Text
Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cramer
Kalinara:Ā Ā So, weāre back! And weāre trying something a little different. This weekās book choice was @ragnellās, and she chose āWelcome to Night Valeā the novel, by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cramer.
Even though itās Ragnellās choice of book, I get to write the main review. Now hereās the complicating factor: I have almost no idea what Night Vale actually is.
Or rather, I know itās a podcast involving weird things. But thatās about it. Iāve never listened to an episode. I have no idea whatās going on. That said, I can happily say that I could follow the book fine without any background knowledge.
So the bookās story follows two women: Jackie, a perpetually 19 year old pawn shop owner, and Diane, a single mother. The plot is appropriately weird: Jackie has been given a pawnshop ticket that she canāt get rid of and Diane has a co-worker who disappeared, who no one else remembers. Diane also has a shapeshifting teenaged son and an ex-boyfriend/father of her child appearing out of nowhere. After some initial conflict, Jackie and Diane join forces, thwart a library, interrogate a journalist, and finally make their way to a place called King City to get answers.
I liked the novel. In a weird way, it reminds me of Piers Anthonyās Xanth books: the setting is completely ridiculous, joke after joke stitched together in an intentionally incoherent framework that nonetheless forms an effective backdrop to a pretty entertaining story. Diane, Josh and Jackie arenāt deeply drawn characters, but theyāre likable, and they resonate with me as symbols of adolescence and growth.
I enjoyed the running jokes throughout the story. Iām still not sure what the migraines meant, or what the point of the gray-suited man was. Or the faceless woman. Iāve basically assumed that the jokes that donāt have an obvious pay off probably have more significance to the people whoāve listened to the podcast. I definitely enjoyed the pay off of the flamingo arc though.
Iām not sure the story really had villains per se. The man in the tan jacket was definitely the cause of a lot of chaos, but it was hard not to sympathize with his situation. While in theory, I agree with Diane that he shouldnāt blame his situation on other people, it is pretty obvious that Night Vale really is a weird place and that weirdness is spreading. For all that Dianeās probably right: if the man in the tan jacket had done a good job and made a positive impact, heād be harder to forget, itās hard to see how he can do that now, if no one remembers him.
And Troy, well, he was just pretty useless. Nice and competent, but immature and quick to dodge his own responsibilities. It was satisfying to see Diane and Jackie yell at him though.
So it was pretty fun. And it does make me a little curious about the podcasts. I might eventually check them out.
Ragnell: Yeah, I picked the book because Iāve finished all the podcasts and wanted a little more. Itās interesting because it is standalone, a story that you really donāt need podcast background for, but it clarifies a lot of stuff discussed in the podcast that had seemed like running jokes. Like, the Man in the Tan Jacket that everyone forgets, heās just local color in the podcast. Itās interesting to know his story now. Jackie shows up from time to time advertising sales, and Diane and Josh are mentioned in townsfolk way. But itās nice to have this stuff fleshed out outside of Cecil and his family.
This sort of humor, with a lot of random jokes stitched together in the background is a really common nerd thing. I think it leads back to Douglas Adams and you have a lot of people who try to recapture that absurdity, but it only really works when thereās a theme tying it together and the writer really shouldnāt be subtle about it. (And when it does work, it WORKS, see Catch 22.) One thing I like about Night Vale is its very relatable, each podcast has a storyline with a theme that ties back to life amidst a few throwaway and running jokes. This novel has that aspect with the adolescence and growth. Itās not subtle, but honestly with this sort of humor it shouldnāt be subtle. All of these people tie together and itās about growing up, and the humor supports that rather than just stringing a plot together as an excuse to make jokes.
Not sure what Kalinara will be picking, but I am eyeing It Devours! now.
#age memory and multiplicity#eleven dollars#no tarantulas were harmed in the making of this book#no beings who call themselves angels were harmed in the making of this book#non-fiction about librarians#welcome to night vale#joseph fink#jeffrey cranor
1 note
Ā·
View note
Text
The Little Things, by Sandy Mitchell
Kalinara: So, through a minor comedy of errors, I didnāt end up choosing something for this week until the very last minute. Because Iām not a sadist (debatably) I decided to go with a short story as opposed to a novel, and I kept with my Warhammer 40K vein and picked Sandy Mitchellās āthe Little Things.ā
Itās not a deep story with a lot of clever meaning or anything. Itās just a cute little snippet of Ciaphas Cain meeting his girlfriend/handler/eventual editor Inquisitor Amberley Vail for a date and foiling an assassination attempt.
Ragnell: Poor Ciaphus, he canāt even have a nice night out.
K: To me, I think the most significant thing about this cute little snippet is that itās a cute little snippet that manages to exist in the Warhammer 40K universe. The Warhammer 40K universe, as mentioned in a previous review, is so relentlessly, cartoonishly grimdark (yadda, thousands of people die each day to keep the carrion emperor alive, et cetera), that itās hard sometimes to really care on a human level about the people in this universe.
If life is unending misery, slavery, and torment, and every side is monstrously, inhumanly evil to the point of ridiculousness, whatās the point of caring about whether any of these people survive, just to eke out more of a miserable existence?
But thatās what makes these little slice of life sorts of things very important. Itās one of the things that I like about the Ciaphas Cain series in general that I donāt get to see in most of the other materials in the universe: real, familiar human touches. People have lives in these stories. They have shops. They drink tea. They pick flowers. They go on dates. Sure, the Imperium is a fascist monstrosity, sure, there is endless war, but there are still little things that make life worth living.
Thereās a reason Ciaphas Cain wants to stay alive, after all.
Itās also nice to see that, while a coward and scoundrel, Ciaphas Cain is a legitimately good boyfriend who cares about the little things when it comes to his girlfriendās happiness, whether itās remembering the right kind of flowers, or making sure that he doesnāt get an assassinās blood all over her nice clean floor. Itās very sweet.
R: It really is. Heās an absolute macho badass, a practical self-serving coward, and a romantic all in one. I would probably have had a food taster try that dinner if I were him, though.
#Ciaphas Cain#Sandy Mitchell#the Little Things#Kalinara's still on a Warhammer kick#This review is longer than the story itself#Nothin' says lovin' like clearing out assassins#Flowers in a world of weeds#More like flowers in a word of 20-foot man-eating chainsaw wielding weeds#And I don't have to look that up to be sure those exist in Warhammer 40k
12 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
High Aztech by Ernest Hogan
Ragnell: This weekās book is High Aztech by Ernest Hogan. It follows our hero, Xólotl Zapata, as he tries to avoid various groups of religious extremists which want to convert, control, capture and kill him amidst a backdrop of violence, futurism, religious strife, cultural revival, viral mind alteration and hallucinations.
The storyās set in 21st Century Mexico, after a nuclear war in the Middle East called the Armageddon War has destabilized the Westās hold on the world and led to a resurgence of paganism. In 2045 East Asia is still a center of world business, Africa has emerged as the preeminent source for medicine and fashion, Europe has faded from prominence, the Middle East is uninhabitable, and the US has become a primitive authoritarian theocracy which burns heretics and witches. Mexico itself is experiencing an Aztec cultural renaissance as it emerges as the world power of the Western Hemisphere. Mexico City has been renamed TenochtitlĆ”n and the old Aztec temple is a cultural centers. Espananahuatl, a blend of Aztec Nahuatl and Spanish, is spreading as the primary language. Sunrise ritual is such a common part of peopleās lives that the city government has to sound a horn to clear the roads in the morning and thereās a booming business selling laserthorns for bloodletting rites,
Kalinara: One of the touches I really liked was how future technology plays into the revival of aztec customs. For example: the āhumanoidā meat that the characters eat, to honor cannibalistic ritual is created in a lab. Itās genetically human meat, but no one is murdered to get it. I thought the idea of people getting artificial hearts after a sacrificial ritual was pretty interesting too, especially the way that the scars from the surgery become badges of honor.
R: Xólotl starts out getting a death threat from the Neliyacme, an extremist Aztecan reconstructionist group because some of his writing has offended them. He tries to get his mind off this and the fact that his girlfriend, , has left on some mysterious business and he doesnāt know when to expect her again, by hooking up with a second girl, Patiyonena, who is a naive rich girl. Post-coitus, Cóatliquita, who has been infected with a virus by a poltical group and has been passing it all over town, arrives and kisses Xólotl. Then she dies, leaving Xólotl infected.
