SF/F Read Alongs discussion
Read Alongs
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The Tale of Yin
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Yay! Do either of you have any preference for which week you'd like to host in?
Great! I'll take the first and last week unless someone else would like to co-host one of them. ^_^ *updates schedule* See what you think?
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Yay, so glad you all liked it! And apologies for not getting to posting the questions sooner! I've been a bit overwhelmed this week and went "Oh, I should post these on Monday" because I couldn't even tell you why I thought that was a good idea. >> Hopefully it's only this week where I'm flakey.Here are the questions and my answers ahead of Monday:
1. Of Oysters, Pearls and Magic is a quiet piece, quite unlike what we might be used to reading. What did you make of the change in pace?
I really liked it! I do admit that I get thrown out of stories very easily and the oral narrative style kept jolting me out of it, but I do love stories like this. I loved the fact that we didn't get any conflict in the action-plot sense of the word. It was just a soft, gentle meditation of what makes Mirra who she is and what matters to her as she grows up.
2. Magic systems are always one of the most fascinating things to discuss. What did you think of the book's shape-based system? Does it remind you of anything or is it entirely new?
I've never seen one like this before! I actually wish we'd gotten to see a little more of Mirra's magic and of the ways the systems differ. I really liked the way Chng built up the world and gave us these little glimpses of how attitudes differed between regions. Though it makes me really curious to see how people wound up with magic. Did they come from an alternate Earth where magic has always existed? Is it something on the planet? And, considering people migrated to this planet, what happened to the technology? It didn't strike me as on par with what you'd expect from a galaxy-faring race?
Um. Sorry. I got a bit distracted. But I would just love to know more about this world and the setting. I really enjoyed the little details that Chng wove into the descriptions. I'm reasonably sure I won't be getting the answers I want in book 2 just yet, but maybe in the additional short stories.
Anyway! I like the magic system and I liked that Chng built up its use. Some of the way the magic is used is actually fairly familiar - the shielding, the visualisation - but I liked the way the narrative focused not on the magic itself, but on the other effects of this training, on the way it influences Mirra as a person.
3. Oysters are obviously important to Mirra. Do you think you'll be trying any of the recipes in the book?
Considering I'm at best intolerant to sea food, I won't be trying most of the recipes. T_T The one for chicken stew sounds interesting, though, so maybe I'll try that one sometime. I do really like that they're included! Even though I know I can't try most of them, I liked how much they helped bring Mirra's world alive. I admit that I was a bit startled and skeptical when I first saw that the recipes were embedded in the text, but I think it actually works really nicely.
4. The description of the duology suggests that these novellas are ones of compassion. How do you feel that relates to Mirra?
That's an interesting question because we see Mirra struggle with these feelings towards her Second Father throughout the story. We also see her struggling with these feelings towards herself and we can see Auri struggle with her own fears and demons.
I think those differing stories offer us a nice range of interpretations on what compassion can look like, though. It's multifaceted and I appreciated that the story highlighted that fact.
Oh! Useful thing. Just the questions without my answers. (This is what my brain has been like all week! ><)1. Of Oysters, Pearls and Magic is a quiet piece, quite unlike what we might be used to reading. What did you make of the change in pace?
2. Magic systems are always one of the most fascinating things to discuss. What did you think of the book's shape-based system? Does it remind you of anything or is it entirely new?
3. Oysters are obviously important to Mirra. Do you think you'll be trying any of the recipes in the book?
4. The description of the duology suggests that these novellas are ones of compassion. How do you feel that relates to Mirra?
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Thank you so much for organizing this Lynn, I'm mesmerized by my love of this first section!
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I'll be reading ahead this week, and will try to get questions up for next week by the weekend :)
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Also loving this one, Lynn! So glad you suggested it. :D
Imyril pointed out to me a little earlier that some copies of the book don't seem to have the Ships' Tales in them. At the very least the format is a bit confusing, but I think the Ships' Tales corresponds to Path of Kindness. (If not this at least makes the most sense in terms of dividing the stories.)So the schedule, just to repeat it, looks like this:
Week 2: February 22nd, Book 2: A Tree of Branches
Week 3: February 29th, Sea Tales
Week 4: March 7th, Ships' Tales/Path of Kindness
Really sorry I didn't manage to catch this before now! Hopefully this addresses it, though.
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1. Both Sea of Waves and Tree of Branches are very focused on character over action. Who were your favourites, and why?
2. Auri was very determined to take the Triad inland after the eruption, even when others turned back to the City. Do you think she was right? What do you think was driving her away from the sea?
(unless you talked about Auri a lot in Q1, in which case... How enigmatic was Fiona? What did you make of her choices, and Mirra's response - especially given last week's discussion of compassion?)
3. What are your thoughts on the world now Mirra's travels have taken us further afield?
4. How did you interpret Mirra's dreams?
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...and I'm going to admit I felt like an idiot, because having written the questions I then found them hard to answer and didn't get to talk about half the stuff rattling around my brain. Need more practice at this! :)
If it helps, I always feel like that when answering my own questions. Or anyone else's for that matter. >> So I understand the feeling. <3 Your answers sound great to me. ^_^My answers are here: http://www.leoconnacht.com/wp/2016/02...
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Does anybody else have this problem...?
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How many Sea Tales do you have?
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Absolutely fine with me. I haven't had a chance to read them yet, but if they're so short and confusing we can definitely skip them. ^_^ Does this mean everyone's already started/finished the last section? If so we could bump up the last week a little?Sorry for the relatively late reply too! Yesterday was one of those days. :/
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Then let's bump it up. I'll try and get the questions out a little later today with the understanding that individual blog posts may be a few days late due to the unexpected and sudden scheduling change.
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Anya wrote: "Ummmm yeah I'm going to have to stick to next week for answering section four questions, sorry!"Nothing to apologise for! I'm just glad to hear you're willing to finish out the readalong despite the sudden changes due to the circumstances. ^_^ (If I'm honest, I'm not really expecting anyone's answers to go up Monday if we're shifting the schedule this way, anyway. It's really short notice, after all.)
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We'll set it for Thursday then. ^_^ I'll make sure the questions go up on Monday with an explanation of what happened, but I'll shift actually giving my answers to Thursday to match.
Questions!1) I know that we all struggled with the Sea Tales short story section. Do you think they added much to our understanding of the world or the characters?
2) Kindness sets out from home unsure of what she wants. How do you find the beginning of her journey compares to that of Mirra's?
3) In a way, Kindness' journey is a mirror of her mother's. Both leave their home town, but where Mirra lives in the city and then leaves for the Innerlands, Kindness leaves for the Innerlands and then to the City. What do you think about the way Chng chose to mirror the journeys?
4) Mirra's story was one that in many ways centred around compassion. How do you feel that central theme plays out in Kindness' story?
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Week 1: February 15th, Book 1: A Sea Of Waves, hosted by Lynn from Little Lion Lynnet's (that's me)
Week 2: February 22nd, Book 2: A Tree of Branches, hosted by Imyril from the reading reptile
Week 3: February 29th, Sea Tales, hosted by Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow
Week 4: March 7th, Ships' Tales, hosted by Lynn from Little Lion Lynnet's (me again!)
The book's only available in ebook, but it looks to be around 70 print pages per section.
If anyone wants to be a co-host, please let me know! I'll update this post to include host information asap. ^_^ And of course drop a comment if you're interested in joining me!
I'll be running the readalong from here with cross-post of my answers to my blog. I'm really excited to get started on this one! On paper, the description of Joyce Chng's stories sound right up my alley and will hopefully intrigue others as well. ^_^