Reading Wednesday
Apr. 29th, 2015 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livRecently read The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
truepenny). (c)2014 Katherine Addison, Pub 2014 Tor, ISBN 978-1-4299-4640-7
This is just lovely. It's very traditional high fantasy, with the estranged fourth son of the ruler suddenly finding himself Emperor of the Elflands. It's not especially original but it's a very good example of what it is. I zipped through it in just a couple of days, and indeed found myself stealing time from other things to be able to read more. The world-building feels unusually solid, you could really believe this Elfland has real cultures and history and politics. And I love the characterization and the various challenges that Maia faces being thrust into power with no knowledge of court life.
Some people have complained that tGE is too light, that Maia has it too easy and it's just too obvious that he should trust the basically nice people and avoid the obviously scheming people. But I didn't find that to be the case; I was really scared for Maia investigating the death of his father and the rest of his heirs and surviving assassination attempts as well as less obviously violent scheming. And I found his dealing with the aftermath of a more or less abusive and very isolated childhood far from light. Csevet is perhaps too conveniently loyal and helpful as his secretary as well as the person who explains to Maia as well as to the audience how things work, but that's a minor thing.
So the peril felt emotionally real, as did the lives of the common people affected by court politicking. The fact that the book didn't dwell on nastiness and horrors is in my view a good thing, and the fact that Maia is basically just really nice is likewise a plus in my book. He makes mistakes, but isn't gratuitously stupid to drive the plot. I've seen the critical and popular success of tGE argued as a sign of the end of grimdark in fantasy, and this does in many ways feel like a return to a pregrrm era.
My only real quibble was that the faux-archaic language, while done with a light touch and without any egregious grammatical mistakes, felt kind of forced. I wasn't sure about the conlang, again, it's not obviously ridiculous but there were a lot of not terribly distinct names and it somehow didn't quite ring true to my reader's ear. I only wish I'd bought this as a p-book, since it has an extensive glossary and dramatis personae at the back, rather delightfully written in an in-world style. And besides, I'd love to lend it to people. I might in fact re-buy a paper copy.
Currently reading Suite française by Irène Némirovsky. It's a novel written by a Jewish novelist during the German invasion and occupation of Paris between 1940 and 1942, set pretty much as the events were happening, and hidden in a trunk which was then discovered about ten years ago. So it's kind of amazing as a historical and literary artefact, and it turns out that Némirovsky is a charmingly snarky writer with a real eye for character. I mean, it's horrible, we haven't even met any Jewish characters yet and it's basically about people's lives being destroyed and I'm pretty sure most of them aren't going to survive to the end of the book. Reading it is making me unusually weepy and scared over various racist incidents in the current news, but I don't at all regret picking it up.
Up next The next item on my Bringing up Burns challenge list is
truepenny). (c)2014 Katherine Addison, Pub 2014 Tor, ISBN 978-1-4299-4640-7 This is just lovely. It's very traditional high fantasy, with the estranged fourth son of the ruler suddenly finding himself Emperor of the Elflands. It's not especially original but it's a very good example of what it is. I zipped through it in just a couple of days, and indeed found myself stealing time from other things to be able to read more. The world-building feels unusually solid, you could really believe this Elfland has real cultures and history and politics. And I love the characterization and the various challenges that Maia faces being thrust into power with no knowledge of court life.
Some people have complained that tGE is too light, that Maia has it too easy and it's just too obvious that he should trust the basically nice people and avoid the obviously scheming people. But I didn't find that to be the case; I was really scared for Maia investigating the death of his father and the rest of his heirs and surviving assassination attempts as well as less obviously violent scheming. And I found his dealing with the aftermath of a more or less abusive and very isolated childhood far from light. Csevet is perhaps too conveniently loyal and helpful as his secretary as well as the person who explains to Maia as well as to the audience how things work, but that's a minor thing.
So the peril felt emotionally real, as did the lives of the common people affected by court politicking. The fact that the book didn't dwell on nastiness and horrors is in my view a good thing, and the fact that Maia is basically just really nice is likewise a plus in my book. He makes mistakes, but isn't gratuitously stupid to drive the plot. I've seen the critical and popular success of tGE argued as a sign of the end of grimdark in fantasy, and this does in many ways feel like a return to a pre
grrm era. My only real quibble was that the faux-archaic language, while done with a light touch and without any egregious grammatical mistakes, felt kind of forced. I wasn't sure about the conlang, again, it's not obviously ridiculous but there were a lot of not terribly distinct names and it somehow didn't quite ring true to my reader's ear. I only wish I'd bought this as a p-book, since it has an extensive glossary and dramatis personae at the back, rather delightfully written in an in-world style. And besides, I'd love to lend it to people. I might in fact re-buy a paper copy.
Currently reading Suite française by Irène Némirovsky. It's a novel written by a Jewish novelist during the German invasion and occupation of Paris between 1940 and 1942, set pretty much as the events were happening, and hidden in a trunk which was then discovered about ten years ago. So it's kind of amazing as a historical and literary artefact, and it turns out that Némirovsky is a charmingly snarky writer with a real eye for character. I mean, it's horrible, we haven't even met any Jewish characters yet and it's basically about people's lives being destroyed and I'm pretty sure most of them aren't going to survive to the end of the book. Reading it is making me unusually weepy and scared over various racist incidents in the current news, but I don't at all regret picking it up.
Up next The next item on my Bringing up Burns challenge list is
A book you pick solely for the cover. I think I'll need to hit the library or charity shops for this one, since I don't currently have any books in my shelves that I picked just for the cover, as this isn't usually a way I pick books! So the challenge is working for altering my ingrained habits.
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(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-29 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-29 04:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-29 07:14 pm (UTC)Trying to work out how good a first line needs to be for 'with a great first line'. I know there are books where I just went 'oooh' but the one I'm reading at the moment has the sort of first line which really makes one want to read more, so maybe that counts?
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-29 07:32 pm (UTC)The second is Earthly powers by Anthony Burgess: It's a particularly good opening line because if you like it you're reasonably likely to like the rest of the book.
(They're both Catholic-themed books, the Macaulay is Anglo-Catholic and the Burgess is lots about the Papacy. So take my recs with a grain of salt, but I think you might appreciate them. I can more easily lend Earthly Powers, just in that parents have our copy of Towers of Trebizond.)
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-29 07:42 pm (UTC)I'm currently reading The Richness of Life by Stephen Jay Gould, and the opening line is 'As a young child, thinking as big as big can be and getting absolutely nowhere for the effort, I would often lie awake at night, pondering the mysteries of infinity and eternity - and feeling pure awe (in an inchoate, but intense, boyish way) at my utter inability to comprehend.'
And it won't be shoehorned into the list anywhere else, because all the other slots it could take have been filled already.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-30 11:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-04 02:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-02 07:29 am (UTC)Goblin Emperor is on my to-read list. It's got lots of praise and is a finalist in both this year's Nebula award and (the unfortunately fractious this year) Hugo award.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-04 02:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-05-02 07:42 am (UTC)Otherwise, slight but quite enjoyable.