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ladybusinessFebruary is such a short month. I swear, it just started yesterday and now we're almost at the end of it. Every year around this period in Hugo nominations I start to freak out that there is. Just. NOT. Enough. Time! Even though logically I know that I don't have to read and watch everything - hell, I don't even have to nominate in every category if I don't want to - I tend to kick into overdrive in February and start trying to guzzle down five books at a time. Trust that the next (and final) installment of The Little Rocket That Could is going to be epic.
Before I move on to talking about what I've read and watched, a quick public service announcement. This week I discovered that I'm eligible to vote in The Locus Awards, from the shortlists they've already created. Turns out, anyone can vote in The Locus Awards for free (although votes from subscribers to the magazine count as double). And they've got a YA category. The deadline for voting is April 15, 2016. Yeah, my reading is not slowing down anytime soon.
Since last we spoke I:
Finished The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Eligible for Best Novel)
Meh. This book was compulsive and had solid writing, so it's entirely possible I'll read the next one if it's marketed all up in my face. I still couldn't get over the fact that while we might eventually empathise with people who have done terrible things to us and killed people we care about THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM. "The heart wants what it wants" is a poor excuse for falling in love with your best friend's killer.
Read Planetfall by Emma Newman (Eligible for Best Novel)
I highly recommend Planetfall even though it's not going to make my ballot for Best Novel. It's pacey, a world built on 3D printing felt so original, and I loved how the story wove the mystery and Ren's anxiety together. The only bit that wasn't for me was the ending - I just don't get alien mysticism. Read justira's post Planetfall by Emma Newman - Anxiety and The First Person Narrator for more detail on this one.
Read A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Eligible for Best Novel, Author Eligible for Campbell Award)
Someone at work is all over this book , which is kind of why I bumped it up my TBR. And I'm so glad I did because it was the nicest book ever. The crew make such a great found family, and they are (generally) lovely people who get on well with each other. It was so interesting to read a book with such a different approach to creating drama. Most of the conflict comes from outside forces rather than from interpersonal complications. And A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is also a rare space opera in that the drama isn't built from constant gun battles and a belief that violence is a normal part of life. Instead it features a pacifist Captain, the crew doesn't carry weapons, and when violence does come into their world they all have to take time to recover from it.
A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is a huge road trip through space, with many stops that are almost isolated, self-contained world building vignettes. In another book I might have been frustrated by the way this affects the narrative structure. Sometime the experience is almost like watching a TV series where side quests taking you away from the main narrative for an extended portion of time. Luckily, Becky Chambers writes so many interesting stops along the way to the crew's final destination that my mind was kept fascinated by her worldbuilding. Cricket, and Sissex's home world were my favourites. Port Corriol appealed to my deal love of space market scenes. I loved the invention that went into creating so many different species and cultures.
Again, I don't think this book going to make my Best Novel ballot (my choices for that category are pretty hardcore locked in already) but I am going to nominate Becky Chambers for the Campbell Award.
Read The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (Eligible for Best Novel, Author Eligible for Campbell Award)
I expected this book to be more of a fluffy, comfort read for the bookishly inclined so it was a pleasant surprise to find a lot of substance in this novel. Cogman has a lot of fun with her SFF settings (a magical library, steampunk alternate London) and introduces some wacky SFF elements (mind controlled crocodiles) but there's also lots here for readers who like a more of a serious science fiction side to their novels. It's a well blended novel; mixing fun tropes and action with a commitment to creating a magic system that stands up. And it incorporates both science fiction and fantasy which I enjoyed. I'd really like to see more SFF books that have both magic and technology.
My favourite thing about The Invisible Library though has to be the way Cogman often has Irene assess her actions and logically ascertain that she doesn't need to feel guilty about how she proceeded. It's a nice in-text riposte to the reader response trend of criticising female characters for "poor decision making" (ie. being a lady and actually making decisions). Irene is a great character, and I enjoyed learning more about her history (especially the bit about her time with a glamorous female catburglar). And seeing her mentor Kai, and continue to do so even when his own magical secrets are revealed, was a real joy because there are so few books out there where this kind of successful professional partnership exists. It's wonderful to see ladies teaching younger men professional skills.
Once again, not nominating this for Best Novel but I'm pretty sure Cogman is eligible for The Campbell Awards so she's on my ballot for that category.
