I'm currently the coordinator of the #SFFBookClub so a lot of what I'm reading is suggestions from there.
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Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high on her recent victory that tore southern …
I've been looking forward to this sequel since the moment I finished book 1. #SFFBookClub
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. …
I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.
There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to …
I wasn't expecting to like this book anywhere near as much as I ended up doing! The story as told in the book is much more interesting than the limited image of it that's got in to popular culture, and this was my first encounter with the whole thing. It's so much more about deeply flawed Victor Frankenstein (TLDR: our reading group kept using the term "main character syndrome") than about the mad science process. And while the creature is far from likeable, his portrayal has genuine pathos, even though most of what we hear about him is secondhand through the recounting of someone who hates him.
There are several impressively strong resonances to the modern world, between the general lack of ethics in tech and the current wave of "AI" hype. And of course big self-centred men who think that extreme success in one sphere gives them licence to behave as badly as they like in others.
This collection of stories introduces some good new characters and adds some backstory for others and their teachers, but really it's Earthsea itself that gets fleshed out, and particularly the magic school at Roke. The stories cover a range from the foundation of that school through a sort of coming-of-age tale about Ged's teacher Ogion, on to the immediate aftermath of the previous book, Tehanu.
I didn't find the end of the last story satisfying, but Le Guin described it elsewhere as a bridge to the final book, so perhaps it's just intentionally so. I'll certainly be coming back to Earthsea sooner or later--I seem to read about one of these books a year--so I will find out.
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History …
A long, heavy, beautifully written and very biting book about the ways in which colonialism coopts people and institutions, and the simultaneous difficulty and necessity of resisting that. Deeply and cleverly tied in with real 19th Century history of Britain and its empire, while also being a fantasy story with a very specific magic system that I enjoyed in itself.
I highly recommend this book, but it should also come with some content warnings: * Colonialism * Lots of depictions of racism * Abusive parenting * Abusive academia * Violence * Not afraid to kill important characters
Time for something at least a little bit comforting after the last couple of SFFBookClub titles.
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. …
Somehow I ended up doing a bunch of pre-20th century group reads lately. Out of all of them, this is by far the book I like the best. Dracula is wonderfully atmospheric but also painfully racist; Moby Dick's best parts are absolutely gorgeous but it could have done with a massive edit, also racism; I got bored of Don Quixote after a while. But this one is wonderfully and tightly written, and I'm reasonably confident that everything obnoxious in it is intentionally so (in short: oh, Victor is so perfectly hateable).
el dang
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From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History …
Content warning First Interlude of Book 5
I continue to be amazed at the nuance of the characters who act within the context of their position in society, making me both feel deep hatred and immense compassion. With the span of a couple chapters, I was goaded into the same bloodlust for Letty as Robin felt (which was not a common reaction for me, violence is not typically my jam), and then was able to nod in understanding through the eyes of Letty in this interlude. Nothing outlined here was new or a surprise, it was just lost in the bigger tapestry, and the more front and center suffering of the other characters. The short interlude brought this so deftly into focus; a reminder that anyone who isn’t on top is fighting tooth in nail in the social dogpile for space to breathe and be seen, to be accepted.
No matter how morally suspect or potentially thoughtless the decision was, she too took action that aligned with her beliefs and convictions. Brutal. #SFFBookClub
Content warning First Interlude of Book 5
@screamsbeneath@bookwyrm.social One of the few things I wish the book had expanded on is the difference between Letty and Professor Craft. Letty is presented as an understandable villain, in ways that Lovell and Playfair [appropriately] aren't, but I was left wondering if Craft had been like Letty once. Was there a different place Letty might have got to given more time? I'm not sure which is more believable, and I'd love to know which Kuang had in mind.
@Tak@reading.taks.garden @whami@bookwyrm.social That was my favourite of the little barbs in the book.
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History …
Historical note: Jardine & Matheson were real people and played very much the same role in real history that they are playing when they show up in this book. Their company, now just "Jardine Matheson", still exists, still has a large footprint in Hong Kong, and did very well out of Britain's abuse of China. If you don't know the history and don't want spoilers then I'd wait until a couple of chapters after they're introduced to look them up. Though I'm also assuming that somewhere after where I've reached, the book must diverge from the real history.
Karl Gützlaff was also a real person whose attitudes seem to be faithfully represented in the book, though I don't know enough about him to know how historically accurate his actions in the book are. #SFFBookClub
@Tak@reading.taks.garden Oh, I like this exercise. And thank you for the reminder of the opening line. I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book now, and appreciate this line even more in hindsight.
Content warning ch15 spoiler
@screamsbeneath@bookwyrm.social Yeah. And I think part of it is that Lovell doesn't think of himself as any of those things, though he clearly is. He's so solidly speaking and acting within the bounds of the system that made him, that he can sincerely believe he has the moral high ground through and through.
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History …
Content warning ch15 spoiler
Yesterday I read the scene in which Professor Lovell browbeats Robin into pretending contrition and giving up a scrap of information about Hermes. A different part of it is haunting me: the way Lovell never engages with a single moral claim Robin makes, just mocks and dismisses them out of hand. That part of the conversation, I've had personally with so many relatives and the occasional coworker / fellow student. And I keep reading reports of political and media figures doing the same - Lovell might as well have just said "woke" with that sneer they all do.
None of which is a criticism of the book! It was a painfully well-observed scene. #SFFBookClub
el dang
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The ultimate guide to the smells of the universe – the ambrosial to the malodorous, …
We usually describe the smell [of blood] as "metallic" because it's similar to the smell left on our fingers when we handle coins, or in the air when we scrub a bare metal pan or sink. ... Our hominid ancestors would have known that molecule [epoxy decenal] and smell long before they paid much attention to rocks and ores, so for much of our prehistory, they may well have experienced metals as bloody-smelling.
— Nose Dive by Harold Mcgee
From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History …
London at the time of... approximately chapter 15: sciencemastodon.com/@oldmapgallery/111931878489659575 cdn.masto.host/sciencemastodoncom/media_attachments/files/111/931/866/556/732/629/original/197a25046f337b05.jpg
among other things, it really underscores how separate Hampstead would have felt back then.