The government arrives and takes Xólotl and Patiyonena, but they get attacked by rioters, so Patiyonena takes Xólotl to her parents. Fortunately, her parents are fabulously wealthy. Unfortunately, her parents are the 21st Century Aztec equivalent of Pat Robertson and the 700 Club, and they discover the virus Xólotl has actually changes someoneās mind to believe more strongly in the Aztec gods. Fleeing these guys, Xólotl gets picked up by the Garbage Queen, the businesswoman who has become rich taking care of the cityās sanitation needs, She attempts to sell him to the mafia, the Don arriving in a helicopter named for the Hindu god of wisdom. While in flight, the helicopter crashes and the Neliyacme get him. Heās next picked up by US spies, who inject him with a Christian version of the virus. After that, the government gets him, and his own mother is working for them. She asks about the effects of the two viruses and decides the best way to fix things is to inject him with ALL of the viruses and let him sort the gods out.
This leads to the best sequence, his hallucinatory Party of the Gods! EVERYBODY was there! The Aztec gods! The Mayan gods! The Hindu gods! The Greek and Roman gods! Shiva dancing with the goddess of the city! Allah, Yahweh and Jehovah discussing philosophy! Expressions of cultural fears like Godzilla and King Kong! Cultural Icons like Frida Kahlo and Elvis Presley! Personal gods! EVERY COLOR JESUS! All partying together!
Then Xólotl runs into his artist friend heās been talking about all book, who introduces him to a genius South African scientist and reveals that they cooked up the virus in the hopes everyone would get infected with multiple strains and learn to live with each other. So they take Xólotl to a big party to infect other people, and to trap another group into picking him up so they get infected. And the party goes on.
I donāt know how to review this in-depth. Itās a seriously wild and fun book, and I believe still quite relevant. I did find the fate of the US disturbing, but thatās due to current events and not anything wrong with the story.
The only part that bugged me was the scene between the Garbage Queen and the Mafia King, talking about racism. The whole framing seemed a bit⦠soap opera-y and off somehow since it was from Xólotlās perspective. There couldāve been better ways to bring up that aspect of culture besides Blanca and the Don being so ridiculous about sex and ignoring Xólotl like heās a lamp or something. But we get a payoff in the end, so in hindsight itās not so offputting.
K:: I thought the Garbage Queen segment was a really interesting look at race and perception. Race becomes an interesting thread in the entire novel. āPure aztecā and āpure Castillianā come up a lot, and one of the reasons Xólotl is considered unattractive is because he looks mixed race. Blanca is actually Native American, while Gabriel is of Puerto Rican and black ancestry, but both have used plastic surgery to hide it. I am very ignorant about the subjects of racism and colorism in Mexico and Latin America, but I think that perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the subject might have interesting things to say about this segment.
R: It is, but I just couldnāt get past them exploring it by having those two play through such a private conversation in front of a third party.
K: The one part that I think that the book fell down with is the portrayal of the leader of the Neliyacme. Ultimately, the reason that Xólotl angered them is because he decided to portray the fictionalized version of their leader as gay. He had actually been inspired by a different public figure and had felt that the fictionalized version was very different than the leaderās public image. As it turns out, the real leader was secretly gay himself. Hence the trouble.
The problem though is that as soon as the character is revealed to be gay, he basically becomes the worst kind of shrill, mincing, stereotype. Heās described as shrieking, sobbing, and easily beaten up by his domineering female underling. Thereās reference to him committing rape and torture on male prisoners (but he doesnāt want to do it to Xólotl because heās ātoo uglyā). There are a couple of other gay characters who are tied to him (the aforementioned underling and his wife are lovers, for example), but theyāre not really any better in terms of portrayal. Itās an unfortunately ugly segment of an otherwise very enjoyable book.
R: Ugh. Forgot that guy. Honestly, the Neliyacme were an insignificant part of the book compared to High Aztec, the government and the SVN. They laid the trap early with the masculinity thing, and danced so much around actually saying it and had the villain so ineffective. It was definitely a low part.
Aside from those bits, though, it was just a purely enjoyable read. I like these first-person futuristic novels that immerse you in the culture with slang terms and the main character griping about and reveling in his life. It was particularly effective when the subject is a mind-altering virus.
#Divine Block Party#tired gay stereotype#Garbage Queen meets Mafia Don#Synthesis of religious fanaticism#the virus is the cure#Religious fight but they also fuck#deadbeat writer saves humanity#High Aztech#Ernest Hogan
1 note
Ā·
View note
Text
The Heat Death of the Universe by Pamela Zoline
Ragnell: This weekās selection was a 1967 short story titled āThe Heat Death of the Universeā by Pamela Zoline. I first encountered this story in a collection called Women of Wonder: The Classic Years which collected several science fiction stories from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It stood out a little, because it seemed to me like a realistic fiction story prevented in an unusual format.
The story itself is simple, we follow a day in the life of a housewife named Sarah Boyle. She lives an ordinary life in California, but she is highly educated and has an interest in scientific theories such as entropy and the Heat Death of the Universe. She writes on the walls, thinks about science and statistics, and once dyed her hair red in what passes for a fit of wild abandon in her life. During the day she feeds the children, does her housework, checks in on the pet fish and turtle, and goes shopping for a birthday party. While shopping she impulsively buys one of every cleaning product, spending almost $60 and filling 3 carts. She sets up and chaperones the birthday party. Then she cleans up after the party, bathes the children and sends them to bed, and discovers the pet turtle dead in its waterbowl. At this discovery, she has a breakdown. She cries, throws eggs at the floor, breaks dishes, throws a jar of jam out the window, and overflows the sinks with soap and water.
The basic idea of an intelligent housewife growing mad and destructive from boredom and wasted potential isnāt an unusual one, but I love the way this story presents it. It has all of the paragraphs numbered. It gives us interludes that sound like theyāre from an encyclopedia, paragraphs on ENTROPY, LOVE, TURTLES and of course, the Heat Death of the Universe.
The Heat Death of the Universe is defined as the logical conclusion in a universe where entropy is increasing and energy is decreasing. As the paragraphs go through Sarahās life in a strange, detached third-person stream of consciousness we get the effect of Sarahās mind as a universe thatās experiencing its own Heat Death. Her potential is being wasted, her scientific acumen boiled down to writing statistics on the inside of the hamper.
At first she seems a little strange, quirky, and maybe despondent with her life choices. You read through facts and strange behavior and long descriptive metaphors about California and suburban house decorations and then you get to a single numbered paragraph that says āSarah Boyle is never quite sure how many children she has.ā and you realize, this woman is losing her mind. The third person narrative is because she is so detached from her sense of self, which is why some horrifying ideas just casually occur to her and just get discarded. And the entire format of the story is just a downward, poetic spiral that leads to the breaking point⦠the dead turtle.
Kalinara: I have to admit, my first time through the story I wasnāt able to follow it at all. I had better luck the second time through.
The numbered paragraphs add even more of a level of detachment and distance than the third person narration, and it both underscores and contrasts with her mental state. It becomes a list that could very well be one of Sarahās lists: monotonous and dispassionate.
I admit though, I wasnāt really alarmed until I got to the part where she idly contemplates cannibalism. That was more than a little disturbing.
It was also interesting how none of the other characters who play active roles in the plot: the children, the mother-in-law are given names. The children come across as a faceless chaotic hoard. The mother-in-law is more distinct. Sheās referred to as āMrs. David Boyleā, which seems particularly significant when we look at Sarahās own issues. Sarah seems to be lost in her role as a wife and mother. Her husband is nowhere to be found. And HIS mother is defined solely by her role as David Boyleās wife and Sarahās husbandās mother. Itās an interesting touch.
Iām not sure I enjoyed it as much as you did, but itās definitely an interesting story, and one worth reading again.
#entropy love and turtles#idly contemplating cannibalism#William Shakespeare has Cancer and lives in California#Ordering a Household on DADA principles#The Heat Death of the Universe#Pamela Zoline#Ragnell's picks
3 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
For the Emperor, by Sandy Mitchell
Kalinara: So, we had a bit of an unintentional hiatus as real life hit both of us pretty hard. But now weāre back. It was my turn to pick the book this time, so I thought Iād try something a bit different. I chose āFor the Emperorā, the first of the Ciaphas Cain novels in the Warhammer 40K series
.
