Wednesday reading meme

[dhampyresa]

I am operating on about 3 brain cells right now because of this thing that has pretty much reduced me to tears, so apologies if this incoherent.


What did you finish reading

Good Man Friday, by Barbara Hambly: I see what you did there by comparing Poe to a raven. I liked it, overall, but I missed Hannibal and Rose terribly. I really liked Mede so :( for that. I did like that his brother loved him and what he did for him (sure, it was a terrible thing, but she sold Dominique and Charmian and Thérèse into slavery so I can't feel bad for her). Poe as Ben's sidekick was pretty cool, as was BASEBALL, but still no Rose or Hannibal. I feel like a lot of the politics went right over my head as evidenced by my LOL JOHN ADAMS reaction every time he was mentionned. He's a US president? I think? Idk what was going on here aside from there being graverobbers and baseball matches and stuff.


What are you reading now

The Benjamin January short story, Libre, Hannibal's Odyssey and the incomplete first draft of a friend's novel. It's slow going, because I keep making notes such as "we're not even on page 10 yet there are 5 locales and over a dozen characters i like none of them because I have no idea who they and also idk waht is going and another fucking flashback already omg what is wrong with you".


What are you reading next

The other Benjamin January short stories and after that idk.

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I'm really interested in the Luke/Mede relationship, and it's sad that there'll be no more of it in the future. I find it fascinating that it's never clear if Luke knows Mede is his brother- on the one hand, surely he must know? On the other hand, it could be one of those things that is easier for strangers to notice, because you've spent your whole life with someone and it never occurs to you to wonder. I could have read much more about them.

I love that Poe is in this, though it's one of those cases where it's a bit depressing to find out more about historical figures, as I hadn't previously known he supported slavery. I do like that Ben and Rose are early fans of his! (But not Hannibal? Now I want the fic where they argue over poetry.)

I love Chloe and Minou's relationship in this, as well as Charmian. It's rare that toddler-aged characters are at all interesting, but she's pretty cute. But the lack of Rose and Hannibal is quite tragic. I would have loved to see Hannibal pretending to be a failed artist, or Rose riding after slave-stealers. Or both cheering on baseball-playing Ben.

Libre is fun! I like the Ben/Minou/Hannibal conversation quite a lot.