Media Round Up: Swooshy History
Apr. 7th, 2022 10:51 amHere's some thoughts on things I've been reading and watching recently.
Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China
by Francesca Bray— This was so interesting! This book was divided into three seconds one on house, one on weaving and one on human reproduction, and it talks about how all of these intersected with women’s lives in late Imperial China.
The Liar’s Dice by Jeannie Lin— A novella in The Lotus Palace series featuring cross dressing and mystery! Very fun!
Star Trek: Prodigy episodes 1-2 —R and I watched the first two episodes of this and neither of us cared enough about it to want to watch any more.
Beryl and Sapphire episodes 7-23— This show is still very chaotic with each episode being a widely different story, but I’ve gotten used to it and now the chaos is fun. And sometimes we come back to the same storyline which makes things feel less bitty. These episodes have been cute and charming. One featured an actual love confession between two men!
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan— I was excited to read this YA novel based on Chinese mythology but it was a bit disappointing. I liked the reworking of Chinese mythology but I never clicked with the main character, and there was a fair amount of tedious YA love triangle nonsense and I never found either guy very interesting.
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott— I enjoyed this fantasy novella, the worldbuilding was interesting and fun. However this book was trying to pull out some surprises that I didn’t find very surprising, and could see the places the author was trying to leave blank so that the information that filled those spaces would be surprising, which just felt like not very stealthy sleight of hand trick.
Jun Jiu Ling episodes 1-7— I’ve been enjoying this historical chinese drama about a woman doctor (and secret princess) who is investigating the death of her father. There are a bunch of women who have complicated relationships with each other! I really love the grandmother! The fight scenes are a little too fast to be super swooshy, but still pretty fun. And there are some other bits that have lots of swoosh.
The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin— Another Lotus Place novel, this one is a direct sequel to Liar's Dice featuring the same couple. This one felt like the author had leveled up in research between writing this and the last one! It had some really nice texture. I also really liked the female lead here!
Technology and Gender: Fabrics of Power in Late Imperial China
by Francesca Bray— This was so interesting! This book was divided into three seconds one on house, one on weaving and one on human reproduction, and it talks about how all of these intersected with women’s lives in late Imperial China.
The Liar’s Dice by Jeannie Lin— A novella in The Lotus Palace series featuring cross dressing and mystery! Very fun!
Star Trek: Prodigy episodes 1-2 —R and I watched the first two episodes of this and neither of us cared enough about it to want to watch any more.
Beryl and Sapphire episodes 7-23— This show is still very chaotic with each episode being a widely different story, but I’ve gotten used to it and now the chaos is fun. And sometimes we come back to the same storyline which makes things feel less bitty. These episodes have been cute and charming. One featured an actual love confession between two men!
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan— I was excited to read this YA novel based on Chinese mythology but it was a bit disappointing. I liked the reworking of Chinese mythology but I never clicked with the main character, and there was a fair amount of tedious YA love triangle nonsense and I never found either guy very interesting.
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott— I enjoyed this fantasy novella, the worldbuilding was interesting and fun. However this book was trying to pull out some surprises that I didn’t find very surprising, and could see the places the author was trying to leave blank so that the information that filled those spaces would be surprising, which just felt like not very stealthy sleight of hand trick.
Jun Jiu Ling episodes 1-7— I’ve been enjoying this historical chinese drama about a woman doctor (and secret princess) who is investigating the death of her father. There are a bunch of women who have complicated relationships with each other! I really love the grandmother! The fight scenes are a little too fast to be super swooshy, but still pretty fun. And there are some other bits that have lots of swoosh.
The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin— Another Lotus Place novel, this one is a direct sequel to Liar's Dice featuring the same couple. This one felt like the author had leveled up in research between writing this and the last one! It had some really nice texture. I also really liked the female lead here!
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