Okay, so, disclaimer. I donāt play Warhammer, any version. I only have the vaguest idea of how it works, or who the major players are, or what the hell is even going on. All of my knowledge of the setting comes from the tie-in novels. And I have to admit, as someone used to trudging through Forgotten Realms (I honestly suspect the popularity of the Drizzt books, despite the irritating nature of the main character, comes from the fact that theyāre one of a handful of series that are reasonably coherent), the Warhammer 40K novels that Iāve bothered to read are actually, legitimately enjoyable.
Ragnell: I donāt play Warhammer either, but I appreciate being able to google what the aliens look like.
K::One of the most interesting aspects of these books, to me, is seeing how the writers tackle the innate ridiculousness of the setting. I mean, donāt get me started on the thousands of people sacrificed a day to keep the undead Emperor alive so that chaos doesnāt consume all of humanity thing. The setting uses the word āgrimdarkā unironically. Enough said.
R: This setting is like the world/universal version of Ash from the Evil Dead sequels. And now I think Iāll picture Ciaphas Cain as 90s Bruce Campbell forever.
K: And I can see why the setting works great for the game, but itās got to be a challenge for any writer to dreg up human stories out of that mess. And itās interesting to see how different writers handle that.
Dan Abnettās Gauntās Ghosts series seems to downplay the most ridiculous aspects of the setting to focus on trench warfare in space. Sandy Mitchell, on the other hand, seems to be embracing the over-the-top aspects of the setting and matching them with an equally over-the-top protagonist: Ciaphas Cain.
According to history, Ciaphas Cain is a legendary hero, a paragon of heroic virtue whose courage and honor are unparalleled. However according to his secret memoirs (as compiled and annotated by Inquisitor Amberley Vail), Cain has a different point of view of the events. Ciaphas Cain, according to Ciaphas Cain, isnāt a hero at all, but a selfish coward who obtained his heroic reputation through a mixture of luck, good timing, and a really good facade.
The plot of the novel is pretty straightforward: it represents an extract from Cainās memoirs about his first mission with the 597th Valhallan Regiment. But itās the characters, not the plot, that make the story interesting.
The Valhallan 597th has an interesting backstory in its own right. Itās made up of what had been two separate companies that were devastated during a recent battle. One of the companies was an all-male front-line regiment, the other an all-female rear echelon group. This required a bit of an adjustment period, especially since the new senior officer was one of the latter.
One thing I liked about the conflict was that while sexism was a part of it, it wasnāt simply a matter of āew, girlsā so much as the fact that these were two very different companies with very different ways of doing things. And there really wasnāt any doubt that the women were as capable as the men in actual combat.
It was however a nice set up to ensure that we had about as many prominent female characters as male characters in the story.
R: Yeah, I appreciated that too. This is an extremely macho space fantasy, and it would have been easy to have one female character for the love interest for the whole thing but this writer went out of his way to give us a mix. That was really cool.
K:Ā We also get to witness the first meeting of Cain and his annotator in person, which is a rather nice touch. Inquisitor Vail is a fun character in her own right, and she and Cain have a lot of chemistry. One thing that I stands out for me, on reread, is how much is said and not said about the relationship between the two characters. Neither of them ever use the word āloveā, but Cain himself states that she made āhalf a lifetime of running, shooting, and bowel-clenching terrorā worth it. From Cain, thatās saying something. Vail is less effusive, but in a footnote notes that she and Cain felt āmore at ease in one anotherās companyā than either were used to. In a way, itās possible to read the entire Cain series as a declaration of Vailās feelings for Cain: sheās presenting us not with the legend, but with the man that she knew. Warts and all.
R: She seems to prefer him to the legend. I like that they have a kind of stock action hero-love interest thing on paper, where sheās a spy who surprises him and she relies on his combat prowess, but there is something really fresh about it. She never gets taken out specifically to prop him up, for example. They have their own strengths and weaknesses, and some social abilities in common. And they bond over the fact that she can see through him. In fact, this consummate liar seems pretty attracted to the fact that she perceives the true him and likes him.
K: Itās probably fair to note that his initial knee-jerk fear of being discovered is not as neurotic as it might seem. His personality foibles might well be an executable offense in this universe.
The fun of this particular series is in the unreliable narrator aspect. We actually get layers of unreliable narrator here. Since the stories are presented as parts of Cainās memoirs, weāre getting Cainās in character version of events, decades after the fact. Assuming, of course, that Cain is telling us the truth. And assuming, of course, that Cainās recollections arenāt clouded with self-doubt, hindsight, or foggy memory.
Vail is another layer of unreliable narrator. She claims to be impartial, supplementing Cainās account with outside sources when needed, and adding her own footnotes to provide contextual explanations (a good way to deal with the minutia of the Warhammer universe for those of us without the patience or attention span to read through the source books), but every so often her footnotes end up with a little more personal color than necessary.
We know that Cainās heroic deeds happened. Itās documented clearly and reinforced. But the āhowā and āwhyā is an interesting question. Is Cain the selfish coward that he thinks he is? Is he a hero suffering from imposter syndrome who doesnāt give himself enough credit? Or is he just a normal man dealing with a batshit insane society that has no comprehension or recognition of human weakness?
R: I have to say, whatever it is results in Cain having an extremely practical and grounded focus. The setting is so overblown, so masculine, so honestly scary in how the Imperium is set up and works and how brainwashed all these conscripts are that itās helpful to have a guy like Cain as your narrator.
K: Other notable characters include Jurgen, Cainās aide, and probably the person that Cain values most in the entire universe (though he wouldnāt/couldnāt admit it. But his reaction when he thought Jurgen might be dead was pretty telling), and Sulla, one of members of the 597th who annoys Cain the most.
I think I like Sulla because sheās a character who absolutely did not have to be female. Her major traits: a gung ho attitude that annoys the hell out of Cain, a tendency to purple prose, and a steller career in her own right, do not require Sulla to be female. Sheās a comedic foil, not a romantic option, and is never discussed in terms of physical attractiveness. In most stories, sheād be a male character. And she could have been a male character here, as the Valhallan Regiment is co-ed. But instead, the future retired General Jenit Sulla is female. And I like that a lot.
R: Sullaās great. Iām more a fan of Kasteen though, who did pretty much have to be female to balance out the co-ed thing, but has that practical side I like. Sullaās more gung-ho āFor the Emperor!ā Kasteen and Broklaw are more down to earth like Cain, focusing on the immediate goal and how to obtain it without getting the regiment killed.
K: Itās probably worth talking about Cainās role for a moment. Heās a Commissar, which, for people who arenāt familiar with the setting, operates something like an advisor, morale officer, and secret police. As near as I can tell, with my own limited exposure to the setting, their job primarily consists of shooting people for cowardice and heresy.
Theyāre generally not popular, for fairly understandable reasons. (Itās a warning sign as to how bad the situation was that Kasteen was actually glad to see him.) And represent one of the more mundane horrors of the setting, when you stop and think about it.
But thatās where Cainās pragmatism and self-centeredness serves him well. Cain knows that Commissars are generally unpopular, and that the worst often meet with friendly fire accidents as often as theyāre killed by the enemy, and he has no intention of allowing that to happen to him. Besides, he has a vested interest in keeping as many of his troops alive as possible so they can stand between him and the enemy.
R: Which is another great bit, a book where the intelligent survival choice is to actually build relationships with others and keep them alive. It stands out again, against the culture Cainās immersed in.
K:Ā Ultimately, what appeals to me the most about this book, and this series beyond it, is that it takes a premise that ought to be cynical: the legendary hero is nowhere near the paragon of virtue that heās reputed to be, and makes it strangely optimistic. Even if we take Cain completely at his word that heās the selfish, cowardly phony that he labels himself as, the end result is that he has had a legitimately positive influence on a lot of people. Heās saved worlds and heās saved lives. And when you look at it like that, itās hard to say that he doesnāt deserve to be called a āheroā after all, even if heād never meant to be.
