#then i have the sff favorites that have pride of place and NEED to be in the bedroom plus the shelf of 'kid books' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moghedien · 4 years

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Could you recommend some adult sff? Love your blog btw!

Thank you!

And ok, I could give you better personalized recs if you give me some idea of what you’re looking for or what you like, but I’m gonna give you some general recommendations. Also I only really feel comfortable recommending books that I have personally read, and there are tons more out there than what I have read. If you want to find more, looking at recent Hugo nominations over the past few years might be helpful. Also one of the reasons why I know anything at all about the SFF world is that I’ve been listening to the Sword and Laser podcast for like, a decade. I never really mention that podcast, but its literally why I started reading at all and also they have a pretty active goodreads group as well.

So recommendations:

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie:

This is one of my favorite books period. This is a far future space opera about an artificial intelligence who used to be a spaceship and now is only one human body, and she is ANGRY ABOUT that. I don’t really want to say more than that, but if you like AI shenanigans and being sorta confused as to what is going on the entire time, then this is the book for you! It’s the first book in a completed trilogy.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan:

Obviously I’m gonna recommend the Wheel of Time. This is the first book in a 14 (actually 15) book series and if you need something to do with the next 1-5 years of your life *motions toward EoTW*.

So the Eye of the World, I think is uniquely good as a book if you kinda want to get into adult fantasy for a few reasons. For one thing, its kinda considered to be one of those “classics” of the genre but its not too old to be offputting to some readers. It’s a 30 year old book, so its not reflective of the genre now, but you can definitely see its influence all the place, even outside of just books. The Eye of the World specifically, also goes out of its way to make readers comfortable. It leans heavy on Tolkien references and tropes at first without being a straight up copy of Lord of the Rings like some classic fantasy books are. Its done very purposefully, in my opinion, to make the reader feel like they have some idea of what’s going on, and the series quickly drops the Tolkien references as soon as its established itself enough.

Also the Gandalf parallel for the series is a smol bi lady and there is 24 year old rage healer who wants to fight everyone with her own two fists.So many women to stan.

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

This is the first book of the Expanse, which is a nearish future space opera that takes place in our solar system. Mars has long ago been colonized and is a completely separate government entity than Earth, and conflict between the two planets has been stirring. The Asteroid Belt has also been colonized and have long been little more than tools of corporations that run their colonies. A group of ice haulers working in the outer planets get in the middle of one of the biggest secrets in the solar system and find themselves in all kinds of trouble.

I don’t really want to say more than this, but this is probably the only SF series that I actively keep up on when a new book comes out. There are 8 books our currently, and the 9th and final book will be out sometime in the near future. There are also several short stories and novellas set in the world, and there’s a TV show that I really like though I need to catch up on it.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Hello, this book comes with content warnings for literally everything, but it is such a good book/trilogy. This is book about a woman trying to find her daughter again in the middle of the apocalypse. Definitely a heavy read but absolutely brilliant. The world has a magic system based on geology and the people that can use that magic....saying they’re discriminated against is an understatement. I don’t want to say much more about it, but if you have any kind of content you can’t read for whatever reason, I’d check before picking this up. This is the first book in a completed trilogy

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

So this isn’t really super SF heavy and is actually sold as a literary book, but it takes place after a flu pandemic has wiped out a large portion of the population...so maybe this is a bad time to read this book, OR its the best time to read it. Depends on how you’re dealing with *motions at the world*

The book flashes back to before and during the pandemic a lot, but is largely about art’s importance and is actually quite optimistic in its messaging, and this is another of my favorite books ever. But yeah, might be a bad time for you to read it of you can’t deal with the content now.

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I just remembered that this book also has a plague, but its a subplot and not the major thing. So this is a big ol’ chonky standalone book that is high fantasy, deals with multiple cultures having to interact and work together, and has dragons. Also there’s a genunine slow burn f/f romance and *chef’s kiss*. I can’t really say much else, mostly because I struggle to explain this book, but its very good and probably my favorite book from last year.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

In this house we stan Mary Robinette Kowal, ok?

So this is a science fiction that is more an alternate history that poses the question, hey, what would have happened if an asteroid slammed into the east coast in 1952 and the world had to scramble to colonize Mars so that everyone didn’t die on earth when the climate got catastrophic, because that’s the inciting action of the book. The main character is a Jewish woman who was a WASP pilot in WW2 and is a computer for the space program when all this happens. The book deals with sexism, and racism, and xenophobia, and all the social issues that are gonna come up with it being set in 1952, but Mary Robinette doesn’t flinch away from addressing social issues in any of her books, even when it makes her main characters look bad. (Also if you like Pride and Prejudice, she has a series that is just Pride and Prejudice with magic and like, yeah, its good).

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

This is a book which poses a question, what if dragons were like weird animals that were real and an eccentric woman spent her entire life traveling the world to study them and then told the stories of that in her memoirs when she was too old to care about the consequences of publishing all her scandals. That’s what the book is about. This one is probably actually the weakest in the series, just because it deals with so much set up. It’s a great series to get on audio because Kate Reading is a fantastic narrator, and the prose works so well as audio, because it’s just someone telling you her life story. There are five books in the series.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

So this is a novella and is the first in the murderbot series. Basically a killer robot gets addicted to television shows and accidentally became sentient. I haven’t read the others in the series, but I really need to reread this one and get to the others.

