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Been meaning to start a reading thread, to log & celebrate the books I read. I can't forget to maintain it until I start, so...
Listened to Redemption's Blade by @aptshadow - another interesting rework of classic fantasy tropes from the mind that brought you the underappreciated Spiderlight. This story comes alive thanks to its interesting ensemble, my favourite being the shifty artefact hunters Cat & Fisher. Read if you want classic fantasy adventure with a thoughtful twist.
Continuing my #ReadingThread ...
Field Notes from a Hidden City by Esther Woolfson, in which a nature writer chronicles the animals & seasons of Aberdeen, through the lens of her own life. There are some interesting reflections here, breaking down the false boundaries between nature & urban life, & some fascinating information about slugs, gulls, rats, spiders, etc. Read if you want to see your city differently, or are curious about pigeons.
More #ReadingThread with a perfect choice for election day...
The Brexit Tapes by @garius - A political satire in which cabinet ministers grapple with treaty negotiations, cabinet reshuffles, & Warhammer miniatures. Born from the depths of Brexit & Twitter, it's very much of its moment (I'd already forgotten half these idiots existed), & still funny. Read if you're a nerdy British lefty who needs cheering up (ie 99% of the people I know).
Water, Culture, & Power: Local Struggles in a Global Context, edited by John M. Donahue and Barbara Rose Johnston - Interesting academic essays on struggles over the use of water, highlighting damage done to people & the environment. Covers everything from an ill-judged dam in Honduras to gender & flood planning in Bangladesh. Read if you're interested in environmental justice & feeling smart. Or, like me, looking for inspiration for a water-themed story.
On a Red Station, Drifting by @aliettedb - Family tensions play out on a space station. I liked the layers to this; political, familial, & internal conflicts winding through each other. The formalities & expectations the characters live by create a fascinating framework for struggle - its motivations & its tools - & the ending was a satisfying moment of surprising yet inevitable. Read if you like tense personal drama or want to see poetry wielded as a weapon.
The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham, as recommended by @glenatron , book 3 of The Dagger & the Coin. Secondary world fantasy full of tense politics & intrigue, spiced with bits of action & adventure. Has a whole thread built around money as power, & a horribly convincing authoritarian driven by his own weaknesses. Read if you like Game of Thrones, convincing fantasy economics, or well-written villains, but go back & start with book 1.
War Doctor by David Nott - Autobiography of a Welsh surgeon who's spent decades doing volunteer medicine in war zones & the aftermath of disasters. Harrowingly eye-opening on the devastating impact of war on civilians, & on the complexities of trauma surgery. Also acts as a character study of someone addicted to being in the action, & what drives that urge. Read if you've got a strong stomach & an interest in medicine or disaster relief.
#ReadingThread holiday catchup time...
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett - Perfectly timed book club choice for holiday. Pratchett's writing is brilliant, & I always find something new in re-reads. This time, it was realising how unpleasant some of Granny's behaviour toward Magrat is, beautifully written but too far into not nice as a person. Still a great role model in other ways, & brilliantly crafted. Read if you want joy & humour in your life.
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O'Neil - A stark analysis of the damage being done to society by trying to run things through algorithms & data, without thinking through the consequences. One of many books I've read recently drawing attention to the dangers of a techbro-dominated culture. Read if you're interested in tech or social inequality, or want more background to the AI kerfuffle.
Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson - Modern fantasy about witches in Hebden Bridge struggling with the aftermath of trauma & some epic government over-reach. I got 30% through thinking this was a light fantasy with characters painted too broadly for my tastes, then the point of the story kicked in & I was absolutely hooked. Read if you like fantasy to tackle big modern issues, or want the novelty of a Yorkshire setting.
Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey - Non-fiction whose title pretty much makes its point. I love what it's getting across, about slowing down, not letting yourself buy into the capitalist grind. There were some points about race & capitalism I really needed explaining to me, but the book felt repetitive & vague. Read if you've got more patience for self-help than I do, but absolutely soak up the message of that title.
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes - Historical horror set on an Antarctic expedition right after WW1, drawing deeply upon the traumas of that war & upon its central character's trans identity. I'd heard good things, but this book still blew me away. It's absolutely gripping, the characters fascinating, the atmosphere intense. Read if you have any taste at all for horror, or want to read more trans protagonists.
Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber - Dissects the malaise of modern work, cleverly deconstructs the systems surrounding us, explains why many find their jobs so miserable, & draws the unsurprising conclusion that capitalism is wasting a lot of our time. Graeber is convincing, but I was ready to be convinced. Read if you want some useful tools for discussing the modern economy, or you want to understand why you're stuck in a sucky job.