Read "Ginga" by Daniel José Older (Eligible for Best Novelette)
Fun, fun, fun! Ghosts and mouthy teenage girl friendships, ending with one character's worldview changing forever. I ran out and finally got a copy of Half-Resurrection Blues (which I believe is also eligible for Best Novel this year) as soon as I'd finished this novelette. This has taken my last open slot on my Best Novelette ballot.
Read SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
A comic about an academy for magically talented students is bound to be compared to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters or Hogwarts but neither of those comparisons really suit SuperMutant Magic Academy. It's definitely a satirical take on the idea of a boarding school for teenagers with powers - an attempt to bring that idea down to earth by removing any ideas of heroism and focusing on the mundane nature of teenage life. However, SuperMutant Magic Academy isn't simply an extended SFF in joke, and often the fact that these kids have magical powers just isn't the point of the comics Tamaki has created.
The majority of the comics follow a subversive pattern. The first few panels of the comic pretend to be telling one story but the final panels reveal that it's actually telling an entirely different one. And I would argue that the entire collection functions as one big subversion - drawing in readers who expect a take down of the magical school trope but presenting something very different and much more interesting. The comic it reminded me of most is Peanuts. In those comics the reader is constantly presented with things that should not be (a dog who sits on the roof of his house trying to type out a classic novel) and storylines that don't hit the punchline you think they're going to. Anyway, SuperMutant Magic Academy is (as Ana from The Book Smugglers said) very emo, but a lot of fun and quite smart. I'm so glad Tamaki included original material in the collected volume which I think makes it eligible for this year's Hugo Awards.
Read Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4: Last Days by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphono (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
Yay, the return to a volume entirely drawn by Adrian Alphona! This volume felt slight, presumably because the Ms. Marvel team had to fit in with the timing for Secret War developments, but I enjoyed what I did get. Does anyone else think Bruno and Kamala's romantic ending here mirrored Carol's romantic parting in Higher, Faster, Further, More?
So, I'm at the end of the eligible run for this comic - which collected volume shall I vote for? Which volume are other people voting for?
Started Copperhead, Vol. 1 by Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski, Ron Riley and Thomas Mauer (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
So this comic was… nice? I really liked the world. The female sheriff, her kid, her surly rodent deputy, and the way she dealt with the alien mother were all interesting. The world of Copperhead has a very Star Wars feel - it mixes influences from the Western genre with very alien SFF, and there's not much of the self-conscious pastiche about the way it incorporates the Western feel. However, there's not much drive to this arc. When I finished it I felt like very little had happened and very little had been developed.
Also, the inclusion of the e-mail chain between two of the creators was not a great choice. There are aliens in this comic called the Natives. They're Predator style beings and vicious killers. The creators say, in their e-mails, that they actively want to avoid drawing comparisons between Native Americans and these aliens. I get a distinct feeling from those e-mails that the creators don't really understand the problems of representation for Native Americans, or SFF's history of linking aliens with underrepresented racial groups. When you can just make up a name, calling your aliens 'The Natives' seems suspect.
Finished Series One of 12 Monkeys (All Episodes Eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form. Series Eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form)
Fortunately/unfortunately the creators of 12 Monkeys have pretty much prevented me from nominating their show for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form by the way they've built their show. It's clear they've anticipated a future for their production, and as a consequence have structured it as a time travel show that plans to reveal how its world really works over several series. This makes for an interesting show, and displays a little bit of bravery in a network TV landscape that cuts shows dead before they've even really had chance to breath. However, it makes it very difficult to judge the show's plotting until it's second series is over, and it's impossible to call Series One a standalone series. However, there are two episodes from 12 Monkeys that I'm considering nominating for Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form: "Splinter" or "Shonin". The problem is, I hate what "Shonin" does with Ramsey's character. Still, it's a great piece of structural work, and it let me see that this series has really thought about what it's doing with its time travel set up.
On a sidenote: can we just take a moment to think about how great Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form could be if we filled it with a whole range of different mainstream media this year? If the category's ballot wasn't largely given over to Dr Who and Game of Thrones? There's so much exciting SFF TV out there right now but big SFF fan bases mean we see the same shows pop up again and again. My hope for this category is that with the range of TV options now available, people will have more access to shows that ran throughout the year, and will watch a lot of TV in the run up to Hugos. If we're lucky, there will just be one Dr Who episode on the ballot and the rest will show off the range of SFF shows available.