Jade City by Fonda Lee

This is a fantasy set in world sorta inspired by the early 1900s but is in a fantasy world. It’s like a mafia movie and kung fu movie had a baby and it was this book. The sequel is out currently, but the third book is set to release next year.

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

This is another heavy read. This is a SF story set on a generation ship that has a society very heavily inspired by the antebellum south. There’s class issues, race issues, gender issues, mental health issues. All kinds of things intersecting here. Its fantastic, but a heavy read.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

This is another fantasy classic, and is the first of the Farseer Trilogy. The title is sort of also a description of the book, so like. I’m not sure what else I can say. I haven’t read further into the series, but people I trust love it, and honestly I need to reread this and read more of the books.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

So if you think that Station Eleven might be a bad book to read at the time, then this is THE WORST POSSIBLE BOOK TO READ RIGHT NOW. Or, maybe the best. Depends on how you cope. This is a book about time travelers based in Oxford and the main character accidentally gets stranded in the past right as the Black Plague is about to hit. And it hits. The book is horrific. The second book in the series is much funnier. This one ain’t funny, but is good. Just, oof.

Mistborn or Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

So if you want to get into the Cosmere, which is a series of series that interconnect and will ruin your life, then then my personal opinion is to either start with Mistborn or Warbreaker. People might not agree with me, but that’s my personal opinion.

Warbreaker is currently a standalone (a sequel will come out eventually but its not set up for a sequel so you can 100% read it as a standalone). The magic in this world is based on colors, and the story revolves around two sisters. One of them is betrothed to the horrific God King of their neighboring kingdom. The other sister ends up being sent in her place because their dad hates her. I adore Warbreaker so much. It has it all. Two women discovering their true places on the prep/goth spectrum. Talking swords. Vivenna. Everything you can need right there.

Mistborn is a trilogy that is very emo and will ruin you. Its about people who swallow metal to get magic powers and live in world where the dark lord won already, so they’re all emo. And that was the worst description of Mistborn I ever could have written, but I find it too funny to change.

So if you’re interested in the Cosmere, but are afraid to commit long term, pick up Warbreaker. If you want to get into a series right away, pick up Mistborn.

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kbrown78 · 5 years

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Monthly Wrap Up: June

Okay, so I'm actually a bit surprised that the month turned out the way it did. After the past couple of months, I accepted that wasn't likely to read a total of more than 5 books. This month I was able to read a whopping total of 15 books. 15! I haven't read that many books since January. Granted 2 of those books were DNF, one was a short classic, and another was only 7 pages, but still it's an impressive amount for the month. As for ratings it was all over the place. I had everything from a 1 star DNF to even a 5 star book, but the majority of books fell in the middle with 3 stars. This was also a surprise because toward the middle of this month, I was just reading 1 and 2 star books back to back. I lost my enthusiasm for reading, resigned myself to the possibility that this would be a horrible reading month, and even went a few days where I didn't read anything. After soon detox time, I pushed through and even managed to end the month on a relatively good note. Also got back on track with the reading challenges. I read a total of 6 books for the PopSugar Reading Challenge and finished at least 1 of the books I set out for the Reading Frenzy's Pride Month Buzzword Challenge. Biggest achievement was completing my Goodreads Goal of reading 50 books within the year. By the end of this month I completed 60 books, and now I want to see if I can make it to 100. Probably won't but, it will be an amazing accomplishment. So despite a significant low point, June was actually a good month.

Armistice by Lara Elena Donnelly: The previous book Amberlough had been a thorough disappointment, and I was nervous this one would be the last straw for this series. In fact it came close to being the biggest disappointment of the month. If this book wasn't impressing me by the halfway point than I was just going to give up the series. That did not happen, in fact I really ended up enjoying this book. Continuing some time after the previous book (I honestly couldn't tell you how much time, probably no more than 5 years), we follow a few characters from the previous book in their new circumstances, as well as a new character with connections to all the old characters. As I said in my Monthly Wrap Up for May, characters were the driving force for this series, which is part of why the first book struggled, because the character weren't done well. In this book however, the characters are much better because they now have some sense of identity. Aristide and Cordelia were tolerable, if not a little likeable at times. Cordelia's clearly been through some tough times but keeps grinding through to achieve her goal of destroying the Ospies, and her skills are good enough to convince other to help her cause. Aristide seems to want out of the criminal life, enjoying a new life of luxury in film, but the past won't let go of him. The new character, Lillian, was fantastic, like without a doubt the best part of the book. I like how she's connected to the other characters, both with her profession and the fact that she's Cyril's sister. Her work with the press puts in several politically delicate situations, but she demonstrates the smarts and the drive to accomplish her goal of saving her son. Through her you also finally get some behind the scenes political machinations, something this entire series needs yet usually fails to deliver on. Onto one of the stronger aspects of this series, and that suprisingly is the romance. The series stretching relationship is Aristide and Cyril, and with Cyril being absent, you see how much Aristide is effected by Cyril's absence. While having the main relationship be a gay romance, my favorite relationship was between Lillian and Jinadh, a minor royalty from the lush, tropical country where half the books takes place (I think the name is Liso, but I honestly don't know). They have a history, which resulted in their son, but can't be together due to her profession and social taboo's in his country. Yet when they meet again they still feel the chemistry, they want a relationship. They have their differences but are willing to put it aside in order to get their son to safety. I also thought some things that the previous book struggled with where partially remedied in this book. There were actual examples of Ospie atrocities, actual political intrigue (but I still struggle to fully grasp what's going on), and complex motivations that make sense. The setting was lush and tropical, and again had that 1920s feel with the film industry and airplanes, but I still struggle with knowing anything about the world (I don't even know where half the book takes place). So while this book does greatly improve from the first one but it doesn't take things to the extent that it needs to and I'm more than a little worried about how the last book is going to go. Armistice received 4 out 5 stars.

