Book post!

[nrgburst]

It has been more than a month since my last book post but I've only read 6 more books since I've gotten obsessed with The Queen's Gambit. A lot of them were re-reads, too. (whoops)

      Damia's Children, Damia and The Rowan by Anne McCaffrey

Yes, I know I was re-reading in reverse order. LOL I just wanted a reminder of all the background for Lyon's Pride and The Tower and the Hive. Damia especially is a favorite- I read my original paperback version so much that the spine started disintegrating. But I'd forgotten so much about the Rowan and Jeff Raven until I re-read the first book, so I'm glad I went back over them. Damia's Children is probably the weakest of the bunch- it felt like all backstory, very little plot.


 Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey

I've always loved this one- Tirla is absolutely the kind of character I like to stan (a scrappy girl with a knack for languages and surviving tough circumstances) and her cursing is still one of those quotes I remembered from years ago: "MAY ALL YOUR ORIFICES BE CLOGGED WITH CAMEL DUNG, YOUR BELLY ETERNALLY FULL OF VOMIT! MAY YOUR TONGUE ROT AND YOUR TEETH FALL OUT AND YOUR GUMS SWELL WITH BOILS! MAY YOUR LIVER ROT AND YOUR BLADDER DRY UP AND YOUR GLANDS SHRIVEL AND PUTREFY." <3 I'm still partway through Pegasus in Space, the next book, which is mostly about Peter Reidinger and so sadly, not as interesting for me. It hop-skips through how Tirla and Sasha got together too, which I find bizarre, because they expect you to just accept that 16 year old Tirla, who is obsessed with shopping and arguing with her adoptive siblings and sneaking online, would marry Sasha a few chapters in (who is like, 30 and was her guardian) without courtship or anything because it was pre-cogged/destiny. Which is just about the most unsatisfying explanation/story anybody has ever come up with WTH. And then I got totally derailed by:


 The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

So obviously it was the Netflix series that hooked me, but the book is good too, though the style is a little dry. The worldbuilding details are amaaazing- the TV series is actually quite faithful to the book in terms of dialogue, and the chess details are incredible. How much research went into this is wonderfully apparent, and the games are full of tension because you can understand the threats Beth's perceiving even without the soundtrack and Anya Taylor-Joy's wonderful acting. There are far more problematic things in the book though- like Tevis obviously believes that "black girls are hypersexual" thing about Jolene, so I'm relieved they cut one of the scenes in the orphanage, and Townes has a far larger (and gayer) appearance in the series. (Ditto "Jenny"'s part being changed and expanded greatly into Cleo.) Also Benny isn't as much of a tool in the TV version, and they also choose not to depict how much better Beth is at chess- it's actually hard to read fandom opinions where people attribute Beth's success completely to Benny when she can beat him in 16 moves long before she leaves New York in the book, and a lot of how she gets to the Soviets' level is self study on her own in Lexington. 


 How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

OMGOMG THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOOOD and the illustrations were lovely. I don't care that it was short- I think I finished it in ninety minutes? I am glad I didn't cough up extra for any of the special editions (plus exorbitant shipping) though- I think I would have been disappointed if I paid more than what I did (Standard hardcover price, minus a Book Depository 10% off coupon) just for a couple of extra pictures, because it really didn't have enough to it to feel like a solid sequel/prequel. It is a really great extra book to add to the series though- much better than The Lost Sisters, IMO.

The structure of it was perfection- THIRD TIME IS THE CHARM IN FAIRYTALES, after all. So the "main/moral" story being told and retold in triplicate with a twist on both retellings was AWESOME. Also Cardan's delightful extra-ness is on full display: "I am nothing," Cardan said, "if not dramatic." "Cardan considers that villainy takes many forms, and he is good at all of them." XDDDD He also gets to come to his own rescue- I love that Jude is usually the brawn and brains of their partnership, but actually seeing him act both badass and clever for once was pretty cool. Also including the backstory where he strangles Locke and dumps Nicasia for their betrayal was one of those emotionally cathartic things we all needed- yes, yes, the smarmy fox got murdered before QoN and all, but we didn't get to witness it.

Also Oak just straight up telling him he's being revolting as if he isn't the All Powerful High King, and Jude just shrugging and eating all his revolting half-eaten dumplings was just the most casually intimate, married behaviour I LOVED IT. <3 We deserve some fluff after three books of dramatic strife, okay. Also his constant side-eye (but with admiration!) references to Jude's tendency to solve problems with violence. LOL 

I just realized their dynamic reminds me a lot of Howl/Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle. No wonder I love it. <3

Comments

[rhoda_rants]

Okay, I clearly need to read some Anne McCaffrey, because that curse, and those book covers, are SPECTACULAR.

