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Jul. 26th, 2009
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b-writes.livejournal.comPeople have been recommending this series to me forever, but I finally got off my duff and read volume 1. It's a manga-sized comic with nice, simple-but-expressive black-and-white artwork.
Scott Pilgrim is a slacker living the Slacker Fantasy Dream; sponging off his gay roomate, dating a cute 17-year-old Chinese girl, singing with his band. But then he seems an Amazon delivery girl named Ramona Flowers, and everything changes.
( Minor spoilers under the cut )
The world-building was a bit jarring-- O'Malley builds the small Canadian town Scott and his friends live in so well that when the fantastic elements come in, it's a surprise-- but like Scott, the narrative is affable and engaging enough that I'm definitely along for the ride. A quick, breezy, funny and fun read; can't wait to check out Volume 2.
Scott Pilgrim is a slacker living the Slacker Fantasy Dream; sponging off his gay roomate, dating a cute 17-year-old Chinese girl, singing with his band. But then he seems an Amazon delivery girl named Ramona Flowers, and everything changes.
( Minor spoilers under the cut )
The world-building was a bit jarring-- O'Malley builds the small Canadian town Scott and his friends live in so well that when the fantastic elements come in, it's a surprise-- but like Scott, the narrative is affable and engaging enough that I'm definitely along for the ride. A quick, breezy, funny and fun read; can't wait to check out Volume 2.
Zahrah the Windseeker; The Shadow Speaker
Jul. 26th, 2009 03:01 pmrootedinsong.livejournal.com16. Zahrah the Windseeker, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
I was hoping to find a YA fantasy novel/series that I could turn into a squeeing fangirl about. Well, I got my wish. This is awesome. (The author has a blog, too.)
I loved the world-building. Ecological technology, an organic Internet, computers that you grow from seeds and that adapt to you raise them... *squeals with happiness* The world is based on Africa, and everyone in it (as far as we know) is black; almost all of humanity lives in one country and never leaves it, because the rest of the world is considered too dangerous, so humanity has not needed to adapt to different environments. So black is the default, and that assumption is just in the background... which is in such sharp contrast to your typical white-bread fantasy novel, and so right.
The plot is basically your standard fantasy quest plot, which is fine with me; I never get tired of that if it's done well. (And I read more for world-building than plot anyway.)
Go read it. All of you.
17. The Shadow Speaker, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Older and more nuanced than Zahrah the Windseeker, and a bit harder/darker. It's set mostly in a future Earth which has started to intersect with the world of Zahrah and three other worlds. Current weaponry and some other technology has ceased working, and people are being born with magical powers; the protagonist is a teenage girl who has the ability to hear the "shadows," which are some sort of spirit that can give guidance and tell the future.
Again, the world-building in this was awesome. I especially liked the author's descriptions of how the protagonist's abilities work; they came across as so psychologically true (says the aspiring therapist who looks to fantasy novels for the best descriptions ever of how therapy, interpersonal influence, and other psychological phenomena work). (The scene with the sentient storm struck me as very Rogerian.) :)
Read this one too.
I was hoping to find a YA fantasy novel/series that I could turn into a squeeing fangirl about. Well, I got my wish. This is awesome. (The author has a blog, too.)
I loved the world-building. Ecological technology, an organic Internet, computers that you grow from seeds and that adapt to you raise them... *squeals with happiness* The world is based on Africa, and everyone in it (as far as we know) is black; almost all of humanity lives in one country and never leaves it, because the rest of the world is considered too dangerous, so humanity has not needed to adapt to different environments. So black is the default, and that assumption is just in the background... which is in such sharp contrast to your typical white-bread fantasy novel, and so right.
The plot is basically your standard fantasy quest plot, which is fine with me; I never get tired of that if it's done well. (And I read more for world-building than plot anyway.)
Go read it. All of you.