City of Lies by Sam Hawkin: I wanted this to be a 5 star book. All of the reviews I read made it seem like it had the potential to be 5 stars, but it wasn't. Part of issue might have been how long to took to get through this book. First I kept putting off reading it because I was worried that I wouldn't love it and the beginning chapters were very involved and were also fairly long. Than in the middle of reading it I had to put this book on hold so that I could get through other books that I needed to finish in May. This constant delaying of the book contributed to the feeling of the plot dragging, but looking back at the plot itself, there really wasn't much action after the second half of this book except for in the last chapter. The whole story revolves around a murder mystery that begins shortly before the city is under siege. As our protagonists try to find the killer and stop the siege they must figure out who is loyal and delve into the dark secrets of their city. This was a book that had so much potential, it really could have been a 5 star book. Even as I was going over my tag notes for about the first quarter of the book I saw a tone of potential for the world and characters and really saw how nuanced the story and themes could have been. Then the story starts to drag on and on and really starts to show it's true colors as a debut novel. This all culminates in an extremely lackluster, completely out of left field climax with one saving grace scene. Everything in the first quarter of this book was great: the writing was detailed and intriguing but not overwhelming, the POV characters had some depth, with their own sets of assets and flaws, and were immediately put to the test with a change in circumstance, the world was rich and unlike so much grimdark fantasy that I've been reading by portraying that while there were relevant grievances against those in charge it wasn't all bad, and the whole emphasis on poisons was cool. The mystery for the majority of this book was actually done well, which I haven't really seen well done mysteries in SFF books. I was as lost as the protagonists were, it made sense why they couldn't figure out who was behind the conflict of the books, and everyone made for an equally believable. Then things shifted and for some reason the story starts to drag on and on, with the same points being reiterated over and over and no real progress is made, and really starts to show it's true colors as a debut novel. Characters lose their depth (and prominence), the conflict becomes more black and white in morality, new things are just thrown in with little development, and the mystery loses its suspense. This all culminates in an extremely lackluster, completely out of left field climax with one saving grace scene. I really wanted this to be a 5 star novel but it just wasn't. City of Lies received 3.5 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “debut novel.”

Gone by Michael Grant: Much like City of Lies, Gone was a book that had a 5 star start. You are immediately thrown into a tense and strange situation with all the other kids, who are now trapped within a confined area and everyone over the age of 15 has disappeared. Aside from trying to survive without adults, new threats emerge in the form of bullies, mutants, and a mysterious creature known only as The Darkness. I loved this series as teen, completely wrapped up in the action and the characters, and was really hoping it would live up to those expectations. It did, at first. The beginning really grabs you and doesn't let go. I didn't want to put the book down, I needed to read how everything played out, and I loved that. Things went downhill when they POV started shifting to less interesting characters and the story really started to lose its tension. Also as weeks have passed between me finishing the book, I find myself forgetting most of what happened and just not being attached to the characters. There were a few that were compelling but they were put aside for Sam and Caine's rivalry which was both clique and not well done. Once the series started slowing down, it never really recovered and even during a high stakes climax, which the entire book has been building up to, I wasn't as invested in the story as I was at the beginning. Above all else, this very much felt like a YA book, with the simple writing, archetypal characters, and underdeveloped plot. Gone received 3 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “about someone with a superpower.”

