Reading Wednesday 16/08

[liv]

Recently read:

Dzur by Steven Brust.

I didn't love this; I'm not sure how much it's a weaker member of the series and how much it's me. It is book 10 in a set of 19, of which the last five are still to be written. I may have left it too long since I read the previous volumes, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I decided I couldn't be bothered following all the complex allusions to the meta-structure of the whole series, and as a single novel it's never more than just ok. I didn't find Vlad's voice or Loiosh's asides witty, and the pacing dragged, and I didn't care about the mystery. Because I hadn't been following the chronology properly, the twist at the end wasn't a delightful surprise, it just unsatisfyingly didn't make sense.

When I was reading 50 books a year, I intended to read the whole series, because both the individual novels and the way they fit together into a complex whole appeal to me. Now that I read more like 15 or 20, I'm thinking I may drop this. Not sure; one weaker book doesn't mean the whole series isn't worth bothering with.

A taste of honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. This was a Hugo-nominated novella, which meant that several of my friends read it, and were enthusiastic about it. So I ended up reading the copy from my Hugo packet on the way back from Worldcon, which is not exactly in the spirit of things. And I regret not reading it in time to vote for it, not that it would have made much difference since McGuire's Every heart a doorway (which I wasn't keen on) won by miles.

Anyway, this is a really amazing fantasy romance story. It's beautifully written, great characters, twisty, thought-provoking plot. The worldbuilding is really deep; looking it up it turns out this is a companion novella in the setting of a novel, which I'm now definitely going to seek out. I had dismissed Wilson's Sorcerer of the Wildeeps mainly because the name is so clunky; I assumed it was parodic or just really generic swords and sorcery.

It's hard to describe exactly what's so great about AToH without spoilers, but it's a really moving romance, and has a lot to say about choices and sacrifices made for love. jack thought it maybe needed some content warnings; some of the content is about homophobia and abusive parenting. To me it didn't feel like misery porn, it felt as if it centred its variously Queer characters and described some of the bad things in their life as well as the good. But I can imagine some readers finding it hard going.

Up next: The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. I'd been meaning to read this, though I'm a little scared of what I've heard about it, and I've now bumped it up my list since the sequel won a second Hugo.

Comments

[jack]

I've definitely found the most recent few Taltos books less engaging than the earlier ones. I will definitely read the end of the series because I really want to know what happens whether or not the individual books pick up again.

Don't feel a need for warnings if you don't think they're necessary! I tried to say, I thought you would probably be able to judge if they were useful, but I wasn't sure so I erred on the side of caution.

[liv]

I do feel invested in the Dragaera books, and there's some interesting themes to be developed now we've moved on beyond amusing anecdotes of Vlad the assassin. But I'm trying to get better at quitting individual books that don't work for me, let alone giant 19-book series that aren't even finished yet.

You know I'm emphatically pro content warnings, and homophobia and abuse are definitely things that happen in the Wilson, even if I personally found them more narratively valuable than upsetting. It's a perfectly valid choice not to read any book that contains homophobia (even if it's well written and not gratuitous), so for a general audience rather than a personal rec, it's better to mention that that is present.

[jack]

I'm trying to get better at quitting individual books that don't work for me, let alone giant 19-book series that aren't even finished yet.

Yeah, I think that's a good plan. I still read more filler stuff than you so I'm more likely to want to reread stuff which was interesting but mixed; if I were reading fewer books I would probably also deprioritise them.

You know I'm emphatically pro content warnings

Yeah, I wasn't trying to disagree in any way. I just wasn't sure why you'd mentioned me specifically in the content warning, and worried I'd sounded more emphatic than I'd meant to.

[ambyr]

I found Dzur pretty lack-luster myself, and I think Jhegaala is the weakest entry in the series, but things picked up for me again with Iorich and Hawk, so maybe just skip ahead if you're on the fence?

[liv]

Thanks for the rec! Since the whole series is out of order anyway, skipping a couple might work well. I think I may also need to reread Issola, since it seems like a bit of a hinge-point in the series and I have forgotten or didn't take in the import of some of it.

[conuly]

The Fifth Season is very much a love-it-or-hate-it dealio. If you're not loving it a quarter of the way in, give it up.

[liv]

Good advice, ta! Giving up on books that don't excite me is a skill I'm still working on, but I'll bear this in mind.

[jack]

Also, thanks for remembering it was a spin off from a book; I had no idea, but am interested what else is going on in this world.