I’m still on a big YA kick, and went ahead through the first volume of Smith’s Night World collection. Again, Smith’s prose is gorgeously lucid, and the plots are quite fun. My one hesitation is that Smith’s got an on-going motif re: female archetypes that’s kinda making me twitch. The whole DID YOU NOTICE XXX IS SO WILD MAGIK IT MAKES YOUR TEETH HURT? THIS IS WHY THEY’RE IEXPLICABLY SEXY!!! as a means of characterization is making me a leeeeeeeetle … READ MORE

Hello, my darlings! Today I’m reviewing Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars, a Sci Fi Essential book that (gasp!) was actually sent to us by the good people at Tor all unexpectedly. This is awesome because guess what? It’s wicked cool that they, uh, even KNOW about Hathor, let alone are into us giving our thoughts on their ish.

On to the plot. Muire is over 2000 years old. She’s an angel of the avenging Nordic type, but she fled the … READ MORE

Righto. Let’s begin with Michael Reaves’ sequel to The Shattered World. In THE BURNING REALM, Reaves takes up with his kooky cast a year later; Amber (symbolic love interest #1) has acquired the rank of Conjuress, Pandrogas has desperately researched a way to prevent the decay of the shattered world’s orbit, and Mirren’s started training as an assassin. Thankfully, Amber, Mirren, and the other female characters emerge as more complete characters. At times, Reaves use of the physical as a … READ MORE

I went home to New Orleans last week! It was great — then I found out why the tickets were on sale.

While visiting fam, I got to do a lot of reading. Most of it wasn’t memorable, and actually was completely full of fail, but I’m gonna use this to talk about one of the key points of awesome female characters.

The first thing I read were the three books in Barry Hughart’s Master Li series — Bridge of … READ MORE

I LOVE China Mieville. I want to make that clear. The end of Perdido Street Station ALWAYS makes me cry. Plus, he’s a smarty-pants who’s also written a book on Marxism and international law. All this gave me VERY high hopes for Un Lun Dun, Mieville’s foray into young adult fiction. Plus, I wanted find some decent young adult books after seeing the downer that is Harper Collin’s recommended summer reading list.

:dramatic pause:

I totally … READ MORE

Okay, so Lavinia is retelling of the Aeneid, Virgil’s epic poem describing Aeneas’ arrival and conquest of what’s now known as Italy.  Le Guin’s counter-read ends up revamping Lavinia, Aeneas’ BRIDE OF DESTINY, making her a real, vital character. While she’s still swept by the winds of fate, she emerges as a deeply religious girl aware of the prophecies surrounding her marriage. She chooses to follow these prophecies, in part because her other options involve bloody political turmoil. She learns, … READ MORE

Barnes’ alternate history explores the evolution of slavery and racial formations in a world where the West never rose to prominence. The New World is in the process of being conquered by various African empires, and both women and enslaved whites are starting to buck up for independence. This is a very cool context — there’re women scientists hiding the extent of their work, a rising anti-slavery movement, and the equivalent of an Underground Railroad managed by Jews in an … READ MORE

Hmm. It’s a toss-up. On the one hand, Roberson’s writing at full force here. All the delightful sensory details that made the dry deserty world of Tiger and Del a reality are present. You can feel the dust coating your face in Roberson’s lushly realized world. And she neatly establishes that it’s a world in flux — the Hecari invaders are an ever-present threat, without overwhelming the story. Bethid, one of the secondary characters, is the first female courier… and … READ MORE

Little by little, I’m continuing with my reports from the panels I attended at WisCon 31.

On Saturday afternoon, I attended the “Three Comrades Go on a Quest…” panel, moderated by Janine Ellen Young and featuring Leah Bobet, Laurie J. Marks, Meghan McCarron and Hilary Moon Murphy:

So many of the traditional fantasy tropes rely upon distinctions either of class (princes/princesses, lost heirs to thrones, etc.) or that map quickly to class (the aristocracy of those who can use … READ MORE