Comment here or there.
(The ones who started selling it early are also probably reputable. They just jumped the gun a bit, is all.)
Don't forget that I will be participating in the Month of Letters Challenge; check that link for details on how to get your own hand-written letter from Lady Trent. You have all month!
***
There are going to be a lot of sightings of me around the Internet for the next month and more, as I undertake a blog tour for this book. Rather than spamming you with links every time an interview or guest post goes live, I'm going to collate them into round-ups. As of today, we have the following:
A giveaway at Jim Hines' blog. He provided an excellent blurb for A Natural History of Dragons, so Tor sent him four finished copies of the book, of which he is giving away three. But wait, there's more! He has signed the back of the book, under his blurb, and I am sending him stickers so they can be autographed by me, too. In fact, it's possible that Daniel Fox (the blurber beneath him in that photo) will also be contributing. If you can snag one of these, and then track down Melanie Rawn and Todd Lockwood, you'll have the most thoroughly signed copy of this novel in existence! To get a copy, head on over to Jim's blog and write your own blurb for the fake book Mary's Angels (previously featured in his Aicardi Foundation fundraiser).
"Why Do Dragons Look Like That?" A PW Tip Sheet, wherein you can see some of the interior sketches from the book, and read my thoughts on why I chose those parts of the story to be illustrated.
"An Interview with Lady Trent, Dragon Naturalist" From the Tor/Forge newsletter, an in-character interview of Lady Trent, by a muckraking journalist of her own world. :-)
"The Pop Quiz at the End of the Universe" An entirely silly interview with me, featuring seventeenth-century profanity!
Blog Critics interview -- and finally, a more serious and thorough interview, where I talk about academia and female protagonists.
***
Finally, a quick reminder that tomorrow I embark on my book tour. If you're in Seattle, Portland, San Diego, or San Francisco, please do stop by and say hi!
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/574047.html. Comment here or there.
February 1, 2013
Books read, January 2013
The list of books I started reading and gave up on (permanently) is longer than the list of books I finished. <sigh> It was one of those months.
At least I've learned to give up on things, though. Once upon a time I felt like I had to finish every book I started, and that would have made this month substantially more boring. (We will ignore how many of these I kept reading after the point where I should have stopped, in the hopes that they would get better.)
A Memory of Light, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Live-blogged here and here. Analysis post still forthcoming. Short form: not perfectly satisfying, but a good deal more so than it might have been, under the circumstances.
Dearly, Departed, Lia Habel. I expected this to be one of the books I gave up on, as it is a YA zombie romance, and I am so very uninterested in zombies. Once past the first three pages, though -- which are much more standard-issue Zombie Horror than the rest of the book -- I found myself unexpectedly hooked. It's a post-apocalyptic world, but not post-zombie-apocalypse: no, it's a triple whammy of climate change, nuclear war, and civil war, in the aftermath of which people have built a pseudo-neo-Victorian society. (Shades of Unhallowed Metropolis.) It cheats a bit on the zombie thing -- I tend to feel that as soon as you make your zombies intelligent, you're really stretching the boundaries of the word -- but it handles the depressing side of that fairly well. And I have to praise it for this stretch of story, summarized:
ASSHOLE COMMANDER OF ZOMBIE MILITARY COMPANY: Now that we've got hold of the girl, I want you to lock her up and not tell her anything until I get there in a few days.
BRAM, FUTURE ZOMBIE BOYFRIEND: Wow, that sounds like a terrible idea! She'll go crazy not knowing anything, and probably escape, and then she'll run facefirst into a bunch of zombies without any warning and this will all end in tears and sadness. <thinks> How's about we lock her up in my room instead -- WITH ME OUTSIDE, people, I'm suggesting it because my door has lots of locks on the inside -- and then explain everything to her?
BRAM'S ZOMBIE FRIENDS: That . . . actually isn't a terrible idea, even though we'll probably all be court-martialed.
BRAM, TO THE NEWLY-AWAKE NORA, THROUGH THE DOOR: So, you may notice the door has a lot of locks on the inside --
NORA: <locks everything on the door>
BRAM, FZB: Fair. Let's play a game: you ask me a question, I answer it honestly, and if my answer makes you feel any safer, you undo a lock, until you decide it's okay to come out.
NORA: Fair.
BRAM, FZB: <explains everything>
NORA: I'm not sure I can see straight after that many metaphorical blows to the head . . . but oddly, I do feel safer. I'll come out -- but hang on a sec. <prepares>
NORA, THROWING DOOR OPEN: One wrong move and the teddy bear gets it!