In the end, instead of a story in which a hero is exposed as a scoundrel, we have a story about how a scoundrel accidentally becomes a hero.
#For the Emperor#Sandy Mitchell#Ciaphas Cain#sorry to be sexist but only a man could have invented a chainsword and thought it would be a good idea#Warhammer 40K Starring Bruce Campbell#The Persistence of Optimism in Hyper-Macho Space Fantasy#Mutants. Always Mutants.#Bowel-Liquefying Love Interests
5 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
The Secret History of Twin Peaks: A Novel by Mark Frost
Ragnell: It was with a little trepidation that I picked this weekās selection. This is a tie-in to a television series, one that hasnāt been on the air for 25 years, and part of the marketing for the upcoming third season. Thatās not a recipe for a great reading experience. But Iāve been itching to read it, partly so I can listen to the podcasts and fan-theories that reference it and partly to get myself back into the Twin Peaks mindset by the 21st I put this. What better way to do so than with a friend?
With that in mind, and preparing for Twin Peaks spoilers pertaining to this book, the first two seasons of the series and the movie, join us below the cut for a review of The Secret History of Twin Peaks: A Novel.
This book takes place from the time of Lewis and Clark all the way past the end of season 2, with annotations from an FBI agent reviewing the material in 2016. As a result thereās a lot of spoilers and information in it, as well as the results of some cliffhangers.
Kalinara: I have to admit, my memory of Twin Peaks isnāt nearly as sharp as yours. I watched, enjoyed it, but I had to resort to the wikipedia entry more than a few times to remember individual character names and who was who. :-) For best effect, I would recommend that casual Twin Peaks fans refresh their memory about the series before they tackle the book.
R:: Well, I do rewatch pretty much the whole series every year. Often live-tweeting it. This year should be fun.
It starts with Lewis and Clark meeting the ancestors of the Nez Perce tribe, who relay to them some legends about the area and show them Owl Cave. From that point forward we go through American History from the tragic fate of Merriweather Lewis through the disgraceful treatment of the Nez Perce tribe with a backdrop of Illuminati vs Mason conspiracy theories and the founding of Twin Peaks and boy scouts witnessing events near Glastonbury Grove until we get to the 40s. A good chunk of the book is spent in the 40s, 50s, and 60s following the investigation of UFO sightings, and the involvement of one Dougles Milford in covering them up. We learn the true origin of the Log Lady, and some interesting bits about some otherwise minor characters. We get plots involving Richard Nixon and Jackie Gleason over this time, with a particularly interesting one involving Jack Parsons, L Ron Hubbard, and Aleister Crowley that implies that rather than the mystical being explained scientifically as evidence of aliens as we usually see when sci-fi and horror collide, the alien encounters may actually have a mystical explanation. Itās all very engaging and interesting and makes me wonder how many of these anecdotes are based on real stories about this historical persons. (A quick google search shows that L. Ron Hubbard actually did run off with Jack Parsonsā girlfriend after they all tried to summon the Goddess together.) We also learn that, aside from Dougie Milford being more important than previously realized, Gordon Cole also knows quite a bit more than he let on.
K: The historical background was interesting, but I felt a little disconnected from the material. It was almost like a setting book in a roleplaying game: ālook at these possible plot hooksā, but I didnāt really see the connection to the modern day...or the early 90s show that I remembered. Though I did wonder about āDenver Bobā. It was far more interesting once we got to the scout trip with young Andy Packard and Dwayne Milford. (The picture that was used for young Dwayne Milford looks REALLY familiar to me, and itās bothering me to no end.)
R: Yeah. āDenver Bobā cannot be a mistake. Also, I have a suspicion about who the āwalking owlā (or something with large eyes) was meant to be.
K: I suppose the Illuminati/Mason stuff will be connected to whatever the new series does with the Black Lodge, but it still felt a bit opaque to me. I think maybe Iād like to reread it after we see the new series. The relevance will probably be clearer then.
R: Personally, I think the American History bits are there to establish that most of the bad stuff in Twin Peaks stems from screwing over the Nez Perce.
Aside from that we get the generational background of the Martells and Packards, and Jennings and Hurleys, in the form of town histories and journal entries from characters who observed the messes. We learned what happened after the explosion at the bank, that only Audrey survived and that Catherine never recovered from the loss of her remaining family. We get another version of the story behind Nadine and Edās ill-fated marriages, which contradict the stories told in the show, and we find out how Hank Jennings died. And we also get a little bit on the Briggs family, and some tantalizing bits in the footnotes about Cooperās fate (implied to be tragic.) And what eventually happened to Lana, because you know you wanted to know what happened to Lana Milford, right?
K: Did we know the thing about Josieās body weighing only 65 pounds or something when she died? I didnāt remember that detail, but as previously established, Iād forgotten a lot. I remember always having mixed feelings about Josieās plot on the show and Iām not sure the extra backstory really helped. It almost seemed like a checklist of cliches: prostitution rings, Triad connections and so on. I do remember that Josie wasnāt the innocent girl that she seemed on the show, but this seemed like a bit much to me. Either Josie is a delicate flower or a complete Dragon Lady. One stereotype to another. Thereās no nuance there. But that was kind of my problem with the character even on the show. I still feel like Joan Chen deserved better.
R: Yeah, her body weighed less but I donāt remember the exact weight. The dossier was overkill. She was implied to be somewhat victimized by Thoams Eckhart, though responsible for her own share of evil. Much more nuanced, but this account (in Cooperās voice) coldly paints her as a pure predator. Which could be more kicking the character when down, especially as she had arguably the most horrifying end, or could be another inaccuracy in the book. Itās certainly more in line with David Lynch for characters to be rounded, capable of great evil and goodness, sympathetic even in their sin. Particularly women. He doesnāt do āDragon Ladyā very often.
I did really enjoy the book, and I want to watch the series again now that Iāve read it. It puts a new relevance on the Milford plot, gives us closure for a lot of the characters we know wonāt be in season three (Catherine, Pete, Andrew, Hank, Major Briggs), leaves some threads open that may be picked up in Season 3 and just fills out some of the mythology without actually explaining it. It gives us some neat stuff from the POV of characters I love like Major Briggs, Deputy Tommy āHawkā Hill (although it reveals he hates the nickname Hawk), Agent Cooper and leaves plenty of fodder to argue about which of the supernatural characters match with which of the supernatural occurrences in the book.
It wasnāt as scary to me as the show, but the frightening parts of the show are due to the mood and atmosphere of the film, not the black and white facts and our two main guides through this history, the Archivist and Agent TP, are not atmospheric storytellers, they are direct fact relaters. Also, itās a Frost book and I believe in the collaboration Frost was responsible for the details of the mythology and the backstory of the characters while Lynch was responsible for making sure the audience felt genuine terror at it.
It is also riddled with contradictions and inaccuracies and I hesitate to call them mistakes because there are simply so many and some are so obvious. The one that stuck out the most to me was Maj. Briggs description of his experiences in the second season. He places his disappearance at the campsite and his return from that closer to the finale, and completely cuts out his experience with Windom Earle. This could be attributed to general confusion from both experiences being so close together, though. He doesnāt mention seeing Sarah in the finale either.
I also noticed the weirdness with Normaās family. No mention of Annie, Normaās maiden name is Lindstrom, not Blackburn, and her mother is listed as dying before the show starts. Some of the other reviews Iāve heard have pointed out that the book contradicts itself, such as with Doug Milfordās middle name. The dates are off. The story of Nadine and Ed directly contradicted the story told in the show. Audreyās reason for being at the bank was different. I donāt think this stuff isnāt on purpose, though. (Thereās a whole list others have found.)
Itās not really in character for the Archivist, as his identity is revealed (and for the record, I guessed it around the Roswell stuff) to make so many mistakes so I hope itās a plot point and not just attributable to human error. Come to think of it, the Ed story is related by Hawk, and heās one of the characters who never lies in the series.
Despite the reported statement by David Lynch that he hasnāt read this book, I suspect weāll see the document in some way during the show and that an inaccuracy in it may be a plot point. (Even if Lynch didnāt read it, Frost wrote it and heās involved in plotting and scripting the show.)
In the end, itās a good bit of history and ālocal colorā for Twin Peaks when you rewatch the show or watch the new stuff. I know Iāll never look at Doug Milford the same way again.
