Books! TV!

[go_gentle]

I say sometimes I don't read much these days (at least pro fic), but what that really means is that I go a long time without reading anything new and then read three novels in a week. All these novels are also by folks with LJs - I'm not sure if that's coincidence or simply a sign of the growing mainstreamness of LJ. Spoilers for all the listed works under the cuts, obviously.

Havemercy
Okay, first I should say that I really did like this book a lot. I liked the characters and the world and would gladly read lots more about them. And it had UST! pining! forbidden love! These are some of my favorite things.

But what struck me as weird were a couple of things, mostly plot things. So, the beginning of the book seems to signal that the book is going to be about emotional plot. Which is dandy! I like emotional plot. But then there's this action plot that happens, and it kind of feels pastede on? In particular, I felt that the impact of losing Havemercy wasn't explored enough, and couldn't be, because we never really knew Havemercy. And because the emotional plot seemed primary, I would have liked to see more resolution of the Hal/Royston plotline.

But I really did like it, I swear.

Shadows Return
Needs more cuddling, of the literal or metaphorical variety. Okay but not great. I'll still read the sequel.

Dust
An Elizabeth Bear book I didn't dislike! (I really want to like her stuff, but I often just sort of go 'meh' about them - I did about A Companion to Wolves, despite it being awesome, and about Blood and Iron). Dust I found interesting because it has all the structure of high fantasy - competing fiefdoms, morally questionable wizards, swords with names, you know, all that jazz - but in a sci fi setting - colony ship, sentient computer programs, stars, and such. Pretty awesome overall.

Doctor Who

Okay, first, all of it but the ending: I loved it. The Doctor being Donna! Donna being the Doctor! The companions all being awesome! I'm kind of meh about the Daleks, especially since I feel like there's retcon happening every time they show up, but there was enough other awesome that I loved it.

The ending: I think it is good the Rose thing got resolved. I never shipped Rose/Doctor that hard, but RTD clearly does, and I am okay that it ended like that. About Donna....well. I know there are people that really hate what happened to Donna, and I totally get it - it's a pretty terrible thing to have happen, and from a outside universe perspective, yeah, it's a little angry-making. From an in universe persepctive, though, I don't mind it as much - it's very Flowers for Algernon, which I find kind of ~beautifully tragic* or whatever. It's 2:30 am, I'm allowed to not make sense.

*The tilde always means sarcasm in my head.

Comments

[exsequar.livejournal.com]

Havemercy... okay, I loved it. I LOVED IT A LOT. But that's not to say that it was perfect. I think your quibbles are spot on, and that they were trying to write a fanfiction style story (that is, one that's primarily about a lovestory between two men) but in order for it to be a "real" novel, there had to be a big plot and a big world around it. As a consequence, there was kind of a sense of imbalance, that the whole dragon thing was just for show, while the heart and meat was in the two emotional storylines. (I must admit that, in the end, Rook and Thom had more of an effect on me. SUCH a weak spot for brothers omg.) But I think that that's just kind of a symptom of beginning writers, and I'm really glad they've gotten their foot in the door because they have SO much potential and I think they're going to be amazing <333

[go-gentle.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes. I'll definitely be looking out for more by them, and the extra didn't actually bother me that much (because it was extra - I would have minded missing pieces but this just had extra pieces).