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman: Here it comes, the inevitable 1 star DNF of the month. Though I will say this book wasn't bad, it just really wasn't for me. While I like warm books, I don't usually prefer light hearted books (another reason why I don't reach for contemporary). I will, however, still read these books if they fit the following conditions: they contain certain things within the narrative that I like, I'm aware that it's a light hearted story, and I'm in the mood for a light hearted story. I was not in the mood for that kind of story nor did I know the book would turn out to be one of those kind of stories. I went in there for the library bits because I am a book lover, and I think that is why many people are initially interested in reading this book. Unfortunately, the Library itself was hardly seen or utilized from what I read, so that things could focus on a book retrieval mission, which I found to be both absurd in its execution and boring. It felt like a bait and switch, intentionally drawing in readers with the promise of this really cool library that the story and characters revolved around only for it to actually be about a wacky retrieval mission and murder mystery in a weird alternate world. Which is a shame because what we see of the Library (lots of training with numerous people, vast sectors of different books from different worlds, the various classifications of different worlds based on magic/ chaos and technology, ancient meets modern) was really cool yet is completely underutilized and underdeveloped. Like, why is it so hard to write a good library setting? Seriously, the only good one I've ever seen was the Clayr Library in Lirael, and even that was underutilized. It's not just the bait and switch nature of the narrative that upset me, but literally everything else in the book was disappointing. The writing was so zaney, almost trying to emulate an episode of Doctor Who, and it was so absurd and over the top that it just grated on my nerves. Like for awhile Cogman seemed to be deliberately putting Liechtenstein in every other paragraph to sound clever and funny, but it became very irritating, very quickly. The world that the characters spend most of their time in could have been interesting, an alternate Steampunk London (still don't fully grasp why Victorian London is such a popular setting) with faries in it, but it was so focused on being as weird and over the top as possible that I couldn't enjoy the world, and we never really get much of a sense of what any of the other worlds are like. The character were at best lack luster and at worst irritating. I wanted to love Irene because she's a book lover, relies on her smarts, and I love those kind of characters, but she failed not just as a book lover but as a character in general. We are told Irene a book lover but never shown it, and other than her reading a few books, nothing is really known about her. I don't know really anything about her personality, her likes, her dislikes, her history, what she's like on missions. I don't even know what books she prefers to read or her opinions on various books. She was a very flat character that felt like a prop in the story. This emptiness is further extended with her relationships. Her parents are always absent but she's not mournful or glad of this fact. She has no attachment to them, in fact she doesn't really show attachment to anyone. Like seriously, this woman seems to have no close friends despite the fact that she works in a large multi dimensional library with other book lovers. This again serves to make her come off as more of a cardboard cut out rather than a fully fleshed out character. The only other “relationship” we see is this petty rivalry she has with literally the only other on screen female. It was so annoying witnessing the only 2 female characters being catty toward each other. This may improve because the rival seems to stick around up to the latest book, but I couldn't stomach it with the rest of the book's contents. Despite how disappointing Irene was, Kai, her new partner, somehow managed to be worse. He was this smoldering guy, wearing a leather jacket and being incredibly gorgeous. He could have been interesting because apparently he's a dragon, or part dragon, but he's so forgettable outside of his looks that you have to be constantly reminded in the story that he is a dragon. The best thing I can say about him is that he wasn't a snarky jerk, but he was just devoid of personality. As far as I got there wasn't any romance going between Kai and Irene but I wouldn't be surprised if that's where it goes. This is a book where characterization, setting, and even plot are sacrificed in favor of writing in a particular style, and this felt a little insulting to me as a reader, but mostly the style just did not mesh well with me. Gave The Invisible Library 1 out 5 stars, since it's a DNF, and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “favorite prompt from past reading challenge,” which asked for a book that features a library. One day I'll read a book with a good library!

Amnesty by Lara Elena Donnelly: While this wasn't a bad finale, it was disappointing. In fact this whole series was disappointing. I thought based on the covers, and the premise, and other people's review, the series would sweep me away with it's dazzling characters and plot. What should have been a firework, was a sad a little party popper. This book takes another time skip and takes place after the Ospie regime is put out, and follows various characters as the deal with the aftermath of the previous 2 books. All the issues that have plagued the previous books in the series were repeated in this one, and I was honestly over it. Focusing on how tragic mediocre characters are doesn't work if I don't care about them. Even after completing 2 books I didn't really know these characters, I didn't have a grasp of what made them tick, and I felt no attachment to them. While I was disappointed with the characters, the worst thing about this book, and really this entire series, was how the plot and themes were handled. If this book had focused on the election and all the political turmoil, or even the effect these events were actually having on citizens, it would have been a much stronger series. Unfortunately, readers are only given scraps of that narrative, while the author prioritizes the melodrama between characters. This is most telling with the climax, were the results of the current election aren't divulged, it's just left hanging in the void, but several chapters are dedicated to detailing the journey of 2 characters leaving the country. There were some interesting themes that had a lot of potential but aside from giving a few nods to it, there isn't anything done with them. Lillian was once again the only source of anything good in this book. It's through her that we get the election subplot, and I felt for her going managing sticky political situations while having to deal with her brother Cyril who's been labeled a war criminal. Honestly without Lillian, this entire series would have been only 1 or 2 stars. Potential isn't enough to carry a series, and when execution fails the end results are disappointing, which sums up not only this book but this entire series. Amnesty received 2 out 5 stars.

Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente: This one is going to be short because there isn't a lot to say. I only managed to get about a third of the way into it, which I haven't done in years. Whenever I DNF I make an effort to get 50% of the way through so that the characters or plot has a chance to improve. The reason I quit at 33% was because my issues with the book had nothing to do with the characters or plot. The writing style was awful. It was pure word vomit, overloading the page with every word that sounded like it could fit, and some that didn't. The writing honestly starting resembling a Donald Trump speech with utilizing the quantity of words used (and how cool they sounded) versus the actual quality of word usage. It was about at that point that I had to put the book because I couldn't take it anymore and I knew that this was something that was not going to change as the book progressed. I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the characters or the plot, because everything was so weird. Granted I expected an eclectic writing style based on my experience with Valente's other novel, Deathless, and the general premise of this story, but it was so over the top it was just nauseating and unbearable. I've read a short story of Valente's and really liked that, but I just don't agree with her novels. Space Opera received 1 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book about a game or puzzle,” since it's not about a game exactly but more about a competition.