17. The Shadow Speaker, by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Older and more nuanced than Zahrah the Windseeker, and a bit harder/darker. It's set mostly in a future Earth which has started to intersect with the world of Zahrah and three other worlds. Current weaponry and some other technology has ceased working, and people are being born with magical powers; the protagonist is a teenage girl who has the ability to hear the "shadows," which are some sort of spirit that can give guidance and tell the future.
Again, the world-building in this was awesome. I especially liked the author's descriptions of how the protagonist's abilities work; they came across as so psychologically true (says the aspiring therapist who looks to fantasy novels for the best descriptions ever of how therapy, interpersonal influence, and other psychological phenomena work). (The scene with the sentient storm struck me as very Rogerian.) :)
Read this one too.
Skim and more Dirk and Steele
Jul. 26th, 2009 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrThe links lead to longer reviews.
22: Skim: This is very good, but not my sort of thing. An understated graphic novel about a teenage girl dealing with various Stuff. Others have reviewed it better!
23: The Wild Road by Marjorie M Liu
Another Dirke and Steele romance. She's a mysterious woman who woke in a mess of bodies she seems to have killed with no memory! He's a sexy gargoyle afraid to love!
I liked this. Being a fan of the Gargoyles cartoon as an impressionable young woman may have helped :)
24:The Last Twilight by Marjorie M Liu
Not about vampires, thankfully.
She's a CDC disease specialist investigating a mysterious outbreak! He's a sexy wereleopard afraid to love!
I really enjoyed this one too, though I felt like the male lead was a bit exotified: there are other shapeshifters and other black African male characters in this book and others which made it a lot less problematic, but even as a white australian woman the idea of a black African man whose predator nature shines through his magical eyes as he turns into a leopard a bit..dodgy. It didn't put me off too much, YMMV.
22: Skim: This is very good, but not my sort of thing. An understated graphic novel about a teenage girl dealing with various Stuff. Others have reviewed it better!
23: The Wild Road by Marjorie M Liu
Another Dirke and Steele romance. She's a mysterious woman who woke in a mess of bodies she seems to have killed with no memory! He's a sexy gargoyle afraid to love!
I liked this. Being a fan of the Gargoyles cartoon as an impressionable young woman may have helped :)
24:The Last Twilight by Marjorie M Liu
Not about vampires, thankfully.
She's a CDC disease specialist investigating a mysterious outbreak! He's a sexy wereleopard afraid to love!
I really enjoyed this one too, though I felt like the male lead was a bit exotified: there are other shapeshifters and other black African male characters in this book and others which made it a lot less problematic, but even as a white australian woman the idea of a black African man whose predator nature shines through his magical eyes as he turns into a leopard a bit..dodgy. It didn't put me off too much, YMMV.
anitabuchan.livejournal.com17. Getting It by Alex Sanchez
Getting It centers on 15-year-old Carlos Amoroso, who is not only a virgin but has never even been kissed. He has a crush on a girl named Roxy, and after watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, decides he needs a gay guy to give him a makeover. He asks Sal, a senior at his school, and Sal agrees - but only if Carlos helps him set up a Gay-Straight Alliance at their school.
I enjoyed the way Carlos changed over the course of the book. At the start he was fairly homophobic, and was embarrassed to be seen even talking to Sal. He also struggled to stand up for himself, against his friends and family, and had a whole bundle of insecurities. Seeing him grow in confidence, and seeing him start to genuinely support Sal, was lovely. It's a bit different from mmost of Sanchez's books, focusing on a straight character, but if you like his books you'll probably like this too.
18. Where The Streets Had A Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
13-year-old Hayaat lives in Bethlehem. Her family used to own an olive grove, but were forced to leave by settlers, and now the six of them live in a small two-bedroom flat. Not long before the events of the book, Hayaat was caught up in a protest. Her best friend was killed by a rubber bullet, and Hayaat left badly scarred.
