List: themes:queer

Clive Barker is, without doubt, the coolest character at Midnight Pals, and I wanted to find out why. Yes, this is a weird motivation for reading an author, but I've read worse with less reason. Much worse, as it turns out – Imajica was a good read. The best word to describe maybe not the book, but my interest in it: it's an adult book. Not in the sexy way (though I guess that too, plus one sudden actually shocking bit of violence), but in the deep understanding that being an adult usually includes being tired, in over your head, trapped in situations that are not bad so much as that they are not what you dream of. People in Imajica feel real in a way I hadn't realised I had missed. Real in the exact way you don't get from Pratchett, maybe. It helps that the people are as different as they can be: Rich upper-class white guys, their oppressed servants, gay guys dying of AIDS, humanoid hermaphrodites from a different world, slaves and smugglers and merchants and god-kings. Earth is just one of five realms – the others are somewhat connected, and Earth is cut off, except for some smuggling and hidden ways. The last attempt at Reconciliation failed, and badly, and people have conspired to prevent a next attempt at all costs. The four reconciled worlds are ruled by the brutal Autarch, who rules through brutal monotheism in a factually polytheist world (nice concept), but who I found very hard to be interested in (but thankfully, the story didn't try to force my interest, for the most part). Our protagonists both have a curious lack of backstory that becomes loadbearing after a bit. It was interesting – I don't usually like memory loss troping to support exposition, but it was exceedingly well done here, and in an uncommon way, so I had to forgive it (though it made the protagonist hard to bear). The story is fine, but surprisingly I was more into the people than into either the story or the worldbuilding. (It's not often I pass up good worldbuilding). Though, to be fair, there are some worldbuilding tidbits that I loved. For example, Christ as just another ancient magician/maestro is a classic, but "maybe he died to save us from his Father" was a new one. Then-current-day racism taken as granted and commented upon the same way homophobia is just assumed: extremely well done and refreshing to read (plus, not shying away from discussing Fantasy Racism/Slavery as a thing). Plus some nice and non-icky commentary on femininity and masculinity. Most interesting, looking back, is that I don't love the book, and I'm not even all that sure that I like it. But I'm interested and fascinated. Two or three parts punched me right in the feelings (towards the end, the protagonist's mother tells him a story in a flashback that's just all sorts of fucked up). Intellectually, it's a kind of anti-Narnia without being stupid or edgy. I don't know: it's a weird book, and I'm happy I read it.

Berlins Drittes Geschlecht

by Magnus Hirschfeld · published 1904 · read 2020-08-12

Berlin's Third Gender (Berlins drittes Geschlecht) by Dr Magnus Hirschfeld is a description of queer lives in Berlin around 1900 (published 1905). Even though it's naturally sad in some ways, it's also encouraging: Berlin was comparatively liberal at the time, and I enjoyed the descriptions of queer groups, events, relationships, and creative side-stepping of general conventions. The descriptions are very vivid and obviously well-researched, and contain lots of amusing facts about everyday life in different social circles.

The Left Hand of Darkness

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1969 · read 2017-03-01

Wow! This is a fantastic, clever, wonderful scifi book. I loved the explicitly humanoid species (that are probably expanded on, especially their origin, in other parts of the series). I loved the mostly-androgynous species, their peculiarities, the mechanics of it all, the implications. I loved the protagonist and the carefully spun story arch - but I loved most that the narrator/protagonist was both clever, relatable, and fallible - there were several instances where, in the middle of narration, you started to think "Hold up, I'm sure that's not quite …" or "Isn't that just your weird bisexual bias …?"

Silver in the Wood

by Emily Tesh · published 2019 · read 2020-02-20

Good forest fairytale. Heavier on the "hurt" side of hurt/comfort that I initially thought. Good characters, good writing, and only a bit low on substance.