Hunger by Michael Grant: I don't have much to say about this one for a few reasons. I hit another mini reading slump because when I was reading this book I wasn't reading anything I was enjoying. This lead to me just skimming like the last half of this book so that it could be over. Even doing that, though, this book still lacked the level of action that the first book had set up. Not to say that there wasn't some significant things that occurred, but I really think this book suffered from second book syndrome. This book picks up immediately where the first book left off, all the kids still trying to survive in the FAYZE with dwindling resources and Caine recovering from his previous defeat and plotting against Sam. Most of the book is similar to the first one, kids being kids and not really managing things and different power struggles, and once again things being built up just to serve their purpose in the climax, which I think is the biggest fault of this book. Nothing was organically developed, the story seemed to drag on and at slow pace (despite the majority of the book literally taking place within 24 hours), characters were being stupid and generally assholes (heroes and villains), and there was a lot of forgettable material in this book. The saving grace of the previous book was the strong beginning, which this book lacked. The only saving grace of this book was that there were some compelling themes, but even that's a bit of stretch because they were once again poorly developed. After finishing this book I was really tempted to quit the whole series, which is telling of how frustrated I was with this entire book. I will at some point continue with this series, but I need to take a little time off after completing this disappointment. Hunger received 2 out 5 stars.

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu: Close to the beginning of the year I was wanting to read a classic novel each month to widen the genre of books I read each month and get back into regularly reading classics like I used to in high school. I read Little Women, but that was really it. Last month Barnes and Noble had a sale on classics, so I picked up a couple that I really wanted to get. This one was the first one I read, and is actually a reread. I first read it for a literature course I had to take in college and I really liked. I liked the soothing tone it set and I found it to be a very thought provoking classic (even if I didn't always agree with what it was advocating). I figured I would probably enjoy rereading it and I think I liked it even more the second time. It's got a very serene tone, the philosophies presented are quite humbling and ones I think should be implemented in daily life (to certain extent), and it makes in interesting contrast to Confucianism with both having their virtues and weaknesses. There was supplemental reading that went along with the edition that I had, which I definitely think helped improve my reading experience because it added context to much of what I was reading. It's the kind of classic that you can see why it has lasted so long, and that you can enjoy reading because of it's simplicity and calm tone. Tao Te Ching received 5 out 5 stars.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: Initially I intended to read this book in September to help get ready for the eerie October reads I have planned. Then I noticed I'm behind on my PopSugar Challenge, so I wanted to do some quick reads to catch up. I looked up this one to see how long it is and it's only 7 pages, so I definitely gave this one a quick read. There's a lot you can break down even in this short story, and I like that. I always like something that gives me food for thought, and this work in just a few pages manages to do that better than some works do in over 400 pages. It manages it tackle and satirize themes of tradition and war, again, in such a small amount of pages. Suspense was also something done really well, which I did expect because it's a Shirley Jackson. At the beginning everything seems fine but then the story starts building up this sinister feeling around the lottery until the horrifying reveal of what the lottery actually is. It's an intelligent, satirical, chilling piece of short fiction that I think everyone should read. This book made a brief appearance on Netflix's Haunting of Hill House, which is another book by Jackson I want to get to later this year, but also thought it was a clever nod to Jackson's stories, and fits perfectly for the PopSugar prompt “book you saw someone else on TV reading.” The Lottery received 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Going into this reread I knew it wasn't going to be as good as I remembered. Despite this, and some frustrating aspects, I still managed to find it somewhat enjoyable. It has a rather generic dystopian premise, a boy at the bottom of the hierarchy rebelling against his leaders, there's something about the story that adds enough of a breath of fresh air for it to be engrossing. This book's greatest strength is definitely it's action and pacing. I was never bored while reading it and at least when there was a filler chapter, it was over quickly. It kept adding new twists and turns, creating multiple conflicts for the protagonist, Darrow. As for Darrow himself, he's a character that I both like and dislike. He's arrogant and stupid, but it feels in character and fits quite well for the series as a whole. He's generally a well intentioned person who is fighting for a good cause so you want him to win, but the book does display him as almost being too perfect. Speaking of which, I didn't like most of the side characters, especially the women, because their entire characterization revolved around Darrow. The core trait of every woman was that she's beautiful. Either kind and beautiful or evil and beautiful but always beautiful. It was really annoying, and I wanted more from these characters. The only one I liked was Sevro, who was really an underdog and weirdo, but didn't seems to care. The story in this first book is really an underdog story about overcoming the odds, which is straight forward and something people are both familiar with and inclined to like. The world was kind of cool, a sort of Roman Empire in space, that actually felt like the Ancient Rome and appreciated seeing that. While this book is a bit too shallow for me to love, it's a fun, quick read that can help pull you out of a slump. Red Rising received 3 out 5 stars and was my first book for the Reading Frenzy Pride Month Buzzword challenge, which asked you to read a book with a color in the title.