Pseudotooth by Verity Holloway - Fantasy that starts out as creeping unease in a modern setting, then shifts into something like a portal fantasy, while twisting those two strands together. It's an unusual story structure, with a well-written protagonist & an ending that caught me off guard in a good way, & if the whole didn't quite match its parts for me, they're fascinating parts. Read if you like interesting experiments with genre.
In the Kitchen: Essays on Food and Life, from Daunt Books (no editor credited, which seems weird) - A range of food writers explore what cuisine, kitchens, even specific appliances mean to them. Some of the essays are gentle autobiography & reflections on the joy of cooking & eating. Others are spikier, tackling issues of identity, race, gender, & class through the medium of food. Read if you want to think more deeply about what & how you eat.
And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Portal fantasy with a twist, playing around with what such a fantasy represents. Setting it during the early days of the covid pandemic adds interesting parallels, & the strange inhabitants of Underhill have grotesque charm. One of those short books where Tchaikovsky's clearing having fun playing with an idea. Read if you like fantasy deconstructions or want to see a macabre Narnia.
The Weird and the Eerie by Mark Fisher - Non-fiction on the nature of the weird & the eerie in fiction, the distinctions, between them, & how they play out in certain books, shows, films, & even albums. I enjoyed the way it dug into what the eerie is & how it affects us. Also got some good recommendations for other reading from it. Read if you're interested in fiction that unsettles, or want to make your own writing more uncanny.
Shoreline of Infinity 35, ed. Noel Chidwick - Great collection of Scottish short sff. Lots of unexpected delights, my favourites being a story about a cyborg seagull & a couple written in Scots dialect. I stopped in the street & read bits out loud to myself in a perfectly normal way, just to see how those stories felt in my mouth. Read if you want surprising & varied sff or a seagull terminator.
Silent Letters of the Alphabet by Ruth Padel - Essays on poetry & how it works, originally presented as lectures. I found the reflections on metaphor, blank space, & voice useful in thinking about the word-by-word craft of writing. Wider points on the nature of poetry were interesting, & it was good to have someone make me think beyond the forms I understand. Read if you're interested in how poetry works, or the micro-scale craft of wordsmithing.
On the Brink by RB Kelly - Near future scifi in which an artificial human travels to an agricultural space station in search of something that might not exist. On the one hand, this is a story about prejudice & economic division, on the other an exploration of grief & reluctant friendship. Kelly's socially informed setting is very well crafted, & the central relationship compelling. Read if you like near future sf pointing at modern problems.
The Widow's House by Daniel Abraham (Dagger & Coin book 4) - Epic fantasy GoT style, with politics, wars, religion, & multiple PoV. As it gets into people deeply & combatively believing in their own truths, this feels like a story for our times, but it's the characters who make it. Geder in particular is a great embodiment of the banality of evil. Read if you like big fantasy full of intrigue & strongly written characters, but start at book 1.
Divisible By Itself and One by Kae Tempest - Varied & fascinating poems by a great modern voice. There's a serious side to all of this, with real intimacy & striking images, but also playfulness as Tempest tries on different forms & tones. Read if you like to see poets open up their hearts or play around with the form.
Teaming With Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis - Holy cow, soil is way more interesting than I thought. The first half of this book goes deep into the millions of living things in a spoonful of soil, from fungi to bacteria to bugs, & how they relate. The second half is full of practical tips for healthy soil. Read if you're a gardener or want to know more about the hidden web of life.
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett - One of my favourite Discworld books, introducing the Ankh-Morpork city watch & its wonderful range of characters. The city's in danger thanks to a dragon & some idiots with schemes above their intelligence, but a ragtag band of flawed heroes are here to reluctantly save the day. Read if you like fantasy that's funny & filled with humanity.
The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay - GGK tackles the Viking era in one of his fantasy novels that's effectively history with the serial numbers filed off. The writing is beautiful, the characters & setting really coming to life. An exploration of fate, family, & responsibility that will stay with me a long time. Read if you like big, slow, beautifully written books, or are used to historical fiction & want to dip a toe in fantasy.
On Spec issue 123 - Canadian sff fiction magazine, with stories that ranged from horror on a penny farthing to a recurring cycle of memory loss in an airport. As with any short fiction mag, some stories hit better than others, & which are which will vary with the reader. I really enjoyed the range of unusual ideas. Read if you want some genuinely odd stories or to get a taste of Canadian sff.