K: Itās definitely interesting. Given how Twin Peaks originally ended, I canāt begin to guess how much of this book will be relevant or not. But itās definitely worth a look.
#twin peaks#secret history of twin peaks#mark frost#The Owls Are Not What They Seem#White People Where They Shouldn't Be#Some Humpty Dumpty Level Shit#Tommy Hill is still the smartest cop in the room#You will never look at Lana Milford the same way again#They made Nadine weirder too#So then who the hell was Annie?#And were the Horne brothers Bookhouse boys?#And why does this whole thing just raise more questions?
6 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
Precursor, by C. J. Cherryh
Kalinara: So, since I tricked Ragnell into taking two turns in a row to finish up Aftermath, this was my second turn. I decided to go back to one of the first series we started reviewing, and chose C. J. Cherryhās Precursor. This is the fourth book of her Foreigner series.
So needless to say, none of this review will make much sense to anyone who hasnāt read the three books that came before.
Ragnell: Or at least the three reviews that came before.
K: Precursor starts three years after the end of Inheritor, and basically starts what I think of as the āAtevi In Spaaaaceā trilogy. Iāll try to keep this synopsis short, as anyone whoās read Cherryh knows, her books tend to be pretty dense with content.
So by this time in the story, the Atevi have finished constructing their shuttles. And this means travel to and from the space station/ship is now a reality. The ship has recalled Jase and Yolanda, and as a response, Tabini sends Bren and his usual cohorts (Banichi, Jago, Tano, Algini) as well as a full atevi household (Brenās status has risen in the world), up too, to set up the next stage of diplomatic negotiations.
Bren meets, however, a diplomatic quagmire. For all its urgency, the ship was NOT ready for the atevi, and a lot of strings need to be pulled to get things even remotely satisfactory. And then things go from inconvenient to downright dangerous when there is a coup in the highest ranks of ship government. Fortunately, Bren is not without recourse. And his guard are as effective as ever, even in these alien surroundings.
R: Honestly, how the hell didnāt see this coming sooner or later once the test flights went underway I donāt know. Tabini got his people to create spaceflight in three years. They should have at least expected heād be asking soon, and that they should get some quarters ready for big aliens.
K: I think a lot of it may have been internal prejudice about primitive aliens. They see the Atevi, and they see a people who are still considerably more behind than they are technologically speaking. They donāt have any real appreciation of the way that Atevi have been able to use and innovate the Mospheiran technological advances (advances that eventually the Atevi would have been able to create themselves without help, just on a slower time scale), or how quickly theyāve come already. They also donāt seem to appreciate just how Tabini works as a leader. When he makes a decision, it happens.
As I mentioned, Brenās status is considerably elevated. Heās finally figured out that he isnāt the ordinary translator/spy that he signed up to be. The story actually, finally, divorces his role completely from ātranslatorā as a number of other characters with at least a workable command of the Ragi language are introduced. Both Tabini and Ilisidi show that they have resources outside of Bren, when it comes to simple communication with the humans on Mospheira. That said, Brenās role is still vitally important.
Bren is Tabiniās diplomatic hammer, basically. And he is breathtakingly good at it. The four captains are the autocratic governing body of the whole ship, and Bren dictates terms to them. Bren also negotiates a completely separate business deal with the kinda-sorta-competing Mospheiran faction. (Bren has officially at this point made his break from the island. Apparently they do still try to pay him though.)
I remember the first time I read this book, I immediately went back and reread Foreigner. Itās a very similar feeling, I think, to watching A New Hope right after Return of the Jedi. Seeing Luke Skywalker back as that naive farmboy once you see him as the Jedi Master he becomes is such an amazing experience. Heās so adorable! This is, I think, Brenās Return of the Jedi. There is no question that heās a formidable force of nature, and possibly, in his own way, the third most powerful person on the planet (after Tabini and Ilisidi.)
R: Bren Cameron is one of only two people in any of the three factions who has experience mediating between humans and an alien species. (The other being the retired old paidhi Wilson, because Jase was still following Brenās lead when he worked with the atevi.) In the situation this series has set up, that is a perfect comparison because he is basically a diplomatic Jedi. That is how rare that skill is and how necessary it is.
K: Heās not completely free of his anxieties though. Thereās a truly lovely freakout scene early in the book, where he starts lambasting himself for enjoying having the fate of the world in his hands. The poor thing probably would still benefit from a therapist. Especially now that weāve gotten a good look at his mother. The woman makes a physical appearance at the beginning of the book, and we see more of her personality through phone calls and letters. And she is terrible and incredibly manipulative. When I look at her, I start to suspect that a lot of Brenās own diplomatic skills likely came about long before he met the Atevi, in sheer self defense.
R: He is being too hard on himself. Look, power is fun. Thatās why itās so corruptive. Itās fun to be the person someone needs to agree with and while thatās pretty much what led to the situation on the Captainās Council first place that Bren enjoyed that scene so much proves heās still human. Which he was worrying about last trilogy.
And really, itās so much fun to watch. Usually we get these scenes on stuff like Star Trek with the uncooperative diplomat or politician and we see from the crew point of view. Here we see from the diplomatās point of view, that he knows heās being difficult and that this is part of establishing boundaries during negotiations. He feels bad about it with the rank and file personnel, and you feel a little bad for them too, but it is so enjoyable each time he puts the Captains in their place.
And then Ilisidi shows up, and itās like he gets a power-up and gets to be ten times as loud and demanding and it is just so much fun to read. He goes from badass to Badass when she shows up.
K: At least he still has his relationship with Jago, which is so lovely and drama free. We also finally get an answer to the nature of Jagoās relationship with Banichi. Which likely adds a really interesting dynamic to Brenās relationship with Banichi as well. Banichi is now Joe West, matchmaking his adopted son and his daughter.
R: That was just such a funny thing. And itās not dropped for just nothing, it adds to the stressors during the parts of the book when Banichi disappears to well, be Banichi.
K: One of the things I think is really funny about this series is how each book ends up expanding on the factions and adding more division versus what came before. Like in Foreigner, weāre introduced to the humans and the atevi. Invader expands on that by introducing Deana Hanks and her Heritage Party as an antagonistic faction of humans. Inheritor is what introduces the Ship folk as their own faction, and Tatiseigi as a representative of very conservative Atevi.
Following in that trend, Precursor introduces a couple of new factions as well, and theyāre all represented by new characters.
The first two I want to talk about are Tom Lund and Ginny Kroger. These two are Mospheirans, and introduced as members of the Heritage Party, who go up to the station with Bren. (Tabiniās idea, he likes symmetry and wanted Mospheira to send their own delegation when he sent Bren.) Bren particularly started off badly with Kroger, who seemed to exemplify her partyās closed minded attitude. However, once Bren and the Mospheirans unite against the increasingly bewildering behavior of the ship folk, he gets to learn more about them and the Heritage Party itself. Basically, the antagonists like Hanks and her father were only one part of the Party, while others joined because of other reasons: like the desire for independent scientific recovery and the push for space. Kroger, in particular, has personal ambitions regarding the rediscovery of robotics, which she believes will enable humans and atevi to engage in mining resources and other space-tasks with greater safety.
We have new adversaries though, in the form of Tamun, the fourth Captain of the crew, and his hardliners, who affect a coup against Ramirez, the leader of the Captains and the one weāve encountered before (at least by radio), who is the one supporting the diplomatic relationship with the Atevi.
R: So far, Tamun is the most dickish antagonist weāve seen. Which is why no one will miss him.
K: And then thereās Kaplan, who is introduced as Brenās reluctant guide. Kaplan represents the everyman ship view (as opposed to Jase, who has a fairly elevated status, and also is off screen for most of the story as a victim of the coup). He is wary but ultimately curious about the Atevi, and itās through him and crewmen like him that Bren is able to gain some social leverage, spread the truth about the coup, and make contacts throughout the ship.
Amusingly, we get a hint of Atevi politics as well. Brenās elevated status has brought with it an official household (led by an esteemed old man named Narani, whose propriety and taste impresses even Ilisidi) and a prestigious apartment in the Bujavid, something that even some lesser Lords donāt have. Among his staff is a chef named Bindanda, who is both remarkably talented, and a spy from Lord Tatiseigi, a conservative Atevi lord who had been introduced in the last series. Everyone is well aware of Bindandaās status as a spy, and try to accommodate that whenever possible.