Now, her sister is preparing for her wedding, while her grandmother is ill after a stroke. Hayaat believes she could save her grandmother's life if she brings her a handful of soil from the Jerusalem garden she left behind years before - it's just a few miles away, but in between is the Wall. Hayaat and her friend Samy set out on a mission to find the soil.
I think this is my favourite of Abdel-Fattah's books. It's more depressing, but I think better-written than the other two. It tries to show the effect curfews, checkpoints, travel restrictions and the Wall have on daily life in Palestine. Hayaat herself is likeable, although I think I prefer her friend Samy.
One thing that did make me go WTF, unconnected to the book: on the back of the UK cover, they've managed to spell her name wrong. 'Hyaat'. In big letters along the top. Seriously, shouldn't they have someone who checks that sort of thing?
Getting It centers on 15-year-old Carlos Amoroso, who is not only a virgin but has never even been kissed. He has a crush on a girl named Roxy, and after watching Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, decides he needs a gay guy to give him a makeover. He asks Sal, a senior at his school, and Sal agrees - but only if Carlos helps him set up a Gay-Straight Alliance at their school.
I enjoyed the way Carlos changed over the course of the book. At the start he was fairly homophobic, and was embarrassed to be seen even talking to Sal. He also struggled to stand up for himself, against his friends and family, and had a whole bundle of insecurities. Seeing him grow in confidence, and seeing him start to genuinely support Sal, was lovely. It's a bit different from mmost of Sanchez's books, focusing on a straight character, but if you like his books you'll probably like this too.
18. Where The Streets Had A Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
13-year-old Hayaat lives in Bethlehem. Her family used to own an olive grove, but were forced to leave by settlers, and now the six of them live in a small two-bedroom flat. Not long before the events of the book, Hayaat was caught up in a protest. Her best friend was killed by a rubber bullet, and Hayaat left badly scarred.
Now, her sister is preparing for her wedding, while her grandmother is ill after a stroke. Hayaat believes she could save her grandmother's life if she brings her a handful of soil from the Jerusalem garden she left behind years before - it's just a few miles away, but in between is the Wall. Hayaat and her friend Samy set out on a mission to find the soil.
I think this is my favourite of Abdel-Fattah's books. It's more depressing, but I think better-written than the other two. It tries to show the effect curfews, checkpoints, travel restrictions and the Wall have on daily life in Palestine. Hayaat herself is likeable, although I think I prefer her friend Samy.
One thing that did make me go WTF, unconnected to the book: on the back of the UK cover, they've managed to spell her name wrong. 'Hyaat'. In big letters along the top. Seriously, shouldn't they have someone who checks that sort of thing?
#17. Dear Darkness: Poems, by Kevin Young
Jul. 26th, 2009 07:37 pmwhereweather.livejournal.com#17. Dear Darkness: Poems, Kevin Young
Knopf, 2008
Been away for a while, now back. And I've been reading a lot of books!
First, Dear Darkness, by Emory University poetry professor and National Book Award finalist Kevin Young. This book, and its writer, had been heavily recommended to me by a lot of people. I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed. While Young's themes are fresh and interesting, and there is definitely an inherent interest to the kind of experimental work he was doing with blues and other musical forms, I didn't feel like a lot of his earlier work really held up to the expectations that the heft of this collection and the weight of his formal repetitions tend to engender. I mean, the work was solid, but I didn't find it particularly illuminated, luminous or memorable. Do you know what I mean? Which is, admittedly, a lot to expect, but when you look at someone with the sheer weight of awards this guy has, and his incredible career momentum and early success, you kind of expect a lot.
Sometimes, honestly, the poems just seemed dumb to me. Young has a tendency to pun, and it is pretty tricky business to try to make a couple of quick, glittery (and sometimes LAME-ASS) puns carry the weight of a poem. I admit that it has entered my mind that Young might be one of those examples of someone who met such success, so early, that it did their work a serious disservice: if everything you write gets published, you aren't forced to mature.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find my opinion altering near the very end of the book -- though "pleasant" is not really the best word to use for this work. Young's most recent work, which is informed by a sort of desperate sorrow about his father's early death, seems to me to have gotten richer, to have, as it were, matured. He has approached this work by writing, of all things, odes to food, which seems like not the obvious approach to take to these issues, but which, I think, often works really, really well. (And which suggests a number of interesting and potentially useful metaphors, as well, for the ways that poetry can mature: can mellow, can find its themes and flavors blending, harmoniously and surprisingly, at last.)
