A.R. Jarvis's Blog, page 10

Shousetsu Bang*Bang Yes, And, Special #2

Appropriate?

Hello, again, people. Since you just seem to keep coming. Who invited you anyway? Don’t you know the internet is for people to keep blogs that no one reads? I mean, seriously. Who read blogs?

But, since you’re here, I’m going to complain about the new interface for entering blog-posts on WordPress–oh no, wait. I’m going to listen to Nightvale and–no, no that’s not it, either. Oh, right, there was a new SSBB issue this week! And I read it! I didn’t even have to sacrifice my writing to do it, either. Unfortunately.

But this was not your ordinary Shousetsu Bang*Bang, nay, this was the wonderful, the exemplary, the extraordinary Yes, And issue, where all sorts of weird shit is allowed.

Double Shot Red-Eye With Room, by Aosora Hikaru: A cute, simple, and sweet gender-fluid romance.

Dinner at Dido’s, by Iron Eater: Weiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrd.

Unregulated Void, by Rikougawa Yashiki: In two parts. A clever and interesting sci-fi threesome adventure! Some space pirates, some UST, some asteroids, an alien or two. You know, the usual.

God(dess) Bless you, Ruby Woo, by Kimyō Tabibito: A dirty tale of a drag queen/dom and his best friend, who is also usually a dom, but maybe not always.

In the Bush, by shukyou: Another sci-fi two-parter. It’s the tale of a man meeting his new self while settling into his new home at the reserves. And also meeting the new neighbors.

The Lavender Menace, by T.F. Grognon: A superhero gender…I guess gender-fluid tale (though it’s not specified). The writing was a bit less clear with this one than I prefer, but not in a bad way, just not in my preferred way.

la chevaliere, by Yamanashi Moe: Another two-part story, this one about a historical romance about knight of indeterminate gender and a lady of intermediate race.

{holographic-synthesis-waltz}, by Himawari: Hey, remember a few issues back where there was a guy, and a space station, and some AIs–it must have been the AI issue, yeah? Great story, that. Anyway, this is a sequel! It’s a two-part sci-fi tale of two AIs trying to sort out their place in a human world.

And three lovely pictures which you can go look at and judge for yourself. Go on, I dare you to.

Conclusion: I’m not a big fan of weird sex, especially weird genital-less sex, but in looking at my brief opinions, I have to conclude that it was a really great issue. Certainly the overall writing quality was remarkable–not that it’s usually horrible or anything, just that these were all very well written. There were some very interesting sci-fi worlds built, and some intriguing characters posited. And some incredibly hot sex for me to skim, too.

But, on the other hand, the new WordPress interface sucks more dick than was in the entire issue. Just, you know, for comparison.

Physics of the Impossible

Physics inaction

For the last three interminable weeks I have been slogging my way through this Physics of the Impossible book, which makes it sound really long, but seriously it only should have lasted me a week. Maybe a weekend, too, if I were busy. Yet I don’t know what happened–oh wait. Yes I do. Gay fiction is what happened. Wanderlust and Brendan are to blame.

Not a slight lack of interest.

But. So. Physics of the Impossible: Lengthy Subtitle by Michio Kaku. The book is from 2008, so the science is a bit passe, honestly. And with the way that I live I pretty much knew all of it (and the new science in these fields) already. But it was an interesting premise, and an interesting read nonetheless.

It barely mentioned the LHC, though. Which didn’t come online until 2010 (I believe), but since he was covering stuff like String Theory and the Standard Model, someone should probably have taken away the author’s scientist card for failing to give The LHC more than a passing mention.

Anyway. That was your healthy brain-food for the week, and my obligatory comments on it, so I’m going to go read gay pro–except, it’s the SSBB rainbow special issue, so it’s not just gay smut, it’s…some weird shit. But whatever, I’m going to go read that now.