R: Well, itās not like heās shooting up valuable artwork.
I love how bizarre the atevi seem to the crew in this way. Bren goes up there a lot more relaxed than an atevi lord would be, but clearly Tabini is presenting him as one. And that requires all this redecoration and accommodation that will definitely have to occur when the atevi take over the station and put whatever lucky lord gets to live in outer space up there. But the idea that thereās cosmetic adjustments to be made is just completely foreign to the ship humans, and they have no idea how lucky they are that Bren was sent up first with a polite staff before Ilisidi got up there.
K: In the midst of all of these events, we get some lovely worldbuilding moments. For example, Tabini has built an embassy for humans in Shejidan, designed (with input from Bren and Jase) to suit human tastes as much as possible. Meanwhile, we get to appreciate what goes into making the station quarters livable to Atevi (it reminds me a little of feng shui, though I am far too ignorant of the practice to make any real comparison.)
R: I donāt think the practice is too different from what we do for humans, just the details. They paint dentist offices in pastels so people donāt get upset. There are certain images you donāt put on the walls in public places. Thereās a cliched type of motel and hotel setup so that everyoneās comfortable as they travel through. You donāt blast cacophonous music or have loud unpleasant noises in a waiting area. Certain smells are not good. Just for atevi, they need all of the numbers to be right in addition to the colors, sounds, and smells.
K: We also learn more about Ship culture: the emphasis on family (ācousinsā, the fact that Ramirezās children are in the command track, Tamun chooses his uncle to be a new Captain after the coup), a somewhat paternalistic attitude toward women, and a veneration for old women, which comes in very handy when Ilisidi comes in as the cavalry.
R: Yeah, Tabini had to have picked that reverence for old ladies up during incidental conversation and filed that away as a way of taking definitive and quick control before the Ship-Humans could know what happened.
K: Iāve said before that this is essentially the start of a new trilogy. Where the first trilogy focused on the interrelationship between Mospheira and Atevi, with the Ship as a catalyst, this trilogy is focused on space, with a special look at the ship humans and their interrelations, with Bren and the Atevi as catalysts. Itās only going to get more complex from here on out. :-)
#foreigner#C. J. Cherryh#giants who do math#Bren might be a Jedi#and other silly Star Wars comparisons#Banichi is Joe West
3 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
Holiday Delay
As last week was Easter, today is Earth Day and tomorrow is my birthday which is a Cosmic Holiday, we'll be delaying the review until next week.
0 notes
Text
Charmed Life, by Diana Wynne Jones
Kalinara: So things got a little hectic between work and @Ragnellās obsession with Mass Effect Andromeda, and we ended up missing a week or two. Oops. But weāre catching up this week with one of my childhood favorites: Diana Wynne Jonesās Charmed Life.
So Charmed Life takes place in Jonesās Chrestomanci Cycle, a fantasy series set in a world thatās fairly similar to ours, albeit with a few differences. Magic is an ordinary part of life in this world: children can take magic lessons from tutors or in a classroom, āAccredited Witchesā sell their services in respectable shops, and there is even bureaucratic oversight!
The main characters of the story are siblings: Gwendolen and Cat. Theyāre hapless young orphans who are taken in by distant relatives, one of whom is Chrestomanci, a magic personage of some importance. Chrestomanciās Castle is very grand, but also very strange, and seems to have a lot of rules and customs that the children donāt quite understand. Gwendolen in particular chafes under Chrestomanciās rules and begins to act out in ways that cause a lot of trouble.
Cat, Gwendolenās younger brother, is our viewpoint character. I remember reading somewhere that Ms. Jones intended Cat to be read as autistic, and that comes across, I think, even though the word is never used in the text. Cat is very likable, observant, and reasonably clever, but there is a lot that he doesnāt understand, and particular dynamics that heās unable to read. It doesnāt help, though, that the authority figures in the story, particularly Chrestomanci himself, seem to think that Cat has more knowledge about what is actually happening. If they would have taken the time to TALK and EXPLAIN things to the poor kid, probably a lot of trouble could have been avoided.
Ragnell: Which is funny because when it all comes out in the end they say they were waiting for him to talk and explain how much he knew. I didnāt think autistic when I was reading, but now that you mention it it makes perfect sense.
K: Gwendolen is one of my favorite villains in literature. Sheās a child, and sometimes itās not completely clear that she understands the ramifications of what sheās doing, but she understands enough that she is still a pretty scary individual. Sheās likely to be terrifying as an adult.
R: Itās always impressive when they make you dislike a child that much. Janet was a definite improvement on Gwendolen.
K: Chrestomanci himself is very grand, but I think I identify far too much with Cat, because I find him incredibly frustrating and opaque for most of the story. However, I find the idea of his office fascinating. And Iād love to learn more about the political conflict between the Chrestomanciās office and the hedge wizards that comes into effect in the last part of the book.
R: I gathered that Chrestomanci was a good guy from certain clues, so I didnāt find him very frustrating. He was definitely opaque. I was more interested in the Family than his office, though. That quirky group of people in the household was interesting to me.
K: The one regret I have about the story is that while Cat does appear in some of the later stories in the series, Gwendolen doesnāt (at least as far as I know.) And I feel like Cat deserves a bit more closure with his sister than heās actually gotten.
R: Also⦠she got what she wanted, ultimately. That doesnāt really serve my sense of justice, no matter how good an end things are for Cat.
K: I canāt argue with you there. But then Gwendolen seems like the sort that canāt ever truly be happy. But, Iād have really liked a future encounter so weād see a more fitting end.
#charmed life#diana wynne jones#Witchy men#heartless siblings#burning away a lifetime#better communication could solve everything#incredibly subtle names
3 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
Unfortunately, things have gotten a bit hectic on our end, so weāre going to have to skip this week. Ā Weāll have a review up next week. Ā :-) Ā Sorry!
0 notes
Text
Star Wars: Aftermath: Empireās End by Chuck Wendig
Ragnell: So over the past two weeks we finished up the Aftermath trilogy with Empireās End and now we are totally up to date on the state of the Star Wars universe one-year post-RotJ as pertains to everyone but Luke Skywalker.
And Ezra Bridger, and Kanan Jarrus, and Ahsoka Tano or really any of the animated-verse Jedi or Sith and any of the EU Jedi or Sith like Mara Jade who still might exist in some way.
But for the soldiers and scoundrels and surviving Imperials we have a status quo for about 29 years. We also know what happens to the core characters from the first Aftermath book which is honestly (and impressively, considering how little patience I have for original SW characters) what we read this thing for anyway. (As usual, I pretty much spoil everything in this recap below.)
So we open with several threads going on. Gallius Rax is flashing back to his Tuesdays with Palpatine excerpts, and gathering the pathetic remnants of the Imperial Navy on Jakku. Because Palpatine had a big secret project there, of which Gallius was an integral part. So integral that Palpatine appoints Gallius Rax as The Contingency which we can immediately tell will be a great pain in the ass to the whole galaxy.
Norra and Company are hunting down Mercurial Swift, so they can track down Rae Sloane. Temmin is annoyed heās always stuck on getaway driver duty. The bounties on Jas from her old bosses are mounting. Sinjir is still having his career regrets, which are worsened by the fact that without Luke Skywalker around to point out sensible things like āI donāt think thatās good for the soulā, Sinjir basically still has to do the same job only for Norra. And Norra has entered Terminator Revenge mode, which is basically what has her asking Sinjir to do the same job and limiting Temmin to getaway driver duty. This is generally what everyone has to work past the entire story. They find out Rae Sloane is on Jakku and follow.
Surprise surprise, the pathetic in comparison to its former glory but still a really really lot of ships remnants of the Imperial Navy are there. This leads the good guys to split up, with Norra and Jas taking an escape pod to the surface because Norraās in revenge mode (followed by Mr. Bones because Temmin is worried about his mother) and Temmin and Sinjir to go back to Chandrila to get embroiled in the political plot.
