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Reading Wednesday
Sep. 10th, 2014 10:46 pmWhat did you finish reading
(Finished The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters for Secret Project Pase 2, as well as Daughter of Neptune for Secret Project Phase 1. I keep wondering is I should make comments on individual books, but spilers ahoy, so I think I'll just keep everything until I'm done.)
I never did talk about Lady Liberty (tome 1), so here goes: Props for making D’Éon a woman. Props lost for making her a cis woman. (Look, I really love the fact that one of the best spies in French History was a trans woman, okay? And I really would like it if even one adaptation of her life actually acknowledged that, for serious.) (Besides, it's not like making D’Éon a trans woman would have invalidated the reveal of Lia's parentage in any way.) Not sure how I feel about rapist!Beaumarchais... Oh, wait, no, I do. I hate it. Despite the historical notes at the end, there is no justification for it, not even in-story. Aurore still has a bit of a same face problem, not helped her by the powdered wig and the masked ball. On the whole though, I did enjoy it and I will probably read the next one if I remember. I might not buy it, though.
What are you currently reading
(The Titan's Curse for Secret Project Phase 2 and The Mark of Athena for Phase 1.)
Darshan, by Jade Baudain: I am still slowly making my way through this book. I am enjoying it! It's just super weird reading in French after all this time. I have to admit I was boggling at the king being named Anadès, his general Morquendi, his spymaster Solèn and his daughter Lliane while his sons are Geoffroy and William (fucking William you guys), but it turns out that was actually a bit of relevant worldbuilding information! I am also shipping all the ships, in case anyone was curious, because of course I am.
The Mirror Empire, by Kameron Hurley: About 10% in so far. I am loving it! The Dai have 5 genders. 5! And Taigan regularly changes genders (and sex, if I read that right). I don't think I have words for how happy non-binary characters in fantasy make me. I really hope Lilia finds her mom again, although something tells me it won't be that easy. (Please let Roh survive, I loved his "[talking to myself] would be just like talking to you, except I'd get more compliments" line.) Really looking forward to what happens next!
StoryKiller, by Kelly Thompson: Thompson's chapters are super-short (it was like that in The Girl Who Would Be King, too) so despite having read as many of them as in Hurley's book, I am much less advance in page count. Tessa just fought a troll and is temaing with the Ice Queen to fight Blue Beard, so yay? The cover by Stephanie Hans is gorgeous. (Story time! I actually met Stephanie Hans a couple of years back and she's the one who convinced me to read The Girl Who Would Be King. She is also super nice.)
What are you reading next
Having finally (finally!) managed to figure out how the fuck Netgalley ARCs work, those. I don't know who designed the "re on computer" system, but they should be fired, because that shit is unintuitive as fuck.
Also, you can pretty much tell how tired and/or busy I am by the number of books I am reading at once.
(Finished The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters for Secret Project Pase 2, as well as Daughter of Neptune for Secret Project Phase 1. I keep wondering is I should make comments on individual books, but spilers ahoy, so I think I'll just keep everything until I'm done.)
I never did talk about Lady Liberty (tome 1), so here goes: Props for making D’Éon a woman. Props lost for making her a cis woman. (Look, I really love the fact that one of the best spies in French History was a trans woman, okay? And I really would like it if even one adaptation of her life actually acknowledged that, for serious.) (Besides, it's not like making D’Éon a trans woman would have invalidated the reveal of Lia's parentage in any way.) Not sure how I feel about rapist!Beaumarchais... Oh, wait, no, I do. I hate it. Despite the historical notes at the end, there is no justification for it, not even in-story. Aurore still has a bit of a same face problem, not helped her by the powdered wig and the masked ball. On the whole though, I did enjoy it and I will probably read the next one if I remember. I might not buy it, though.
What are you currently reading
(The Titan's Curse for Secret Project Phase 2 and The Mark of Athena for Phase 1.)
Darshan, by Jade Baudain: I am still slowly making my way through this book. I am enjoying it! It's just super weird reading in French after all this time. I have to admit I was boggling at the king being named Anadès, his general Morquendi, his spymaster Solèn and his daughter Lliane while his sons are Geoffroy and William (fucking William you guys), but it turns out that was actually a bit of relevant worldbuilding information! I am also shipping all the ships, in case anyone was curious, because of course I am.
The Mirror Empire, by Kameron Hurley: About 10% in so far. I am loving it! The Dai have 5 genders. 5! And Taigan regularly changes genders (and sex, if I read that right). I don't think I have words for how happy non-binary characters in fantasy make me. I really hope Lilia finds her mom again, although something tells me it won't be that easy. (Please let Roh survive, I loved his "[talking to myself] would be just like talking to you, except I'd get more compliments" line.) Really looking forward to what happens next!
StoryKiller, by Kelly Thompson: Thompson's chapters are super-short (it was like that in The Girl Who Would Be King, too) so despite having read as many of them as in Hurley's book, I am much less advance in page count. Tessa just fought a troll and is temaing with the Ice Queen to fight Blue Beard, so yay? The cover by Stephanie Hans is gorgeous. (Story time! I actually met Stephanie Hans a couple of years back and she's the one who convinced me to read The Girl Who Would Be King. She is also super nice.)
What are you reading next
Having finally (finally!) managed to figure out how the fuck Netgalley ARCs work, those. I don't know who designed the "re on computer" system, but they should be fired, because that shit is unintuitive as fuck.
Also, you can pretty much tell how tired and/or busy I am by the number of books I am reading at once.