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Bookspam
Among all the other things I do, I've been reading quite a bit lately. A few titles that merit comment:
Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden
Was this book so familiar because I'd read it before, or was it just that predictable? I really can't decide.
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
I picked this up under the assumption that I had read her first book, Swordspoint, already, and it had just been so long ago that I'd forgotten everything. Having finished this book, and picked up Swordspoint, I've decided that I was wrong about that, although I'm really not sure how I missed it, because I ate stuff like that up when I was in high school. Anyway, I enjoyed the new book very much, and I recommend it, even if you haven't read the first. Swashbuckling fun, good characters.
The Darkness that Comes Before by F. Scott Bakker
I can't decide how I feel about this book. I picked it up from the shelf in the bookstore because the recommendation card said "Fans of George R.R. Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay will love it!" Sold! And I certainly see where they're coming from with that; in many respects I should be the idea audience. Well-written, engaging characters, a fantasy world with enough differences from the norm that I felt like I was discovering something new and interesting. This is the first book in a (complete! hooray!) trilogy, and I'm sufficiently engaged that I want to know how it will all end.
But I can't get over how the book portrays women. There are two women in the main cast, and both are prostitutes (one is a concubine, the other is this world's version of a call girl). The "call girl" is clever and sympathetic but the other is a blithering idiot. They're set against a backdrop that is almost all men -- very few women are side characters, among a cast of literally thousands, and none are sympathetic. And the way the male characters talk about, think about, and observe women is almost universally demeaning. Any one of these things I could decide not to let bother me in a book I was otherwise enjoying; all of them together is getting a bit much. It's one thing to say "it's the characters' view, not necessarily the author", but when it's this pervasive I start to wonder.
Still not sure whether I will continue reading the series. Anyone out there read them? Does this pattern continue? Did it bother you?
New Naomi Novik out later this month! And there's a new Diana Gabaldon novel about Lord John, too. I'll never read every book ever written at this rate.
ps. The Prince of Nothing review is essentially copy-pasted from Goodreads, a newish book review/social networking site. Definitely worth checking out. I'm owlmoose over there, too.
Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden
Was this book so familiar because I'd read it before, or was it just that predictable? I really can't decide.
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
I picked this up under the assumption that I had read her first book, Swordspoint, already, and it had just been so long ago that I'd forgotten everything. Having finished this book, and picked up Swordspoint, I've decided that I was wrong about that, although I'm really not sure how I missed it, because I ate stuff like that up when I was in high school. Anyway, I enjoyed the new book very much, and I recommend it, even if you haven't read the first. Swashbuckling fun, good characters.
The Darkness that Comes Before by F. Scott Bakker
I can't decide how I feel about this book. I picked it up from the shelf in the bookstore because the recommendation card said "Fans of George R.R. Martin and Guy Gavriel Kay will love it!" Sold! And I certainly see where they're coming from with that; in many respects I should be the idea audience. Well-written, engaging characters, a fantasy world with enough differences from the norm that I felt like I was discovering something new and interesting. This is the first book in a (complete! hooray!) trilogy, and I'm sufficiently engaged that I want to know how it will all end.
But I can't get over how the book portrays women. There are two women in the main cast, and both are prostitutes (one is a concubine, the other is this world's version of a call girl). The "call girl" is clever and sympathetic but the other is a blithering idiot. They're set against a backdrop that is almost all men -- very few women are side characters, among a cast of literally thousands, and none are sympathetic. And the way the male characters talk about, think about, and observe women is almost universally demeaning. Any one of these things I could decide not to let bother me in a book I was otherwise enjoying; all of them together is getting a bit much. It's one thing to say "it's the characters' view, not necessarily the author", but when it's this pervasive I start to wonder.
Still not sure whether I will continue reading the series. Anyone out there read them? Does this pattern continue? Did it bother you?
New Naomi Novik out later this month! And there's a new Diana Gabaldon novel about Lord John, too. I'll never read every book ever written at this rate.
ps. The Prince of Nothing review is essentially copy-pasted from Goodreads, a newish book review/social networking site. Definitely worth checking out. I'm owlmoose over there, too.
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I am very, *very* excited about more Temeraire.