Podfic of "Formosi Pueri", by Ione (Aubrey-Maturin)

Title: Formosi Pueri
Author: ione
Reader: luzula
Fandom: Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series
Characters: Jack, Stephen, and Diana gen
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1 h 17 m 26 s
Author's summary: Jack Aubrey is sent out in another small ship in order to convey Stephen on a secret mission. He takes some of his old crew along, to the disgust of one of the non-coms.

Notes: This is honestly one of the most canon-like stories in this fandom that I have read, and I sincerely recommend it. It uses POB's omniscient POV to good effect, and I absolutely love Diana here. Also, it was such a delight to read! I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Thanks to riverlight for beta-listening and catching mispronounced words for me!

Download or stream here.

Recently read books

There seems to be a meme for doing this on Wednesdays, but whatever.

The Charioteer, by Mary Renault

I've seen this book mentioned a lot (plus, naraht is doing a chapter-by-chapter reread), so I wanted to check it out. I enjoyed it a lot! The writing drew me in from the start, and I felt invested in the characters. ( Discussion with spoilers )

And huh, there are some issues with women in this book. I have no idea if it's the main character, the author, or the time period? Maybe all three. I also felt like some things in the book went right over my head because the social codes were unfamiliar to me. Like, at one point there's a scene where an aunt sees her adult nephew's bare feet, and it causes horrible social embarrassment? At least I think it's the bare feet that caused it?

Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell

Alas, I did not get through this. I listened to probably a third of it before giving up. I knew going in that it was not going to have much of a plot, and I don't necessarily mind that if I'm invested enough in the world or the characters. But in this case I wasn't.

I am also listening my way through some Elizabeth Moon military space opera (the Vatta books, done by Graphic Audio). They have great space battles and work very well as radioplays, and that kind of competent female lead character obviously satisfies something in my id, but I do tend to see them as a sort of guilty pleasure. According to the worldview in those books, capitalism and military discipline cures all ills. Which, well, is not my worldview. Also, they're pretty weird about kink? The only kinky people in the books are eeeeevil.

Next up: Rosemary Sutcliff's Frontier Wolf!