kitewithfish

What I’ve Read:
Winter’s Orbit – Everina Maxwell – Xing Book Club - Done with this re-read! I love this when it was a fic called “The Course of Honour”, I loved it on the first read in 2021; this was a lovely chance to revisit. I think that Kiem and Jainen make a fascinating study of contrasts – Kiem has a good heart and strong ethics and charisma that no one has seen as a skill because it’s never been put to serve a cause they thought worthy. Jainen has a strange and stubborn endurance that comes from having a cause he’s absolutely devoted to, but he’s exhausted and isolated. Together, they are both a great couple to read about, and a force to be reckoned with.

Ogres – Adrian “Tchaikovsky” Czajkowski - currently reading for Hugo purposes. (Best Novella nominee) – I am not quite convinced by this book at the 20% mark, but I recalled that last year, Elder Race crept up on me slowly and won me over completely at the end.
-Well, called it – definitely an interesting twist to the ending! It’s meaningful that the story is told in the second person, let’s just say – that the main character and the narrator are not the same person.

Saga – Vol 1-8 (so far) Brian K Vaughan – I had read the first few collected volumes of Saga went it came out, but most of this is new to me. I am trying to get context for Volume 10, which is up for a Hugo. I like Marko and Alana, and by Volume 5, the fact that this is a serialized story is starting to show at the seams. The themes of the series: parenthood as sacrifice, the way having a child changes you and makes you vulnerable or stronger, the complicatedness of being married, are all still showing up front and center. It’s goofy with a good heart and I am inclined to be a bit indulgent but I should probably give it more time between volumes – I read 1-5 in a rush over two days and it’s starting to blue together. I really enjoyed the writer in volume 2, the kidnapper Dengo, and the computer prince’s unhinged fall from grace. Update: I’m up to 8 now, actually – continues to be good, probably groundbreaking for certain topics in mainstream comics but just overall good for most of the writing.

Hugo bits and Pieces
“If You Find Yourself Speaking to God Address God with the Informal You” John Chu (Uncanny Magazine) – Gay, kind of about Superman as an immigrant who cannot pass as white, if you squint.
“We Built This City” Marie Vibbert (Clarkesworld) – I think this is a good story but I would like some Latine people to read it and have opinions. I’m not sure if I am missing something.

What I’m Reading:

Thud! By Terry Pratchett
Kristeva Powers of Horror – 51%
Dracula – Keeping up with Dracula Daily
The Count of Monte Cristo – 46% - Static
The King in Yellow 25% -static

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – Caitlin Doughty – Audiobook – I have enjoyed Doughty’s YouTube channel “Ask a Mortician,” which has provided a thoughtful and compassionate approach to answering questions about death, and does a great job of looking at historical corpses from a thoughtful and funny lens. This books is much more autobiographical, and quite touching. I will admit, it is unflinching about the details of how a crematory handles bodies, so I don’t recommended it without reservations, but I am enjoying it.
- A note: I have seen Caitlin Doughty discuss the reality of dying while fat with compassion and helpful information. However, the opening anecdote about the corpse in the chapter “Bublating” is… not that. It feels gross, and that’s striking to me because I have seen Doughty address the realities of dead fat people in ways that don’t make me upset. I think this anecdote needed to be reworked or excluded entirely – Doughty comes across as unreflective here in a way that is just… not in line with my high opinion of her.

What I’ll Read Next:
Hugos (longer stuff)
Saga Vol. 10 (Hugos – but I liked this series and fell away from it, so I might dig into it again)
A Mirror Mended (Hugos, novella)

Hugos Short Stories and Novelettes:
“Murder By Pixel: Crime and Responsibility in the Digital Darkness” S.L. Huang (Clarkesworld
“The Difference Between Love and Time” Catherynne M. Valente (Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed
“A Dream of Electric Mothers” Wole Talabi (Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction
“Resurrection” Ren Qing (Future Fiction/Science Fiction World
“The Ghost of Workshops Past” S.L. Huang (Tordotcom)
“D.I.Y.” John Wiswell

To Shape a Dragon's breath
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – came from the library
Dresden Files (sigggh)

Owned and need to read: California Bones, Raven Song by IA Ashcroft, Kraken's Sacrifice by Katee Robert, At The Feet of the Sun by Victoria Goddard, Tamryn Eradani's Enchanting Encounters Books 2 and 3, Tom Stoppard, Invention of love, "You Just Need to Lose Weight" and Other Myths about Fatness by Aubrey Gordon, Alisha Rai Partners in Crime, the Right Swipe, Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle