continuation on lunacon

[kaigou]

First, go read limyaael's rants, all you writers. Trust me. Read it. Go through the back few weeks, and read them all. good stuff. Lots to ponder. These are literary rants on the level of Alltrees 'n Saro. I will now worship.

These are just additional notes and observations. Nothing too much; right now I just want to empty a few thoughts so I can go lie down with a clearer head. (Yes, I'm home, now.)

On the way through Manhattan, with JH in the car:

Sol: No way am I buying one of the new veedubs. Hell, filled up my tank just off rt3 before Meadowlands, and I averaged 34mpg on this trip.
JH: I hate you.

He'll hate me even more if I ever let on that the trip back--which includes that hour of stop-go traffic through Manhattan and into Long Island, the long drive home, and then traffic this morning--averaged 34.3 mpg. Filled up after leaving work, and check out that lovely mileage. I love my car. JH has a turbo Jetta and gets something like 17mpg or something equally ridiculous.

*hugs zefyr possessively*

Erm. What else.

Ah, right. Also got The Book of the Kimono by Norio Yamanaka, which should probably be subtitled How to Dress Your Tanuki. Woo. Pictures, diagrams, and full glossary with all the names and definitions, both men's and women's, from everyday to formal wear. Awesome.

So the rest of the books:

by Alma Alexander: The Secrets of Jin-Shei (mix of historical fantasy and strict, using imperial China as basis for invented country), Changer of Days I and Changer of Days II (strict fantasy set in another world). According to Alma's website, the US releases will have different titles for the duology's parts: The Hidden Queen and Changer of Days.

by Kij Johnson: The Fox Woman and Fudoki; historical fantasy set in warring-states Japan

still to purchase and put on reading list:

by Barbara Campbell: Heartwood -- comes out in May; historical fantasy set in British Isles
by Hjalmar Falk and Shetelig Haakon: Farms and Thralls in Ancient Norway -- nonfiction on Vikings
by Holly Black: Tithe, and Valiant (second is coming in June). YA urban fantasy. Dark, gritty. Looks verrry good.

Holly's list ("your urban fantasy suggestions"):
-- Borderlands (Terri Windlwig, editor) -- Holly put two exclamation points on this one ;D
-- Wizard of the Pigeons (Lindholm)
-- Last Hot Time (Ford)
-- Finder; War for the Oaks (Bull)
-- King Rat (Mieville)
-- Elsewhere; Nevernever (Shatterly)

EDIT: others added:
-- Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls (Lindskold)
-- Tinker [Spencer]
-- Faery in Shadow; The Dreaming Tree (Cherryh)

There was some other stuff but I don't want to sit down here at the comp for too long.

Comments

[tiercel]

Emma Bull is my own personal goddess. Funnily enough, her novel Finder is set in the Borderlands, as I believe are both of Will Shetterly's novels. (Nevernever is the sequel to Elsewhere. Neverwhere is by Neil Gaiman and is also very good, but unrelated.)

Emma Bull's Bone Dance is also very, very good.

Wizard of the Pigeons is pretty good, but not on the level of Emma Bull. May I also recommend Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Jane Lindskold?

(This concludes the "Books! I Love Books!" babbling.)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I will make notes to read in my copious amts of spare time. Too bad I can't read in the car (and no, I do not do and do not like books-on-tape), or I'd save some of these for the roadtrip back from Cali in July. *sigh*

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Fwiw, Kij Johnson has an LJ. Her username is (you never would have guessed) kijjohnson.

War for the Oaks is wuuunderful. It may feel a bit dated now... But I think it holds up well. I'm a bit irrational about that book. One of the very first that I remember snagging from the adult section at the library.

I liked Finder, too, though I found what I've read of the Borderlands anthologies to be a bit too...something...for my taste. Too earnest, maybe, or too self-conscious. A little like overdosing on Charles de Lint (who's another of those classic urban fantasy guys; I like his older stuff better than his new).

The Last Hot Time's a lovely book. The Shetterly is called Nevernever. Neverwhere is by Neil Gaiman (maybe not his most unusual, but one I'm very fond of; I'm a sucker for that sort of thing).

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

I tracked down Kij. Woo. Nevernever, gotcha. ;D

I think the one thing that's most important to me is a multicultural environment for the spirit world, as melting-pot as the current Western world, that is. DeLint runs the edge of boring me now, because he focuses mostly on British Isles and a smattering of Native American. But Holly's looks kickass, so it's definitely at the top after I plow through Alma's doorstop.

[christeos-pir.livejournal.com]

> Nevernever, gotcha.

I keep reading that as "neenerneener."

[touch-of-ink.livejournal.com]

The only de Lint book that I liked was "Svaha". Mostly because it was different from all of his others. They just blend together for me. There's the one in Canada, with the English/Celtic/Mythic creature. And then there's the one in Canada, with the Celtic/English/Mythic creature. And then there's the one in Canada, with the Mythic/Celtic/English creature.

At least Svaha was different :)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well. My favorite remains Forests of the Heart, with the mix of Spanish/south-western America traditions and the Celtic, and Native American. Someplace to be Flying would probably be my second favorite. Trader was a distant third. Onion Girl was disappointing and disjointed, but I got the sense he was trying to push his style and experiment, and I could respect that even if I thought the story suffered a bit as a result. Jack of Kilrowan is a good, solid story, though it's all British Isles and bewildered Americans.

Haven't read Svaha, and haven't read the one about the Internet spirit world--just a bit tired of botticelli girls and pre-raphaelite curls. I'm looking forward to having the time to read Alma's and Kij's and Holly's books, and then I'll see how much time I have to read the rest of the lot.

[shadawyn.livejournal.com]

I like Limyaael's rants, but I find I often don't agree with them. Still an interesting opinionation, though. Hence why I keep reading ;)

[kaigou.livejournal.com]

No rant is perfect, or it'd just be "yeah, yeah, yeah, call me the choir" when reading. But there's more that's thought-provoking than not, and more good than not, so I see the value as a writer to stop and think. Rant-inspired thinking, but hey, I'm taking what I can get this week. ;D