Recent reading

[luzula]

The Wild Shore by Kim Stanley Robinson
Reread. This is one of his first books, and I know I've read it before, but I hardly remembered it and I don't think it made much of an impression on me the first time. I appreciated it much more this time around. It's the post-apocalyptic version of his California trilogy, but it's not immediate post-apocalypse; rather it's narrated by a teenager who grew up in that world. When you hear "teenage protagonist in a post-apocalyptic world" you might think YA, but it is not, or at least it's very far from most books in that genre. I so appreciate the solid, grounded feeling of KSR's SF; there's so much physicality in it, that sense of human beings being in an actual real world. There's a great passage where the main character has to swim ashore from a ship a long way out to sea, and the endurance of it is so well written! For a post-apocalyptic world it's not actually depressing (except for a glimpse of someone telling a story of the horrible time just post-apocalypse).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
For fannish book club. This was one of those rare books that everyone in book club unreservedly really enjoyed! Very good fairy-tale based fantasy; I'd love to know more about the Russian fairy tale it was based on. And there will be a sequel, too! \o/

Comments

[brigantine]

Those sound interesting. I am particularly intrigued by "The Bear and the Nightingale." I may have to look into that. :)

[luzula]

Do look it up! Also you're Californian, so you might find KSR's California trilogy interesting?

[tamsin]

Oh, I'm always interested in fairy tale influenced fiction, as long as it's not too grimdark. Would you say this is?

[luzula]

There are some dark elements, more specifically upyrs (vampires). One person the main character cares about comes back as an upyr. But as a whole I wouldn't say the book is grimdark.

[jesse_the_k]

I loved the California trilogy so much! I'm glad the suck fairy didn't drop by.

[luzula]

Nope, no suck fairy in sight! In fact the book had gotten better, or rather, I think I might've been too young when I read it first.