PoC SFF Book Club discussion
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The Lives of Tao
Welcome to The Lives of Tao!
Why did I pick this book? Well, it's recent, it's by a PoC author writing a PoC character, it was well reviewed, and it sounds fresh, interesting and funny. Mixing SFF and comedy isn't easy, but when it's done right, it's fantastic. Does anyone remember Robert Asprin's Myth series, by the way? He was also Asian-American—so much for the stereotype that we're humorless :p
I tried to pick a very diverse selection for these eight books, and if you didn't like the look of Servant of the Underworld, maybe you'll like this book. The next one, Smoketown by Tenea Johnson, looks more dense and weighty, and also more female-centered.
Join in and read along! I'm going to open the discussion post for The Lives of Tao next Monday, October 20th, and we'll discuss it for a week.
Please let me know if you need help finding this book at a reduced price! I suggest Scribd for e-copies and used book vendors online for print copies.
“Tipping his hat to both science fiction novels and comic books, Chu delivers a narrative that is at times pulse-pounding, laugh-out-loud funny and thoughtful. Part James Bond, part Superman, part Orphanage. There’s something here for everyone.”
Myke Cole, author of Control Point and Fortress Frontier
“A totally original sci-fi thriller that will have you hooked from page one with both riveting action and a sly wit. This is a story of human history, the hidden powers that have shaped it, and one man’s transformation from complete nobody to a key fighter in the war for humanity’s future.”
Ramez Naam, author of Nexus
When out-of-shape IT technician Roen Tan woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it.
He wasn’t.
He now has a passenger in his brain – an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions – the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix – the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that’s what it takes.
Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that’s going to end up well…
File Under: Science Fiction [ The Tug of War | I Was Genghis | Diary of a Slob | Spy vs Spy ]
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The third book we’re reading here at the PoC SFF Book Club won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award (for outstanding SFF by a writer of color) and has gotten numerous positive reviews. It’s more SFF than romance, but there’s also a love story between two women. You can read the first chapter here for free! Copies are available to buy here, at the publisher, and you can also get used copies via Amazon.
I’ll open the discussion thread in one week, on Monday. If you’ve read this book already, please let us know what you think! I’m excited to get started on it myself.
The city of Leiodare is unlike any other in the post-climate change United States. Within its boundaries, birds are outlawed and what was once a crater in Appalachia is now a tropical, glittering metropolis where Anna Armour is waiting. An artist by passion and a factory worker by trade, Anna is a woman of special gifts. She has chosen this beautiful, traumatized city to wait for the woman she’s lost, the one she believes can save her from her troubled past and uncertain future.When one night Anna creates life out of thin air and desperation, no one is prepared for what comes next – not Lucine, a smooth talking soothsayer with plans for the city; Lucine’s brother Eugenio who has designs of his own; Seife, a star performer in the Leiodaran cosmos; or Rory, a forefather of the city who’s lived through outbreak, heartbreak, and scandal. Told through their interlocking stories, Smoketown delves into the invisible connections that rival magic, and the cost of redemption.
I used to follow the author when I was more active on Twitter, and read about all the research she’d done on this book. It sounded so compelling! The author is of French and Vietnamese descent (her Wikipedia entry is here) and has won numerous awards in the SFF field.
She’s a total outsider when it comes to Mexico and Aztec/Nahuatl culture, the milieu of Servant of the Underworld. I recall her talking about that, and the responsibility she felt as an outsider not to create a stereotypical or harmful representation. I’m really happy to start off the club with a book by a PoC writing about a totally different PoC culture, with all the risks and responsibilities that entails.
Like her, I’m also an outsider. However, I’ve been to Mexico and have studied some indigenous history, as well as visiting numerous archaeological sites. When we’re reading and discussing this book, let’s remember to center any perspectives by people from the region or with indigenous American ancestry.
