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#SFFBookClub March

Can someone remind me what Mr. Cross's significance in the first book was? #SFFBookClub

[and as an aside: I'm just a few chapters in and it is already very clear that this one should be read second. I think there's juuuuuuuuust enough recapping that it would be intelligible on its own, but there have already been multiple mentions / introductions that have way more impact with the first book for context]

@Tak@reading.taks.garden I am curious how essential that will be. On the one hand, it seems to be being marketed as more of a parallel story than a sequel. On the other, I remember a pair of Neon Yang novellas that were also described as such, and #SFFBookClub seeming to pretty much unanimously agree one should be read first.

#SFFBookClub February

This is actually scratching some of that itch. I think part of what I needed to see was a set of examples of how to work with the old material and make it make sense for modern sensibilities. This collection is of necessity one person's perspective on that, and not every page hits the mark for me, but the best parts are excellent and overall it's a really strong example of how to approach these things. I think For Times Such As These suffers from being a little shy of saying "this is what we do", trying a little too hard to be universally accessible, and that keeps it in a sort of vague territory that made less helpful.

I'm still looking for what outside.ofa.dog/book/151709/s/for-times-such-as-these didn't give me. This book isn't quite it either, but I am enjoying it so far.

well, I think in the end I read this about 1.5 times, which is 50% more than I read of most books. I’m very much not a re-reader so this would be correctly taken as a mark of just how gorgeous Chandrasekera’s writing is. Now to get my hands on Rakesfall….

Wow.

In some ways this is radically different from the Olondria books, which are the other things I've read by Samatar so far: where those are an overwhelmingly rich feast with many interwoven strands, this is a short, very sparsely written story with a very tight focus. But Samatar is an exceptionally good writer, and part of what makes all of them work is simply that. And I see something of a continuity:

A Stranger in Olondria: one person's very self-centred account of some epochal changes in a place he doesn't entirely understand Winged Histories: 4 peoples' accounts of how their stories weave in and out of the events of A Stranger in Olondria. This book: all about connection, imposed or chosen.

...which is probably as much as I can say without spoilers. #SFFBookClub

It took me months to read this because I wanted to savour every poem, and the very personal essays that Wang included as a sort of translator's notes / author bio hybrid.

The 5 poets have very distinct voices and styles, and I hope that more of each of their work gets translated into English. Without being able to read the originals I can only judge so much about the translation but I found them very readable, the footnotes helpful without being excessive, and the distinctness of each poet's voice seems like a vote of confidence in the translations.

#SFFBookClub December

This is a topic I've been interested in since visiting Zagreb a few years after its war ended, and wondered about how different its 20th century built environment felt from other recently-Communist places I'd visited. I wasn't there very long and one can only read so much into the shapes of buildings, so it's always just been a sort of "hrm, I ought to learn if there's any there there" sort of thing at the back of my mind. So when @loshmi@social.coop posted social.coop/@loshmi/113568017088684018 I figured this book could be a way for me to find out.

Finally reading the Oct/Nov #SFFBookClub book. A few chapters in and I'm both enjoying it and seeing what seems to have frustrated a few other readers. I'm curious to see how I find the balance of those as I read on.