We Want It! - February 2013

[helloladies]

Because we haven't quite managed to work out a way for us to consume ALL the entertainment yet: to keep us from emerging haggard and zombie like after regular all night box set marathons, book splurges and music overload we've set up this monthly space where we can express our pure fannish glee at the fact that so many projects of awesome potential are continually being made. All of our past wants and desires can be found in the We Want It! tag.

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One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives.

Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger. (source)

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson — I am on a quest to read some past Hugo nominees and winners and this is the first novel I pinged on. Plus side: new to me author!

Only one thing is certain: when Hallows' Night comes, the Wild Hunt will ride - and it feeds on mortal blood.

Cat and her cousin Bee are caught in a maze of intrigue, treachery, and magic. Everyone seems to want something from them: the Cold Mages are trying to take them prisoner, and the warlord who wants to conquer all of Europa seems sure they have a special destiny to aid him whether they want to or not. Worse, hidden powers deep in the spirit world are rising, and they are the most dangerous of all. Cat must seek allies and figure out who she can trust in order to save the ones she loves. For if she doesn't, everything will be lost. (source)

Cold Fire by Kate Elliott — I read Cold Magic in fits and starts until page 107 — at which point I devoured it and immediately wanted more. My expectations for the sequel are MASSIVE. More of Bee and Cat being awesome, please!

Zenn Scarlett is a bright, determined, occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17-year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. That means she's specializing in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars will find her working with alien patients from whalehounds the size of a hay barn to a baby Kiran Sunkiller, a colossal floating creature that will grow up to carry a whole sky-city on its back.

But after a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school and other near-disasters, the Cloister is in real danger of being shut down by a group of alien-hating officials. If that happens, Zenn knows only too well the grim fate awaiting the creatures she loves.

Now, she must unravel the baffling events plaguing her school, before someone is hurt or killed, before everything she cares about is ripped away from her and her family forever. To solve this mystery — and live to tell about it — Zenn will have to put her new exovet skills to work in ways she never imagined, and in the process learn just how powerful compassion and empathy can be. (source)

Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon — This entry is Phoebe's fault. ALL HER FAULT. If I can't have her book, I will have books she recommends!

After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct... but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader's newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans. In the end, they are each other's last hope for survival.

Sherri L. Smith delivers an expertly crafted story about a fierce heroine whose powerful voice and firm determination will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. (source)

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith — Science fiction set in the South! A devestated South.

Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty.

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents' marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

With spare, graceful prose and the emotional wisdom of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker has created a singular narrator in Julia, a resilient and insightful young girl, and a moving portrait of family life set against the backdrop of an utterly altered world. (source)

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker — I first saw this book in a store, and fell in love with the cover. I wanted to read it when I learned that it was about the cessation of the earth's rotation, but was sold by the blurb about the narrator and how she faces the change.

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Books

'Saga' — Brian K Vaughn

Renay said I would enjoy Saga, so onto my list it goes. The cover image is pretty encouraging — lady with wings! And stories about family are catnip to me, I think because there's so much back story to be explored and I love back story. I think I spend 50% of my online life pleading for back story fan-fic :)



'The Coldest Girl in Cold Town' — Holly Black

IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!

If you don't know why I'm so excited then perhaps you haven't read the original short story that inspired this novel. You must go and rectify that now *Jedi hand wave*. Seriously, it's one the best vampires = monsters stories I've read. Each element of this story (writing style, description, character types chosen) joins together to create the feeling that Black's human characters are currently living in a bleak, soul deadened world, which is chillingly awful because of the way it accepts and assimilates its problems rather than screaming about them. I'm so excited to read a whole novel based in the same world.



'Six Gun Snow White' — Catherynne Valente

Clare and I are starting a fairy tale project when I can get my ass into gear. I'm doing the opposite of keeping it manageable by suggesting we add another strand to the project before we have even started. Look Clare, a new Snow White book :D Valente's book places the story in the Old West and there is a pony called Charming — come on, get in the car!



'Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe' — Benjamin Alire Saenz

Ana from The Booksmugglers was very enthusiastic at me about this one. Like 'The Fault in Our Stars' it recently won all the awards, but it is perhaps not as well known outside of the YA blogging community? Maybe I'll become an offline evangelist for it once I'm done. I've been meaning to read 'Last Night I Sang to the Monster' by the same author for three years, but I swear I'm not going to wait so long to get to his most recent book.



'Border Vigils' — Jeremy Harding

This book looks like srs business right? Harding's non-fiction title is the third book to be featured in Bookslut's new 'Book of the Week' spot. So far, I want all the books they've shown off, which I think shows how effective the format of their spotlight is. I'm especially drawn to this title because of its political relevance to my country right now. The UK government is very focused on dividing our country by claiming that our current economic and social situation is all the product of 'undesirables' dodging taxes and y'know diversity (no seriously, read a Cameron speech, he will come right out and say that diversity is breaking our society). And certain parts of the media are as always happy to back them up. I need something to counter act all the screaming headlines.

Other

Meatball marinara

I have a date with this on Monday! It's my reward for making sure my bridesmaid dress (bought four months ago) will fit at my friend's wedding on Saturday :D I'm going to get chips from our canteen and really dig into the eating.

 

Comments

[zachariah]

Spin is easily my favorite book of the year so far. If we're counting 2012, it ranks alongside Sunshine for my favorite. It manages to hit several of my interest buttons. I should warn that the primary romantic relationship of the book can be viewed in really unsympathetic terms, but I don't want to spoil.

Saga was just really weird and great.

[renay]

Do we really have to wait until July for more Saga? ;___;

[zachariah]

I'm just hoping it's not a Scott Lynch style publication date. -_-

[renay]

But just think of how AWESOME the book is probably going to be when he finally finishes it. :D

(I guess my hint that we should find a vendor for individual issues of Saga was lost. >.> Here, have an explicit statement that we should do that.)

[zachariah]

Oh, you were using subtlety, my bad. :P I have no objections to this plan.

[nymeth]

Ana's been at me too re: Aristotle and Dante. If you feel you could use a reading buddy just say the word. Also, your fairy tale project with Clare sounds exciting - I hope it'll result in some posts for my reading pleasure :D

[renay]

I also want to read Aristotle and Dante! JODIE, YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS...?

[bookgazing]

Tri-review? Tri-review!

[nymeth]

:D

[bookgazing]

Ooo ooo I got this the other day :) Perhaps a summer project?

[theliteraryomnivore.wordpress.com]

Jodie, I've been in the car the whole time! I saw this on Tor.com a few weeks ago and added it to the old reading list immediately. What I really like about this adaptation is that it makes Snow Native American—we could have a whole sidebar about race in fairy tale adaptations, especially adaptations of European fairy tales versus native cultures' fairy tales. It would be especially apt with Frozen coming out later this year; Disney went with Russia as the base culture, but people have been posting redesigns using Inuit culture or other aboriginal Arctic cultures as the base culture on tumblr.

Also: MAN THAT SUB LOOKS GOOD.

[renay]

Ooooh, I didn't know that about Six Gun Snow White. Interesting!

PS it's possible to make the innards of sub like that using a crockpot. I had some a long time ago and IT WAS AMAZING. Also, eight subs for the price of one. :D