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Books, finally
Okay, it's been, like, months since I last did reviews of books read, and I actually read a fucking lot of books recently, so I'll try to do them all by bits and pieces before the end of year. Crossover conversations will wait, I'm afraid. (so will drabbles). Sorry.
Soooooo some of those books :
The Limbreth Gate and Luck of the Wheels by Megan Lindholm
Sequels of the two previous Ki and Vandien books which I reviewed here. They were both interesting, with quite original plots and some compelling character development. I especially appreciated The Limbreth Gate for the resolution of the side plot related to Rebeke and Dresh (give me former lovers new ennemies and watch me melt); and for another of its secondary character who kicked major ass. However it has its weirdness. Luck was okay, with some great moments from both Ki and Vandien, but with a very annoying character who is supposed to be annoying as Robin Hobb knows so well how to make them. That wasn't a compliment by the way, I don't like being annoyed with characters. I can't figure with Hobb, if she tries purposefully to breach our moral boundaries to make us question about them in a deep way, or if she just... is a bit crazy. Trouble is, I think she's an excellent storyteller and a great worldbuilder, but I don't trust her, on a gut level, on a moral basis, the way I trust people like Martin, Friedman or even Bakker to break my heart and mind while telling the story that feels right. Had a similar problem with Forest Mage, which I shall talk about some time later.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
A uchrony which starting point is : what if the Black Death had virtually erased Europe from the population of the world. What then, of History? From this bold beginning, it spans 600 years of alternate History, with three main characters whom we follow as they reincarnate and meet each others over and over (and which we can recognize by their initials).
Ambitious, isn't it?
I was rather enthousiased about this novel. It's not by any mean perfect. There's actually many things about it I would want to criticize, or to see criticized because I wonder if they would be worth criticizing. However, I feel such process of criticisms at itself makes the book more valuable.
The main characters are K., the rebel and contrarian, B. the caring, hopeful and often religiously inclined one, and I., the scientifically inclined.
I especially loved K. I mean, in any incarnation, spanning from a middle-aged Chinese widow to a young Black eunuch slave to a grumpy old Persian alchemist, K was smocking hot. Anytime anyplace, K.! B. often made a great contrast to the ever cynical K., and was a delight especially in explorating themes of mysticism, humanism and love. I., while generally likeable for sheer "knowledge, yay!" value, lacked a bit more of characterization depth.
Then there was the relatively minor S., which was always shallow and complacent and simply a bad idea from KSR to include.
Anyway, despite the variety of contexts, genders, ages and classes, and despite its nature as a narrative gimmick, KSR did a good job at making the characters recognizable and at developping them. I find myself delighted at the genderbending touch of having characters be occasionnaly male and female, and how the characterization functions while doing so. He also added a delightful touch of metanarrative commentary on it, at the end, which I found especially brillant. I also liked the evolution of the diverse times when they are in the bardo, awaiting reincarnation.
The writing is sometimes really beautiful, and I really loved the occasion to learn more about various Asian and Middle-Eastern cultures and philosophies. For this alone, Years is a worthy read.
Then there's the look at History. As a uchrony, I'm not convinced Years succeed. History feels still too similar overall to our own. That, of course, is part of KSR's point. He wants to tell a story where even without Europe, most of the things Europe discovered or did still happen - it's not an absurd thesis. Yet, even with this agenda, it felt he wasn't able enough to extrapolate some of the ultimate differences.
I had other doubts about the treatment of homosexuality, and that of the Jews. That's one of the things I'd like to see critical texts about.
But overall, a book definitly worth reading.
Vellum by Hal Duncan
Upon starting reading it, I soon realized it wasn't actually a SFF novel. It was in fact an epic poem in prose. Soon after, I realised I didn't mind. It was still pretty cool a read.
It would be difficult to describe it as a story.
It reminded me of Snow Crash, except that Snow Crash is a cyberpunk story powdered with some Summerian mythology justification, while Vellum is a destructured mythological story powdered with some cyberpunk aesthetism.
It reminded me of some HP fanfics, you know, those fanfics about the Maraudeurs when they're young, those which are very well written and all intellislash, and sometimes even cryptic with their delightfully and oh-so-cool imagery and just rippling with hot homoeroticism and a kind of sunny dreaminess? Yeah, those ones. I mean I was reading for ten pages and I was dying to slash the characters and then I was reading for twenty pages and I was reviling in the canon gay.
It reminded of Tim Powers' novels, and the way he takes folklore and archetypal logic and weaves it in the story in a way that is sometimes confused and sometimes brillant but always evocative.
