Recent reading

[luzula]

Santa Olivia, by Jacqueline Carey
Yessssss, this was awesome. I think I remember keerawa saying the same? Also there's some really hot sex in it--not explicit, but it's just built up in a good way. The blurb on the front says that it's a "deep piece of literature" which I don't agree with--I just found it an engaging feel-good read, but whatever. If you're wondering what it's about, it is a cross between:
- a boxing story, complete with a gruff coach training up an underdog
- a superhero story
- a dystopia
- a lesbian love story.
Recommended!

A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vernor Vinge
An epic brick of an SF novel. I was a bit slow to get into it at first, but then I loved it--there's both interesting worldbuilding and characters and a suspenseful plot which I stayed up until 1:30 am to finish. There were some really cool aliens! I've never seen that take on group minds before, and they were fascinating. Possibly it is cheating to have a character look like a cute pack of puppies, but whatever. Also there are zones of thought that are like an SF version of the zones in Jo Walton's fantasy book Lifelode, or apparently it's the other way around--Walton was inspired by Vinge. And the galactic internet works exactly like Usenet newsgroups, which I can recognize despite being too young for Usenet. *g* There's a sequel and I'll definitely read it.

Fic-wise, I can recommend River-Mother and River-Daughter by Zdenka which is a lovely bit of backstory for Goldberry in LotR. Also I found a 12,000-word Left Hand of Darkness story which looks potentially excellent, but I can't read it because it is in Russian. *frustrated*

Oh, oh, and also, the Renault Exchange produced no less than TWO Laurie/Andrew fics! This one was excellent, and I am still saving up this one.

Comments

[calvinahobbes]

Lol I was so underwhelmed with Santa Olivia, but you're not the first person I've seen gush about it. I find it striking that you thought the sex was really hot, because even towards the end I wasn't even sure if I shipped it. Anyway, I can't expect to like all books ever, and I'm glad it exists so you could enjoy it!

[luzula]

*follows link*

Oh, that's so interesting. The writing/narration was completely invisible to me because I was invested in the story? I mean, some books have language that is enjoyable in itself, and this wasn't one of them, but neither was it one of the books where I was annoyed because the language felt flat and uninteresting. It just...served the story for me.

I shipped it, yeah. Gah, I find it hard to analyze why textual sex is hot to me or not, but this came across as...urgent, like the characters were really into it, and I think that's because the build-up worked for me and drew me along.

And yeah, we can't all like the same books, that would be kind of boring. : )

[seascribble]

BRB, getting Santa Olivia RIGHT NOW.

[luzula]

Hee, I hope you enjoy it! Do check out Calvina's opinion above, though--everyone doesn't love it, obviously.

[toft]

Ooooh! I really love the Kushiel's Dart series but I've never read any of Carey's other stuff. Sounds like Santa Olivia is up my street!

[luzula]

I listened to and enjoyed the first Kushiel book but then never got around to reading more, but they're still on my to-read list. I hope you like Santa Olivia! : )

[feroxargentea]

I was ho-hum about Santa Olivia - it was sort of entertaining but without making me believe in/care about any of it. My girlfriend loved it, though. But she says don't bother with the sequel, it's rubbish - read the Kushiel books instead. Just passing that on :)

[luzula]

Opinions seem to be divided about this book. : ) Yeah, I'd heard that the sequel is mostly fluff with no plot? Might read it if I stumble across it, but I probably won't buy it.

I've read the first Kushiel book and liked it fine, but I haven't gotten around to reading the rest.