A Little Of Almost Everything: 11/6/21

Like the title says, I visited a lot of different worlds gifted to me in a variety of storytelling forms this week with no particular unifying theme other than them all being stories I read and enjoyed. Which, quite frankly, is plenty for me, especially during a week where I had to have a, “yes, manga is a valid form of both communication and consumption,” argument with someone who decided to pass judgment on quantity of said my children own and consume. I’m sure you’ve all realized that if you feel that way about comics from any country you’re in the wrong place but, just in case: if you feel that way about comics from any country, you’re in the wrong place. You are reading the book opinions of someone who actively searched for the Spanish translations of some manhua I wanted because, at the time, there was no word on when it was coming out in English and Spanish was the only other language it had been translated into that I knew well enough to read it in and I spent my free time searching. As in I have two kids, three jobs, chronic health issues, do most of the stuff around the house, and was writing about books (which necessitates not just writing but you know, reading) for two other websites free time. So en guard, haters.

/end rant

So anyway. Here’s what I read this week:

Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian (ACE)

There hasn’t been a good, female-led versions of the Authurian legend in a long time and since many off us have decided to disavow Marian Zimmer Bradley (we can’t very well kick men to the curb for reprehensible behavior and then hand women a pass) and Half Sick of Shadows is good. I very much enjoyed this new twist on the tale of Arthur’s rise to power and the credit it gives the women around him for his success - behind this successful man are three brilliant ladies: Guenivere, Morgana, and Elaine (also known as the Lady of Shallot). Without their intercession, not only does Arthur not rule Camelot, he never even achieves the crown.

That said, I think the reviewer who dubbed Sebastian the next Madeline Miller did her a disservice; only Madeline Miller is Madeline Miller and her talent in my opinion, having read both The Song of Achilles and Circe and heard Miller speak, is a rare thing. To compare anyone else’s first book to even Miller’s first, no matter how good the other person may be, is holding that debut to a standard it’s unlikely to meet, let alone to Circe which is a fucking masterpiece. And that’s okay! No book or story is prefect and if you can’t grow from your debut then why are you even writing?

Half Sick of Shadows is a solid first book. Yes, there are spots where it’s a little confused about what it wants to be. I think in building up the women (which I love) it forgets that the men can still have personalities and goals and… actual thoughts (Arthur is sort of a place holder I have no feelings about at all and Lancelot is kind of emo but also a himbo and he needs to pick one because instead of feeling any sort of sympathy for him, you end up vaguely annoyed) while remaining support characters. It could also have been 75-100 pages shorter to keep the plot moving at a better clip which would also have cut out some of the repetition (keep in mind, I feel this way about 95% of the sci-fi and fantasy books I read these days).

Again, however, overall, this was a really solid read and I’ve already recommended it to several friends to either read themselves or to pass on to their friends and family members. I think Sebastian is definitely an author to watch and I hope she brings us back to her Camelot in the future.

Perfect World Vol. 8 by Aruga Aie (Kodansha)

Tsugumi admits to Itsuki that she’s still in love with him and, after their clients/friends Kaede and Keigo decide to get married, despite all the obstacles they continue to face with her chronic illness, Itsuki tells Tsugumi he’s ready to face theirs together.

It’s interesting for me to reach this point in their story right now when I’ve been struggling with health garbage again and my husband has been saying things like, “what’s new?” when I mention I’m not feeling well and then getting mad when I don’t laugh at his “joke.” Unlike Tsugumi and Keigo, the partners in Perfect World, this isn’t what he signed up for. News flash, though: just like Ituski and Keigo, this isn’t what I signed up for either. But watching them fight their battles over the course of this series has taught me a lot about how going through doesn’t necessarily mean leaving through the same door you used to use. It’s an adjustment I’ve made to make to survive and thrive but that doesn’t mean I like it. And I’m allowed to be angry. And it’s hard. And maybe it’s not always funny.

Maybe Perfect World would help him, and other partners of people with disabilities, understand that as well.

Memorial Ride by Stephen Graham Jones and Maria Wolf (Red Planet Books and University of New Mexico Press)

I am not going to pretend to understand all of the nuances of Jones’ book. I’m not Indigenous and, therefore, I can’t. What I do understand, however, from the reading I’ve done, however, is that this country has done everything it can to destroy people that were here long before it was by deliberately establishing conditions that perpetuate cycles of abuse that, in turn, feed their war machine that, in turn, return soldiers scarred by PTSD who receive no treatment and then, in turn, perpetuate cycles of abuse.

And on and on and on.

And if they’re not after you? Someone else is.

It’s a big country. But when you love someone, someones, and you’re trying to keep them safe, when you’re trying to break the cycle, it’s small and claustrephobic and they, whoever they are, will always be able to find you. Anywhere, any time, and take that thing you love from you. Unless you’re willing to die for it.

I still can’t claim to understand. But my worldview has shifted after reading Memorial Ride. It feels smaller in the way space feels smaller when the wall is closer than you thought or your heel slips over the edge of a cliff or you feel eyes in the dark. Is it comfortable? No. No, it isn’t. And that’s why I’m glad I read the comic and why you should too.

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson (introduced by A.M. Holmes) (FSG)

People are the actual worst.

I’ve generally gravitated toward Shirley Jackson’s horror novellas because they’re subtle and visceral and sort of ambiguous in the way of horror that truly creeps me out but the thing I love most about them is that no matter how horrific the ghosts and monsters are, the true enemy, the worst of the utter worst, is always people. Which…. gestures around the world

Prior to yesterday, however, I hadn’t read many of Jackson’s sort stories, which tend toward the domestic. The “mundane” in the sense of everyday, the sense of normal, the sense of ordinary. Which makes the small cruelties, the deliberate prickings, the pranks, the shunnings, the laughter, that much more horrific.

Y’all… these stories… if I wasn’t an introvert naturally, I would be after reading them. That saying, “Hell is other people?” I mean… I only wish was a master of this particular genre but I can only study at her feet and do my best.

I’m on the road next week which means extra reading time in the air! And an extra bag for books because how am I supposed to know what I’m going to read?!