It's not all good. I mean, it's pretentious as hell, and it's sometimes very confused, and very repetitive because he spends time telling the same story like a Structuralist Anthropologist would note down variations in a myth they'd studied but there's real worldbuilding justification for it and they're even fucking cool justification, but it still could be off putting. And there's lot of silly transcription of accents filling the page with "fookin'" and there's a juvenile Mary Sue character - even if I still found him likeable - , and a lot of it is just silly. But still very enjoyable IMHO.
Of course I'm a sucker for mythology, especially Sumerian mythology, especially of rewriting of Inanna's descent in hell, and gods being sacrificized and Promotheus being punished, and stuff like this. So I may have been easy.
It helps that the characters are really lovable and interesting. Even the one who has the misfortune of being named Phreedom Messenger.
There's a sequel called Ink which I will get as soon as it is in paperback. Someday I'd like to use those ideas to play Unknown Armies, too.
Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan
In the very, very, very, very far future, theorems are the best proof of love you can give someone. Using some of the ideas he laid off in his most brillant short stories of Axiomatic and Luminous, Egan gives us a vision of the extremely far future society, post-scarcity, virtualy immortal and transhuman and everything, some societies being Embodied, some being not, and the sense of identity ends up only tied to the boundaries you chose to give yourself. And gender is a dead concept and there's a hilarious if overly smug anecdote on the issue, even if Egan still uses gendered pronoun to talk about his characters. There's a certain appeal to the amusing and dreamy exoticism of such a far off society. But that's not the plot. The plot is about an experiment turned wrong which creates a new universe which eats away at our good old universe, necessating lots of forced evacuation of inhabited planets (or something like this but with lots more complicated words, scientific concepts and technoporn). Yet, despite this threat, some people argue we shouldn't try to stop or destroy the new universe, but instead see it as a challenge that could revigorate a static society.
A far as I could say, it wasn't a great novel, but it was certainly amusing overall, even if you had to dwell to even more esoteric concepts than usual to understand it. I appreciated a development on some of ideas I'd already seen Egan make. The characters were reasonnably likeable. From so far of, I'm afraid my suspension of disbelief never quite worked however, and the pacing wasn't great especially in the last part of the novel. I usually appreciate Egan more for his commentary of social developments and metaphysics than for his hard science, of course, so that might have been the main reason I didn't like it as much as others of his novels.
That's all for today!
Soooooo some of those books :
The Limbreth Gate and Luck of the Wheels by Megan Lindholm
Sequels of the two previous Ki and Vandien books which I reviewed here. They were both interesting, with quite original plots and some compelling character development. I especially appreciated The Limbreth Gate for the resolution of the side plot related to Rebeke and Dresh (give me former lovers new ennemies and watch me melt); and for another of its secondary character who kicked major ass. However it has its weirdness. Luck was okay, with some great moments from both Ki and Vandien, but with a very annoying character who is supposed to be annoying as Robin Hobb knows so well how to make them. That wasn't a compliment by the way, I don't like being annoyed with characters. I can't figure with Hobb, if she tries purposefully to breach our moral boundaries to make us question about them in a deep way, or if she just... is a bit crazy. Trouble is, I think she's an excellent storyteller and a great worldbuilder, but I don't trust her, on a gut level, on a moral basis, the way I trust people like Martin, Friedman or even Bakker to break my heart and mind while telling the story that feels right. Had a similar problem with Forest Mage, which I shall talk about some time later.
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
A uchrony which starting point is : what if the Black Death had virtually erased Europe from the population of the world. What then, of History? From this bold beginning, it spans 600 years of alternate History, with three main characters whom we follow as they reincarnate and meet each others over and over (and which we can recognize by their initials).
Ambitious, isn't it?
I was rather enthousiased about this novel. It's not by any mean perfect. There's actually many things about it I would want to criticize, or to see criticized because I wonder if they would be worth criticizing. However, I feel such process of criticisms at itself makes the book more valuable.
The main characters are K., the rebel and contrarian, B. the caring, hopeful and often religiously inclined one, and I., the scientifically inclined.
I especially loved K. I mean, in any incarnation, spanning from a middle-aged Chinese widow to a young Black eunuch slave to a grumpy old Persian alchemist, K was smocking hot. Anytime anyplace, K.! B. often made a great contrast to the ever cynical K., and was a delight especially in explorating themes of mysticism, humanism and love. I., while generally likeable for sheer "knowledge, yay!" value, lacked a bit more of characterization depth.
