Andi > Recent Status Updates

Like if the Coen brothers wrote a book. I'm liking this. It's mostly been gory and a little eerie in turns rather than being truly scary folk horror to me so far. A Western with short chapters is a nice change of pace, though it's not as tightly constructed as the last couple books I've read. I'm guessing it's going to be the kind of story where several meandering threads come together in a big "showdown" at the end.

Few people would call this YA bc of the unfiltered violence and sexuality, but it's all about young adults and their problems. It's kinda sad how the youth face challenges every day that adults consider "too adult" to reflect back at them. Dr. Okorafor puts into words truths about women, young people, and the marginalized that most authors flinch from writing today. But Onye still has a lot of growing up to do, sigh

Really enjoying this! Dr. Okorafor writes so clearly and unflinchingly, which is a relief. I've only read her Binti novellas before and even those short works sagged in the middle, so I'm bracing myself here. She does a great job making us understand how the characters feel about their circumstances and their culture, so nothing here feels overwhelming or unapproachable.

girl there should be a drinking game for whenever a grrm-ism shows up uninterrogated in lit. grrm invented "hedge knights" for asoiaf there were real robber knights and real landless knights at various times but no "hedge knights" lolol. I guess it's fitting here since this IS a fantasy but Arden is taking pains to look and sound historical so it's just awkwardly funny and I know what her fandoms are now

I'm liking it and it's flying by, though it's giving more "beach read" than heady fantasy because we are operating on fairytale rules, girlboss cleverness, and plot armor for a real historical person who had none of these things. I can already tell where the romance is going and I'm not opposed, but I'm not book-boyfriending anybody here either

Found its stride for real again with this last 30% or so. Gnashing my teeth rending my clothes etc. with how beautiful the last few chapters have been. Probably gonna finish this and need to stare at a wall for a while

ngl i have to pep talk myself into picking this up each day. it's well done and i think i understand the point of the story, but every new character and location just slides out of my brain with the next pageturn. the book has loftier ambitions than just action - it's a story about the power of books and words which i fully agree with, but there is still a real core conflict (the haunting) that keeps losing tension

I think Samatar is challenging what epic fantasy is. Young male protag with dad issues a pastoral childhood and kooky mentor leaves home for adventure - but he's a gentleman scholar who can't fight. Invented languages, many countries, foreign customs, but ghosts and angels instead of monsters, rituals and hallucinogens instead of spells, nonWest instead of West. What IS epic fantasy vs. what we think is familiar

Took a sudden and SIGNIFICANT turn and now the POV and prose are different, framed as journal entries while Jevick loses his mind. This is now a ghost story. Samatar does a cool job of making the superstitions and supernatural beliefs seem real and fantasy, but we're not 100% sure because this is very low fantasy. Elements of this remind me of African lit I read in school. Jevick is frustrating but I'm interested

African+Mediterranean-esque low fantasy bildungsroman with very rich prose, written by someone who loves literature and travel. All about the vibes so far and the vibes are good. Our young naive aristocrat protag probably needs to learn to appreciate his quiet island home rather than keep on dreaming about rich distant cities. I love the stark contrast between cultures and how Jevick appreciates every little thing

Kay is locked in on the friendships and family dynamics that inspire the love and tragedy in this story. Dissolving political stratification to help friends and acquaintances is always romantic and gutting to read. Kay imagines a small band of medieval people who choose the right side of history re: fantasy Jewish pogroms. Less is unconscionable to modern readers and I have thoughts on this pattern in modern stories

Ngl this has slowed down a lot and Kay repeats information we already know just to let us see POVs get caught up. He painstakingly explains the thwarting of the boys' assassination to the point that it blunts how emotional this apparently was for Jehane. Her boys are still very funny though, especially Rodrigo and Ammar. The cultures are great but almost funny how shamelessly Kay copy-pastes from real history lol

This book knows it's going to break me and I'm fine with that. Rodrigo alluding to his own demise via sun/Jad symbolism, it's probably Ammar who does it bc he keeps killing his friends for politics, and they are basically soulmates on day 1 of knowing each other, making tough Jehane laugh and it's cute and fun, and this can only end in tears. I like that Kay has no shame in the fun bc breaking me later has purpose

Unpopular opinion: I love how horny this book is. Once upon a time fantasy written by men was always horny, sometimes annoying, sometimes not. Then the era of Puritan values and pearl-clutching came. Whatever Kay has going on is SO MUCH better. He wants to be tied up and held down and verbally roasted by tough obstinate women and you know what? Respect. This book is horny but also bleeding-heart romantic. I love it

"He wanted to survive, more than anything, and he had just put himself at risk for her. Because he loved her, and despite it all, she loved him too." Whyyyy would you spell this out! Just as I was getting into this story, this author can't help but show her hand and overwrite and remove all doubt in A GOD OF LIES. Trust the audience, let it stay uncertain, but nope. The writing is like this constantly, so insecure