Before I move on to talking about what I've read and watched, a quick public service announcement. This week I discovered that I'm eligible to vote in The Locus Awards, from the shortlists they've already created. Turns out, anyone can vote in The Locus Awards for free (although votes from subscribers to the magazine count as double). And they've got a YA category. The deadline for voting is April 15, 2016. Yeah, my reading is not slowing down anytime soon.
Since last we spoke I:
Finished The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Eligible for Best Novel)
Meh. This book was compulsive and had solid writing, so it's entirely possible I'll read the next one if it's marketed all up in my face. I still couldn't get over the fact that while we might eventually empathise with people who have done terrible things to us and killed people we care about THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE FALL IN LOVE WITH THEM. "The heart wants what it wants" is a poor excuse for falling in love with your best friend's killer.
Read Planetfall by Emma Newman (Eligible for Best Novel)
I highly recommend Planetfall even though it's not going to make my ballot for Best Novel. It's pacey, a world built on 3D printing felt so original, and I loved how the story wove the mystery and Ren's anxiety together. The only bit that wasn't for me was the ending - I just don't get alien mysticism. Read justira's post Planetfall by Emma Newman - Anxiety and The First Person Narrator for more detail on this one.
Read A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Eligible for Best Novel, Author Eligible for Campbell Award)
Someone at work is all over this book , which is kind of why I bumped it up my TBR. And I'm so glad I did because it was the nicest book ever. The crew make such a great found family, and they are (generally) lovely people who get on well with each other. It was so interesting to read a book with such a different approach to creating drama. Most of the conflict comes from outside forces rather than from interpersonal complications. And A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is also a rare space opera in that the drama isn't built from constant gun battles and a belief that violence is a normal part of life. Instead it features a pacifist Captain, the crew doesn't carry weapons, and when violence does come into their world they all have to take time to recover from it.
A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet is a huge road trip through space, with many stops that are almost isolated, self-contained world building vignettes. In another book I might have been frustrated by the way this affects the narrative structure. Sometime the experience is almost like watching a TV series where side quests taking you away from the main narrative for an extended portion of time. Luckily, Becky Chambers writes so many interesting stops along the way to the crew's final destination that my mind was kept fascinated by her worldbuilding. Cricket, and Sissex's home world were my favourites. Port Corriol appealed to my deal love of space market scenes. I loved the invention that went into creating so many different species and cultures.
Again, I don't think this book going to make my Best Novel ballot (my choices for that category are pretty hardcore locked in already) but I am going to nominate Becky Chambers for the Campbell Award.
Read The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (Eligible for Best Novel, Author Eligible for Campbell Award)
I expected this book to be more of a fluffy, comfort read for the bookishly inclined so it was a pleasant surprise to find a lot of substance in this novel. Cogman has a lot of fun with her SFF settings (a magical library, steampunk alternate London) and introduces some wacky SFF elements (mind controlled crocodiles) but there's also lots here for readers who like a more of a serious science fiction side to their novels. It's a well blended novel; mixing fun tropes and action with a commitment to creating a magic system that stands up. And it incorporates both science fiction and fantasy which I enjoyed. I'd really like to see more SFF books that have both magic and technology.
My favourite thing about The Invisible Library though has to be the way Cogman often has Irene assess her actions and logically ascertain that she doesn't need to feel guilty about how she proceeded. It's a nice in-text riposte to the reader response trend of criticising female characters for "poor decision making" (ie. being a lady and actually making decisions). Irene is a great character, and I enjoyed learning more about her history (especially the bit about her time with a glamorous female catburglar). And seeing her mentor Kai, and continue to do so even when his own magical secrets are revealed, was a real joy because there are so few books out there where this kind of successful professional partnership exists. It's wonderful to see ladies teaching younger men professional skills.
Once again, not nominating this for Best Novel but I'm pretty sure Cogman is eligible for The Campbell Awards so she's on my ballot for that category.
Read "Ginga" by Daniel José Older (Eligible for Best Novelette)
Fun, fun, fun! Ghosts and mouthy teenage girl friendships, ending with one character's worldview changing forever. I ran out and finally got a copy of Half-Resurrection Blues (which I believe is also eligible for Best Novel this year) as soon as I'd finished this novelette. This has taken my last open slot on my Best Novelette ballot.