Then there was the relatively minor S., which was always shallow and complacent and simply a bad idea from KSR to include.
Anyway, despite the variety of contexts, genders, ages and classes, and despite its nature as a narrative gimmick, KSR did a good job at making the characters recognizable and at developping them. I find myself delighted at the genderbending touch of having characters be occasionnaly male and female, and how the characterization functions while doing so. He also added a delightful touch of metanarrative commentary on it, at the end, which I found especially brillant. I also liked the evolution of the diverse times when they are in the bardo, awaiting reincarnation.
The writing is sometimes really beautiful, and I really loved the occasion to learn more about various Asian and Middle-Eastern cultures and philosophies. For this alone, Years is a worthy read.
Then there's the look at History. As a uchrony, I'm not convinced Years succeed. History feels still too similar overall to our own. That, of course, is part of KSR's point. He wants to tell a story where even without Europe, most of the things Europe discovered or did still happen - it's not an absurd thesis. Yet, even with this agenda, it felt he wasn't able enough to extrapolate some of the ultimate differences.
I had other doubts about the treatment of homosexuality, and that of the Jews. That's one of the things I'd like to see critical texts about.
But overall, a book definitly worth reading.
Vellum by Hal Duncan
Upon starting reading it, I soon realized it wasn't actually a SFF novel. It was in fact an epic poem in prose. Soon after, I realised I didn't mind. It was still pretty cool a read.
It would be difficult to describe it as a story.
It reminded me of Snow Crash, except that Snow Crash is a cyberpunk story powdered with some Summerian mythology justification, while Vellum is a destructured mythological story powdered with some cyberpunk aesthetism.
It reminded me of some HP fanfics, you know, those fanfics about the Maraudeurs when they're young, those which are very well written and all intellislash, and sometimes even cryptic with their delightfully and oh-so-cool imagery and just rippling with hot homoeroticism and a kind of sunny dreaminess? Yeah, those ones. I mean I was reading for ten pages and I was dying to slash the characters and then I was reading for twenty pages and I was reviling in the canon gay.
It reminded of Tim Powers' novels, and the way he takes folklore and archetypal logic and weaves it in the story in a way that is sometimes confused and sometimes brillant but always evocative.
It's not all good. I mean, it's pretentious as hell, and it's sometimes very confused, and very repetitive because he spends time telling the same story like a Structuralist Anthropologist would note down variations in a myth they'd studied but there's real worldbuilding justification for it and they're even fucking cool justification, but it still could be off putting. And there's lot of silly transcription of accents filling the page with "fookin'" and there's a juvenile Mary Sue character - even if I still found him likeable - , and a lot of it is just silly. But still very enjoyable IMHO.
Of course I'm a sucker for mythology, especially Sumerian mythology, especially of rewriting of Inanna's descent in hell, and gods being sacrificized and Promotheus being punished, and stuff like this. So I may have been easy.
It helps that the characters are really lovable and interesting. Even the one who has the misfortune of being named Phreedom Messenger.
There's a sequel called Ink which I will get as soon as it is in paperback. Someday I'd like to use those ideas to play Unknown Armies, too.
Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan
In the very, very, very, very far future, theorems are the best proof of love you can give someone. Using some of the ideas he laid off in his most brillant short stories of Axiomatic and Luminous, Egan gives us a vision of the extremely far future society, post-scarcity, virtualy immortal and transhuman and everything, some societies being Embodied, some being not, and the sense of identity ends up only tied to the boundaries you chose to give yourself. And gender is a dead concept and there's a hilarious if overly smug anecdote on the issue, even if Egan still uses gendered pronoun to talk about his characters. There's a certain appeal to the amusing and dreamy exoticism of such a far off society. But that's not the plot. The plot is about an experiment turned wrong which creates a new universe which eats away at our good old universe, necessating lots of forced evacuation of inhabited planets (or something like this but with lots more complicated words, scientific concepts and technoporn). Yet, despite this threat, some people argue we shouldn't try to stop or destroy the new universe, but instead see it as a challenge that could revigorate a static society.
A far as I could say, it wasn't a great novel, but it was certainly amusing overall, even if you had to dwell to even more esoteric concepts than usual to understand it. I appreciated a development on some of ideas I'd already seen Egan make. The characters were reasonnably likeable. From so far of, I'm afraid my suspension of disbelief never quite worked however, and the pacing wasn't great especially in the last part of the novel. I usually appreciate Egan more for his commentary of social developments and metaphysics than for his hard science, of course, so that might have been the main reason I didn't like it as much as others of his novels.
That's all for today!