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juushikaTitle: 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2018-06-06 01:16 pm (UTC)