BRAM, FZB: . . . fair. Would you like breakfast?
NORA: Yes, but first I would like a gun.
BRAM: Sure thing, miss, the armory is right this way, only -- can we make a deal? Bear for gun? 'Cause that belonged to my little sister and I'd be really sad if he got shot up.
NORA: Fair.
Given that I've been reading Ana Mardoll's deconstruction of Twilight, specifically Edward's complete lack of respect for Bella's autonomy and decision-making, I found Bram a delightful change from the usual paranormal romance boyfriend.
The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe. Expected to bounce off this one, too, because it's a flavor of urban fantasy that I rarely engage with. This one hooked me with the protagonist, I think, even though "badly injured Iraqi war vet" is not exactly my usual speed. And it kept me going through the book quickly enough that it wasn't until after it was over that I noticed all the things I felt were insufficiently developed or dropped. I still think the presentation of the Tufa could be improved -- my eyebrows just about shot into the sky over the whole "here's a group of black-haired people who had been living here for a long time when Europeans showed up in the New World, but they're not Native Americans" line -- but that at least got explained eventually; what I wish is that the explanation had played out more fully.
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham. First book of the Long Price Quartet. It wins on the "neat fantasy concept" front: the cities of the Khaiem depend on the andat, which are abstract concepts "bound into a form that includes volition," i.e. anthropomorphized. Seedless is probably the most interesting character in the book. The story itself ebbed and flowed for me; there's a stretch of time where you're basically waiting for an investigation to conclude, and since both the reader and the character know what's going on -- the point of the investigation is to get evidence of it -- I found that much less interesting. I am hoping the future books dig more into the andat and how they're bound, because both the mechanics and the moral implications of that are fascinating.
Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn. First book of the Tales of the Otori, set in a fantasy world based on Japan (mostly the Sengoku/early Tokugawa periods). Have I mentioned I am tired of True Love at First Sight? Oh so tired. So very, very tired. And there was time in here for the characters to at least meet and talk and interact before the love happened (even if it was still rapid), so that was a serious miss for me. I also felt Kaede could have been better-employed throughout, though some of that was mitigated by her role at the end. Anyway, I enjoyed it enough to try the second book, but a lot will depend on how much that one does the stuff I liked, instead of the stuff I found annoying.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/573825.html. Comment here or there.
At least I've learned to give up on things, though. Once upon a time I felt like I had to finish every book I started, and that would have made this month substantially more boring. (We will ignore how many of these I kept reading after the point where I should have stopped, in the hopes that they would get better.)
A Memory of Light, Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Live-blogged here and here. Analysis post still forthcoming. Short form: not perfectly satisfying, but a good deal more so than it might have been, under the circumstances.
Dearly, Departed, Lia Habel. I expected this to be one of the books I gave up on, as it is a YA zombie romance, and I am so very uninterested in zombies. Once past the first three pages, though -- which are much more standard-issue Zombie Horror than the rest of the book -- I found myself unexpectedly hooked. It's a post-apocalyptic world, but not post-zombie-apocalypse: no, it's a triple whammy of climate change, nuclear war, and civil war, in the aftermath of which people have built a pseudo-neo-Victorian society. (Shades of Unhallowed Metropolis.) It cheats a bit on the zombie thing -- I tend to feel that as soon as you make your zombies intelligent, you're really stretching the boundaries of the word -- but it handles the depressing side of that fairly well. And I have to praise it for this stretch of story, summarized:
ASSHOLE COMMANDER OF ZOMBIE MILITARY COMPANY: Now that we've got hold of the girl, I want you to lock her up and not tell her anything until I get there in a few days.
BRAM, FUTURE ZOMBIE BOYFRIEND: Wow, that sounds like a terrible idea! She'll go crazy not knowing anything, and probably escape, and then she'll run facefirst into a bunch of zombies without any warning and this will all end in tears and sadness. <thinks> How's about we lock her up in my room instead -- WITH ME OUTSIDE, people, I'm suggesting it because my door has lots of locks on the inside -- and then explain everything to her?
BRAM'S ZOMBIE FRIENDS: That . . . actually isn't a terrible idea, even though we'll probably all be court-martialed.
BRAM, TO THE NEWLY-AWAKE NORA, THROUGH THE DOOR: So, you may notice the door has a lot of locks on the inside --
NORA: <locks everything on the door>
BRAM, FZB: Fair. Let's play a game: you ask me a question, I answer it honestly, and if my answer makes you feel any safer, you undo a lock, until you decide it's okay to come out.