Don We Now Our Gay Apparel: Gay Men’s Dress in the Twentieth Century

by Shaun Cole · published 2000 · read 2020-02-18

This book is a treasure! It follows the history of gay men's dress from the days of Oscar Wilde to the 90s, and by necessity along the way explains the cultural changes in and around gay groups. It explains hidden and implicit cultural meanings, is sourced from interviews, magazines, and lots and lots of other books and articles. I can't overstate how in-depth and conscientously the information is presented.

Sansûkh

by determamfidd · published 2017 · last read 2021-01-27

Sansûkh is an incredibly well-researched, detailed, well-written Lord of the Rings fanfiction, telling the whole story from the perspective of the dead dwarves keeping watch over their relatives. Its protagonist is Thorin Oakenshield, and in addition to all the plots told by the primary books, it also features Erebor and Mirkwood. The writing is very appropriate and well-done, and I enjoyed every part of it tremendously. It's funny, and it's epic, and it's very much as it should be.

Luck in the Shadows

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1996 · read 2021-07-02

Excellent fantasy – very 90s, and I devoured it in a single Saturday. Teenage boy with no family gets helped out of prison by a mysterious stranger who accepts him as apprentice. Said stranger turns out to be a jack-of-all trades spy, a charming and capable rogue. They encounter harship and intrigue and find friends and blah blah, classic fantasy story arc in the end.

Full Fathom Five

by Max Gladstone · published 2014 · read 2021-10-17

Redeeming Max Gladstone after whatever Empress of Forever was: yess, this is the stuff. The Craft Sequence formula is a very readable mix of great, emergent worldbuilding, with some harsh economic truths, a sense of wonder, and some extremely forgettable characters. This time we don't only get the usual corporate lawyers, we also get an angry girl living in the streets and a spy (plus the usual forgotten gods).

Two Serpents Rise

by Max Gladstone · published 2013 · read 2020-09-30

Three Parts Dead was lots of fun, and I had high expectations of this book. I was not disappointed. Max Gladstone has now a firm place among my favourite authors!

The Magpie Lord

by K.J. Charles · published 2013 · read 2020-06-30

Romance, mysterious curse, estate management: A queer/gay romance in a fantasy version of Victorian England. The youngest exiled son of a lord returns to England after his father and brother die, and has to contest with the curse that led to their deaths. Luckily, he finds a strange but attractive young wizard blah blah blah, you see where this ends. Very atmospheric, and too well-written to deserve to be labeled as "enjoyable trash".

A Desolation Called Peace

by Arkady Martine · published 2021 · read 2021-04-11

Generally, A Desolation Called Peace is nearly as good as A Memory Called Empire. It replaces parts of the intrical cultural commentary with very alien aliens who need to be communicated with, but surprisingly, the aliens are one of the weakest parts of the book. This is basially the anti-Tchaikovsky, where humans are inevitably more interesting than even hive mind aliens.

Red, White & Royal Blue

by Casey McQuiston · published 2019 · read 2019-07-07

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston is a rom-com, pure and simple. It's light-hearted, it's witty, it doesn't feel like "Hello, fellow kids" – what more do you want?

Queer Tattoo

by Brody Polinsky · published 2022 · read 2022-09-05

My tattoo artist had this on her shelf when I went and got my first ever tattoo. It caught my eye (the binding is very distinctive!), and I immediately ordered it when I got home. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing to exist. The breadth of style and experience in it was lovely to see, and has also given me some ideas, heh. I also liked the Instagram register at the back, though by the nature of things, even shortly after the book's release, not all links worked anymore. The only downsides I can think of are that the interviews were not always of interest, and sometimes seemed to show off more that the interviewer ~knew~ the artist than anything else. Of course, the presented artists are also sourced via the network of the author(s), which leads to a surprising amount from Berlin artists. Not that I'm protesting! Great for me, but possibly not ideal on balance? Anyway. Fun book, and something I find myself paging through on occasion. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