Read SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
A comic about an academy for magically talented students is bound to be compared to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters or Hogwarts but neither of those comparisons really suit SuperMutant Magic Academy. It's definitely a satirical take on the idea of a boarding school for teenagers with powers - an attempt to bring that idea down to earth by removing any ideas of heroism and focusing on the mundane nature of teenage life. However, SuperMutant Magic Academy isn't simply an extended SFF in joke, and often the fact that these kids have magical powers just isn't the point of the comics Tamaki has created.
The majority of the comics follow a subversive pattern. The first few panels of the comic pretend to be telling one story but the final panels reveal that it's actually telling an entirely different one. And I would argue that the entire collection functions as one big subversion - drawing in readers who expect a take down of the magical school trope but presenting something very different and much more interesting. The comic it reminded me of most is Peanuts. In those comics the reader is constantly presented with things that should not be (a dog who sits on the roof of his house trying to type out a classic novel) and storylines that don't hit the punchline you think they're going to. Anyway, SuperMutant Magic Academy is (as Ana from The Book Smugglers said) very emo, but a lot of fun and quite smart. I'm so glad Tamaki included original material in the collected volume which I think makes it eligible for this year's Hugo Awards.
Read Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4: Last Days by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphono (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
Yay, the return to a volume entirely drawn by Adrian Alphona! This volume felt slight, presumably because the Ms. Marvel team had to fit in with the timing for Secret War developments, but I enjoyed what I did get. Does anyone else think Bruno and Kamala's romantic ending here mirrored Carol's romantic parting in Higher, Faster, Further, More?
So, I'm at the end of the eligible run for this comic - which collected volume shall I vote for? Which volume are other people voting for?
Started Copperhead, Vol. 1 by Jay Faerber, Scott Godlewski, Ron Riley and Thomas Mauer (Eligible for Best Graphic Story)
So this comic was… nice? I really liked the world. The female sheriff, her kid, her surly rodent deputy, and the way she dealt with the alien mother were all interesting. The world of Copperhead has a very Star Wars feel - it mixes influences from the Western genre with very alien SFF, and there's not much of the self-conscious pastiche about the way it incorporates the Western feel. However, there's not much drive to this arc. When I finished it I felt like very little had happened and very little had been developed.
Also, the inclusion of the e-mail chain between two of the creators was not a great choice. There are aliens in this comic called the Natives. They're Predator style beings and vicious killers. The creators say, in their e-mails, that they actively want to avoid drawing comparisons between Native Americans and these aliens. I get a distinct feeling from those e-mails that the creators don't really understand the problems of representation for Native Americans, or SFF's history of linking aliens with underrepresented racial groups. When you can just make up a name, calling your aliens 'The Natives' seems suspect.
Finished Series One of 12 Monkeys (All Episodes Eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form. Series Eligible for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form)
Fortunately/unfortunately the creators of 12 Monkeys have pretty much prevented me from nominating their show for Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form by the way they've built their show. It's clear they've anticipated a future for their production, and as a consequence have structured it as a time travel show that plans to reveal how its world really works over several series. This makes for an interesting show, and displays a little bit of bravery in a network TV landscape that cuts shows dead before they've even really had chance to breath. However, it makes it very difficult to judge the show's plotting until it's second series is over, and it's impossible to call Series One a standalone series. However, there are two episodes from 12 Monkeys that I'm considering nominating for Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form: "Splinter" or "Shonin". The problem is, I hate what "Shonin" does with Ramsey's character. Still, it's a great piece of structural work, and it let me see that this series has really thought about what it's doing with its time travel set up.
On a sidenote: can we just take a moment to think about how great Best Dramatic Presentation - Short Form could be if we filled it with a whole range of different mainstream media this year? If the category's ballot wasn't largely given over to Dr Who and Game of Thrones? There's so much exciting SFF TV out there right now but big SFF fan bases mean we see the same shows pop up again and again. My hope for this category is that with the range of TV options now available, people will have more access to shows that ran throughout the year, and will watch a lot of TV in the run up to Hugos. If we're lucky, there will just be one Dr Who episode on the ballot and the rest will show off the range of SFF shows available.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-25 09:32 pm (UTC)I have SuperMutant Magic Academy checked out of the library now, and I cannot WAIT.
no subject
Date: 2016-02-29 12:01 pm (UTC)Long Way
Date: 2016-03-25 09:54 pm (UTC)Now I want to know what DID make your ballot, if all these exciting books didn't! I need to go back to your previous posts!
Re: Long Way
Date: 2016-03-25 09:56 pm (UTC)