Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Black Sun, by Rebecca Roanhorse

Really happy I read this one, and am looking forward to the rest of the series. What I really like about reading Rebecca Roanhorse is how her important scenes, whether they are action sequences or dialogs, draw you in and make you hold your breath. The opening of this book is one such scene. An interesting note for me is that it relies less on actual fights than some other books of hers. There's some violence and even gory stuff, but in this book the combat is more long-term chess moves, especially the process of creating Serapio. Teek, where Xiala is from, is going to be particularly interesting to develop in later books. Right now it comes off as pretty much Lesbos, but I'm sure there's more to it.

Roanhorse kind of telegraphs the cliffhanger through the book, but it still works really well. The plot itself, at least at this stage, is pretty much hero's journey/vengeance/love affair, but those are a pretty strong triangle and Serapio and Xiala populate it very well. The other main character in the book, the Sun Priest Naranpa, has not grown on me yet--she seems pretty naive early on--but is coming along well.

Fun stuff! Pick it up if you like fantasy at all.

My Goodreads Review

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Mexican Gothic, by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

Well, to be honest, horror is not my genre, so for me it was hard to like. It was hard to like for a lot of other reasons too. Our protagonist, Noemi, is a hero but not an engaging one, and the villains are kind of cardboard. Francis, younger brother of main villain Virgil, has a little promise of development but until the last few pages it really doesn't happen.

It's interesting to know that the town Moreno-Garcia describes is based on a real place and in many ways close to it. Mexico is a colonial society so in that way how events unfold (especially for privileged people like those in the story) is going to be familiar. Like other reviewers, I'm not sure what is particularly Mexican about it other than Noemi's fashions--but that may be pretty accurate. Given that the setting is transplanted England I guess it is not surprising that there's not much that's identifiably Mexican--adding it in here might have been artificial.

The writing is good, other than characters that don't develop much. The scenery is evocative, and the sciencey explanation of the supernatural elements works OK. In the end, I'm not sure why I read it. Oh well. 2.5 rounded up.

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke

It's just about impossible to describe anything about the actual content of this book without pretty much spoiling it. The process of the reveal starts at the beginning and slowly unrolls, so anything said after the first paragraph gives it all away. So I'll do that.

The story fits in the "lost worlds" genre. Piranesi lives in a world of statues. He obviously has background of living in a more normal world, but he has forgotten it and is in the moment in the statue halls. He contentedly keeps a journal of his findings on the statues, and meets with The Other, the only other living person in the world, who is attempting to find Great and Secret Knowledge.

Bit by bit the story gets darker as Piranesi discovers or remembers more about where he lives. The Other accuses him of losing track of time, and what he is doing. He starts to question how he knows about things he has not seen, like the police, or more people than the 16 he knows about (14 of them dead). He eventually discovers that he is in a place that others (including The Other) only visit. And the dark past of the world, mostly dark because of its discoverer (a practitioner of "transgressive thinking", scholarship for perversion) and how he manipulates people.

So it's not my normal kind of read, but it is something that as it unfurls I can say I have seen before. I think Clarke brings it off quite well, and the protagonist's awakening by slow degrees is very well done. Another reviewer said this book would appeal to "a certain kind of reader". I think that's true, and I don't think I'm it, but I can still appreciate the craft involved. 

My Goodreads Review

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Luna: Moon Rising, by Ian McDonald

When I finished New Moon (the 2nd book), I had become fascinated but also somewhat frustrated and worn out with this story. It felt like there were no grownups present--the members of the Dragons, the 5 oligarchies that ran the Moon, broke big expensive things in extravagant feuds without regard for consequences for their employees. It seemed like half the Moon made a living as soldiers (blades or dusters) in the various private armies. All with very colorful names (escoltas, jackaroos, etc) to make it seem very cool.

The start of the third book was kind of awkward and made me think the trend was going to continue. The violence gets ever more picturesque. But as the story goes along, some human elements finally emerge, and those human elements get handled very well at the end. It made me happy that I had persevered and read the whole series. Character development that seemed tedious to me on first reading explains itself as I think about the ending. All in all, good stuff.

I am not surprised to see that this series was optioned for television--it's very visual, and a feud of wealthy and beautiful families always seems like it's going to be a winner.

The Road to Roswell, by Connie Willis

This is a rom-com, a nice relaxing read. I think Connie Willis could have put more into it than that, but in the end it's pretty much a ...