Title: Yellow Jessamine
Author Caitlin Starling
Published: Neon Hemlock Press, 2020
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 380,430
Text Number: 1431
Read Because: reading more of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: I struggle with this brand of unreliable narratorquestionable, but not as dark as they think; prickly, but more loved than they thinkit's a borderline-frustrating level of cluelessness. The worldbuilding, of the dying port city and the spreading, eerie disease, is a slow but promising burn; but the ending feels unearned and undermines that slow pacing. I appreciate the effort, but this doesn't work for me.
Title: The Only Good Indians
Author Stephen Graham Jones
Published: Gallery / Saga Press, 2020
Rating: N/A
Page Count: 335
Total Page Count: 381,030
Text Number: 1433
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: DNF at 60%. I've had mixed to positive experiences with Jones's other work, and really didn't expect to bounce off of this. There are absolutely effective ways to play animal harm in fiction against the way fiction/society glorifies or dismisses human harm, particularly against people of color; I expect that's at the heart of this text and that it does it well. But I wasn't up to the challenge or the tone. Perhaps I'll try again in a future November.
Title: Delan the Mislaid (Children of the Triad Book 1)
Author: Laurie J. Marks
Published: DAW, 1989
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 255
Total Page Count: 381,325
Text Number: 1435
Read Because: recommended by Rachel/fan of the author, borrowed from OpenLibrary
Review: This reminds me so much of the premise & worldbuilding of Wells's Raksura series: outcast discovers they belong to a controversial but also enlightened, powerful, and desirable winged race that provides a longed-for home. But the execution is distinctly Laurie J. Marks: trauma and trauma recovery; what it means to find/build a home when one's sense of self is fractured; the role of trust in relationships, including one's relationship with oneself. And gender! A lot of gender. I liked this a lot. It lacks the refinement of the Elemental Logic series, feels more high fantasy and more rough-and-ready; but that same roughness gives it a pulpy genre vibe, and it's fascinating to see early Marks, different style but same focus, producing dynamics I consistently find compelling.
If I can ever get my hands on the sequels, I'd be happy to reread this and then the rest of the series.
Author Caitlin Starling
Published: Neon Hemlock Press, 2020
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 380,430
Text Number: 1431
Read Because: reading more of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: I struggle with this brand of unreliable narratorquestionable, but not as dark as they think; prickly, but more loved than they thinkit's a borderline-frustrating level of cluelessness. The worldbuilding, of the dying port city and the spreading, eerie disease, is a slow but promising burn; but the ending feels unearned and undermines that slow pacing. I appreciate the effort, but this doesn't work for me.
Title: The Only Good Indians
Author Stephen Graham Jones
Published: Gallery / Saga Press, 2020
Rating: N/A
Page Count: 335
Total Page Count: 381,030
Text Number: 1433
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: DNF at 60%. I've had mixed to positive experiences with Jones's other work, and really didn't expect to bounce off of this. There are absolutely effective ways to play animal harm in fiction against the way fiction/society glorifies or dismisses human harm, particularly against people of color; I expect that's at the heart of this text and that it does it well. But I wasn't up to the challenge or the tone. Perhaps I'll try again in a future November.
Title: Delan the Mislaid (Children of the Triad Book 1)
Author: Laurie J. Marks
Published: DAW, 1989
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 255
Total Page Count: 381,325
Text Number: 1435
Read Because: recommended by Rachel/fan of the author, borrowed from OpenLibrary
Review: This reminds me so much of the premise & worldbuilding of Wells's Raksura series: outcast discovers they belong to a controversial but also enlightened, powerful, and desirable winged race that provides a longed-for home. But the execution is distinctly Laurie J. Marks: trauma and trauma recovery; what it means to find/build a home when one's sense of self is fractured; the role of trust in relationships, including one's relationship with oneself. And gender! A lot of gender. I liked this a lot. It lacks the refinement of the Elemental Logic series, feels more high fantasy and more rough-and-ready; but that same roughness gives it a pulpy genre vibe, and it's fascinating to see early Marks, different style but same focus, producing dynamics I consistently find compelling.
If I can ever get my hands on the sequels, I'd be happy to reread this and then the rest of the series.