Playing with words

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- ( cutting for spoilers )