Interesting case where any stylism to the prose, any flourishes at all, would greatly improve this simple quest story and short book. This is dry and has less flavor than a math textbook. Sucks, because even though this first third has been way too slow, there's aspects that are truly interesting, and now we're on a medieval pilgrimage, a special interest of mine. Hoping for planted story seeds to bear fruit soon

I have to let go of Rowland's setting, but it's hard when they're using it to put all kinds of real-world historical research on display in thick paragraphs and long pages. It just doesn't mean anything to the story, and it's slowing everything down. "Ottoman Empire" pitch but just one religion and multiple gods so far, mixed ethnicities of names, no international conflicts, the romance is all miscommunication so far

Inspired by the Ottoman Empire but no mention of religions or divers peoples, barely any hierarchy, no slavery whatsoever. Every year, I sour further at the concept of selling a fantasy book on a setting or aesthetic. Rowland has done research, but on odd cherrypicked things. Meghan Whalen Turner wrote about slavery in her middle grade fantasy, but you can't stomach one mention of slavery in a romantasy for adults?

I told myself to be less annoying about criticizing books here but OH MY GOD this paint-by-numbers epic fantasy just had the wishywashy chessmaster say "we're all complicit" out loud after yet another paragraphs-long explanation about... uh... what political fantasy is and how systems of control operate and why empire is bad. Bro this could've been a Twitter thread. This whole story is so derivative and paper-thin

Plot twists one after the other, and I love it. Feels a lot like when you're coming out of adolescence into adulthood and the world finally makes more sense, but you also realize that your mentors either suck at communication, or were willfully lying to try and create some alternate reality. Burrich's "you thought you were wronged" is incorrect - we thought being different in the wrong way was worth killing over

I'm liking all the turns in the story even if they come slowly. Hobb seems interested in consequences that last and on mundane things taken for granted in fantasy that actually take time and work - riding horses, caring for dogs, healing, poisoning. Molly is so uninspired, which is a bummer because all of the other characters are nuanced and interesting. I have love/hate relationships with all of Fitz's mentors lol

I really like how Fitz clearly had his perception altered/broken by Galen's Skill and that that is the true violation of this book so far. Hobb commits to him not just naturally going back to "normal." I like that Fitz is wrong a lot in a way that makes you think you're supposed to go along with whatever the protagonist says is true, only for Fitz to be proven wrong later. Writing way smarter than it seems at first

Idk what I was expecting, but it wasn't this slow pace. It's told beautifully and in patient detail, but the setting and Fitz's life so far are so much cut from generic fantasy cloth that I keep waiting for the significance that the slow pace is dwelling on. The intriguing kernels like the animal affinity, Wit, and Skill keep me going, though

Still liking this, and there's moments where I really like this a lot. Other moments where it's almost too D&D, too standard sword-and-sorcery. Weakest link for characters so far is Paran - spunky (and rude) young male protagonist chosen by the gods is almost painfully ironic in how he's written, and the fact that he doesn't fit in with the tone or character roster really stands out. I hope that's on purpose?

I continue to like this more, especially if I view the myriad POVs as windows through which to learn about the meddling gods and what they're up to. After some chapters of the thief-assassin war, I gave in and looked up Erikson's inspiration. Malazan was created by him and another guy as a TTRPG in the 80's - now it all makes a lot more sense, lol, and explains the pulpy feel but with Warhammer-esque military focus

There's still a lot I don't understand or can't visualize, but the characters make a lot more sense now. Writing feels a little like modern camera lens writing, very restricted POVs and not storytelling-esque. Weirdly enough, the more characters I see and the more worldbuilding elements I encounter, the more I think this is just pulp fantasy with a dead serious tone. Not bad, just not as elevated as people say it is

I'd braced myself, so it's not like I hate it. Regardless of Erikson's touted genius, you have to assume that the amount of information and clarity withholding has meaning and payoff at some point. So far, I haven't read anything to latch onto as a mystery that intrigues me or a character I want unmasked. I can't picture this world either. At some point, it's just playing keepaway with your own readers for no reason

"We can’t acknowledge what we have no words for. With that in mind, a huge aspect of telling good stories is listening and recognizing themes which seem unresolved for people. A writer’s job is to express what other people can’t." Feels like it should be obvious but it isn't, important to keep in mind with AI on the rise and defensiveness over cardboard prose. "what seems unresolved for people" is new to me

"it creates a greater sense of authority and realism by acknowledging the nature of stories. The actual events are not happening as you read. A story is always a residue, a leftover of reality. Most stories begin at the first event, never admitting they’re told in retrospect, maybe because the author fears losing tension and immediacy." Chuck dwells on this a lot and it makes me think of modern camera-lens writing

"Anyone who looks at a system of people and thinks the system is the problem, is a fool." If this is the thesis statement, I'm strapped in for the sheer "oh dear" of it all. I think it's possible to frame up this argument, but I don't think this is the author to do it, and I'm morbidly curious to read with a straight face that you gotta Get the bad guys at the tip top to Fix Everything. Sanderson IS his influence...