NORA: Fair.
BRAM, FZB: <explains everything>
NORA: I'm not sure I can see straight after that many metaphorical blows to the head . . . but oddly, I do feel safer. I'll come out -- but hang on a sec. <prepares>
NORA, THROWING DOOR OPEN: One wrong move and the teddy bear gets it!
BRAM, FZB: . . . fair. Would you like breakfast?
NORA: Yes, but first I would like a gun.
BRAM: Sure thing, miss, the armory is right this way, only -- can we make a deal? Bear for gun? 'Cause that belonged to my little sister and I'd be really sad if he got shot up.
NORA: Fair.
Given that I've been reading Ana Mardoll's deconstruction of Twilight, specifically Edward's complete lack of respect for Bella's autonomy and decision-making, I found Bram a delightful change from the usual paranormal romance boyfriend.
The Hum and the Shiver, Alex Bledsoe. Expected to bounce off this one, too, because it's a flavor of urban fantasy that I rarely engage with. This one hooked me with the protagonist, I think, even though "badly injured Iraqi war vet" is not exactly my usual speed. And it kept me going through the book quickly enough that it wasn't until after it was over that I noticed all the things I felt were insufficiently developed or dropped. I still think the presentation of the Tufa could be improved -- my eyebrows just about shot into the sky over the whole "here's a group of black-haired people who had been living here for a long time when Europeans showed up in the New World, but they're not Native Americans" line -- but that at least got explained eventually; what I wish is that the explanation had played out more fully.
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham. First book of the Long Price Quartet. It wins on the "neat fantasy concept" front: the cities of the Khaiem depend on the andat, which are abstract concepts "bound into a form that includes volition," i.e. anthropomorphized. Seedless is probably the most interesting character in the book. The story itself ebbed and flowed for me; there's a stretch of time where you're basically waiting for an investigation to conclude, and since both the reader and the character know what's going on -- the point of the investigation is to get evidence of it -- I found that much less interesting. I am hoping the future books dig more into the andat and how they're bound, because both the mechanics and the moral implications of that are fascinating.
Across the Nightingale Floor, Lian Hearn. First book of the Tales of the Otori, set in a fantasy world based on Japan (mostly the Sengoku/early Tokugawa periods). Have I mentioned I am tired of True Love at First Sight? Oh so tired. So very, very tired. And there was time in here for the characters to at least meet and talk and interact before the love happened (even if it was still rapid), so that was a serious miss for me. I also felt Kaede could have been better-employed throughout, though some of that was mitigated by her role at the end. Anyway, I enjoyed it enough to try the second book, but a lot will depend on how much that one does the stuff I liked, instead of the stuff I found annoying.
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/573825.html. Comment here or there.
January 31, 2013
The Month of Letters returns!
As you may recall, last year I particpated in Mary Robinette Kowal's Month of Letters challenge, inviting people to write letters to the characters from the Onyx Court series. I sent replies on old-fashioned paper, handwritten with a dip pen, sealed with wax, and generally had a blast.
This year, your correspondent will be Isabella, protagonist of A Natural History of Dragons. The book isn't out quite yet, of course -- next Tuesday!!! -- but you'll still have most of February in which to meet Isabella via fiction and then write to her via post.
Send your letters to:
Marie Brennan
P.O. Box 6802
San Mateo, CA 94403
IMPORTANT: Address the outside envelope to me, not to Isabella. Otherwise your letter may get bounced by the post office as being for a recipient not at that address. ALSO IMPORTANT: Include your return address! Otherwise I can't write back.
Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go practice my cursive again. It's gotten rusty since last year . . . .
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/573604.html. Comment here or there.
This year, your correspondent will be Isabella, protagonist of A Natural History of Dragons. The book isn't out quite yet, of course -- next Tuesday!!! -- but you'll still have most of February in which to meet Isabella via fiction and then write to her via post.
Send your letters to:
Marie Brennan
P.O. Box 6802
San Mateo, CA 94403
IMPORTANT: Address the outside envelope to me, not to Isabella. Otherwise your letter may get bounced by the post office as being for a recipient not at that address. ALSO IMPORTANT: Include your return address! Otherwise I can't write back.
Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go practice my cursive again. It's gotten rusty since last year . . . .
This entry was also posted at http://swan-tower.dreamwidth.org/573604.html. Comment here or there.
