Reading Wednesday
Jun. 22nd, 2016 09:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brigdhWhat did you just finish?
Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan. In 1850, Jonah is a young man, just turned 18, and a slave at a tavern in South Carolina. His owner is comparatively kind to him – teaching him to read, letting him work in the house, buying him Christmas presents – but after being whipped, Jonah runs away. This is a spur of the moment decision, and he takes off without supplies or much knowledge of where he's headed. It doesn't take long before he meets up with Angel, another slave, who decides that if Jonah can run away she can too, and promptly follows him despite Jonah's attempts to shake her off.
That's pretty much it for a plot; the book quickly settles into an episodic travelogue which is mostly entertaining, though near the end it gets a bit predictable. The same set-back repeats several times in a row: – "Oh no! Someone's captured Jonah! Will he be sent back south? Thank goodness, he's escaped just in time!" – which I suppose is realistic, but felt circular. The relationship between Jonah and Angel also doesn't make much progress: she continually tries to convince him that he needs her, he takes any opportunity to leave her behind – a trait which honestly made me lose a lot of sympathy for Jonah. I get that you didn't ask her to come along, but Jesus, don't keep abandoning her in terrible situations!
The writing style is simplistic in a way that gives it the feel of dialogue without being entirely stream-of-consciousness; it bothered me for the first few pages, but once I settled into it I liked it. Both Jonah and Angel had distinct, charming voices.
I feel like this is coming off as a mostly negative review, but I did actually enjoy the book. It's just that it's not doing anything new, nor is it a particularly stellar example of the genre. It's a pleasant read, but honestly it'll probably fade from my memory quite quickly. And yet there's nothing really wrong with it either! Sometimes books that are perfectly adequate leave me with the least to say.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. The 15th book in the Discworld series, and the first one I ever read. (Probably? It might possibly have been Feet of Clay instead; I know I read those two close enough to one another, and so long ago, that I'm no longer quite sure which was first.) We head back to the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, which is reluctantly dealing with a brand-new affirmative action program put in place to better reflect the city. Meanwhile, the Discworld's one gun has been discovered, and is in the hands of a man determined to reinstate the monarchy.
There are so many details here that I consider to be just part of Discworld basics that it's shocking it took fifteen books for them to appear: Angua! Bloody Stupid Johnson! Leonard da Quirm! Detritus in the Watch! It's so lovely to see them here, filling out the background of the world even more.
I have to admit that I didn't like this one quite as much as I had in my memory, though I'm not sure why. I mean, it's still fantastic, with lots of humor and some exteremly sad moments; a lesser Discworld book is still better than most things I read. I also remembered the King Arthur parody taking up a much larger part of the book than it actually does; I suppose it's just that the whole "forget pulling a sword out of a stone! Who put it in the stone?" is exteremly memorable.
One thing that I found fascinating is that this is the book that really makes the transition between traditional fantasy settings – timeless, unchanging, and mostly based on medieval Europe – and something more modern. There's been little hints at such a change in earlier books: Small Gods permanently altered the nature of Omnism, and Lords and Ladies insisted that humans had changed enough to no longer need elves, but this is a whole different level. I mean: gun control! Minority outreach programs! That's not part of Ye Olde Phantasie.
This is especially noticeable because right before I read Men at Arms I read Troll Bridge, a short story published the year before. Troll Bridge is about Cohen the Barbarian and takes place far from Ankh-Morpork, but it is quite explicitly about the world changing, leaving behind Old School Fantasy (in this case Swords & Sorcery) and becoming a more direct parody of the contemporary world. I never would have noticed these parallels if I hadn't decided to do my reread of this series in publication order, and I'm really glad I did! I'm picking up on so many things that I never had before.
What are you currently reading?
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks. This book has been on my to-read list for ages – literally years! – but since I didn't actually own a copy, I'd been putting it off. Today I forgot my current book at home and ended up in the city with time to pass and nothing to read, which is obviously a valid reason for visiting a bookstore and buying three books. One of which happened to be this, hooray! I'm not very far into it, but apparently it's been long enough since I read a fantasy book to be annoyed at made-up words (what the hell is a "G'deon" and how are you supposed to pronounce that? Call it a King!), but I am still enjoying the promise of lesbian poly H/C.