The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen: Oh boy, this one was a hot mess. Much like the previous book, I knew I wasn't going to like this one, in fact I was almost sure I was going to hate it. Unlike Red Rising, however, which balanced out things I thought were good with things I thought could have been improved, this book only had a sparse few moments of compelling narrative but was jammed full of stuff that just made me angry. So the series is about Kelsea, a 19 year old who has been raised in isolation until the day she ascends to the throne. When she does become queen she discovers that her kingdom is in massive disarray and full of corruption. As she tries to work and internal problems and avoid assassination attempts, she also must address the looming war she will likely have with her powerful and mysterious neighbor, the Queen of Mort. While, there were several issues I had with Kelsea (which I will get into in a second) there were a few good moments with her. As a book lover, I was glad to see a ruler who wanted to put an emphasis on education, deeply valued her collection of books, and even worked with the church (which she makes clear her distrust of) to start something of a library system. That's something that I liked not just because of my own love of books but because it's good to see a ruler with those values and implementing them. The other thing was Kelsea ending the Mort Treaty when she learns what it means for her people. It's a tricky situation, and one she probably could have handled better, but I do admire her for sticking to her morals and doing what she believes is right. Feels a bit like Danerys Targyern (before she got power hungry). And that's about it. That was honestly all I enjoyed about the book. Other than what I just talked about everything else in this book actively frustrated me. Characters are very flat, usually either being written as angsty or evil (and those evils ones always being sluts), the plot has a ton of holes in it (biggest example being Kelsea raised in total isolation for 19 years) and generally dragged on with very little action despite the books length, and the world building was, in a word, bad. I'm not going into a detailed rant here, talking about all the issues I had with this book, but there is something I want to go into a little more depth with and that's Kelsea herself. Kelsea has to be one of the worst protagonists I have ever read. She's supposed to be intelligent, or at least book smart, yet consistently makes stupid decisions. She's a condescending brat who insults everyone around her, which isn't a smart idea since she's a brand new ruler. Insists on doing everything her way, and has mini tantrums when it doesn't go her way. Above all else is her hypocritical ways and her obsession with her appearance, considering her attractive mother beneath her for focusing on vanity, but Kelsea spends most of the time focusing on her own plain appearance (which is emphasized at every opportunity and usually in the worst way) and insults other people's appearance. Also when she's talking to her attractive servants who had previously been abused because of their beauty and they try to warn her of that, she completely disregards them, only wanting to be gorgeous. Kelsea is the kind of character this book tries to say is a savior figure, but all the narrative does is present her as a hypocritical brat that shouldn't be within a mile of the throne. I knew this book was going to be bad after reading some reviews, but I didn't think it would absolutely tank. The Queen of the Tearling received 1 out 5 stars.

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore: Going into this one I knew little, only that it was a magical realism because that's what McLemore usually writes and there's a curse on this family that causes their lovers to disappear but something changes when a boy shows up. Also you can tell flowers are going to be a central motif based on the colors and title. The flower's provided beautiful imagery and I liked what the meant to the girls and the land of La Pradera. In fact this novel's imagery was probably the best thing about it. It felt distinct, quiet, personal, lush, and colorful. I also liked the family dynamics in this book. All these women tied to the land and each other by the curse that has plagued them for generations. This has the double effect of making them intimately close with each other, but also dislike and distrust each other. I felt their pain just as much as I felt their love. Speaking of love, I also liked Estrella and Fel's dynamic at the start (and only at the start) of the book. Fel mysteriously shows up in their garden, meets Estrella and the 2 quickly develop an odd connection, both being plagued by their pasts in different ways. For a little while I wasn't sure if they were going to become lovers or platonic soul mates, and that's what made me like the 2 of them together because I would be happy with either. I also liked some the themes presented in the first half of the story and how they were handled (within the first half). That being said there was one thing I didn't like and that was Bay. She was kind of annoying and artificial, this figure that all the girls put up on this pedestal, and I honestly found the Nomeolvides girl's obsession with her (yes obsession, not love) more than a little irritating. Also Estrella was really the only one in the group of girls that stood out to me. The rest were just kind of there, and I would have liked more development of them. The ending was what really dropped the rating of the book. Standalone novels are hard to cram a good, complete plot into, and magical realism tends to sacrifice plot for atmosphere. At the start, Wild Beauty had a vague plot that was slowly developing but there was solid direction with good themes and great atmosphere. Then it took a hard right and the plot seemed to be trying to hard to have something happen at the price of sacrificing everything else and the message took a dark and almost destructive meaning, the girls ripping out everything that makes them who they are. At the end Estrella makes it clear that she has no sense of self love, in fact she seems to hate herself even more because of something she wasn't aware or responsible for. That left a very bad taste in my mouth. The romance also seemed to fall apart in the end too. I already went in with certain expectations, but was still okay with romance. At the end, Estrella's self hatred seems to add an unnecessary amount of angst, and even has a toxic feel to it. It also feels very rushed, though I can't say exactly why. This was a pleasant novel with a solid start that unfortunately was bogged down by an unnecessarily depressing and empty ending. Wild Beauty received 3 out of 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “plant in title or on cover.”

