words, words, words
Jun. 21st, 2011 12:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardHere are some thoughts on books that I have read since the semester ended! I know I meant to do more elaborate write-ups on some of these, but I'm reasonably certain that if I don't do it now, it probably won't happen period. Assume light spoilers for everything.
Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
I read Leviathan while in transit from New Orleans to Seattle, and actually finished the book between Denver and Seattle, only I couldn't get my other book out of my backpack since it was in the overhead bin, so I went back to the beginning and started reading it over again. It is that good.
Leviathan and its sequel Behemoth (the first two of a trilogy, I believe) take place in an alternate 1914, in a steampunk-esque world where things went a little differently. Charles Darwin found a way to put together the threads of life, creating genetically-fabricated creatures that take the place of modern technology in Darwinist countries, including as weapons of war, most notably the hydrogen-breathing airships that are made up of hundreds of thousands of fabrications, crewed by humans that keep it working. On the other side of the equation are the Clanker nations, who have built their strength on giant, intricate machines crewed by humans. (I believe there's also a division between Protestant=Darwinist and Catholic=Clanker, but it's mostly an undercurrent, not a main plot point.)
Our heroes are Midshipman Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy on the airship Leviathan, and Prince Aleksandar Hapsburg, the son of Duke Franz Ferdinand, who is on the run after his father's assassination. They're thrown together as the entire world trembles on the edge of a world war: Darwinists against Clankers. The two books are both very exciting and a lot of fun; there are some anachronisms aside from, you know, the giant fabricated beasties and what are basically the Imperial walkers from Star Wars. I've been told that both names are really anachronistic. The secondary characters are quite good as well: Dr. Nora Barlow, a Darwinist scientist on a mission, Count Volger and Master Klopp, Alek's protectors, the American journalist from Behemoth and the Ottoman rebels in Istanbul. (I'm sorry, I only have the first book with me and I've forgotten the names.) I love the illustrations -- I feel it's pretty rare to find a YA book with illustrations, and it's great having them there.
I've got a couple of minor quibbles. Girl-disguised-as-a-boy is a pretty familiar trope, one that I like seeing, but I reread the Song of the Lioness quartet pretty soon after I read Leviathan and I think Tamora Pierce did it better just because she is a woman -- it's a pretty minor thing, but while Deryn is always complaining about having to pretend to shave, we never see her get her period or have to work around that. I know -- sort of an odd quibble, but since Westerfeld makes a point of the shaving thing, it reads as a bit strange to me. I do have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised that Deryn keeps it a secret as long as she does. Another thing is that we never see Deryn getting taken to task for all her stunts, and she pulls a lot, going against military discipline/orders a lot of the time. We see Alek getting rebuked for the same things, but never Deryn, and it seems like Deryn is the one who would be more likely to be told off for pulling crazy stunts because she's a British officer in a time of war. There are some historical inaccuracies -- Alek isn't a real historical figure, and Westerfeld cut out Franz Ferdinand's actual children in order to put Alek in, which sort of bewilders me because I tend to think it would be so much cooler to have siblings on the run, but that's just me. If you're really familiar with Austrian history or WWI, it might be more off-putting to you than me. But all in all, both books are great, fun reads, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Oh, man, guys, I really wanted to like this one because Jones is One Of Us. I'm not certain if Bennett is, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladyjaida is or was SRS Fanpersons. I think she's the one responsible for the Shoebox Project, although I'm not familiar with that because that was not my pairing? And she definitely wrote Narnia fic at one point, which means she is even more One Of Us. (I feel fine connecting her fannish persona with her pro one, since it uses the same LJ and she hasn't said anything about not connecting the two.)
Havemercy takes place in a world where the nation-state of Volstov is protected by the elite Dragon Corps -- a group of foul-mouthed, ill-mannered men who ride magically-powered mechanical dragons into battle. Awesome, right? Our four viewpoint characters include one disgraced magician (banished because he was caught in bed with another man), one dragon-rider, one tutor, and one poor academic sent to give the Dragon Corps sensitivity training. By the way, they're all men. The first kicker is that the POVs are all first-person past tense. The second one is that you can count the women in the book on one hand, and the women with speaking parts on the same hand, and most of them are prostitutes or shrews, with the odd magician thrown in.
