November, Sharyn, ed. - Firebirds
Tue, Dec. 30th, 2003 02:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterA nice batch of short stories that provided me with a few more names to look out for.
There was usually something I liked about every story. Particularly striking stories for me were:
- Delia Sherman's "Cotillion," an interesting take on Tam Lin in the 60s. I loved the blend of Faerie and music (which is pretty normal) and debutante ball of the 60s (which is definitely not).
- I loved the idea of Megan Whalen Turner's "Baby in the Night Deposit Box" and the details of growing up in a bank.
- Although I didn't fall in love with "Mariposa," the first few lines made me put down the book and giggle: "I've lost my soul?" Aimee repeated, almost losing her usual perfect control. The doctor nodded. "I think so. Probably in early adolescence. It happens more commonly than you might think." It sounds like such a Buffyverse type thing.
- Lloyd Alexander's "Max Mondrosch" creeped me out because that's how I felt during the job hunt, and so I don't think I'll be rereading that one for quite some time.
- Charles Vess is never bad.
- Really loved Patricia A. McKillip's "Byndley," a lovely faerie story that is near-traditional, with gorgeous language.
- I smiled the entire way through Kara Dalkey's "The Lady of the Ice Garden" for the sheer love of it and the weaving in of Japanese myth. IMHO, it's so hard to do Asian cross-over fantasies right, because too often the characters sound like Zen Masters or totally humble: "This unworthy person blah blah blah." Makes me roll my eyes. Technically, it might be a good translation, but I can never get over the awkwardness of it and the feeling of exoticism/fetishization. This lovely little story managed to perfectly weave in The Snow Queen with Heian Japan by only subtly alluding to the culture without having to shove it into the reader's face. And I loved the ending ^_^.
- Garth Nix's "Hope Chest" has been living in my head for a few days, even though (or most likely, precisely because) it scared the hell out of me and I desperately want it out of my head. Good story, creepy as hell.
- DWJ's "Little Dot," highly enjoyable, like all DWJ =). And, great cat voice.
Still very excited about the new imprint ^_^.
Links:
-![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
rilina's review
There was usually something I liked about every story. Particularly striking stories for me were:
- Delia Sherman's "Cotillion," an interesting take on Tam Lin in the 60s. I loved the blend of Faerie and music (which is pretty normal) and debutante ball of the 60s (which is definitely not).
- I loved the idea of Megan Whalen Turner's "Baby in the Night Deposit Box" and the details of growing up in a bank.
- Although I didn't fall in love with "Mariposa," the first few lines made me put down the book and giggle: "I've lost my soul?" Aimee repeated, almost losing her usual perfect control. The doctor nodded. "I think so. Probably in early adolescence. It happens more commonly than you might think." It sounds like such a Buffyverse type thing.
- Lloyd Alexander's "Max Mondrosch" creeped me out because that's how I felt during the job hunt, and so I don't think I'll be rereading that one for quite some time.
- Charles Vess is never bad.
- Really loved Patricia A. McKillip's "Byndley," a lovely faerie story that is near-traditional, with gorgeous language.
- I smiled the entire way through Kara Dalkey's "The Lady of the Ice Garden" for the sheer love of it and the weaving in of Japanese myth. IMHO, it's so hard to do Asian cross-over fantasies right, because too often the characters sound like Zen Masters or totally humble: "This unworthy person blah blah blah." Makes me roll my eyes. Technically, it might be a good translation, but I can never get over the awkwardness of it and the feeling of exoticism/fetishization. This lovely little story managed to perfectly weave in The Snow Queen with Heian Japan by only subtly alluding to the culture without having to shove it into the reader's face. And I loved the ending ^_^.
- Garth Nix's "Hope Chest" has been living in my head for a few days, even though (or most likely, precisely because) it scared the hell out of me and I desperately want it out of my head. Good story, creepy as hell.
- DWJ's "Little Dot," highly enjoyable, like all DWJ =). And, great cat voice.
Still very excited about the new imprint ^_^.
Links:
-
rilina's review
Barbara Hambly
Wed, Dec. 31st, 2003 05:00 am (UTC)I highly recommend a duology, THE SILENT TOWER and THE SILICON MAGE. A shy computer programmer and an obsessive martial artist help an eccentric wizard fight a very creepy villain in both our world and his. Funny, exciting, well-characterized, and touching. Don't be put off by some outdated computer terminology at the beginning. There are two other books which are related to those, DOG WIZARD (a sequel) and STRANGER AT THE WEDDING (loosely related); they are good but not essential.
I also highly recommend a trilogy, THE TIME OF THE DARK, THE WALLS OF AIR, and THE ARMIES OF DAYLIGHT. All the adjectives applied to the duology also apply to the trilogy. There are two sequels, MOTHER OF WINTER, which is very dark and also very darkly comic, and ICEFALCON'S QUEST, which has some good stuff in it but is generally depressing and unnecessary, though not in the same way or as much so as the DRAGONSBANE sequels.
Other good ones are THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT, a clever gaslit scientific vampire mystery, and the more romantic but also darker sequel, TRAVELING WITH THE DEAD; and, believe it or not, a pitch-black Star Trek novel, CROSSROADS.
Hambly's characters are often misfits, but not the usual sort of pretend-misfits, Cinderellas who need nothing but a new dress and a pair of contacts to succeed. She consistently writes about people with genuine problems relating to others, and whose talents are never going to be as strong as they desperately wish they were. You saw some of this in DRAGONSBANE.
It gives her best books a sense of melancholy and realism which makes the victories moving and believable, if and when they come. Fantasy is often accused of wish-fulfillment; much of Hambly's work is about such wishes, and their heartbreaking impossibility, and what it would mean if they ever came true.
Rachel Brown
Re: Barbara Hambly
Wed, Dec. 31st, 2003 06:14 am (UTC)Those Who Hunt the Night sounds particularly promising to me ;). Gaslights and vampires, mmmmm.
I loved Dragonsbane because of Jenny and John and how John wasn't the typical fantasy hero, adolescent and armed with magical powers. I loved how Jenny was getting old and how she was more often than not disappointed by her own magic. Wow, I haven't reread this book in a while!