…If the things that I put into my brain are metaphorically food (for thought?), then I wonder what my metaphorical brain’s physique would be. I mean, there’s some healthy stuff (science!), and there’s some activity (you try thinking after 2-year-olds, and tell me it’s not a mentally-active sport), but there’s also an awful lot of junk food in there…

Which reminds me I have cherries!

~ta

Wander Lust

Wander away.

The Slash Pile is a nifty livejournal (now on tumblr, too!) site which features cloud-sourced recommendations for gay reads. I’ve found some good things through it, and some less-good things, and some things that have been indefinitely stashed in my “Stuff I should try to read if I ever have the time” bookmark folder (which is longer than my webcomics bookmark folder, if that helps you visualize). And sometimes they also produce anthologies. The latest one, and I believe the only one I’ve read is Wanderlust, by T.S. Spoon.

And, since I do this with anthologies and other clusters of short-stories, below is a brief summary of all the different stories:

Charlie’s Angel and the Borderland Blues by Blue GhostGhost: Short and clever, about a politician and the closet, but maybe not. It has the most perfect ending, though.

Nifty Shades of Grey by Ania: A simple day-in-the-life of a porn star. Some smut, taken in a humorous manner because porn industry, so it’s not quite what you’d expect.

Hitchhiker by Berthablue: A couple driving cross-country picks up a hitchhiker. It has something to recommend it, but the characters read a bit too similarly, which made it difficult to track what was going on. Raises some questions about consent.

What Remains by Jaolynn: Probably deserved more of a chance than I gave it, but the prose was a bit sloppy, and my attention was lost. Basic paranormal investigators, possibly with a twist, but I didn’t stick around long enough to say for sure.

Deliverance by Ais: A tragic tale of spies and terrorists. Well-written, and with a bit of a cliff-hanger ending–though it is by no means incomplete. More like this is one episode in a larger story.

Green Ruin by Dusk Peterson: The tale of a prank. Light on slash, but heavy on humor.

The Greenest Boy in Town by Lucy Kemnitzer: Boys with green bits in a place that maybe doesn’t like that so much. The author’s style takes a bit of adjusting, but it’s worth it. So very, very worth it.

The Super Cell: An Origin Story by Manicdak: This is a curious Alice-in-Wonderland style tale. It has some humor to it, and also some very interesting world-building stuff, but is unfortunately hampered by a ham-handed third-person omnipotence narration, and a really weak plot-resolution, among other things.

Webs by G: There was a vampire? and a university student? and something about a guy pretending to be–oh, can’t say that; spoilers. It was mediocre, flawed most by (I hope) the assumption that we’re familiar with the world and characters from somewhere else. The slash is implied as something that will happen in the future.

Pas de Deux by Z: This one was interesting. It’s just a little snippet, possibly one of many, possibly just one of implied many. The slash is again very light, and the world-setting is very dark, but it’s a nice little thinky-tale.

Crevices by Xythe Twistvoid: This one was fem-slash, which wasn’t what I expected, so I started reading the first-person tale with a male voice, then got really confused when the only other character was female, because there were no (English) words to explicitly define which gender the person I was reading was, so it could have been het, but then what would it have been doing in this anthology? But then I got that sorted out, put away the fact that lesbians aren’t really My Thing, and it’s a pretty good story. Another thinky one, with at least some basis in another story (or a desperate need for more definitions of made-up words). And light on the romance angle. So, I guess par for the course with this collection.

There were also some images in the story, which were all nice, but I’ll spare you the art-analysis (as always).

Concluding remarks: …well. Looking over this list and the summaries, I can’t say that it looks so great. There were a few gems, sure, but most of it settled on the neutral-to-negative end of the scale. I think I’m glad I read it, and I’m sure that the anthology as a whole has a lot of fans (and the Slash Pile deserves lots of fans!), but I’m not sure I can honestly recommend it. It was free, though, so I guess, with low expectations and a free weekend, it might be worth checking out.

Brendan and the Beast

Brendan and the Beast is a story I got through a Slash Pile recommendation. It’s a gay take on Beauty and the Beast (but what isn’t?). The author also has a blog about the story/book, and it seems to be on FanFiction.net, too. Just in cast you have a preferred reading site.

Anyway, when I saw the rec, I thought I’d give it a try, since fairy tales and gay romance seems to be my Thing. And it’s…hmm.

I hate to say bad things because I read the whole thing (with some skim mode), and because the author is looking into getting it published, and I don’t want to dissuade her–though I do think the book could seriously benefit from some serious editing, so I seriously hope she got that done between this ‘rough’ version and whatever’s going to the press. Also, the author clearly loved this tale, and there’s definitely fans for it out there.

But since I’ve already admitted to some flaws in the writing, let’s explore them in more depth.

First, the story starts out in a ‘fairy tale’ style of writing. This is usually not a great idea for an author, although I know what the appeal is. It–much like any other specific style of writing–is not as easy as it sounds. This author–Kodora–does a pretty good job of it (no unnecessary insertions of ‘indeed’ at least), but it reads very slowly, and continues for a very long time into the text. It does break down not too long after the two main characters meet, but getting there felt interminable (and I’m not sure the break-down was intentional).

Second, the relationship. It wasn’t insta-love, which is nice, but it was more like non-love. A sort of barely-more-than-platonic friendship that switched to them having copious amounts of furry sex, not unexpectedly or without warning, but still rather fast considering the general pacing. And also without a whole lot of tension, and I love tension–I think there was supposed to be tension, I just didn’t really see it. Also, furry sex. Plus it went on and on and on before the next section of plot progression.

Third, minor inconsistencies. Like the rose that was plucked off at the head, stuffed in a pocket, thrown at someone (when it lost some petals), then had a long stem to go in a vase, then was torn off at the head (again), traveled a bit, got stolen by an invisible servant, returned as a long-stem rose in a vase, all while maintaining a ‘prefect’ appearance. Then I think it was snapped off at the head (for a third time), before actually showing some wear when the whole castle starts to die. Also one of the snapped-off stems was long enough to grow a whole bush from in a few months. I don’t know much about roses, but really? really? There were a few other things like that, though none quite so painful. Still, it’s things I dearly, dearly hope were fixed in editing.

By now you’re probably wondering how I even got this far into the book. Well. There were some talking fish. And I liked the characters, once they interacted. And the twist at the end was pretty interesting. Honestly, it’s a pretty solid story/book, with a decently coherent world-setting, and some nicely dimensional characters. It takes some things from the Disney Beauty and the Beast, and some from the traditional version, and does it’s own thing with both, which is pretty neat.

So I think maybe I’d recommend checking out the published version, if it ever exists, in the hopes that the flaws were corrected (though there’s really no way around the furry sex), because it could be something beautiful. If the published version doesn’t exist, then…maybe this would be okay to read if you’re not feeling too picky, and don’t mind rampant rose abuse.

Changeless

A few days ago I finished reading Changeless by Gail Carriger. It has the dubious honor of being the first book I’ve got through library ebook loan. But since this time when I was browsing the catalog, I noticed that they have a bunch of gay books–like a contract with Dreamspinner Press–I doubt this will be the last ebook I borrow. Also, with it’s completion I have only one book left on my to-read list (with plenty of exceptions), so soon I can read anything I want.

But anyway, Changeless is the sequel to Soulless (which is an awesome pun, BTW). It’s good, I like the whole series so far, but Changeless is not as good as Soulless. There were several plot lines that the story was following, and while it seemed like they would all tie together in the end, they…didn’t quite. The resolution for the most important one happened way too far from the end of the novel, and then the others all tied off neatly and easily, leaving the biggest emotional impact to be something that was foreshadowed, but not truly addressed as part of the tale (and it was also the set-up for the sequel).