Chasing the North Star by Robert Morgan. In 1850, Jonah is a young man, just turned 18, and a slave at a tavern in South Carolina. His owner is comparatively kind to him – teaching him to read, letting him work in the house, buying him Christmas presents – but after being whipped, Jonah runs away. This is a spur of the moment decision, and he takes off without supplies or much knowledge of where he's headed. It doesn't take long before he meets up with Angel, another slave, who decides that if Jonah can run away she can too, and promptly follows him despite Jonah's attempts to shake her off.
That's pretty much it for a plot; the book quickly settles into an episodic travelogue which is mostly entertaining, though near the end it gets a bit predictable. The same set-back repeats several times in a row: – "Oh no! Someone's captured Jonah! Will he be sent back south? Thank goodness, he's escaped just in time!" – which I suppose is realistic, but felt circular. The relationship between Jonah and Angel also doesn't make much progress: she continually tries to convince him that he needs her, he takes any opportunity to leave her behind – a trait which honestly made me lose a lot of sympathy for Jonah. I get that you didn't ask her to come along, but Jesus, don't keep abandoning her in terrible situations!
The writing style is simplistic in a way that gives it the feel of dialogue without being entirely stream-of-consciousness; it bothered me for the first few pages, but once I settled into it I liked it. Both Jonah and Angel had distinct, charming voices.
I feel like this is coming off as a mostly negative review, but I did actually enjoy the book. It's just that it's not doing anything new, nor is it a particularly stellar example of the genre. It's a pleasant read, but honestly it'll probably fade from my memory quite quickly. And yet there's nothing really wrong with it either! Sometimes books that are perfectly adequate leave me with the least to say.
I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. The 15th book in the Discworld series, and the first one I ever read. (Probably? It might possibly have been Feet of Clay instead; I know I read those two close enough to one another, and so long ago, that I'm no longer quite sure which was first.) We head back to the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, which is reluctantly dealing with a brand-new affirmative action program put in place to better reflect the city. Meanwhile, the Discworld's one gun has been discovered, and is in the hands of a man determined to reinstate the monarchy.
There are so many details here that I consider to be just part of Discworld basics that it's shocking it took fifteen books for them to appear: Angua! Bloody Stupid Johnson! Leonard da Quirm! Detritus in the Watch! It's so lovely to see them here, filling out the background of the world even more.
I have to admit that I didn't like this one quite as much as I had in my memory, though I'm not sure why. I mean, it's still fantastic, with lots of humor and some exteremly sad moments; a lesser Discworld book is still better than most things I read. I also remembered the King Arthur parody taking up a much larger part of the book than it actually does; I suppose it's just that the whole "forget pulling a sword out of a stone! Who put it in the stone?" is exteremly memorable.
One thing that I found fascinating is that this is the book that really makes the transition between traditional fantasy settings – timeless, unchanging, and mostly based on medieval Europe – and something more modern. There's been little hints at such a change in earlier books: Small Gods permanently altered the nature of Omnism, and Lords and Ladies insisted that humans had changed enough to no longer need elves, but this is a whole different level. I mean: gun control! Minority outreach programs! That's not part of Ye Olde Phantasie.
This is especially noticeable because right before I read Men at Arms I read Troll Bridge, a short story published the year before. Troll Bridge is about Cohen the Barbarian and takes place far from Ankh-Morpork, but it is quite explicitly about the world changing, leaving behind Old School Fantasy (in this case Swords & Sorcery) and becoming a more direct parody of the contemporary world. I never would have noticed these parallels if I hadn't decided to do my reread of this series in publication order, and I'm really glad I did! I'm picking up on so many things that I never had before.
What are you currently reading?
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks. This book has been on my to-read list for ages – literally years! – but since I didn't actually own a copy, I'd been putting it off. Today I forgot my current book at home and ended up in the city with time to pass and nothing to read, which is obviously a valid reason for visiting a bookstore and buying three books. One of which happened to be this, hooray! I'm not very far into it, but apparently it's been long enough since I read a fantasy book to be annoyed at made-up words (what the hell is a "G'deon" and how are you supposed to pronounce that? Call it a King!), but I am still enjoying the promise of lesbian poly H/C.
