Books, Book, Books

[bookgazing]

Read this month:

The Best of All Possible Worlds - Karen Lord
Spirit Gate - Kate Elliot
Under the Tripoli Sky - Kamal Ben Hameda
Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor (Huge rec to all my Mieville loving friends - the writing is a different style, but this book has just as much weird and sea creatures)
Mr Fox - Helen Oyeyemi

Currently Reading: The Chaos - Nalo Hopkinson

Purchased:

Too many. Among them:

Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor
The Chaos - Nalo Hopkinson
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutko
Boy, Bird, Snow - Helen Oyeyemi
Gossip From the Forest - Sarah Maitland
Starbreak - Phoebe North
Valour's Choice - Tanya Huff
All the Bird's Singing - Evie Wyld
Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb
Dirty Wings - Sarah McCarry

Comments

[nymeth]

So what did you think of The Best of All Possible Worlds? I know you said there's a post coming but I want a sneak peek :P

[bookgazing]

I read that review we talked about, and also one at Strange Horizons which picked up on the political aspects you mentioned. I agreed with a lot of what they and you said. For me the big issue surrounded the treatment of Lian. There are so many SFF books that are the same kind of baseline hetronormative as the 'lets breed a new world' part of this book that I just kind of sighed at that aspect, but there were some really weird bits surrounding Lian's identification that bugged me so much. And the thing you talked about being skeptical of - being on the receiving end of genocide inspiring an interest in biologically preserving racial lines - felt sketchy. Culture I get, biology...

I'm going to relate this book to Phoebe North's Starglass which deliberately takes that on, as well as the idea of a hetronormative future society and then ask for commentary specifically related to Caribbean culture I think.

I did really like the voice though - chatty and almost SFF chick lit like. And I liked the team vibe. And the episodic structure was fun in places and I liked that it wasn't afraid to experiment with mixing sci-fi and fantasy (the trip to Faere was really interesting).

[janesgravity]

I have added Lagoon to my to-read list. :D

[bookgazing]

YES! I also just finished The Chaos and that has the same kind of vibe so maybe think about that too. You have to wait a bit for the big fantasy elements to hit (watch out for a silver bubble) but after that it's got people changing into other things in surprising/disturbing ways and a lot of chaotic change in a city.

[janesgravity]

Oooh, I do like the sound of that! Thanks! :D