A Song for a New Day

by Sarah Pinsker · published 2019 · read 2023-01-22

This is not a bad book, and I like Sarah Pinsker a lot. I liked it, and it put my biggest worry at rest: that she wouldn't manage the transition from amazing short stories well. Her plot arc might be a bit wobbly, but her character work is incredible (and vibes for any given scene are obviously always on point). I'm still torn between three and four stars, because the twist wasn't a twist and the message was rather clear, but I'm in a mood to be generous, possibly due to the queer rep and how it made me feel feelings. Possibly feelings I wasn't ready for: It was written in 2019, published in September, but a pandemic with resulting never-ending oppressive lock-down is a major plot point. And how terrible things feel when everything is digital and nothing is real and the only people you see are your parents in the middle of nowhere or your unsafe insane flatmates in a locked-down city. So, you know. That kind of feelings. Two protagonists: the cool old musician who has to make do illegally, because she's not buying into the VR system, and the young woman growing up with all this and feeling very anxious about people, germs, and everything (and holy writing batman, that was well-written). Lots of vibes. Lots of excellent writing. Lots of pain. Not sure about the ending, and stuff, and it did still feel a bit episodic (solid choice when your biggest strength are excellent short stories!), but it made me happy to see Sarah Pinsker succeed at what she set out to do. She does all the things well, but I think the biggest one are vibes: How to feel anxious in a crowd. How to feel amazing in a crowd. How to feel live music come alive in your body. Man, so many good descriptions of music! (And a surprising amount of digital rights / privacy activism.) Also: “We should be getting back to normal,” one would say. “Before we forget what normal is.” “We have to find a new normal,” said another. I knew all their names by then, but it didn’t really matter who said what. It was the same conversation, over and over. Wonder what it felt like publishing this in 2019, and then waking up in 2020. Also, lmao at Superwally and the employee motivation posters: "You are valued but replaceable" is so on the nose but still made me laugh. But also the super invasive work for them as tech support ("Good job! The customer could hear your smile :)". Also also: Super cool ideas about people having playable tattoos and other musical body mods. Hell yeah. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Lily’s Boy

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-21

Again, actually nice fanfic – same author as the last one, so that's not too surprising. Covers the whole story. Bit standard and boring in places, but then picks up, with some actual foreshadowing. Cedric's death hits much harder than in the books now that there is an actual character involved. Politics, war, buildup and planning. Portraits, departures from cannon, animagi side plots, ancient lore: what's not to love? Enby Tonks in a good relationship, and much queer goodness. Too many happy relationships and bullshit betrothals, but what can you do. A new primary school. A national team. Happily ever after. yeah, this was nice. On re-read: The initial rush through third year is very "we all know what's going on here, right?", but otoh – we do all know what's going on, so there. It's very hard on the "comfort" side of hurt-comfort, with not a ton of tension, but y'know, popcorn reads are good, too. Harry discovering that he's gay by being both into his future boyfriend and totally crushing on the way-too-cool Bill was a nice touch. Towards the end, the fic was very skimmable – in increasingly shorter intervals, the author seemed to decide that now would be a good time for a smut/romance chapter, and they were very same-y. You get very much what's on the tin. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

The Same, But Different

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · read 2023-02-07

This author just gets queer fanfics. Nice takes on reincarnation, dysphoria, old wisdom and new hormones. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Evitative

by Vichan · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-11

Spent my February reading all the good fics. This one starts as a standard re-sort, then goes sideways into a beautiful take on dark magic, rituals, friendship and love. Like, some of these rituals I just want to adopt for myself. Let's just not talk about the appalling Latin, though. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

before the door of hell lamps burned

by basketofnovas · published 2020 · read 2023-02-09

The brilliantly difficult series is a top contender for my favourite fanfic series. It's ambitious, and it sometimes fails, but especially if you read the one-shots, the author ties it together so well. Possibly the only AO3 author I will read no matter what. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

the glass fortress

by basketofnovas · published 2021 · read 2023-02-10

I could read basketofnovas for a week straight without getting sick of the stories tbh, even though I found the second part getting a bit stuck on occasion, especially in fleshing out the political system. It all comes together once you've read all the one-shots and extended universe, but the first experience was not perfect. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Spear

by Nicola Griffith · published 2022 · read 2024-02-11

Lots of fun – an "anti-monarchical Arthurian fantasy", Jo Walton called it. A queer Arthur reimagined by an author who knows her Arthur to the point of making puns in Old Welsh to make the story work. The author's notes alone bumped this book up to a 4/5. Not that it's bad otherwise – excellent fluid narration, strong vibes (especially re: nature!), and who doesn't want a gender-bent Parcival? Lovely little story, glad I read it.