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Date: 2016-06-23 03:43 am (UTC)I also wouldn't have guessed/remembered that all those elements show up so late into the series! (I read a few random things -- Interesting Times, Soul Music -- before coming upon my first Watch novel and then reading all of them I could find, so the Watch books happen much earlier in my personal Discworld chronology.)
And what a neat point about "Troll Bridge" and Men at Arms! ("Troll Bridge" was actually the first Pratchett I ever read, although it wasn't until I was quite a bit into Discworld that I figured out the connection. I think it was the Troll names that finally tipped me off to go and check my anthology, and sure enough.
Everybody seems to be reading Fire Logic! As in, in addition to me just finishing it the other week, you are the second person on my flist to have done so. I thought for sure it was the fault of the Humble Bundle that contained it which was recently on sale, but apparently not in your case!
but apparently it's been long enough since I read a fantasy book to be annoyed at made-up words (what the hell is a "G'deon" and how are you supposed to pronounce that?
You know, I feel like I still read enough high fantasy, but Fire Logic tripped me up a bit, too. I think the beginning is particularly dense with this stuff, or particularly underexplained, or the words are shaped for optimal obscurity or something... Fortunately there aren't many of them, so it settled out fairly quickly for me.
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Date: 2016-06-23 09:39 pm (UTC)It might have been for me too, actually... I can't remember. I know that I did read the Tolkien anthology it's in without looking for Pratchett, so either way it was a nice surprise!
Everybody seems to be reading Fire Logic! As in, in addition to me just finishing it the other week, you are the second person on my flist to have done so. I thought for sure it was the fault of the Humble Bundle that contained it which was recently on sale, but apparently not in your case!
I know, it's such a funny coincidence! I've actually been meaning to read it for at least a year or two, but despite having it on the list I keep on my phone to have handy whenever I visit a bookstore, I'd never seen a copy of it until today! I suppose because it was published quite a while ago, and so many bookstores now tend to push old books off the shelves very quickly. But I'm glad to have found it at last!
I think the beginning is particularly dense with this stuff, or particularly underexplained, or the words are shaped for optimal obscurity or something... Fortunately there aren't many of them, so it settled out fairly quickly for me.
Yes, the first two chapters or so were an exteremly high bar to get past! But now that I'm more into the meat of the story it all seems to be going quite nicely.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-24 12:23 am (UTC)I'd been meaning to read Fire Logic for at least a year, too. And in my case, the book was handed to me by an LJ friend I was meeting in person for the first time. Clearly, some fundamental shift in the universe had occurred, and it's been just throwing Fire Logic at everyone XD
no subject
Date: 2016-06-23 04:38 am (UTC)I'm sad that I (probably) won't get the chance to read Men at Arms until I get back from my summer job, but I am very much looking forward to more adventures with the Watch!
Is it really the 15th? Here I thought I was starting reasonably close to the beginning with Guards! Guards! Huh.
no subject
Date: 2016-06-23 09:44 pm (UTC)Ha, it's true! I'd somehow forgotten that was such a theme of Guards! Guards! as well. It is rather a different approach to what monarchy means this time, at least.
It's sad to have to wait, but there's also something nice about knowing you have a good book waiting for you! I hate the feeling of not being able to find anything worthwhile to read.
Is it really the 15th? Here I thought I was starting reasonably close to the beginning with Guards! Guards! Huh.
Well, G!G! is only #8. Pratchett just took quite a long detour into other topics before he revisited the City Watch.
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Date: 2016-06-24 11:37 pm (UTC)I've just finished my rereads of Reaper Man and The Truth and am halfway through Going Postal. I was glad to see a new side of old Windle Poons, who had only appeared before as a deaf elderly wizard in a wheelchair, in Reaper Man, and and the first appearance of Reg Shoe, whom we know will become a member of the Watch, though it's implied in RM that he dies when Death is back on the job. I know that The Times will become a regular part of the series, but I miss William and Saxharissa as main characters.
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Date: 2016-06-28 08:46 pm (UTC)I'm looking forward to reaching The Truth and Postal Service! I've only read those once – back when they first came out – so it'll be almost new.