I feel like I should also address the main character, who is a strong-headed female, but there’s not much to say about her, except that she’s an actual strong female character. She’s the agency of her own rescue, she doesn’t end up imprisoned at any point, she can’t always quite rescue herself, but she doesn’t need to wait around for a man, either. She’s also comfortable with her sexuality (perhaps too comfortable, there was a lot of *ahem* curtains blowing in the wind, if you know what I mean), and doesn’t define herself as being the wife of her husband (although they are definitely married and together as a couple). The secondary women are harder to pin down, because a few of them are really quite useless (but in an intentional way, and in the perspective of the main character), while a few of them are not. But Alexia herself, she’s fantastic.

So it was a good read, and I like the world that we’re immersed in. One could argue the plot resolutions lack impact away under the guise of “realism” (because in real life nothing is really that climatic), but it’s still weak story-telling. I’m going to read the sequels (two more! on hold at the library, but in dead-tree format), I just can’t give it more than four stars because of the weakened ending.

 

Reawakening

I AM THE DRAGON KING. FEAR ME.

Hi, people. *eyes slight increase in blog stats suspiciously* Don’t stick around, I’ll get self-conscious about what I post, and thus probably less funny.

Which will be hard because I’m not all that funny to begin with.

Anyway. I just finished reading Reawakening by Amy Rae Durreson. I really liked it. And not just because I share a first name with the author.

It’s classic high fantasy, with dragons and gods and caravans traveling through a desert, but with a gay romance. Which means it was simply wonderful.

I did–I hate to say it, but I did feel that the book was subtly lacking. Not sure what it was exactly, but something like all her characters were just a tad too alike, and all her descriptions were just a smidgen too flat. It wasn’t…I still loved it dearly, I just…if it were getting a grade it would be an A- for “Really fucking good, but could have been better.” With lots of apologies and simpering kiss-up comments about how I really did love it.

Yeah. It kills me to write that. I’m still debating deleting it.

Because I want you, possible reader, to go and read this, since it was wonderful, and contained everything that fantasy should contain, and everything that gay romancy-fantase should contain, but also a decently creative world set-up, and a rather hilarious glossary at the end. So yeah, totally worth reading.

Shousetsu Bang*Bang #49

Suppose that might be a mom, but whatever.

The newest issue of Shousetsu Bang*Bang came out yesterday, so I sacrificed my evening writing to read all the stories. Not for me, no, if had been for me, I would have savored each one and dragged it out for the week. No, this–this was for you, dear reader.

Oh, who am I kidding? No one reads this, and I read that for me, anyway. Besides, my writing doesn’t seem to be appearing on this blog anymore lately, does it?

So. Shousetsu Bang*Bang. Gay pron in written form. This issue: Father’s Day.

You said Yes as I said Please, by Kimyō Tabibito: A simple D/s scene. “Father’s Day” seems to have lent itself well to that kink, I must say.

Lumberjack preschool, by Kimyōna Akage: A cute one about a guy who works at a preschool for lumberjack families, and one of the dads. Again with the D/s kink, but milder.

The Campsite Rule, by shukyou: A two-parter, and probably the hottest story of the bunch, about a guy who goes to stay with his best friend’s father (and that father’s husband) for a few months. Plenty of everything.

Beyond the Sea, by Iron Eater: I guess this one qualifies as a merman, although it’s not exactly what you’d expect.

A Chain of Beads, by Hyakunichisou 13: This one was the least theme-related, I believe, although it still was, just not–look, this was a really good story. The prose took some adjusting for, but the hints of world-building were just absolutely fascinating.

Second Chances, by Aosora Hikaru: Another two-parter, with more D/s kink. A father meets this guy, but there’s some question of if the other guy will be able to fit into the half-family they already have.

My Hawk, by Natsumachi: This was the one with incest. It also has the dubious honor of being the one story I didn’t finish. It was more for writing style issues, though; a lack of showing, an inability of the words to keep my eyes on the page. Something like that.

