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Oh, hello there, leisure time. It's nice to see you again after all this while! Thank you for falling on a Wednesday so I can actually write one of these things again.
And hello everyone! I hope you've all had/are having an excellent solstice/giftsmas/Yule/or whatyouwill. And with that:
What I Finished Reading This Week
Deep Wheel Orcadia – Harry Josephine Giles
This is a free-verse science fiction novel written in Orcadian English, with a version in standard English included at the bottom of each page. The worldbuilding is fun. The characters are fun. If Giles had stuck with a slice-of-life format for this book, I would have loved it. Unfortunately, they included a plot—an interesting one, in which all of the dozen or so characters have a big stake. And then, as everything is building to the high-stakes climax, you turn the page, and…
...find the author acknowledgments. Let me be clear, this is not a “lady or the tiger” situation: this is a book abruptly terminating as if someone had ripped out the final chapters. (I have an unfortunate, sneaking suspicion that this may be because Giles' funding ran out before they could pen one.) It’s really all frustrating, because the story was so promising. That said, it’s an enjoyable read until the rug is pulled out from beneath you, and I’ll probably read it again sometime, just knowing not to expect an ending.
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated – Gerald Morris
This is one of the better entries in Morris’s Knights’ Tales books for younger readers. The titular character is endearing, the adventures are fun, and the twists are well-executed.
The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True – Gerald Morris
Gawain is one of my favorite Arthurian knights, and Morris’s as well, and I generally enjoy his take on this character. It’s also the appropriate season for a Gawain retelling. This one is generally good, and it gives readers a peek at what Morris's Gawain was like pre-The Squire’s Tale while maintaining important elements of the original tale, reworked in a manner prudish midwestern-US parents would be comfortable letting their children read. Morris does have Arthur’s entire court accompany Gawain to the Green Chapel, which I think cheapens Gawain’s trueness a bit, but overall this is a good retelling for younger (sheltered) readers.
The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short – Gerald Morris
This is perhaps the weakest of the Knights’ Tales books, in that the slapstick, cartoonish buffoonery, while fun, comes at the expense of the deeper story.
The Legend of the King – Gerald Morris
Morris has written some of my favorite Arthurian novels, but the Squire’s Tale series jumps the shark at the halfway point. While The Legend of the King is an improvement over the previous volume it’s still not very good, largely due to Morris’s editorializing and commentary. And the thing is, I agree with the thrust of said editorializing and commentary (albeit absent Morris's Christian framing), but in the best books in this series it’s subtly delivered, and in this one it is very much...not. That said, Guinglain is a fabulous character, and he has some excellent scenes in this volume.
A Hat Full of Sky – Terry Pratchett
Pratchett was one of the greats, and Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching are some of his mightiest characters. This book never gets old, no matter how many times I read it. It’s still laugh-out-loud funny even though I know exactly what’s coming, and even more than that, it’s profound.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
I’ve read this book every year for almost as long as I’ve been alive, and it does not get old.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Hacker and the State – Ben Buchanan
Because I needed a dose of well-written, present-day nonfiction in my reading.
Shamrock Tea – Ciaran Carson
No one writes a novel like Ciaran Carson, and this one is phenomenal even by his standards.
Kindling the Celtic Spirit – Mara Freeman
Specifically the chapter on midwinter.
Winters in the World – Eleanor Parker
Specifically, the introduction and chapters on winter and midwinter night.
The Forgotten Kingdom – Signe Pike
The first book in this trilogy, The Lost Queen, was not a good book. And yet I still found myself wanting to read the next, so here we are. The cover blurb promises prospective readers “a haunting, poetic origin story to the Authurian legend” [sic], which sort of tells you everything you need to know right there.
The Picts – Gordon Noble & Nicholas Evans
Oh yes, this is the meaty, clearly written, heavily illustrated sort of history book I love, and I imagine it will be a good antidote to whatever The Forgotten Kingdom has in store.
What I’m Reading Next
This was apparently my week for acquiring books by authors whose surnames start with ‘b’, to whit: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, Embers of the Hand by Eleanor Barraclough, The Myth of the Year by Helen Benigni and Barbara Carter, Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, The Runner’s Brain by Jeff Brown and Liz Neporent, The Hacker and the State by Ben Buchannan, Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food by Hsiao-Ching Chou, Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie, Ansuz and Fehu by Malene Sølvsten, Run with Power by Jim Vance, and a Magic: The Gathering oracle deck (a surprise from the GC).
