forestofglory

Here's what I've been reading and watching lately:

The Lord of Stariel by A.J. Lancaster— I picked this up because

calissa recommended it. It’s a 1920’s inspired fantasy about a young woman who left home and became an illusionist working at a theater. Her estranged father dies so she returns home to his funeral and the ceremony deciding who will be his successor as Lord of Stariel. I really enjoyed the big messy family but got a bit impatient with the mystery. Overall a fun read.
(content note: referenced societal homophobia)

Empire of Style: Silk and Fashion in Tang China by Buyun Chen— This very thorough look into the “fashion system” of Tang China, looking at the aesthetics, social systems and economics. There’s a lot here about seeing fashion as part of the larger picture. I also found that the basic historical outline of Tang China made way more sense to me as presented here in economic terms than any of the names and dates focus overviews I’ve encountered. I did find the language in this book a bit dense, and had to work to understand the argument in places. Overall I really enjoyed the way the book made connections between things.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho— I saved this book to read on our trip to Santa Cruz and this was a good choice! It was lovely to sit around reading a highly anticipated book with the longer chunks of time I had there. (I managed to read it before the heat exhaustion too) It’s contemporary fantasy set in Malaysia, featuring a queer main character, ghosts, and complicated family secreates. As alway I love how Cho writes older female characters. The book lived up to my high expectations!
(Content note: sexual assault, off screen domestic abuse)

Word of Honor episodes 16-36 —
My progression with this show was: A lot of people I know are into but it really doesn’t sound like my thing -> Well the group watch is watching it I guess I’ll check it out -> oh, actually this grumpy reluctant mentor stuff is good -> Oh dear, I’m having a lot feelings, I’m not sure I wanted to have this many feelings. So this show really got to me, I got sucked into the story and I had a lot of intense feelings about it! I’m happy that my group watch got me to watch it.

Slowly teaching myself honorifics commonly used in wuxia really paid off here! There were several moments where the subs let me down but I was able to hear the forms of address. Which was key to some moments that had a big emotional impact!

I didn’t like the ending. (Yes, I did watch the extra scene) I know a lot of people love it, but for me it really undermined a lot of the things that I enjoyed most from the show.

(Content ableism, wuxia typical racism, suicide, even more mass murder)