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juushikaTitle: Brightness Falls from the Air
Author: James Tiptree Jr.
Published: Open Road Media, 2014 (1985)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 380
Total Page Count: 318,460
Text Number: 1108
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A diverse group of tourists arrive on a distant, vulnerable planet to witness the aftereffects of a nova. Tiptree wrote so much and such fantastic short fiction; but long fiction is a different beast, and those same skills don't necessarily apply. The opening is slowed by character introductions; the resolution is too long and too detailed, while the more interesting and Tiptree-trademark themes (like thematic illness/disability, death drives, death with dignity vs. life with disability) are left relatively unaddressed. Meanwhile, the middle bulk of the book is an extended anti-heist/howdunit, too localized against the sweeping themes of genocide and reparation, excruciatingly paced: characters know they're in a precarious situation, suspect danger, and do nothing to help themselves or even self-sabotage—and then struggle against everything that can go wrong going wrong until they're rescued by unearned and/or poorly paced resolutions. It still feels like Tiptree, vivid and stylized, pulpy but grim, with atypical depictions of gender and gendered social roles and consistent themes of death. But it's not as provoking or dense—or strong—as her short fiction.
Title: Invisible Emmie
Author: Terri Libenson
Published: Balzer + Bray, 2017
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 318,895
Text Number: 1112
Read Because: mentioned byrushthatspeaks, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Two wildly different middle school girls are drawn together by an embarrassing accident. This is equal parts text and art; a short, sweet read, with some overbearing font choices but unassuming, quirky doodles. I came to it because I heard it had a clever twist, and it does, and I mostly buy it—I'm not convinced it holds up to close reading (ex. if Emmie occasionally acts "as" Katie, why do others still see her as quiet?), but this is a middle grade book—the twist doesn't need to be ironclad to make the narrative clever and engaging.
The ending also nicely subverts a female rivalry which threatens to overtake the text—but it still means the bulk of the book is about that female rivalry, which I hate to see in MG/YA, especially in concert with casual but unaddressed ableism and body shaming. The issue of social anxiety has me more on the fence—this doesn't present a magical solution so much as the first step down a new path, and I appreciate the need for optimistic narratives, but it would have felt too easy to me as a socially anxious middle schooler and doesn't sit any better now.
Title: Six-Gun Snow White
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: Saga Press, 2015 (2013)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 319,480
Text Number: 1117
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Snow White as a half-Native woman living at the tail end of the Westward expansion—a distinctive combination of elements which compliments Valente's interrogative approach to retellings. She inverts expectations in tone, refuses expected plot beats; indulges the repetition that most retellings avoid (or attempt with little success). The final encounters with the huntsman and stepmother are particularly strong; Valente writes moments which are quotable/moralistic but deeply embedded within the story's imagery, and these resonate. But the ending is disjointed, and the aforementioned strong elements—the voice, the style; the plays with/against the fairy tale—took over; I never found myself emotionally invested in the actual narrative, and I wanted that little more from it.
Author: James Tiptree Jr.
Published: Open Road Media, 2014 (1985)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 380
Total Page Count: 318,460
Text Number: 1108
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A diverse group of tourists arrive on a distant, vulnerable planet to witness the aftereffects of a nova. Tiptree wrote so much and such fantastic short fiction; but long fiction is a different beast, and those same skills don't necessarily apply. The opening is slowed by character introductions; the resolution is too long and too detailed, while the more interesting and Tiptree-trademark themes (like thematic illness/disability, death drives, death with dignity vs. life with disability) are left relatively unaddressed. Meanwhile, the middle bulk of the book is an extended anti-heist/howdunit, too localized against the sweeping themes of genocide and reparation, excruciatingly paced: characters know they're in a precarious situation, suspect danger, and do nothing to help themselves or even self-sabotage—and then struggle against everything that can go wrong going wrong until they're rescued by unearned and/or poorly paced resolutions. It still feels like Tiptree, vivid and stylized, pulpy but grim, with atypical depictions of gender and gendered social roles and consistent themes of death. But it's not as provoking or dense—or strong—as her short fiction.
Title: Invisible Emmie
Author: Terri Libenson
Published: Balzer + Bray, 2017
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 318,895
Text Number: 1112
Read Because: mentioned by
rushthatspeaks, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public LibraryReview: Two wildly different middle school girls are drawn together by an embarrassing accident. This is equal parts text and art; a short, sweet read, with some overbearing font choices but unassuming, quirky doodles. I came to it because I heard it had a clever twist, and it does, and I mostly buy it—I'm not convinced it holds up to close reading (ex. if Emmie occasionally acts "as" Katie, why do others still see her as quiet?), but this is a middle grade book—the twist doesn't need to be ironclad to make the narrative clever and engaging.
The ending also nicely subverts a female rivalry which threatens to overtake the text—but it still means the bulk of the book is about that female rivalry, which I hate to see in MG/YA, especially in concert with casual but unaddressed ableism and body shaming. The issue of social anxiety has me more on the fence—this doesn't present a magical solution so much as the first step down a new path, and I appreciate the need for optimistic narratives, but it would have felt too easy to me as a socially anxious middle schooler and doesn't sit any better now.
Title: Six-Gun Snow White
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: Saga Press, 2015 (2013)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 319,480
Text Number: 1117
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Snow White as a half-Native woman living at the tail end of the Westward expansion—a distinctive combination of elements which compliments Valente's interrogative approach to retellings. She inverts expectations in tone, refuses expected plot beats; indulges the repetition that most retellings avoid (or attempt with little success). The final encounters with the huntsman and stepmother are particularly strong; Valente writes moments which are quotable/moralistic but deeply embedded within the story's imagery, and these resonate. But the ending is disjointed, and the aforementioned strong elements—the voice, the style; the plays with/against the fairy tale—took over; I never found myself emotionally invested in the actual narrative, and I wanted that little more from it.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-06 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-07-25 09:07 am (UTC)My first Tiptree was "The Screwfly Solution" via Pseudopod. I was familiar with her name & reputation, but was nonetheless entirely unprepared for how good she actually was. And then was still unprepared for Her Smoke Rose Up Forever as a collection. (I don't know if it's possible to ever be prepared for that.)