Bread and Wine

by Samuel R. Delany · published 1999 · read 2024-11-11

Chip meets Dennis, who lives on the street. It’s everything. It’s romantic, it’s hot, it’s matter-of-fact. It only gets better by knowing they are still together. I’m not usually one for graphic novels (graphic novellas?), but this one … yup, nope, made me cry. And also will make me read Hölderlin, wtf.

Pale Fire

by Vladimir Nabokov · published 1962 · read 2019-12-02

Pale Fire was my second book by Vladimir Nabokov, and it curiously resembled the first one (Lolita, naturally): An unreliable narrator, who felt incredibly off-putting, full of himself, and mentally ill. I do want to note that the narrator is gay and there is no obvious stigmatisation associated with the fact.

The Door into Sunset

by Diane Duane · published 1992 · read 2021-04-14

Silly me, I assumed that this series was a trilogy. This book was published in 1992 and doesn't wrap up the series. There were some news on the final volume in 2018/2019, nothing since then. Sad stuff, I would have loved a real ending, and this book was … not it.

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

by Meredith Katz · published 2016 · read 2021-09-05

Short, sweet queer sci-fi romance, telling the story of a world where production of humanoid robots has been banned, but the last remaining ones are allowed to live out their life. Ace robot trope though.

A Marvellous Light

by Freya Marske · published 2021 · read 2021-11-05

Comfort ~~food~~ read. But for real, what is it with fantasy novels about gay magicians in Victorian England, where the lower-class magician falls for the upper-class non-magical nobility? Not that I'm complaining.

A Master of Djinn

by P. Djèlí Clark · published 2021 · read 2021-09-06

Steampunk, non-Victorian edition: In 1912, Egypt is a rising world power due to its access to magic. Holding its own against the British and other world powers in a multicultural metropolis, Cairo is far from free and perfect, though: Our protagonist, Fatma, is one of the few women in the Ministry of supernatural stuff, where she works as an investigator, and gets to unravel the bloodless-but-supernatural murder of some British guys.

Gender Euphoria

by Laura Kate Dale · published 2021 · read 2021-10-10

Gender Euphoria does some things very well, but felt generally underwhelming. Let me explain: I was happy to see a collection of essays on this theme, because from what I can see, especially younger parts of trans* communities often focus on the downsides and suffering of being trans. Entirely understandable, of course, but it's all the more important to talk about the flip side. The direction and presence of this book is both welcome and refreshing.

Safely You Deliver

by Graydon Saunders · published 2016 · read 2021-05-20

by Aiden Thomas · published 2020 · read 2021-06-12

Cemetery Boys

Coming-of-age novel set in an urban fantasy: Yadriel is a Latinx trans boy in the US. His whole family are brujx and don't accept him as a brujo. Naturally, he spends the novel proving himself – but with a fair bit of reflection and friendships and non-transition related plot thrown in. Intersectional YA is pretty cool and all (most non-Latinx people here are queer by default, delightfully), and my only issue with this was how predictable the plot is and how YA possibly just isn't for me anymore.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

by Nghi Vo · published 2020 · read 2021-02-26

High fantasy novella, vaguely Chinese-plus-Inuit (shush, it makes sense). After the Empress has died, a young monk – monks are enby in this world, which is neat – travels to her old castle, that has been off limits for decades. They explore the house and chronicle the stories of various things they find. It turns out to be vastly different than expected.

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller · published 2011 · read 2021-05-13

Circe was okayish, this is the second chance I was giving Miller before deciding that her access to myths doesn't match mine. I liked Achilles more than Circe, but part of that is that I'm a sucker for the pairing. I didn't like the depiction of Patroclus too much, and both felt oddly pale to me. I know it's the current poster child of queer readership and TikTok in particular, but … ehh. It's alright.

Tournament of Losers

by Megan Derr · published 2015 · read 2019-04-10

Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr was surprisingly good for a fantasy romance novel, but it was still utterly predictable (and fairytale sounding in the ritual situations that lead to its predictability, actually). A nice enough read, especially since semi-realistic fantasy with m/m relationships isn't common, but definitely more of a guilty pleasure than anything else.

Death by Silver

by Melissa Scott, Amy Griswold · published 2013 · read 2022-01-14

MORE gay Victorian (well, Gaslamp) magicians, will it ever stop? This one at least doesn't follow the cookie-cutter for the genre: no nobility, and magic is well-known and accepted, so there's an actual industry and civil services. Magic has actual rules, and a lot of it seems to be grammar-based, and people can, for example, take educated guesses about a magician's schooling (Oxford vs Cambridge styles) – but only guesses, not enough to be actually important clues, which I thought was a nice show of restraint.

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

by Mackenzi Lee · published 2017 · read 2019-12-09

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee is fun, but not outstanding. I was very tolerant of its flaws because it's very queer. The protagonist is an English aristocratic ass on his Grand Tour, which is a fine narrative device … until it gets tiring. Even a mistreated entitled idiot is still an entitled idiot, who in this case is surrounded by way cooler people. Especially his sister, who was the most competent person involved, would've made the book much better if it had been multi-POV, I think. Also, less of a euphoric "we ride into the sunset" ending – I had been hoping against hope for a better ending, and was disgruntled at this.

Traitor’s Moon

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1999 · read 2021-07-18

Just as with the previous book in the series, I enjoyed the world and the storytelling a lot, but some relationship-related things clouded my enjoyment.

Stalking Darkness

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1997 · read 2021-07-14

Avoiding second-book syndrome, Stalking Darkness is at least as good as Luck in the Shadows – but it also touches on some serious yikes. I have thoughts.

A Case of Possession

by K.J. Charles · published 2014 · read 2021-08-03

For the first part of the series, I called it “too well-written to deserve to be labeled as enjoyable trash”. The language of this second part remains well done, but the writing … not as much. It's more over-the-top, tryhard – when it doesn't really need to try hard, being itself would be enough: Magic Victorian lover boys return to the dirty city and deal with giant rats and prejudice while alternating between horniness and relationship drama. It's not bad, but the charm of the first part has worn off a bit. I'm not planning to read the next part any time soon, but I imagine at some point I'll be sick or tired or just in need of a comfort read, and I'll come back to the series then.

We Are Satellites

by Sarah Pinsker · published 2021 · read 2022-04-02

Let this website attest that I like Sarah Pinsker a lot – I'm not a short story person in general, and I love hers. That said: I wasn't a fan of this book. Her usual skill with small scenes and emotional gut punches showed, but the plot was so extremely on the nose that I did my best not to eyeroll my way through it. Hard to engage with the cool characters when the plot is yelling its generic dystopia blah lecture at you. (tldr: Brain enhancement that some want, others not, peer pressure, hmmm, wonder if the sleazy bigcos will have our best interest at heart, unconvincing HAPPY GOOD END. The end.) This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Märchenland für alle

by Boldizsár M. Nagy · published 2022 · read 2022-03-29

This book is more about its social impact than about its contents: It pushed off a law that effectively bans the sale of queer-positive books in Budapest. (No advertisement or open sale close to schools or churches, which covers basically the entire city). From a Western point of view, the fairytale retellings collected here are nothing special: they put a marginalised twist on things, be it in a queer frame, or about poverty or parental neglect and alcoholism. It shows that the book means to showcase new and unexperienced authors: most of the texts are a bit clunky, clumsy, hitting you over the head with their intent. You can read a German excerpt here. But hey: they're sweet, and the cause is more than worthy of support. (Full disclosure: my mum was one of the German translators.) It's published in English as "A Fairytale for Everyone". This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Society for Soulless Girls

