Recent reading

[luzula]

It can be surprisingly difficult to set out to read something self-indulgent! I suppose a reread or the next entry in a series is the best bet, but even those can backfire (the Hornblower book I read before these was a success, though).

The Magpie Lord by K J Charles (2017)
Surely a K J Charles would be a fun, engaging read? I picked this one on the basis of it being free, but alas, it didn’t work that well for me. The relationship between the main characters just wasn’t built up enough for me, with the result that I kind of lost interest in the sex scenes and was more into the magical plot. It didn’t help that it has that sort of everything-goes-smoothly kink where one of the main characters just goes ahead and dominates the other without anyone having to talk about it, whereas I would prefer there to be more negotiation and snags and character moments. I’m not being entirely fair, because there are some moments like that, and I did like those! But on the whole the relationship felt a little shallow.

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (1984)
A favorite of many of my fannish friends! Perhaps an older YA fantasy was what I needed? I think if I had read this one at fifteen, I would have loved it, but reading it at forty-five without the benefit of childhood nostalgia, I did not love it. Don’t get me wrong, I can still be charmed by a flame-haired princess fighting dragons, but I am more apt to have my back put up when the book starts out with someone on the border of a kingdom wanting to secede, and the narrator assures me that the only reason someone could want to secede from this Good Kingdom is because he’s a little stupid and also possessed by a demon. I also found the final battle anti-climactic because Aerin only wins because of something that seems accidental? And a lot of her actions in the second half seem like she’s being carried on some determined path rather than choosing her own actions? I am aware of how hypocritical this is of me, since I’ve seen people complain of the same thing in The Dark Is Rising, but I love that (childhood favorite) book, heh. However, my favorite character is the horse Talat. Great character, lovely relationship with Aerin, totally carried the book for me. <3

Comments

[sanguinity]

Aw, I'm sorry the self-indulgence attempt didn't work out!

Robin McKinley is hit and miss for me (which disappoints me, because she married my favorite author and so I want some transitive property to apply where I love her books as much as his), but as I recall, I liked The Blue Sword, the original novel of the pair, better than I liked The Hero and the Crown. That said, The Blue Sword is a colonization-heavy story, so it may not bear up on re-read. Grain of salt, proceed with caution, etc.

[luzula]

Huh, I didn't know Peter Dickinson was your favorite author! I adore The Blue Hawk, which I read when I was young and which still holds up for me on reread. And I recently reread The Ropemaker which I also like, but there are tons of his books I haven't read, probably because he writes a lot of mysteries.

I am wallowing in some nice self-indulgent fic instead! Namely, the various outtakes from AMarguerite's An Ever-Fixed Mark series.

[sanguinity]

I have a GINORMOUS shelf of his works, the man wrote for kids and teens and adults, and fantasy and thrillers and historicals and mysteries and nonfic... I remember when I was young thinking there were, dunno, three or four authors named Peter Dickinson, there were such distinct bodies of work in different sections of the library catalog -- and then my awe and delight when I discovered they were ALL THE SAME AUTHOR!!!! SUCH RICHES!

And of course I have to love that he didn't start writing professionally until his forties -- ALL THAT, and he didn't start until midlife! He's also had a major affect on how I approach characterization and dialogue in my own writing.

One of his adult mysteries btw, features a poly relationship in a (non-existent) branch of the Windsors. I've been thinking I should re-read it and rec it to you. But if mysteries aren't your thing...

And while we're on random associations, one if his works is titled The Flight of Dragons, which is an attempt to build a coherent evolutionary biology and physiology for dragon flight. It made me smile when you titled your Temeraire fic that.


Self-indulgence: Fic, especially series/authors you already know and love, is very good for that!

[luzula]

I don't mind mysteries as such (I have read all of Sherlock Holmes after all!), but it's not enough to sell me on a book to say "it's a great mystery novel!". I usually need some other selling point as well, such as "it has good shipping possibilities/an interesting historical setting/cool SFF worldbuilding/something else I enjoy". Totally open to trying out the Dickinson poly mystery, if you think I'd enjoy it! The dragon book sounds cool, too.

And wait, I have actually read two more Dickinson books, now that I think of it: Tulku and A Summer in the Twenties.

[mergatrude]

♥ Have you read A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, bu T. Kingfisher? I would class this as YA self-indulgent reading.

[luzula]

I have read it! And yes, I enjoyed it. : ) With the exception that a book with a title like that ought to have better descriptions of baking.

[cahn]

Haha, I love Hero and the Crown but I also read it as a misunderstood teenager who didn't fit in with everyone else, so Aerin's Super Special Not Fitting In was like catnip.

I get what you're saying about winning the final battle because of something accidental, though, which honestly has always bothered me! And Talat (and Talat & Aerin) is the best :D

[luzula]

Yes, it did strike me as a book best enjoyed if you read it first as a teenager! Talat has so much character, I liked his combination of vanity and caring and bravery and his competence at showing off. : )

[chestnut_pod]

I think the Magpie books are some of Charles' very earliest, and her relative lack of experience shows in the characters. I particularly agree with you about Lord Crane, who never struck me as a particularly interesting person -- and all the stuff that might have been interesting gave me vague shpilkies, coming as it does from being an Englishman gallivanting colonially about China when there are hardly any actual Chinese characters in the books.

As you well know, I adore THATC, but I can agree wholeheartedly with you that Talat is the best character and the best sequence in the whole book is the Talat-recovery montage.

ETA: and I've always thought she won the battle because Agsded is a reflection of herself and all the things people have told her about herself, but the things she has of her own, like slaying the dragon and her self-inflicted surka allergies, give her the courage to overcome that ingrained self-doubt and self-hatred.

[luzula]

Yeah, she's usually good at having engaging characters, but I just wasn't gripped by these. Well, I'll choose a later one next time...

the best sequence in the whole book is the Talat-recovery montage
Totally agree! Talat has so much character, I liked his combination of vanity and caring and bravery and his competence at showing off.

[garonne]

As far as I remember, I read The Magpie Lord ages ago when KJ Charles had published very few other books, so I thought it was great because I didn't have the later, even better ones to compare it to :D

I do think it is best read as part of the whole trilogy--the characters and relationships deepen a lot later on (not only the main romantic pairing, but also their relationships with their friends and colleagues). But if you didn't like the first one then you are probably not motivated to read the rest of the trilogy!

It can be surprisingly difficult to set out to read something self-indulgent!

I hope you have had more success in more recent days?

[luzula]

But if you didn't like the first one then you are probably not motivated to read the rest of the trilogy!
It's not that I disliked it as such, but more that I was underwhelmed. But good to know that the other two add more depth!

I hope you have had more success in more recent days?
I have! I read some fic, and then the next book in the Comfortable Courtesan series. The word "comfort" is right there in the title!

[osprey_archer]

I did read The Hero and the Crown as a teenager, and I still didn't like it! So possibly you wouldn't have either. At this juncture I can no longer remember why I didn't like it; I have the vague memory that I found it hard to follow.

Overall, Robin McKinley is hit and miss for me, which is too bad, because I know lots of people who just adore her books.

[luzula]

Hmm, I guess it's hard to tell for me now which books would have worked for me as a teenager.

I love some Robin McKinley books (Sunshine, Deerskin, her Robin Hood book), but others don't really work for me. Which is the definition of hit and miss, I guess!