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I fail at keeping up with media reviews; here are the things I find worthy of commentary.
The Ozark Trilogy by Suzette Haden Elgin
Responsible of Brightwater lives in a different world, where the kingdoms are mostly named after the states that made up the Ozarks. I found 'the land of Marktwain' to be a bit eye-roll-y.
The population comprising Marktwain arrived in this other world because they were fed up with pollution/etc. of Earth, and they wanted to move somewhere more sensible.
One thing I found mind-boggling is that the author states point-blank that everyone in Marktwain is white. WTF, what happened to all of the people of color?? Did they just decide not to move with everyone else? Were they not allowed to? What the hell? I found this pretty distracting, as it is never explained.
Each kingdom has at least one granny, a matriarchal figure who is capable of performing certain types of magic/spells. Grannies are also highly skilled in the ability of delivering epic tongue-lashings, especially to headstrong men in their kingdoms. The books are almost worth reading just for these epic monologues alone.
I liked the protagonist and her sister. I liked the twist at the end. Overall, this was a fun little trilogy, and I like Elgin's writing style. I think that the first book, Twelve Fair Kingdoms, wasn't really necessary, as it was just an exercise in "Tell instead of show.....ad nauseum."
Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane
Written by Rose before she/her mother started publishing the Little House books.
This story is basically an AU fanfiction about her parents, in which they never marry (lol Rose had mother issues). In some ways, this book addresses the scary/adult issues of living on the prairie a little more directly than the Little House books ever did (going after a claim jumper to string him up), and in some ways it's less so (the Long Winter was a happy time of closeness and warmth!).
My main issue with the book relates to the ending and Rose Wilder Lane's political beliefs. Just in case anyone doesn't want to be spoiled, ( spoilers are under the cut. )
Kuroshitsuji, aka Black Butler, vol. 1 by Yana Toboso
This series is ridiculously popular, and I found the first volume pretty boring. Does anybody know if it gets better?
Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
Read for December's![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
beer_marmalade. I liked the dystopian future-ness of this book; I liked the protagonist; I liked the use of Catholicism/becoming your own saint/etc. Something about this fell a little flat for me, though. Maybe I just found the boxing boring.
Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I really...didn't like this? I feel like I should, because lots of people cite it as a favorite. The exposition irritated the fuck out of me. And in the end, what happened in this book? Really, nothing, except that Sunshine did a lot of laundry, took a lot of baths, and baked a lot of pastry-type things.
The Ozark Trilogy by Suzette Haden Elgin
Responsible of Brightwater lives in a different world, where the kingdoms are mostly named after the states that made up the Ozarks. I found 'the land of Marktwain' to be a bit eye-roll-y.
The population comprising Marktwain arrived in this other world because they were fed up with pollution/etc. of Earth, and they wanted to move somewhere more sensible.
One thing I found mind-boggling is that the author states point-blank that everyone in Marktwain is white. WTF, what happened to all of the people of color?? Did they just decide not to move with everyone else? Were they not allowed to? What the hell? I found this pretty distracting, as it is never explained.
Each kingdom has at least one granny, a matriarchal figure who is capable of performing certain types of magic/spells. Grannies are also highly skilled in the ability of delivering epic tongue-lashings, especially to headstrong men in their kingdoms. The books are almost worth reading just for these epic monologues alone.
I liked the protagonist and her sister. I liked the twist at the end. Overall, this was a fun little trilogy, and I like Elgin's writing style. I think that the first book, Twelve Fair Kingdoms, wasn't really necessary, as it was just an exercise in "Tell instead of show.....ad nauseum."
Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane
Written by Rose before she/her mother started publishing the Little House books.
This story is basically an AU fanfiction about her parents, in which they never marry (lol Rose had mother issues). In some ways, this book addresses the scary/adult issues of living on the prairie a little more directly than the Little House books ever did (going after a claim jumper to string him up), and in some ways it's less so (the Long Winter was a happy time of closeness and warmth!).
My main issue with the book relates to the ending and Rose Wilder Lane's political beliefs. Just in case anyone doesn't want to be spoiled, ( spoilers are under the cut. )
Kuroshitsuji, aka Black Butler, vol. 1 by Yana Toboso
This series is ridiculously popular, and I found the first volume pretty boring. Does anybody know if it gets better?
Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
Read for December's
beer_marmalade. I liked the dystopian future-ness of this book; I liked the protagonist; I liked the use of Catholicism/becoming your own saint/etc. Something about this fell a little flat for me, though. Maybe I just found the boxing boring.Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I really...didn't like this? I feel like I should, because lots of people cite it as a favorite. The exposition irritated the fuck out of me. And in the end, what happened in this book? Really, nothing, except that Sunshine did a lot of laundry, took a lot of baths, and baked a lot of pastry-type things.