The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen: Not since last year have I read a series that has made me so enraged. This series is an amalgamation of lazy, generic world building, toxic tropes, and ripping off of other popular works. There's honestly too many issues in this book to properly go over in a Monthly Wrap Up. There did manage to be a few slightly redeemable aspects but even those were tainted by the rest of the writing. Kelsea started to develop interesting parallels to the Red Queen, but Kelsea became on awful character who showed her true colors. She's petty, violent, doesn't listen to anyone, and isn't as bright as she likes to think she is, yet other praise her as being the True Queen. Also having read the final book, I know that things don't get better, which makes me dislike her even more. The only other character that remotely stands out in my mind is Lily, a character from our world shown in flashbacks. Her narrative is basically a Handmaid's Tale rip off, but she at least seems to have a little more drive. The other character I thought I would like was Ewen, a mentally slow prison guard because he's a sweet bean who always does what is right, but he didn't stand out to me as much this time. This book also really pushes the anti religion message. This could be an interesting theme, because religion and those in charge are capable of doing both good and bad, but it's done in such a black and white manner that all good will of the message Johansen is trying to deliver goes flying out the door. This one's arguably my least favorite book in the series, just because I was so mad after reading it. It's just another example of why I'm always cautious about hyped books, because they are rarely worth the hype they get. The Invasion of the Tearling gets 1 out 5 stars.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown: I was a bit surprised I enjoyed this one as much as I did. Not that I thought I would dislike it, but this book still managed to get a reaction from me. Continuing a year after the events of the previous book, Darrow must maintain his persona as a Gold while hiding his true heritage as a Red. With mounting tension between various faction, war seems to be an inevitable outcome. The start was slow and a bit painful, there was some convoluted moments, but the book overall keeps up the momentum that the previous book developed. This was also the book that made me respect Brown as an author. Darrow still has the same flaws, because that's just who he is, but now he's starting to see consequences. The themes become more developed, mostly focusing on the fine line between revolution and terrorism, imbalance of power leading to civil war, and breaking caste systems. Brown also clearly tried to develop the side characters more, especially the females. However this ultimately falls a bit short and I think the main reason for that is because the entire story is told from Darrow's perspective, who is seeing the world and people through his own distorted filter. That specific element is I think biggest fault this series has. On a good note, the ending of this book was without a doubt the best moment of this entire series, it's the darkest moment and was done perfectly. Even knowing what happened, I was still shaking from the anticipation. It's a book with enough solid assets to balance out the flaws, and is possibly my favorite book in the series. Golden Son received 3.5 out 5 stars and was my second book for the Reading Frenzy's Pride Buzzword Challenge.

The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen: I'm worn out by this series. I knew I was going to hate this book because even when I first completed the series and still liked the first 2 books, I thought this one was incredibly disappointing. I skimmed most of this book, and outright skipped sections in a certain characters perspective, because I just wanted to complete this series. Like honestly the story repeats the same issues as the previous books with new issues in pacing (moving very rapidly), character arcs (stagnates and does nothing), the ending (huge cop out), the origins of the “magic” crystals (confusing and just doesn't work) and the villains. The main villain was actually the one interesting thing about this story because he could have been this eerie mysterious force or could have been at the center of a compelling conflict about power and politics, and he just wasn't. He was irritating brat who thought way too highly of himself (spurned on by his nut case of a mother) and is another reflection of the poor writing that plagues this entire series. I didn't actively hate this book like the previous one but that's only because I was tired from this series. This is a series where I honestly don't understand the hype and don't know why I liked it so much the first time I read it other than the hype. Disappointing book and sub par series. The Fate of the Tearling received 1 out 5 stars.

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bronanlynch · 3 years

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recent media consumption summary time

could’ve sworn the last one was only two weeks ago but apparently it was three. sorry for becoming unmoored from the passage of linear time

listening: you know when you use a song lyric as a fic title and then you get that song stuck in your head for the next week? anyway Whirlpool by Sea Wolf sure is a song that I enjoy and also have had stuck in my head for a week. I feel like I should have smarted musical things to say here but I like Sea Wolf, they’re nice to listen to, they’re sad man with guitar music without being identical to every other sad man with guitar band

reading: finished my reread of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, and my main thought this time around is that I love Kaz with my whole entire heart. also love a good multi-layered heist scheme. also also Wylan/Jesper is cute but I do think they don’t get nearly as much relationship development as the two m/f couples and like, I really like these books but that is very much a trend especially in sff YA these days

also finished Lord Seventh (Qi Ye) by Priest and. god I love the characters so much. a friend group can just be a bunch of horrible gay people pining for each other and betraying each other in order to save each other’s lives. extremely tasty. also,

