![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What I Just Finished Reading
Fire Logic – Laurie J. Marks
This novel has so many elements I love—realistic, morally ambiguous politics, fully realized worldbuilding that isn't over-described, female characters as competent and integral to the plot as the males, alternate social structures depicted sans virtue signaling, and some of the most beautiful descriptive language I've read everywhere. And yet, the overall effect was like reading a well-written encyclopedia article: individuals appear and do things that shape history, but the narrative’s exploration of their actions and decisions is detached and clinical. And that's this novel's major handicap: because I had no visceral emotional connection to these characters, I felt no pain when horrors befell them or elation when they triumphed. I certainly don’t regret reading this and will probably continue on to the next book in the series, but the story never subsumed me as a piece of fiction should.
What I Am Currently Reading
Herbal – Demi Brown
Written by the curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, this reference book is a fascinating read.
Witchmark – C.L. Polk
Twenty percent of the way through, the story is still doling out worldbuilding details and has introduced a series of improbable coincidences fast on each other's heels. Several aspects of the magical system bear a striking resemblance to Lilith Saintcrow’s Bannon & Clare novels.
The Beast’s Heart – Liefe Shallcross
Shallcross’s spends just as much time on the fate of Isabeau’s two sisters (Isabeau being this version's Beauty) as her relationship to the Beast. Much of Isabeau and the Beast’s interactions strikes me as (unintentionally) creepy in this retelling, so the expanded focus is not as much of a disappointment as it could have been.
Intermediate Japanese – Takae Tsujioka & Shoko Hamano
Still trucking along.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff
I’ve made it about 100 pages into this tome and it is excellent, if a bit Marxist in places.
龍宮 – 川上 弘美 (Ryugu – Kawakami Hiromi)
The second story in this collection isn’t as good as the first (no octopus), but the characters’ matter-of-fact acceptance of the weirdness that surrounds them delights.
What I'm Reading Next
I’ve got my hands on Senlin Ascends and probably lack the willpower to hold off on it until I've finished some of the other books I've got going.
これで以上です。
Fire Logic – Laurie J. Marks
This novel has so many elements I love—realistic, morally ambiguous politics, fully realized worldbuilding that isn't over-described, female characters as competent and integral to the plot as the males, alternate social structures depicted sans virtue signaling, and some of the most beautiful descriptive language I've read everywhere. And yet, the overall effect was like reading a well-written encyclopedia article: individuals appear and do things that shape history, but the narrative’s exploration of their actions and decisions is detached and clinical. And that's this novel's major handicap: because I had no visceral emotional connection to these characters, I felt no pain when horrors befell them or elation when they triumphed. I certainly don’t regret reading this and will probably continue on to the next book in the series, but the story never subsumed me as a piece of fiction should.
What I Am Currently Reading
Herbal – Demi Brown
Written by the curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden, this reference book is a fascinating read.
Witchmark – C.L. Polk
Twenty percent of the way through, the story is still doling out worldbuilding details and has introduced a series of improbable coincidences fast on each other's heels. Several aspects of the magical system bear a striking resemblance to Lilith Saintcrow’s Bannon & Clare novels.
The Beast’s Heart – Liefe Shallcross
Shallcross’s spends just as much time on the fate of Isabeau’s two sisters (Isabeau being this version's Beauty) as her relationship to the Beast. Much of Isabeau and the Beast’s interactions strikes me as (unintentionally) creepy in this retelling, so the expanded focus is not as much of a disappointment as it could have been.
Intermediate Japanese – Takae Tsujioka & Shoko Hamano
Still trucking along.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism – Shoshana Zuboff
I’ve made it about 100 pages into this tome and it is excellent, if a bit Marxist in places.
龍宮 – 川上 弘美 (Ryugu – Kawakami Hiromi)
The second story in this collection isn’t as good as the first (no octopus), but the characters’ matter-of-fact acceptance of the weirdness that surrounds them delights.
What I'm Reading Next
I’ve got my hands on Senlin Ascends and probably lack the willpower to hold off on it until I've finished some of the other books I've got going.
これで以上です。
Tags: