Books read in January 2019

[nou]

As per usual, by default I’m just stating whether I’d recommend the book (yes/maybe/no), whether I decided not to finish it (DNF), whether it’s a re-read, and whether I can remember there being any content that needs to be warned for (cw). I’m happy to expand on the reasons for my opinions if anyone is interested though — just comment and ask.

Definitely recommend:

• The Steerswoman, The Outskirter’s Secret, The Lost Steersman, and The Language of Power, Rosemary Kirstein (cw: violence, torture, violent death, xenophobia)
• The Second Mango, Climbing the Date Palm, A Harvest of Ripe Figs, The Olive Conspiracy, and Tales From Perach, Shira Glassman (all re-reads) (cw: incest jokes, homophobia)

Maybe recommend:

• The Magicians, The Magician King, and The Magician’s Land, Lev Grossman (all re-reads) (cw: violence, murder, rape, fatphobia, weirdness around queerness that doesn't quite reach the level of homophobia, mental illness oneupmanship, suicidal thoughts, amputation)
• The Freeze-Frame Revolution, Peter Watts (cw: mass murder, solitary life imprisonment)
• The Expert System's Brother, Adrian Tchaikovsky (cw: body horror, starvation, murder)

Wouldn’t recommend:

• Iain M Banks, Paul Kincaid
• Buying Time, E M Brown (cw: black woman killed to provide character development for white woman, women killed to provide character development for man, homophobia used as set dressing, fatphobia, women are fungible, creepy men in their 50s in love with teenage women)

Comments

[fred_mouse]

I'd love to hear about what it is about the Glassman that means that you both recommend and re-read them. Further on those -- if they are series, or multiple series, is there a logical order? I already have Glassman on my 'to look out for' list, but I haven't yet gone hunting for their work in the new (much bigger) library.

[nou]

The Glassman books (“the Mangoverse”) are comfort reading. They have bisexual, lesbian, gay, trans, and asexual characters, they’re fat-positive, and they’re full of people being supportive and kind to each other.

They’re a series — the first four are novels and the fifth a collection of short stories — and the order I list them in is the order you should read them in.

[fred_mouse]

Thank you. Off to the library today, so I'll have a look see what they have, and talk to their acquisitions people if not.

[fred_mouse]

No copies of the first one in any Australian libraries, but Trove lists it as being from Torquere press, so that would explain it. Possibly overdrive, but I've not got that worked out -- something new for me to investigate!

[nou]

I really hope you manage to get hold of them! I think you’ll like them.

[fred_mouse]

I suspect I'm going to have to find someone who has copies, and get them illicitly. I'm guessing Torquere won't be in overdrive, now that I've thought about it, because they went under some time ago (but at least the rights reverted to the authors)

actually, it occurred to me to do a booko search. From Australian and/or well behaved suppliers, they are prohibitively expensive. But from Amazon, not too bad (seriously, one of the options was A$108). I'm thinking about it -- should do a large order if I'm paying that much for postage...