And yes, I have no doubt it’s going to be gory. Any book with the premise, “the Aztecs were right about the sun going out” is going to be gory. I hope people will keep in mind that “[insert x] cosmology is right” is very common in SFF, and most often used for culturally-Christian-based fantasy, and can be equally gory (angels versus demons, etc.), it’s just that if we’re raised in a Christian culture (whether we’re Christian or not, and I’m not) we don’t notice the violence. If anyone has read this book already, could you please mention any potentially disturbing content that isn’t obvious from the description of the book?
To get a copy of these book, I recommend going directly to the publisher, Angry Robot, and getting an EPUB electronic copy. That’s how I plan on reading it. There’s a great free program called Calibre that will let you read ebooks on your laptop, and it works well with an app called Marvin for IoS. You can also buy it through Amazon, either paper copy or e-copy, and used versions of the book should be available cheaply through most retailers. If you go to our Goodreads bookshelf, they’ll have a lot of buy links.
Here’s some more information about the book from the publisher, Angry Robot:
http://angryrobotbooks.com/our-author...
Servant of the Underworld / Aliette de Bodard
“An Aztec priest of the dead tries to solve a murder mystery, and finds that politics may be even more powerful than magic. A vivid portrayal of an interesting culture in a truly fresh fantasy novel.”
– Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Winds of Dune
“Amid the mud and maize of the Mexica empire, Aliette de Bodard has composed a riveting story of murder, magic and sibling rivalry.”
- Elizabeth Bear
“I haven’t enjoyed a proper detective story this much in ages, and the rich setting, monsters and magic just added an extra layer of delight.”
– David Devereux
ServantUnderworld-front-72dYear One-Knife, Tenochtitlan – the capital of the Aztecs. The end of the world is kept at bay only by the magic of human sacrifice. A priestess disappears from an empty room drenched in blood. Acatl, high priest, must find her, or break the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead. But how do you find someone, living or dead, in a world where blood sacrifices are an everyday occurrence and the very gods stalk the streets?
Aliette de Bodard is the hottest rising star in world SF and Fantasy, blending ancient crimes with wild imagination. This is her debut novel.
FILE UNDER: Fantasy [The Aztecs / Locked room mystery / Human sacrifice / Destroy the Gods]
More praise…
“A gripping mystery steeped in blood and ancient Aztec magic. I was enthralled.”
– Sean Williams
“This is Book 1 in a trilogy and I am eager to get my hands on the next book when it is released.”
– Loudmouth Man
“This book is beautifully written and a pleasure to lose oneself in… Please see for yourself and pick up a copy!”
– Candyman
“The world-building is exquisite and we *believe* we are transported to the 15th century Tenotichtlan and together with the superb voice they formed the main reason I enjoyed this book so much… Highly recommended… Ms. de Bodard is a writer to watch.”
– Fantasy Book Critic
“Servant of the Underworld is an incredibly strong and promising debut, showing her talents at full effect – she can create amazing, believable worlds; her characters are solid and relatable, and she knows how to do interesting magic, great action and creepiness in spades.”
– Fantasy and SciFi Weblog
“I am finding it rather difficult to express my opinions of this novel without resorting to gushing like a schoolgirl about it… It is a book which is like a fresh breeze of crisp air.”
– Lateral Books
“Servant of the Underworld is a highly original debut novel. Thanks to a solid mystery plot and Aliette de Bodard’s extensive research into pre-Conquest Meso-America, this novel should strike a chord with more than just fantasy readers.”
– FantasyLiterature.com
“de Bodard weaves a substantial air of magic and wonder into her narrative.”
– Booksquawk
“Part murder mystery, part well-researched historical novel and part fantasy… The fantasy element blends neatly with the other parts. 4****”
– SFX Magazine
“The book starts out a slow, steady pace and builds momentum from there. It’s not some huge action scene that hooks you. It’s the atmosphere. The blood spilled to gain favor from the gods. The cultural details Bodard infuses in each moment.”
– Examiner.com
“From page one I was drawn into Acatl’s world … a remarkable historically-based fantasy, using the myths and legends of the Aztec people as a background to a twisting murder mystery.”
– Speculative Book Review
“[It was the novel’s] use of the mythic that I found most interesting: the magical system based upon glyphs and blood seemed very real and provided a rich, numinous texture to the novel.”
– Red Rook Review