by Laura Steven · published 2022 · read 2022-07-27

Surprisingly good! As somebody who didn't like Ninth House/Locked Tomb, I'm currently expecting to not like any of the queer/lesbian YA, the more TikTok-viable the blurb, the worse. This one at least isn't Lesbian Necromancers In Space, but I saw it as "sapphic dark academia Jekyll/Hyde", and even though it's not not that, I enjoyed it much more than I thought. It has way more angsting about irrelevant stuff while there could be angsting about actual problems, but that's just YA not landing with me being an increasingly old fart. I did think the angsting was realistic and well-written, and while there were too many hints at the actual mystery's solutions, the book does well to focus on characters more than mystery, and it did the atmosphere very well. Just to compare: I'm reviewing this a year after I read it, and while I had zero memory of the highly rated and lauded "Shadow of What Was Lost", I can still easily recall this book's Tower, and setting, and even some of the plot. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers · published 2021 · read 2023-01-23

After not getting on too well with Wayfarers (I liked it, but too fluffy, no desire to go back), this book worked much better for me. Some of that is "right place, right time", of course, but definitely more my thing than Wayfarers. Discounting the emotional bits, I do think the book could stand to be built better – the narration is occasionally very plain and sometimes approaching shoddy. But hey, the ideas and feelings make it easy to gloss over that and enjoy it regardless. (Also, I cannot read this kind of fiction without thinking of how Delany would dissect it.) This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Independent Study

by SomewheresSword · published 2020 · last read 2024-02-13

Actually sweet fanfic. Things happen, most of them are not nonsensical, the fluff is somewhat earned and slow to build. Good finale, but then drags on into an overly excessive (even by fanfic standards) happily-ever-after. Anywho, fun. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

the grave of the saint

by basketofnovas · published 2022 · read 2023-02-11

Difficult to tie off a series like this (and I'm perpetually grateful for the one-shots and shorts illuminating the time after the main plot's end). There is too much going on, but I found all the moving parts interesting in the end, and was not disappointed at all. Such a good series/universe. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Raven Stratagem

by Yoon Ha Lee · published 2017 · read 2024-01-05

Kinda like the first book in the series – a lot of very cool worldbuilding, but … kinda too much coolness and not enough substance. If you look behind the window dressing, it's kinda just Omelas, yet again. Don't get me wrong: It's pretty. The writing is alright, the people are at least somewhat compelling, and I enjoy puzzling out the overly in-depth worldbuilding. But it also feels so very hollow (and why on earth is there a third part?).

Salt Magic, Skin Magic

by Lee Welch · published 2018 · read 2022-01-12

More Victorian urban history queer romance with an aristocrat with evil family and a lower-class magician – please somebody tell my why this is such a huge thing. I could do without the repetitiveness and the everything while just enjoying parts of the setting.

Peter Darling

by Austin Chant · published 2017 · read 2021-06-12

Peter Pan returns to Neverland, coming to terms with being a trans boy in bad old England. He starts out as a cruel boy and experiences some character growth … through the magic of Hook's pretty eyes? I don't know, y'all.

The Black Tides of Heaven

by J.Y. Yang · published 2017 · read 2021-06-10

Asian-inspired genderfun fantasy. Didn't compel me at all: the plot wasn't as focused as the short length warranted, and the characters didn't stand out to me at all. The plot was compressed and considering the high odds and tragedy, didn't make me care at all.

Widdershins

by Jordan L. Hawk · published 2012 · read 2022-01-13

Popcorn read: Victorian encounters with the paranormal continue, but this time it's in the US. A timid philologist from a wealthy family (have to do without nobility in the US, after all) meets a Dresden-style magician for hire. They need to solve a mystery that has its solution foreshadowed so strongly, I nearly couldn't see the text under all the shadow.