Kalinara: I actually thought Norra in revenge mode was one of the weaker parts of the story, unfortunately. Itās understandable that sheād be conflicted and angry, but there were points where she just seemed cartoonishly irrational. Norra was my favorite in the previous books, but I wasnāt as big a fan of her here.
R: Mon Mothma is facing a election challenge from the appropriately named Senator Wartol, a hardline warhawk who accuses her of weakness that led to the Liberation Day attack last book. Long story short, her challenger is a corrupt asshole who has criminal ties and uses them to rig a vote to actually PREVENT attacking Jakku so that he can say he voted for it but sheās a shit Chancellor for not even being able to put this together. Sinjir teams up with the Organa-Solo family and his ex-boyfriend Conder to resolve this. He does so well that Mon Mothma offers him a job as her aide, which resolves his career path crisis, enables him to skip the Jakku attack and settle down happily with Conder.
K:: Howās that for one of the first, explicitly gay characters in Star Wars? He and his boyfriend both get to live, AND get a happy ending to boot!
R: Temmin spends his time pestering Wedge Antilles to put him on a ship and send him to Jakku. Wedge, after last bookās mini-rebellion, isnāt even allowed to go himself and is stuck being an expeditor in the hangers. After several guilt-trips, Wedge finally relents and puts together the same group of outcasts from last book to sneak, unauthorized, into the battle and lets the 16 year old join them because Wedge Antilles has spent way too much time with Luke, Leia, and Han over the last 5 years.
Temminās been wanting to go back to Jakku, of course, because thatās where his mother, his droid and his.. Jas have been. Both Jas and Norra got captured by Niima the Hutt, who is horrible even as Hutts go. Norra was on some work-detail where Mr Bones the droid broke her out. Jas got to pull ever-increasing acts of badassery to avoid being taken in for her bounty, steal Swiftās ship AND steal Swiftās crew.
Also in Niimaās area, Rae Sloane and Brentin Wexley, who convince her to lead them to the Imperial Secret Squirrel place where they are promptly captured and forced to witness a ridiculous speech by Gallius Rax. Sloane undergoes some of her own career angst while Brentin actually manages to get them both free. They proceed to try to fuck up Gallius Raxās mysterious plan, and go into the Imperial Secret Squirrel place.
While in there, Norra catches up to them and they all find out that due to an overly emphatic chess metaphor Gallius Rax has activated a weapon in the core of Jakku that will destroy the whole planet and both fleets. Heās also sent the Huxes off with a bunch of children to outside the Galaxy to meet other ships with imperials and children, and the Eclipse, so that Palpatine can continue to vex the Galaxy from beyond the grave. On the bright side he kills Tashu, who was actually such a dick I was hoping theyād save him for the Jedi to kill in a later story.
Norra, Brentin, and Rae have a great deal of emotional interaction about trust and distrust, and a rather kickass three-against-one fight with Gallius in between trying to shut down the weapon. Brentin gets through all the defenses but stops to save Norra and gets killed. Rae actually turns down the weapon while Norra, feeling that her trust of Sloane was justified, drags her husbandās body out for burial. Rae then boards a ship with the Huxes and a bunch of feral brainwashed proto-Stormtroopers for the Eclipse, because she is not actually finished being evil yet.
K:: I was surprised by how much I liked Brentin, in particular, in this book. He was more plot point than character last time (even if he was a helpful juxtaposition against all those āno, Kylo is BRAINWASHED!ā justifications), but here, we got to see more of who he is as a man. I was rather disappointed they killed him off. I might have liked the novelty of Norra and Brentin going through an amiable divorce.
Sloane was pretty great too. And for all of my complaints about Norra previously, she and Sloane had such a great dynamic once they finally met up. And Iām thrilled at the idea that we might see her again.
R: Wartol is arrested because he tries to kill Mon Mothma, but really only manages to destroy her office and kill the advisor who hadnāt been fleshed out until this book so we could feel bad about her. Mas Amedda manages to escape Coruscant and sign a surrender treaty. Leia attends the signing, during labor (because kid, you are gonna have to wait until galactic peace gawddammit) and thus manages to freak out her husband, attain galactic peace AND have a baby. Nothing in this book manages to excuse Kylo Renās horrible horrible crimes, and in fact knowing whatās coming you kind of cringe at one scene. Wedge Antilles and the Wexleys all go to the new pilot academy. Jas sets up shop with the crew she stole from Swift, and grieves Jom who went to Jakku to find her and was killed in the battle. Sinjir settles down with his new career and Conder.
K: Seriously. I didnāt see anything that remotely indicated any āmind control from birthā or whatever nonsense. It isnāt even clear that Snoke EXISTS at this point in time. Any passage that could even be remotely stretched to mean some kind of fetus communication actually has a clear explanation in the text itself.
R: Actually, every character that we might have speculated would BE Snoke was specifically killed off
For the rest of the Galaxy, Chewbacca finds his son. Lando Calrissian regains his rightful place as Baron Administrator of Cloud City (which I believe is a 4-point Freehold if youāre tracking SW characters with White Wolf rules). Jar Jar Binks makes a friend and lives out the rest of his days entertaining orphans and avoiding politics. Coruscant ends up run by Mas Amedda anyway, but technically part of the New Republic. The Sith-worshipping Acolyte group from the Interludes was revealed to be sponsored by Tashu and dedicates itself to causing shit across the Galaxy and will almost certainly factor into the Jedi storyline. A charismatic leader, Brin, forms the Church of the Force which we already know factors into the Jedi storyline. Itās revealed that there are facilities known as Observatories, set up by Palpatine, that have been receiving data from outside the known galaxy all over the galaxy and not just on Jakku and thatās probably going to come into play somewhere too. The crazy pirate who found a Super Star Destroyer Dreadnought last book has cobbled together a functioning society of pirates around the ship. The residents of Tattooine have decided to just raise their own damned Hutt, Borgo, from childhood so they can have one whoās more compassionate than Jabba was. Luke is stated to be looking for old Jedi stuff.
That was a long recap, but one of the most tantalizing aspects of this trilogy is finding out just what the status quo in the Galaxy was after they finally wiped the bloated corpse of the Empireās bureaucracy off of the map and got their new government underway. In general, itās pretty satisfying. You follow your six Republic heroes, with some of the named characters from the movies as supporting cast, and your two main Imperials and their support, and get kind of a view of the rest of the universe. In a couple of places, these interludes tie into the main climax but others are just epilogues for the locations in the movies or tantalizing threads for when we find out what Luke has been up to.
K: I admit, thatās what Iām waiting for most. This was a fun side trek, but where is my favorite character, damnit?
R: Iām hoping we get another trilogy explaining this after The Last Jedi premieres. Or itās the focus of the next animated series. Ezra seems custom-made to work as a foil for Luke, and Ahsoka was written out in a way that places her in safe-keeping until after RotJ.
One thing I found myself thinking from this last book, though, is that I feel better about The Force Awakens. I know a few OT fans who were very upset about everything Luke and Leia lost in the prelude to that movie and during it. I know a couple I saw who commented that they didnāt think Lukeās actions in RotJ were even that big an effect, since the Death Star was destroyed anyway. The view of the galaxy as seen in this trilogy, PARTICULARLY Jakku as compared to what we saw in the movie, changes that. You get the impression that even though there are still darksiders active, that a remnant of the Empire has left to regroup, that thereās still corruption and pirates and bullies and innocent people languishing in extreme poverty and hardship⦠that thereās still been a lasting improvement directly attributable to the actions of the heroes in the movies and the heroes in these books. Jakku at Reyās time is actually a less horrible place than seen in this book. Many of the locations from the movies show people taking action and spreading hope. The remains of the Empire are the Emperorās last middle finger to the Galaxy, and even after thirty years of gaining strength are still not the relentless, overwhelming presence in everyoneās life they were in Rogue One. The Galaxy was not instantly fixed, and much of the progress was wiped away, but thereās still a lot to hold onto. They came a long way between RotJ and TFA.
