end of May, books read

[aamcnamara]

The Demon's Surrender, Sarah Rees Brennan: I finally finished the trilogy! This book had a few too many double- and triple-crossings for me to keep track of them all--especially since the POV character was a sort-of-minor character in the other books and doesn't know the rest of the characters as well as she thinks. But it's well-done, if not focused on the people I wanted it to be focused on; and I kept reading it going "Oh, so this is what they mean by 'raise the stakes'."
Eona, Alison Goodman: I--um. This book is pushing the edges of what I think of as YA. Which is weird, because the first book was fairly unexceptionable as a YA fantasy novel. (Also because I usually don't think of myself as putting content limits on what I think of as YA!) But this one has really messed-up power dynamics. Like--pretty really messed-up. Some of it in honest and necessary ways pursuant to the set-up of the world, some of it in ways that felt unnecessary to me, and some of it in ways that were never actually explored because for some reason it was taken for granted. Which was fascinating in a terrifying kind of way, and also squicked me a bit, and overall I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. But at least they didn't kill off the trans woman?
Wilde Stories 2011, Steve Berman, ed.: I had read a strangely large number of these stories before. But it was neat to have them collected, and to read the ones that were new to me. (...also, I think the field needs a similar annual anthology of lesbian spec fic. Clearly I should edit one, or...something.)
The Freedom Maze, Delia Sherman: The easy comparison here would be to Edward Eager and Nesbit, because those are the comparisons drawn within the narrative and because, like those, this is a very quiet sort of fantasy novel. Not risk-free, as the Eager and Nesbit books usually are, but quiet--no explosions or big fights or monsters to battle. I grew up reading Eager and hearing about how great Nesbit was; I wonder if people will grow up reading Sherman and use this as a jumping-off point to read Eager and Nesbit. Unfortunately, I think by the time that anyone's old enough to want The Freedom Maze, the time in their life when they want the always-safe and just a bit silly adventures of Edward Eager will probably have passed.
The Modern Fae's Guide to Surviving Humanity, Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray, eds.: I skipped around a bunch in this one, read most of the stories but I'm not sure I got quite all of them. Mostly pretty standard urban fantasy, some neat twists.
Cloud and Ashes, Greer Gilman: I haven't actually finished this one yet, but I don't think I'll have time to do so before I leave the country and so have to bring it back to the library. I'm enjoying it; it's definitely a book for those who love language, a book that demands slow reading and immersion. I may well seek it out when I return and finish reading it.
Beyond Binary, Brit Mandelo, ed.: Unlike Wilde Stories, there were a lot of these that I hadn't read! I really liked seeing the range here, getting to experience new stories, some new writers, all that. A large number of them involved sex, which I wasn't expecting but maybe should have been; my feelings are mixed, because yes, variety of "sexually fluid" people/stories/etc. maybe inherently will involve sex, but also good not to just tell stories about these people having sex. At any rate, I'm glad that I bought this anthology at WisCon, because that means that I can reread it.


My tags page informs me that this will be the 100th post I have tagged with "books books books". Yay, reading!