If you've ever wondered what a fanfic would like with original characters, an original world, but the same tropes, it's this books. It's heavy on the emotion, light on the women, heavy on the male-male (and male/male) relationships, it hits some very familiar notes thematically, emotionally, and plot-wise, and if you've read widely in fandom over the past ten years or so, you'll be able to figure out the relationships and twists far in advance. What it reminds me most of in tone is SGA and Smallville, which is interesting, since Jones came out of HP fandom, but I'm reasonably sure that HP did the same things. It's also pretty clear that this was a cowritten book -- not so much in writing style, and I'm not entirely certain you can see it if you haven't been co-writing novels for the past three years, but the way the story unfolds: it's two writers trading off ideas and seeing what's going to happen next. (Which is how Jones and Bennett originally wrote it, I believe.) It's not a bad book, and I'm not sure how familiar it will be if you don't have that fannish background, but if you do, it's pretty damned obvious. But very, very interesting to read just to see how you do it as a pro. Not really my cuppa tea: while there are plenty of explosions, I like a bit more action and a bit less emotion in my fantasy novels.
Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle
Another co-written novel. This one is interesting; I just read it this morning, so it's pretty fresh in my mind. It's fun, I suppose; I'm not sure I'd pick it up for a reread.
The world of Windhaven is a water world made of scattered islands, which can only be reached by flyers who ride the currents of the air or ships which ply the dangerous waters. Maris, who wasn't born a flyer, was raised among them and challenges flyer tradition in order to become one. Her challenge is what sets in motion the events of the book, which take place in what are essentially multi-year jumps. Connected novellas, maybe, rather than a full novel. The main conflict is between the flyer-born and the new one-wings, the flyers who weren't born to the tradition and who have instead challenged to become part of the elite.
It's an interesting book, but I think Martin and Tuttle set up an artifical conflict and resolution that never really challenges the real problem, which is mentioned often but never really comes up. The wings that the flyers use are a finite resource. Once they're gone, they're gone; no one can make new wings, which is one reason that the flyers are such an elite and why the position is guarded so tightly, handed down from parent to child. So while the huge conflict in the book is between the flyer-born and the one-wings, and whether the one-wings deserve the position, are subservient to the landbound, go against flyer tradition, etc., it rings a little false to me because it seems like the most obvious answer is to figure out a way to make new wings. Only no one ever suggests that. It's like -- mmm, it's like a fantasy novel warring with a sci-fi novel, in some ways. (In some ways, it is a sci-fi novel. There's no actual magic, and the residents of Windhaven are all descended from the inhabitants of a spaceship from Earth, which is, coincidentally, where the wings came from. But mostly it reads like a fantasy novel.) It ended up being hard for me to sympathize with the characters because the root problem seemed like something that was never mentioned. But it's a good read, if you can get past that.
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Fairy-tale retelling. :) The fairy tale that Durst is playing around with is "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", and her book is an absolute delight. Cassie grows up at an Arctic research station with a researcher father, but her grandmother has always told her a story about why her mother isn't there: her mother is the North Wind's daughter, promised to wed the Polar Bear King, but she fell in love with Cassie's father instead and promised her daughter's hand to the Polar Bear King in exchange for letting her go. When the North Wind found out, he grew furious and blew Cassie away to the island of the trolls, where she's still held prisoner. Cassie is eighteen: too old for that kind of story. So she's a little surprised when the Polar Bear King shows up and claims her as his bride in exchange for freeing her mother from the trolls.
The book is a delight. I wish there was a little more space devoted to Cassie and Bear's romance, that we saw some more of Cassie's parents, and that the ending came a hair too abruptly for my taste, but I'm very fond of the world that Durst has created. Father Forest, guys! Man, what a creeper. Durst does not pull punches, but I promise there's a happy ending. And Cassie is a super kick-ass heroine who does not take shit from anyone.
Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
I read Leviathan while in transit from New Orleans to Seattle, and actually finished the book between Denver and Seattle, only I couldn't get my other book out of my backpack since it was in the overhead bin, so I went back to the beginning and started reading it over again. It is that good.
Leviathan and its sequel Behemoth (the first two of a trilogy, I believe) take place in an alternate 1914, in a steampunk-esque world where things went a little differently. Charles Darwin found a way to put together the threads of life, creating genetically-fabricated creatures that take the place of modern technology in Darwinist countries, including as weapons of war, most notably the hydrogen-breathing airships that are made up of hundreds of thousands of fabrications, crewed by humans that keep it working. On the other side of the equation are the Clanker nations, who have built their strength on giant, intricate machines crewed by humans. (I believe there's also a division between Protestant=Darwinist and Catholic=Clanker, but it's mostly an undercurrent, not a main plot point.)
Our heroes are Midshipman Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy on the airship Leviathan, and Prince Aleksandar Hapsburg, the son of Duke Franz Ferdinand, who is on the run after his father's assassination. They're thrown together as the entire world trembles on the edge of a world war: Darwinists against Clankers. The two books are both very exciting and a lot of fun; there are some anachronisms aside from, you know, the giant fabricated beasties and what are basically the Imperial walkers from Star Wars. I've been told that both names are really anachronistic. The secondary characters are quite good as well: Dr. Nora Barlow, a Darwinist scientist on a mission, Count Volger and Master Klopp, Alek's protectors, the American journalist from Behemoth and the Ottoman rebels in Istanbul. (I'm sorry, I only have the first book with me and I've forgotten the names.) I love the illustrations -- I feel it's pretty rare to find a YA book with illustrations, and it's great having them there.
I've got a couple of minor quibbles. Girl-disguised-as-a-boy is a pretty familiar trope, one that I like seeing, but I reread the Song of the Lioness quartet pretty soon after I read Leviathan and I think Tamora Pierce did it better just because she is a woman -- it's a pretty minor thing, but while Deryn is always complaining about having to pretend to shave, we never see her get her period or have to work around that. I know -- sort of an odd quibble, but since Westerfeld makes a point of the shaving thing, it reads as a bit strange to me. I do have to admit that I'm pleasantly surprised that Deryn keeps it a secret as long as she does. Another thing is that we never see Deryn getting taken to task for all her stunts, and she pulls a lot, going against military discipline/orders a lot of the time. We see Alek getting rebuked for the same things, but never Deryn, and it seems like Deryn is the one who would be more likely to be told off for pulling crazy stunts because she's a British officer in a time of war. There are some historical inaccuracies -- Alek isn't a real historical figure, and Westerfeld cut out Franz Ferdinand's actual children in order to put Alek in, which sort of bewilders me because I tend to think it would be so much cooler to have siblings on the run, but that's just me. If you're really familiar with Austrian history or WWI, it might be more off-putting to you than me. But all in all, both books are great, fun reads, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
Havemercy by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett
Oh, man, guys, I really wanted to like this one because Jones is One Of Us. I'm not certain if Bennett is, but
ladyjaida is or was SRS Fanpersons. I think she's the one responsible for the Shoebox Project, although I'm not familiar with that because that was not my pairing? And she definitely wrote Narnia fic at one point, which means she is even more One Of Us. (I feel fine connecting her fannish persona with her pro one, since it uses the same LJ and she hasn't said anything about not connecting the two.)Havemercy takes place in a world where the nation-state of Volstov is protected by the elite Dragon Corps -- a group of foul-mouthed, ill-mannered men who ride magically-powered mechanical dragons into battle. Awesome, right? Our four viewpoint characters include one disgraced magician (banished because he was caught in bed with another man), one dragon-rider, one tutor, and one poor academic sent to give the Dragon Corps sensitivity training. By the way, they're all men. The first kicker is that the POVs are all first-person past tense. The second one is that you can count the women in the book on one hand, and the women with speaking parts on the same hand, and most of them are prostitutes or shrews, with the odd magician thrown in.
If you've ever wondered what a fanfic would like with original characters, an original world, but the same tropes, it's this books. It's heavy on the emotion, light on the women, heavy on the male-male (and male/male) relationships, it hits some very familiar notes thematically, emotionally, and plot-wise, and if you've read widely in fandom over the past ten years or so, you'll be able to figure out the relationships and twists far in advance. What it reminds me most of in tone is SGA and Smallville, which is interesting, since Jones came out of HP fandom, but I'm reasonably sure that HP did the same things. It's also pretty clear that this was a cowritten book -- not so much in writing style, and I'm not entirely certain you can see it if you haven't been co-writing novels for the past three years, but the way the story unfolds: it's two writers trading off ideas and seeing what's going to happen next. (Which is how Jones and Bennett originally wrote it, I believe.) It's not a bad book, and I'm not sure how familiar it will be if you don't have that fannish background, but if you do, it's pretty damned obvious. But very, very interesting to read just to see how you do it as a pro. Not really my cuppa tea: while there are plenty of explosions, I like a bit more action and a bit less emotion in my fantasy novels.
Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle
Another co-written novel. This one is interesting; I just read it this morning, so it's pretty fresh in my mind. It's fun, I suppose; I'm not sure I'd pick it up for a reread.
The world of Windhaven is a water world made of scattered islands, which can only be reached by flyers who ride the currents of the air or ships which ply the dangerous waters. Maris, who wasn't born a flyer, was raised among them and challenges flyer tradition in order to become one. Her challenge is what sets in motion the events of the book, which take place in what are essentially multi-year jumps. Connected novellas, maybe, rather than a full novel. The main conflict is between the flyer-born and the new one-wings, the flyers who weren't born to the tradition and who have instead challenged to become part of the elite.
It's an interesting book, but I think Martin and Tuttle set up an artifical conflict and resolution that never really challenges the real problem, which is mentioned often but never really comes up. The wings that the flyers use are a finite resource. Once they're gone, they're gone; no one can make new wings, which is one reason that the flyers are such an elite and why the position is guarded so tightly, handed down from parent to child. So while the huge conflict in the book is between the flyer-born and the one-wings, and whether the one-wings deserve the position, are subservient to the landbound, go against flyer tradition, etc., it rings a little false to me because it seems like the most obvious answer is to figure out a way to make new wings. Only no one ever suggests that. It's like -- mmm, it's like a fantasy novel warring with a sci-fi novel, in some ways. (In some ways, it is a sci-fi novel. There's no actual magic, and the residents of Windhaven are all descended from the inhabitants of a spaceship from Earth, which is, coincidentally, where the wings came from. But mostly it reads like a fantasy novel.) It ended up being hard for me to sympathize with the characters because the root problem seemed like something that was never mentioned. But it's a good read, if you can get past that.
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Fairy-tale retelling. :) The fairy tale that Durst is playing around with is "East of the Sun, West of the Moon", and her book is an absolute delight. Cassie grows up at an Arctic research station with a researcher father, but her grandmother has always told her a story about why her mother isn't there: her mother is the North Wind's daughter, promised to wed the Polar Bear King, but she fell in love with Cassie's father instead and promised her daughter's hand to the Polar Bear King in exchange for letting her go. When the North Wind found out, he grew furious and blew Cassie away to the island of the trolls, where she's still held prisoner. Cassie is eighteen: too old for that kind of story. So she's a little surprised when the Polar Bear King shows up and claims her as his bride in exchange for freeing her mother from the trolls.
The book is a delight. I wish there was a little more space devoted to Cassie and Bear's romance, that we saw some more of Cassie's parents, and that the ending came a hair too abruptly for my taste, but I'm very fond of the world that Durst has created. Father Forest, guys! Man, what a creeper. Durst does not pull punches, but I promise there's a happy ending. And Cassie is a super kick-ass heroine who does not take shit from anyone.