There's a fair amount of Kevin Young material on the Web. Here are:
a short bio with links to several poems
Young reading his own work -- this is supposed to be worth hearing
a recent poem in the New Yorker, about the birth of a child
a sample poem: "Ode to Pepper Vinegar."
Knopf, 2008
Been away for a while, now back. And I've been reading a lot of books!
First, Dear Darkness, by Emory University poetry professor and National Book Award finalist Kevin Young. This book, and its writer, had been heavily recommended to me by a lot of people. I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed. While Young's themes are fresh and interesting, and there is definitely an inherent interest to the kind of experimental work he was doing with blues and other musical forms, I didn't feel like a lot of his earlier work really held up to the expectations that the heft of this collection and the weight of his formal repetitions tend to engender. I mean, the work was solid, but I didn't find it particularly illuminated, luminous or memorable. Do you know what I mean? Which is, admittedly, a lot to expect, but when you look at someone with the sheer weight of awards this guy has, and his incredible career momentum and early success, you kind of expect a lot.
Sometimes, honestly, the poems just seemed dumb to me. Young has a tendency to pun, and it is pretty tricky business to try to make a couple of quick, glittery (and sometimes LAME-ASS) puns carry the weight of a poem. I admit that it has entered my mind that Young might be one of those examples of someone who met such success, so early, that it did their work a serious disservice: if everything you write gets published, you aren't forced to mature.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised to find my opinion altering near the very end of the book -- though "pleasant" is not really the best word to use for this work. Young's most recent work, which is informed by a sort of desperate sorrow about his father's early death, seems to me to have gotten richer, to have, as it were, matured. He has approached this work by writing, of all things, odes to food, which seems like not the obvious approach to take to these issues, but which, I think, often works really, really well. (And which suggests a number of interesting and potentially useful metaphors, as well, for the ways that poetry can mature: can mellow, can find its themes and flavors blending, harmoniously and surprisingly, at last.)
There's a fair amount of Kevin Young material on the Web. Here are:
a short bio with links to several poems
Young reading his own work -- this is supposed to be worth hearing
a recent poem in the New Yorker, about the birth of a child
a sample poem: "Ode to Pepper Vinegar."
April 13: Ode to Pepper Vinegar by Kevin Young
In the aftermath of the sudden and unexpected loss of his father, Kevin Young found himself composing a series of food odes—odes to grits and crawfish and okra; an “Elegy for Maque Choux,” a “Song of Cracklin.” Perhaps a way of feeding the unassuagable hunger of grief, the poems form a symphony of family remembrance which stands at the center of his latest volume, Dear Darkness.
Ode to Pepper Vinegar
You sat in the tomb
of our family fridge
for years, without
fail. You were all
I wanted covering
my greens, satisfaction
I’ve since sought
for years in restaurants
which claimed soul, but neither
knew you nor
your vinegar prayer.
Baby brother
of bitterness, soothsayer,
you taught
me the difference between loss
& holding on. Next to the neon
of the maraschino cherries,
you floated & stayed
constant as a flame
on an unknown soldier’s grave—
I never did know
how you got here
you just were. Adrift
in your mason jar
you were a briny bit of where
we came from, rusty lid
awaiting our touch
& tongue—you were faith
in the everyday, not rare
as the sugarcane
my grandparents sent north
come Christmas, drained
sweet & dry, delicious, gone
by New Year’s—
no, you were nearer,
familiar, the thump
thump of an upright bass
or the brass
of a funeral band
bringing us home.