Confession: While in Tempe, I took a real vacation. No writing, no working, no nothing but reading and Disc World convention. Not a bad idea all around, considering.
And now, back at it. Writing will be this afternoon, tomorrow evening, and Thursday before I meet with Cat at 8 about squids. That means maybe I can get some new snippet here this weekend.
I’ve been reading some interesting things that I wouldn’t normally read, mostly through the auspices of the SF book club, and trying to get a feel for what some of the people I know write. Here’s some surprising results because of that.
Lies of Locke Lamora: Expected to hate this. Not really a fan of high fantasy anymore. Reversal–loved it!
Locke Lamora is a book about a gang of thieves, but it’s also a book about living by your wits and caring deeply for the people in your life. Scott Lynch had me from almost go, and I kept waiting for the book to devolve into fantasy crap…except it didn’t. I went from being a reluctant reader to a surprised to an obsessive one. I can’t recommend this book enough as a character study.
Crave: This is erotica. I don’t usually read erotica, let alone lesbian short story erotica. AND the result? Catherine Lundoff writes some short stories with variation and depth. Certainly, some of them are an excuse to have sex, but others have a flair and an angle that make the reader think.
Outlander: I could probably write a post about this one alone, but I don’t want to bash. I’m terribly disappointed in this book. I know it’s supposed to be an escapist book about sex, but there’s some real brutality in this book, some angles about the historical relationships between men and women that are supposed to be acceptable because the main characters love each other, and a handling of male rape that is superficial in the extreme. Would-be rape, rape, and violation permeate the pages.
Go, you best seller you!
Can anyone explain this phenomena to me, why people would overlook these issues? ‘Cause I’m not feeling it.
So, two yes, one no. I also read Nisi Shawl’s Filter House and Terry Pratchett’s Feet of Clay, but those were reading to type. I enjoyed them both.
I’ve got to get some squid stuff in. See you guys tomorrow.
Catherine