Moltslawn Industries, by Kaerutobi Ike: Two parts. A curious tale of coincidences and miscommunications, with a happy end for all when we finally get there.

The Confession, by Yūdoku Fukuronezumi: A hot a simple confession of sins. Or a simple confession of hot sins.

How Far You’ve Come, by Domashita Romero: I’m starting to suspect SSBB of intentionally saving the best stories for last. This is a heartwarming tale of two guys who play gay chicken, and possibly win, although that really depends how you define “winning” for a game like gay chicken.

There were also two illustrations, which were nice, but I don’t feel like reliving my art history classes and analyzing them for you

And so there you have it. A hint of incest, a few cups of D/s, and enough dads to go around.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009

Bashful sidewalk

For the last two weeks I have been slogging my way through The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009, edited by Elizabeth Kolbert. It’s not as long as it took me to get through it, but I kept getting distracted by reading gay short stories. Unfathomable, I know.

Anyway, I’ve read I think two other Best S&N collections before, and they aren’t messing around with that ‘best’ claim, although there’s usually one or two essays (articles? entries? stories?) that I don’t care for as much–this time it was one about the contagious cancer in the Tasmanian Devils, which is awful, but I’ve heard about it extensively from other sources already, and also the writing was dry.

I was worried the science would be out of date, but it was mostly still relevant, 5 years later, so that was encouraging. The LHC hadn’t been activated yet, though, and that was commented on in several of the articles–and in at least one it would have affected the content, after.

I love science. But it’s such a horrible cliche to say that now. So I can say that I loved science before it was cool, but that’s another cliche and a half. Plus there’s all this kick-back about how loving the information science provides us with is not loving the actual science–but I do love the actual science, and the scientists who do it, and I wish that I had chosen a more scientific path in life, so that I could be one of them.

But the real problem that I have with the whole ‘I science’ movement, is that it all but turns science into a religion–or into magical thinking, rather. “Science shows us…” “According to Science…” “That’s Science.” Science isn’t just one thing, and it’s not a magical answer-all tool. It’s made up of people, who do things and study things and analyze things, and each of those people has a different name. And each of the things that they study has a different name.

And each of those conclusions that you so much cannot be fully appreciated scientifically unless you also know where it came from, how we discovered it, and why it happens that way–to the best of our knowledge. Simple facts are not science, and they are not teaching people to like science, they are just tiny chunks of digestible information which teach people to believe everything they hear.

Facts without a history are as likely to be fiction as truth.

Uneggs Unsung

I…there were things, and then there were other things, and I actually did write over a thousand words, but it’s terrible, because the scene just won’t work, and I think I have to skip over it and do flash-backy things, but then there was the things this weekend, and it just didn’t happen.

They weren’t even all that exciting of things. Well, unless you consider my acquisition of a blender to be as exciting as *I* consider it to be.

And here I am, not even writing tonight, and it’s almost bedtime. So just…enjoy these pictures of peonies instead. Since they are the creative extent of my past week.

Wicked Gentlemen

Totally wicked

This weekend I decided to go with a gay romance read, and selected Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale. It’s one of those books that always recommended on lists of gay fantasy, but if you read the reviews people seem to feel rather ambiguous towards it, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel.

I’m still not entirely sure how I feel, actually.

Wicked Gentlemen is two separate stories about the same characters (serially). The first is in first person, and the second is in…

…third person. Not that that makes any real difference. I just wanted to state it. They both do a good job of what they are doing, and each one had a fairly solid plot, although the second one seemed a bit patchy when it came to the passage of time and distance.

But every so often I’d be reading along, and I’d suddenly start to feel like I was reading a different story. I do not know why this happened, but it was like I’d blank for a sentence or two, and then suddenly be reading a one-shot about the guy, which would eventually lead back to the main story…I don’t know. It was downright weird.

Otherwise it was good, and I enjoyed the world set-up, and somewhat wish there was a sequel to read.