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Tak! reviewed Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small …

Moon of the Crusted Snow

4 stars

Content warning plot discussion

This reads like a parable of the european takeover of the americas, except that the natives realized their mistake (just) in time this time around.

There wasn't much scifi or fantasy, except for the implied apocalypse that happened out of frame.

I was constantly frustrated with the characters for not being more proactive about stuff like: checking what happened with the power, being suspicious of Scott, following up on Scott after multiple red flags, etc. - but maybe I'm having unrealistic expectations about characters who don't know they're in a story.

I liked the strong themes of community and mutual support, even in the face of (imo realistic) uneven participation.

Overall a good read, I enjoyed it.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! quoted Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small …

A crack echoed through the boreal landscape, a momentary chaos in the still afternoon air.

— Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

#OpeningSentence #SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

"A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small …

The July 2024 #SFFBookClub pick

Tak! reviewed David Mogo by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Nigerian God-Punk - a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.

Since the Orisha …

David Mogo: Godhunter

4 stars

In a lot of ways, this reminds me of the Akata series, but for adults - Nigerian setting, making friends and enemies with supernatural entities, Nsibidi script as magic writing, etc. (This is not a criticism of the Akata series, I love them.)

The setting was the best part of this for me - I enjoyed postapocalyptic, god-ravaged Lagos.

I appreciate that David is imperfect and fallible - he makes mistakes, fails, etc., and it has real consequences for him.

The first section (book? sub-book?) was my favorite, followed by the second - as the story progressed, I felt like it kept getting progressively more frantic and less coherent.

Overall, I enjoyed it, though, and I'm looking forward to more.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on David Mogo by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Nigerian God-Punk - a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.

Since the Orisha …

Content warning chapter 21 spoiler

My first thought for "the place where iron lives" was a laundromat

#SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on David Mogo by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Nigerian God-Punk - a powerful and atmospheric urban fantasy set in Lagos.

Since the Orisha …

The #SFFBookClub pick for May 2024

Tak! reviewed Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic. "No maids, no …

Siren Queen

3 stars

This one just wasn't for me. I feel like it was one of those books that's all setting and no plot - and the setting was great, but I just couldn't engage with it.

#SFFBookClub

screamsbeneath reviewed Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic. "No maids, no …

Razor Sharp Magic Realism

4 stars

I generally enjoyed this, but not as much as I hoped I would gives how much I love Nghi Vo. That’s not to say this was bad compared to their other works, just that the characters didn’t grab me nearly as much. I felt the true strengths here were the setting, an early 20th century Hollywood where the magical realism is so honed in, most of the time it almost feels like poetic analogies of reality. I think this time period is under represented in fiction, at least in my sampling, and I found it refreshing; especially with queer representation, we were always here, just beyond the sight of society.

The main character was well developed, I could sympathize with their motives, and their decisions followed their persona. I just don’t relate to people that are reckless while having it all, which of course is an oversimplification because at what …

I generally enjoyed this, but not as much as I hoped I would gives how much I love Nghi Vo. That’s not to say this was bad compared to their other works, just that the characters didn’t grab me nearly as much. I felt the true strengths here were the setting, an early 20th century Hollywood where the magical realism is so honed in, most of the time it almost feels like poetic analogies of reality. I think this time period is under represented in fiction, at least in my sampling, and I found it refreshing; especially with queer representation, we were always here, just beyond the sight of society.

The main character was well developed, I could sympathize with their motives, and their decisions followed their persona. I just don’t relate to people that are reckless while having it all, which of course is an oversimplification because at what cost does having it all come at? I think it revealed to me how much more I will prefer safety to recklessness (or rather expressing your true self in the face of oppression), so I learned more about myself, albeit in an uncomfortable way. The rest of the cast didn’t do it for me and were there to support the MCs narrative, which I believe was intentional, it was always about the MC.

I think the real draw here is the setting and how it’s in conversation with historical (and modern) social power structures and the cost not only existing as a marginalized person of society, but what success looks like and at what costs does it come?

#sffbookclub

Tak! reviewed Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss

Shan Frankland forever abandoned the world she knew to come to the rescue of a …

Crossing the Line

4 stars

It kept very much to the themes of the original: genocide, greed, betrayal, and the sheer amount of damage a few bad-faith actors can do in a system not designed to account for them

Finished just in time for #SFFBookClub sequels month 😅

Tak! commented on Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic. "No maids, no …

#SFFBookClub pick for April 2024

Tak! reviewed Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence by R. F. Kuang

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret …

Babel

5 stars

Content warning I don't think I can review this without some vague spoilers

Babel is a story of colonialism, racism, sexism, whiteness, Englishness, loss, betrayal, and despair. It's basically a modern parable grittily illustrating the causes and consequences of colonialism.

I love the translation magic mechanism, and I found the embedded etymology tidbits super interesting.

I also appreciate that the author had the courage to allow Bad Things to happen to major characters - not in a GRRM torture porn kind of way, but just as a kind of natural consequence of the world and the characters' interactions.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! reviewed How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work …

How High We Go in the Dark

4 stars

A series of bleak, gritty glimpses of what's in store for us over the next few decades.

The tone is lightened a bit here and there with injections of optimism, but I think it works against itself a little when the optimism feels unwarranted.

The way that the characters from the different stories are linked reminds me a bit of Cloud Atlas (although I only saw the movie (sorry)).

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Tak! commented on How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work …

Wow, the second story is bleak. Do not recommend for people with children in their lives.

#SFFBookClub

Tak! reviewed Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr

Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands (Paperback, 2020, Interlink)

Award-winning historical fantasy and literary folktale. Winner of the presigious Etisalat award.

In a tent …

Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands

3 stars

I enjoyed the setting, and some of the substories were compelling, but as a whole it was too rambling and incohesive for me.

I feel like it would have worked better as a series of stories about different people from the same village or whatever instead of repeatedly being like "despite being in the middle of this incredibly urgent life crisis, the main character decides to spend six months teaching an older woman to fold laundry" or "despite having a very bad outcome two chapters ago, the main character decides to engage in exactly the same dangerous behavior with no additional precautions"

#SFFBookClub

Tak! commented on Wondrous Journeys In Strange Lands by Sonia Nimr

Award-winning historical fantasy and literary folktale. Winner of the presigious Etisalat award.

In a tent …

Let's see if I finish this one in time for #SFFBookClub