Reviews: Henry IV Part 2, Shakespeare; Roadside Picnic, Strugatsky; Chanur's Homecoming, Cherryh

Title: Henry IV Part 2
Author: William Shakespeare
Published: 1600
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 100
Total Page Count: 260,085
Text Number: 842
Read Because: co-read with my mother
Review: This is a different play than Part 1—larger, perhaps. I don't tolerate the ramped-up comedy as well as I do Falstaff in Part 1, but the heightened tone pays off in the interactions between King Henry and Prince Hal. Their confrontation, the emotions, the conversations about kingship and identity (more poignant now that I've read Richard II), the prolonged, stylized death, is one of my favorite scenes in Shakespeare's work. The diverging plotlines here mirror the converging plots of Part 1 in interesting ways, and Prince Hal is surprisingly decentralized, something less of a protagonist, with internal conflict and character growth more intriguing for its selectivity—particularly that final, heartbreaking rejection of Falstaff. Heavy lies the head, indeed; I don't adore this in the way I do Part 1, but I'd call it a solid success.


Title: Roadside Picnic
Authors: Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Translator: Olena Bormashenko
Narrator: Robert Forster
Published: Random House Audio, 2012 (1972)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 175
Total Page Count: 260,260
Text Number: 843
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Pockets of strange and dangerous alien space tempt scavengers called "stalkers" to bring relics back into the wider world. This is very like Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation—it feels like that book couldn't exist without this one—and, while I acknowledge this came earlier, it left me wanting Annihilation—for the presence of female characters; for the more austere, thoughtful tone. This is a significantly grimmer, grimier story; the characters are unlikable and the narrative is misogynistic. Sometimes the tone contrasts successfully with the nature of the zone, with its danger and awe; there are some intelligent, introspective moments, and the title drop is especially good. It's an intriguing concept, likewise are the stalkers—I can see why this stuck in the public consciousness, and am grateful for its legacy. But as a reading experience, it's vaguely unpleasant.


Title: Chanur's Homecoming (Chanur Book 4)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Published: DAW, 1991 (1986)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 355
Total Page Count: 260,615
Text Number: 844
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: This series does a remarkable job of using its longer form to foster investment. Action comes to a head here—and it's not too hard to track, as Cherryh plots go, thanks in large part to how clearly the previous book established the forces at play. And it's an eminently satisfying climax. The way things come together—how profoundly the speculative concepts inform the consequences of the plot; the nature and limitations of interspecies communication and comprehension, working alongside the reader's investment in the crew, in their wellbeing and relationships; the danger and exhaustion of space travel and combat, and the many ways in which the Pride feels like a real place—is intelligent, id-indulgent writing and strong conclusion to this three-book arc.

( A few more thoughts via Tumblr )

Book Reviews: Through the Woods, Carroll; The Stone Sky, Jemisin; The Strange Case..., Goss

Title: Through the Woods
Author: Emily Carroll
Published: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2014
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 205
Total Page Count: 260,820
Text Number: 845
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Five short horror comics. Carroll's use of color is phenomenal, her faces evocative, the stylization balanced well against the tone; this is an effective, considered, dynamic work and, as comics, phenomenal. As narratives, the pacing can be repetitious, especially the endings, but they're well-written on the whole, diverse and creative in concept; I particularly like the subtly rendered, varied historical settings and the way they play against the timelessness of horror.

This fostered in me complex thoughts about horror and horror's message—about why individuals encounter horror, and what they "deserve"—and how much of that is legitimized by the narrative; about the repercussions of hate, guilt, envy, but also of women's curiosity, compassion, rebellion. That isn't the responsibility of this collection—a lot of horror engages the same, and this is if anything a feminist collection, given the primarily female characters of diverse personality and motivation. But I appreciate that In the Woods made me think on it; that, in both style and concept, Carroll's horror is so rich.

Ironically, the conclusion/afterword, much briefer and with less narrative, is my favorite part.


Title: The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth Book 3)
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Published: Orbit, 2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 405
Total Page Count: 261,225
Text Number: 846
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: This finale pits Eussun and Nassun on different sides of a battle over the world's fate—despite their similar motives. It's this conflicted and individual approach which I admire most. I'm not particularly invested in the specific characters, despite how thoroughly they're developed, but the underlying exploration of how anger and violence builds a people, and how diverse, and how destructive and productive, individual responses can be is profoundly rooted in the worldbuilding and an intelligent analysis of the issues of society building and power dynamics which have defined this series. The plot, by contrast, is less exciting: many revelations, particularly about the past, aren't especially engaging (or perhaps are just predictable); Earth-as-character never coalesced for me conceptually. (The alternating PoV trick is, however, more successful than the narrative tricks have been in other volumes.) Not a perfect book, but a satisfying end to a generally satisfying series.

(When I was reviewing The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms I found that I had ... never reviewed this. My notes were buried in an old moleskine from last year, oops.)


Title: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club Book 1)
Author: Theodora Goss
Narrator: Kate Reading
Published: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2017
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 420
Total Page Count: 261,645
Text Number: 847
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: When investigating the mysteries of her family's past, Mary Jekyll discovers a murder-mystery and a preponderance of daughters of male scientists. This borrows heavily from period (pre-)genre stories—Sherlock Holmes, Frankenstein, Rappaccini's Daughter, Jekyll and Hyde, Moreau, Dracula—and is not the least coy about playing these inspirations out into a speculative meta that changes the focus to women, women's bodies, and women's social roles. It hinges on the success of its pastiche, which I found too light, too playful; there's also a wealth of sequel bait, which further undermines a lackluster plot. But it is charming, particularly the character voices and the metanarrative trick, an obtrusive but lovable marginalia in which narrators address one another; the monster women are great, and, while there's nothing subtle about it, the found family they build delights my id. This isn't a great book, isn't even a very good book (call it 2.5 stars), and for me was not the right book; but a different reader with a sense of humor may find it fun.