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forestofgloryI'm still working thought the list of books to read before WisCon, the last several have been very good! Which is nice but also I keep feeling that my luck can't hold up.
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb— I had liked this author's short fiction so was curious to check out their new novel. This has been described as "A classic Yiddish Novel but queer" and I think that's a good description. It's the story of an Angel and a demon who are study partners, who leave their tiny shtetl to go help a young woman who has moved to America. An also of a young woman who leaves her slightly bigger town and falls in with them. I liked this a lot! It's extremely Jewish and I liked how nothing was explained (there's a glossary but I didn't realize). I also really liked all the characters! The story is a bit too violent for me to call it cozy but it's a small scale story about community and identity.
The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard—I love de Bodard’s Xuya universe so I was excited for another novel set there. This one is an f/f romance featuring a marriage of convenience where one of the characters is a sentient spaceship! I loved this, both characters where great, and both of them are moms! There where a few places where I was going “I’m not sure about the morality here’ but it ending up going in a good and satisfying direction. Also almost all the characters, not just the main two are women and that was a refreshing change.
The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott—This novella was everything I hoped it would be! The premise sounded great: a woman has to rescue her adult son from a dragon. Esther, the main character is great, in her 60's pragmatic and determined. I loved that she carries around labor organizing literature to hand out to those in need. I liked her son a lot too, he feeds people. Also there is an impressive amount of worldbuilding in this short book! I hope there's a sequel some day.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold —Some of my online friends and I are doing a read along of the Vorkosigan Saga! I imprinted on these books hard as a teen and young adult, and while I still love them I have more of an awareness of the flaws. Anyways Bujold is excellent at dialogue and I still love these characters, but I’m uncomfortable with the imperialism here.
Artisans in Early Imperial China by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low— This was a really interesting book attempting to reconstruct the lives of artisans in Qin and Han China. It's full of interesting details about how people lived and how things were made. There were lots of pictures of surviving objects from that time included. I found the last chapter about slavery and conscripts heavy going (The Han justice system was terrible). Overall I found it very informative.
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb— I had liked this author's short fiction so was curious to check out their new novel. This has been described as "A classic Yiddish Novel but queer" and I think that's a good description. It's the story of an Angel and a demon who are study partners, who leave their tiny shtetl to go help a young woman who has moved to America. An also of a young woman who leaves her slightly bigger town and falls in with them. I liked this a lot! It's extremely Jewish and I liked how nothing was explained (there's a glossary but I didn't realize). I also really liked all the characters! The story is a bit too violent for me to call it cozy but it's a small scale story about community and identity.
The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard—I love de Bodard’s Xuya universe so I was excited for another novel set there. This one is an f/f romance featuring a marriage of convenience where one of the characters is a sentient spaceship! I loved this, both characters where great, and both of them are moms! There where a few places where I was going “I’m not sure about the morality here’ but it ending up going in a good and satisfying direction. Also almost all the characters, not just the main two are women and that was a refreshing change.
The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott—This novella was everything I hoped it would be! The premise sounded great: a woman has to rescue her adult son from a dragon. Esther, the main character is great, in her 60's pragmatic and determined. I loved that she carries around labor organizing literature to hand out to those in need. I liked her son a lot too, he feeds people. Also there is an impressive amount of worldbuilding in this short book! I hope there's a sequel some day.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold —Some of my online friends and I are doing a read along of the Vorkosigan Saga! I imprinted on these books hard as a teen and young adult, and while I still love them I have more of an awareness of the flaws. Anyways Bujold is excellent at dialogue and I still love these characters, but I’m uncomfortable with the imperialism here.
Artisans in Early Imperial China by Anthony J. Barbieri-Low— This was a really interesting book attempting to reconstruct the lives of artisans in Qin and Han China. It's full of interesting details about how people lived and how things were made. There were lots of pictures of surviving objects from that time included. I found the last chapter about slavery and conscripts heavy going (The Han justice system was terrible). Overall I found it very informative.
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Date: 2023-05-09 01:17 am (UTC)But then again, I get this feeling a lot when I re-read old favorites.
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Date: 2023-05-09 07:32 pm (UTC)It's great to see that it resonates for a Jewish person who's not in Good Omens fandom. I actually find it pretty cozy, despite the violence ... because the violence isn't as bad as I usually steel myself for, when reading about Jewish life in the period. Not to mention that "queer people get to be happy" is historically a pretty cozy result.
I started Red Scholar's Wake but haven't finished because it felt like too much of a Romance, which isn't what I'm in the market for right now. But I always love her work.
I had forgotten that Keeper's Six is out! You've reminded me to ask for it at the library.
How did you get Artisans in Early Imperial China? Library, interlibrary loan, purchase?
Does it include textile arts/crafts? Do they know if any of the non-textile artisans were women?
Even before cdramas entered our collective lives, I was interested in the history of technology & science in China, so books like this have always drawn me.
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Date: 2023-05-11 04:26 pm (UTC)I've been having a discussion with some friends about what is "cosy SFF" and its very nebulous!
Red Scholar's Wake is definitely Romance, so good call.
Artisans in Early Imperial China was something I bought it an academic sale related to a conference. (I didn't attend the conference just follow it on social media) There's not a lot about textiles in the book, but it does mention several non-textile artisans who where women.