Empress of Forever

by Max Gladstone · published 2019 · read 2021-09-24

Max Gladstone is an author I like a lot. He's half of the brilliance of Time War, and his Craft Sequence is amazing second-world urban fantasy. I went into this book curious how Gladstone would approach Space Opera, but confident I would like it – boy, was I disappointed. It took me the better part of a month to dig through this book, and it ust dragged on.

Confessions of the Fox

by Jordy Rosenberg · published 2018 · read 2020-10-08

Apparently my reading choices are now powered by spite: I'm reading Confessions of the Fox that I partially picked up because a negative review complained about a) the amount of dirty Elizabethan English ("many crude terms appeared only once, so the author apparently just wanted to show off his research") and b) "If you like to constantly check footnotes whilst reading a novel, some of which are pages long, you might enjoy this book."

Flight of Magpies

by K.J. Charles · published 2014 · read 2022-01-23

by K.M. Szpara · published 2018 · read 2019-01-23

You can make a dinosaur, but you can’t help me

Crossing a trans guy's story with Jurassic Park. Occasionally sweet, but also unfocussed.

The Ninth Rain

by Jen Williams · published 2017 · read 2022-07-02

Surprisingly vague in my memories – there's extensive plotting and world-building, and I'm usually a sucker for this repeating apocalypse thing (remember Pern?), especially when the last one starts to pass out of memory! But I think the characters just didn't stick with me? The rogue prince running from his failed empire (who had to carry his fantasy race exposition) plus the mercenary/warrior/escapee from the Evil Nuns, plus the world somehow ending, plus the alien grossness … and too many apostrophes, to be quite honest. And no big twist, everything signalled way ahead of time. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Slow River

by Nicola Griffith · published 1995 · read 2022-07-30

Somewhere between two and three stars for me, and I'm feeling grumpy and rounding down. Very cyberpunk, but in a slow, maintenance-worker way. That's the part I like – I can't read stories like Snow Crash without thinking about the work spent maintaining (yes, even super cyber) roads, drones, etc. Good stuff and not afraid of the details. But the book isn't just that – how could we justify spending an entire book on a lowly maintenance worker? So of course Lore van Something comes from a Special Rich family (who she's run away from) and is Special Good at her job and Special Attractive to her love interest, and I just don't like that sorta thing. I'm also not super into the addict/sex-work/unhealthy relationship thing (though props for making her being lesbian being a non-issue), or into the Bigger Picture stuff insofar as it ties into the Special Family. Ending didn't satisfy me either, as I recall. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Prayer for the Crown-Shy

by Becky Chambers · published 2022 · read 2023-01-24

Even more fluff, lots of recaps, no new conclusion, some unwarranted angst immediately alleviated with more fluff, an ambivalent ending, and too much focus on a non-workable economy. Not a fan, but if you loved the first one and just want more, then this is what you want. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Black and the Bastard Dragon

by starbrigid · published 2022 · read 2023-02-03

We call it "trying too hard". Falls down all the terrible pitfalls of terrible fanfic. (You know, among the fanfic that is readable and has an understanding of grammar and punctuation.) This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Black and the Prisoner of Nurmengard

by starbrigid · published 2022 · read 2023-02-02

Still more silly super-hero, super-villain super-drama. I did like parts of the prison arc, actually, but the general protagonist idiocy was just off the charts. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Draco Malfoy and the Talon Brand

by starbrigid · published 2020 · read 2023-02-01

Sigh. Relationships. Brands. Blah. Any decent fanfic series inevitable goes insane. This book is part of the 2022 Backlog Incident.

Several People Are Typing

by Calvin Kasulke · published 2021 · read 2024-01-17

Not sure if I'm just feeling grumpy. This was solid work tone-wise, but that's not enough to carry more than a short story. Slackbot-horror sounds nice as a concept, but doesn't have legs (heh) for more than micro-to-short fiction, I think. Didn't quite feel like I wasted my time, but close call.

Camp Damascus

by Chuck Tingle · published 2023 · read 2024-02-14