[nrgburst]

Isn't Tirla fantastic? LOL Honestly, re-reading them, they do feel a bit *dated* compared to recent Sci fi, and there are rather more inconsistencies than I would expect out of a professionally published novel. And looking at those covers, they all look like they're on thrones, don't they? LOL I might disappoint you, but there is no throne/ruling bit at all.

If I had to give a top 3 for this universe: Damia (pining! Big age difference too), Lyon's Pride (grief and mourning), Pegasus in Flight (Tirla kicking ass).

[rhoda_rants]

Awesome--thanks for the recs! And honestly, I don't know, I kind of miss old-style sci-fi sometimes. It speaks to my pulpy heart if you know what I mean.

---

[tielan]

Oh, I wanted so much more about Tirla and felt so disappointed that Pegasus in Space didn't have much of her either! I was looking forward to that courtship. *grumbles*

I remember reading these voraciously when they came out, but feeling...a bit cheated by both Lyon's Pride and Tower And The Hive. I guess it was realistic (working out a way to make the Hivers less aggressive) but it still felt a bit disappointing.

I might have to go back and re-read them myself. I think I kept all my Anne McCaffreys in hardcopy when we moved...

[nrgburst]

Ahhh, ditto! Like her story gets totally relegated to the side when she was always more interesting than Peter? Maybe I can ask for a courtship fill-in-the-gaps fic for Yuletide next year or Rarepairex. Like he doesn't even interact with her in Pegasus in Space (except once, and it's totally just protective of ward feeling) and then BOOM, MARRIED. AND TWINS. :((((


Yeah, I get feeling disappointed in the ending, but I think it was better than extermination? Or they would have been no better than the Hivers themselves, really.

[tielan]

Ooh, DO! You know, in spite of asking for Rojer/Asia fic a couple of Yuletides back, it never occurred to me to ask for Tirla/Sascha fic. *sigh*

And I agree with what you say about the 'not!Extermination' option, but I think it was more that the first time I read it through I almost entirely missed the 'they get a perfumer in to make pheromones' and then the way it was written was anticlimactic, too...

[nrgburst]

!!! You asked for Rojer/Asia fic?! 😂

Do you know who currently has the onlyRojer/Asia fic up on AO3 (and ffnet actually)? Lmaoooo ETA: I looked up your Yuletide letter and this might actually hit the spot for you, too!

It’s a fill in the gaps in their romance one bridging Lyon’s Pride and The Tower and the Hive. here. Mostly Asia POV. Epistolary sections, which I know is not everybody’s thing, but since: 1. Rojer remained steadfastly in love with Asia while being posted on a whole other ship for a year, and 2. A big part of his job was literally postman because Captain Ashiant had decreed regular post back home would be a perk for crew, I made the not big leap of assuming they wrote each other. Even though there is no actual canon evidence. 😝

I think The Tower and the Hive is just... not well written. Like it feels like her editor let a whole lot of things slide that should have been heavily revised. So many inconsistencies and I remember thinking to myself: why are these brand new nobody characters taking us through almost the last chapter of this book?! So they can dialogue-exposition the “solution”?! I mean... it’s a choice. It’s not a very satisfying one for those of us who have read the whole series though. :/ Also, they sure gave up real fast on trying to communicate with the Hivers once they were taking over their abandoned planets. Even though they were clearly intelligent and obviously communicated even between planets somehow. 🤔

[tielan]

LOL. I am halfway through reading it and LOVING it. SO GOOD.

[nrgburst]

Yeeeeessssss! :DDDD

[tielan]

One of the things I've noticed about McCaffrey is that she created amazing worlds and wrote excellent concepts, but she wasn't all that good at executing them. Also, while she could create interesting characters, a lot of times she didn't really know what to do with anyone who wasn't (white) male for more than one book. And she wasn't particularly good with Feelings of any shape or kind that weren't about achievement or doing something that needed to be done.

Anyway, that story was awesome and is going in my bookmarks for later reading! Exactly what I wanted for YT! :D

[nrgburst]

Oh, agreed absolutely. It's so frustrating because she creates such great, multifaceted female characters too, like Lessa and Menolly and Tirla but she always seems to end up defaulting to "HEA is actually what F'lar or Robinton or Peter wants" and shoving the women back into the background in subsequent novels. :/ Maybe she was trying to write to appease what she assumed was a white, male readership?

I think she also went for blanket solutions, whereas I think current writing trends expect a lot more nuance and shades of grey and imperfect solutions for imperfect people.

Absolutely THRILLED you liked the story! Felt so id writing it, NGL. LOL I was just so pressed that she didn't even let us see them reunite! He got a reunion scene with Flavia? Seriously?! Not even Zara, who was his favorite sibling in Damia's Children? And the more I thought about Asia's POV about things that happened (like Rojer just disappearing after their exam and being expected to train for a new job on a whole different planet- what?), the more I just needed to get it out.