これで以上です。
And hello everyone! I hope you've all had/are having an excellent solstice/giftsmas/Yule/or whatyouwill. And with that:
What I Finished Reading This Week
Deep Wheel Orcadia – Harry Josephine Giles
This is a free-verse science fiction novel written in Orcadian English, with a version in standard English included at the bottom of each page. The worldbuilding is fun. The characters are fun. If Giles had stuck with a slice-of-life format for this book, I would have loved it. Unfortunately, they included a plot—an interesting one, in which all of the dozen or so characters have a big stake. And then, as everything is building to the high-stakes climax, you turn the page, and…
...find the author acknowledgments. Let me be clear, this is not a “lady or the tiger” situation: this is a book abruptly terminating as if someone had ripped out the final chapters. (I have an unfortunate, sneaking suspicion that this may be because Giles' funding ran out before they could pen one.) It’s really all frustrating, because the story was so promising. That said, it’s an enjoyable read until the rug is pulled out from beneath you, and I’ll probably read it again sometime, just knowing not to expect an ending.
The Adventures of Sir Balin the Ill-Fated – Gerald Morris
This is one of the better entries in Morris’s Knights’ Tales books for younger readers. The titular character is endearing, the adventures are fun, and the twists are well-executed.
The Adventures of Sir Gawain the True – Gerald Morris
Gawain is one of my favorite Arthurian knights, and Morris’s as well, and I generally enjoy his take on this character. It’s also the appropriate season for a Gawain retelling. This one is generally good, and it gives readers a peek at what Morris's Gawain was like pre-The Squire’s Tale while maintaining important elements of the original tale, reworked in a manner prudish midwestern-US parents would be comfortable letting their children read. Morris does have Arthur’s entire court accompany Gawain to the Green Chapel, which I think cheapens Gawain’s trueness a bit, but overall this is a good retelling for younger (sheltered) readers.
The Adventures of Sir Givret the Short – Gerald Morris
This is perhaps the weakest of the Knights’ Tales books, in that the slapstick, cartoonish buffoonery, while fun, comes at the expense of the deeper story.
The Legend of the King – Gerald Morris
Morris has written some of my favorite Arthurian novels, but the Squire’s Tale series jumps the shark at the halfway point. While The Legend of the King is an improvement over the previous volume it’s still not very good, largely due to Morris’s editorializing and commentary. And the thing is, I agree with the thrust of said editorializing and commentary (albeit absent Morris's Christian framing), but in the best books in this series it’s subtly delivered, and in this one it is very much...not. That said, Guinglain is a fabulous character, and he has some excellent scenes in this volume.
A Hat Full of Sky – Terry Pratchett
Pratchett was one of the greats, and Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching are some of his mightiest characters. This book never gets old, no matter how many times I read it. It’s still laugh-out-loud funny even though I know exactly what’s coming, and even more than that, it’s profound.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – Barbara Robinson
I’ve read this book every year for almost as long as I’ve been alive, and it does not get old.
What I Am Currently Reading
The Hacker and the State – Ben Buchanan
Because I needed a dose of well-written, present-day nonfiction in my reading.
Shamrock Tea – Ciaran Carson
No one writes a novel like Ciaran Carson, and this one is phenomenal even by his standards.
Kindling the Celtic Spirit – Mara Freeman
Specifically the chapter on midwinter.
Winters in the World – Eleanor Parker
Specifically, the introduction and chapters on winter and midwinter night.
The Forgotten Kingdom – Signe Pike
The first book in this trilogy, The Lost Queen, was not a good book. And yet I still found myself wanting to read the next, so here we are. The cover blurb promises prospective readers “a haunting, poetic origin story to the Authurian legend” [sic], which sort of tells you everything you need to know right there.
The Picts – Gordon Noble & Nicholas Evans
Oh yes, this is the meaty, clearly written, heavily illustrated sort of history book I love, and I imagine it will be a good antidote to whatever The Forgotten Kingdom has in store.
What I’m Reading Next
This was apparently my week for acquiring books by authors whose surnames start with ‘b’, to whit: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, Embers of the Hand by Eleanor Barraclough, The Myth of the Year by Helen Benigni and Barbara Carter, Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, The Runner’s Brain by Jeff Brown and Liz Neporent, The Hacker and the State by Ben Buchannan, Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food by Hsiao-Ching Chou, Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie, Ansuz and Fehu by Malene Sølvsten, Run with Power by Jim Vance, and a Magic: The Gathering oracle deck (a surprise from the GC).
これで以上です。
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