(I would say that missed opportunity is my one complaint but like. my actual main complaint is that as much as I love the characters, I think that if the racism in your text is blatant enough that I, a white american with very little knowledge of the specific racial coding happening can pick up on it, then it’s uh. probably pretty blatant and that’s Not Great)

also did some pride month impulse purchases at my local indie bookstore, including Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Girl from the Sea, a lesbian selkie graphic novel, which did so many things to my heart. first of all the art is so pretty

second of all, I too have been lonely and starting to realize that I’m gay while living in a beach town with a summer tourism economy, drifting apart from a friend group that I didn’t feel like I was part of and wishing I was literally anywhere else even though I loved the ocean. third of all, gay selkies

also read The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon which I enjoyed even though I am definitely not the target audience for first person present tense novels, even if those novels are portal fantasies about fae power struggles and arranged marriages. I really enjoyed the three main characters and their relationships, and the worldbuilding was fun, though the twist at the end (and lots of parts of the ending tbh) felt a little bit abrupt to me. also, and this is a personal thing, but someday I would love to read a fantasy novel with a transmasc character that actually feels like it reflects my experiences. I guess that’s part of the problem with looking for this in YA, but that’s where I tend to see transmasc protagonists so here I am. anyway, valid for anyone but especially trans teens to want to read a narrative about someone being loud and open about their identity but that’s not my experience. which I think is why I tend to construct my own trans narratives around characters who like, aren’t canonically trans but have themes about lying and hiding and being defensive about their image because *that’s* a trans experience I actually relate to.

I’ve started In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens, which is not a book I intended to buy but 1) look at the cover

2) I am weak for gay people on the sea. it’s fun so far, I’m not expecting any sort of in-depth anything about royal power but it’s cute and light and I’m having a good time. my main complaint is again a personal thing, which is not actually a complaint about the book itself and more about twitter discourse about how there should never be homophobia in sff that takes place in different worlds and how we’ve had enough of that so everything should take place in a world where it’s fine and normal to be queer. and again, that’s fine! I do enjoy books like that! I am currently enjoying a book like that! but again, I have a harder time relating to characters whose queerness isn’t mediated by fear the way mine is (this book sidesteps that by making the main character a very anxious person, which helps increase the relatability, but also. there’s this whole thing about how people distrust him and there are rumors about his ~perversion and yeah it’s about his secret hidden magic but. felt very weird to have that set-up and then not have homophobia play any part in the way other people talk about him, y’know? like please, stigmatized magic as a parallel for stigmatized sexuality is Right There)

watching: finished Nirvana in Fire and am having lots of normal and moderate emotions about it. belongs in my mental categories of “media I want to consume over and over again and take it apart and figure out how to write like that” and also “things I want to rewatch when I have enough energy to appreciate it” because I do think if I weren’t so tired these days I could’ve tried to have predictions instead of waiting for the characters to explain their plans to me, as much as I do love it when attractive people smirk at the screen and monologue about their schemes

also watched most of Castlevania season 4 (I have 3 episodes left) and it’s. well. it’s not Good but it’s a lot better than season 3. however, I only care about a few of the plotlines and everything else is kinda boring. I like Alucard’s plotline and I like Greta and I liked the two scenes where Hector and Isaac interacted and I liked the vampire lesbians deciding that being gay was more important to them than doing war crimes. cannot be bothered to care about anything else though, especially St. Germain. more importantly, Alucard’s new look fucks. love the whole cape + tits out thing.

finally got around to watching the end of the first season of Elementary and once again, I enjoy it when people explain complicated plans to me. love a good mystery. also, predictably, I’m in love with Moriarty. her first two dates with Sherlock are about art forgery and Roman artifacts in the London sewers, how was I supposed to *not* fall in love with her. also every time she interacts with Joan after the reveal has extremely homoerotic energy. ladies is it gay to become psychosexually obsessed with a woman who outplotted you

also, very importantly, my roommate realized I’d never seen Tsubasa OVAs, and they sure are an experience. I read the entire manga in like two days in a fugue state last winter and remember very little of the plot of the second half of the story, so the second OVA which is like. a random section of the late plot was kind of a lot to try to process at once, though I do appreciate one of the main ships doing a Gift of the Magi thing except instead of selling treasured possessions to get each other gifts they’re sacrificing parts of themselves. however the first one is my favorite arc, because it should not surprise anyone that the post-apocalyptic vampire arc is my favorite. also, I don’t need to remember the actual plot to remember and appreciate how much of an Eliot-core character Fai is. look at him. prettyboy ice wizard pretending to be flirty and performatively useless to hide his trauma. also he’s a vampire. he sets off the cosplay and gender envy parts of my brain so much

playing: nothing new since last time, just more Tidepools and Beam Saber. maybe someday I will play a video game again

making: got to cook for just the two of us last week instead of having to find something that everyone would eat, so Zan and I finally got to make chicken marsala from this recipe and it was extremely good. next time we’re gonna double the mushrooms though I think, the recipe didn’t make quite enough compared to the amount of chicken

someday I will make non-food things again but unfortunately, when most of your energy has to go to either cooking and cleaning for other people or trying to get other people to cook and clean,

writing: posted three new fics: the Persona selkie AU, the Nirvana in Fire miserable sapphic makeout fic, and a slice-of-life Persona fic for an exchange, and worked on a couple of other things that are still secret for zine reasons

#dreaming.txt #tuesday no problem extended universe #long post /

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