Thereās really only one disappointment about this book. Tashuās death. I joked above, but in the first book of this trilogy his main role is torturing a captive Wedge Antilles. The fallout from this is more realistic than you usually see in action-adventure fiction, where Wedge is still recovering throughout the second book both physically and emotionally. Theyāre unclear on whether heās still using a cane this book or not, but either way itās a long-term lingering impairment. He gets to staredown and work a little on his rage at Sloane last book, but he is never shown confronting Tashu. Heās never in the same room as the villain who put him through all of that. Tashu also never has a greater impact on any other main characters either from just this trilogy or the movies, meaning this villain was specific to one major hero and had a huge impact on that heroās life and role in a story that covers at least half a year. Tashu isnāt saved for a later book or confrontation, he gets offed by Gallius and thatās a bit of a bummer.
#The Secret Origin of Snap Wexley: Resistance Pilot 3#State of the Galaxy#Missing: Luke Skywalker If Found Please Return to Grateful Fandom#A Happy Ending for the Gay Guy#All the het couples are kinda screwed#Even that one because you can see it coming#Hux was always a little douche#There is no justification for patricide#Lots of Dark Side Activity for Jedi to deal with#Politics is a bloodsport#The Evil is coming from OUTSIDE the Galaxy!#The Evil is also coming from INSIDE the Galaxy!#Palpatine was a sore loser#Star Wars#Aftermath: Empire's End#A Disney Prince(ss) in Space#Chuck Wendig#Ragnell's Pick
16 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
This week's post will be delayed a week due to distractions in the lives of our reviewers. Tune in next weekend.
#Waking up in a junk food stupor on Sunday evening and realizing you forgot to read the book#Getting everything you ever wanted in one fandom and being unable to focus on any other fandom
0 notes
Text
Aftermath: Life Debt by Chuck Wendig
Ragnell: This weekās selection was Aftermath: Life Debt, the sequel to Aftermath. Now with major characters from the movie!
All right, a lot happens in this book and some of the events are just such a joy to describe this recapāll be a little long:
We ended the last book with Norra putting together a team to track down war criminals. This book begins with a flashback to Jakku, and a check-in with Leia before we catch up with her. Norra and company are collecting one of their targets, and the mission shows us the tensions in the team before establishing they can all work together. Jom is still a new element, and he serves to establish how far from general acceptance people like Jas and Sinjir are before turning into a love interest for Jas for the rest of the book. Once theyāve finished, they return to Chandrila, we get a little slice of the lives theyāve carved out, the status of the New Republic, and Wedge contacts them. Han and Chewie fell into a trap while trying to free Kashyyk, Chewie was captured and Hanās transmission was cut off and Leia needs a team to go on an off-the-books mission to see what happened.
They split into teams and chase different avenues before meeting back up, being thrown off the case by Angry Police Captain Admiral Ackbar, because they canāt officially devote resources to Kashyyk. Because now that the Rebellion is officially over everythingās political and Wookiees have nothing political to offer and other reasoning that you might hear from your local lukewarm center-left political party. Norra quits and decides to work for Leia as a private citizen. Wedge does not, which puts a little damper on a romantic subplot between the two.
On the villains side, Admiral Sloane is reluctant to trust her mysterious boss, Gallius Rax, who is using her as his public face, has formed a shadow government, leaked information to the New Republic to destroy allies he doesnāt fully trust, has no Facebook or Twitter, has been keeping several groups of the Navy in hiding, and is planning an attack on Chandrila when she goes to visit. Oh no!
So she enlists the help of her assistant Adea, who Gallius has helpfully smuggled off of Chandrila and seduced, and her trusted bounty hunter Mercurial Swift (named here because even for Star Wars, thatās a bit much) to investigate his past and find out heās the kid from the prologue.
The heroes find Han and learn heās trying to sneak onto Kashyyk to break Chewie out of prison. They decide to help. Jom goes AWOL and joins them partway through because the power of lust compels him he is worried about Jas. Han and the original characters go to Kashyyk and free a whole ton of prisoners including Norraās husband Brentin. Norra and Temmin go home with the freed prisoners. Han, Chewie, Jas, Jom and Sinjir stay on Kashyyk to save the planet. Here is where we learn they have control chips in the Wookies, of some old New Republic technology reminiscent of that stuff that controlled the slaves in the prequels.
Jom and Sinjir destroy the central controlling module for these chips, because like a damned idiot the villain has it all centralized, and free the Wookies. Han, Chewie, and Jas knock down some prison camp forcefields and the rebellion is off. However, the governor of Kashyyk, who is a cross between the rich guy from The Most Dangerous Game and those giants who eat talking animals in The Silver Chair. He calls down orbital strikes because he is an asshole.
Back on Chandrila, everyone is getting ready to greet Admiral Sloane whoās asked to negotiate a treaty because Rax totally implied to her that there would be a space attack on the fleet over the planet. What actually happens is she has to sit through a damned parade and a new holiday celebration, āLiberation Day.ā Leia plays hookie, calls in her trusty Cameron from the comics Evaan, and steals the Millennium Falcon which really should belong to her so why did she have to steal it? Either way, she leaves a note for Wedge that basically amounts to āCome help me out or I and my unborn child are SOOO gonna dieā and that is why the guy who set up security for the Liberation Day event was not present when it all went to hell.
See, the Wexley family and all of the freed prisoners are supposed to be on the dais. But somethingās been wrong with Papa Wexley, that makes him stun his son and leave him in a crate beforehand. Understandably concerned, the boy tries to interrupt the ceremony but is unable to actually reach the dais before his dad shoots Mon Mothma. Norra manages to interrupt his aim. Turns out that the same technology that turned all the clones into mindless murderbots who kill their Jedi friends in TCW/RotS was used on these prisoners. ALL of the prisoners fire all over the place, thereās mass chaos, running around, and we get a pretty cool fistfight between Norra and Rae. In the confusion, some jerkass minor character frees Tashu the Worshipper of Darth Sidious. Rae shoots Adea, because Adea broke the sisters before misters rule, gets beat up and shot by Norra, and still manages to run off with Norraās husband.
Meanwhile, back on Kashyyk, Han decides to steal a Star Destroyer--which he has totally done before but that was when he had a Jedi and a short-fuse princess--it goes a little badly but thatās okay because just when heās about to get shot his crazy pregnant wife shows up in his miracle junk-ship, followed by Wedge with a bunch of crazy X-wing pilots, and Ackbar with his own ship of fools. They actually manage to neutralize the Kashyyk blockade. Chewie decides to stay home, Han and Leia almost do but all the chaos on Chandrila sends them back there because they are needed to stabilize the government.
The story ends with Norraās group signing on for vengeance against Rae (excluding Jom because Jas dumps him), Rae and Brentin headed to Jakku to find out more about Rax, and Rax headed to Jakku because the Emperor sent him back as a kid to accomplish some mysterious purpose. Because Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious should never be allowed near children.
The first thing that strikes me about this book, and one of the things making it fun for me, is that it works other parts of the new canon into it. Last book we had some nods to the animated series. This book we have nods to those, and the comics. Han references stealing a Star Destroyer, which is a plot I enjoyed a lot in the Star Wars comics (Iāve seen some grousing on tumblr about the art that arc but the story is just fun) and we see Evaan from the Princess Leia comic. These were great ideas and great elements so itās nice to see them in a novel. Itās also nice to think that some of the elements from the comics or the novel might find their way into the movies or animated series.
Kalinara: It does however make Lukeās absence very notable. He actually gets mentioned in this one, but thereās still no real clue as to what heās doing.
R: The next thing is all the romance in this book. Itās like with Han and Leiaās marriage as the kickoff and driving force for the plot that their love gets echoed with the other charactersā lives. But like in ESB, all of these romances get derailed by the events. Wedge and Norra start to explore a romance, only to be stopped by Brentinās reappearance. Norra focuses back on her husband and just as she starts to think she has him back again, it turns out heās been mind controlled and he runs away. Jom gets too intense for Jas, so she drops the romance to focus elsewhere. And Sinjir slips into a shame spiral about his old job as a torturer and dumps his boyfriend Conder so that Conder can find someone better.
K: I had mixed feelings on the romance. Maybe itās just because of the nature of the story, but it was hard to get too invested in the romances on the table. Sinjur and Conder seemed cute, but they had all of two scenes. I cared about the break up because Iāve grown attached to Sinjur and it was sad to see him so self-loathing. Norra and Wedge were cute, and I do like both characters, but they spend so much of the book apart, that I still donāt feel like I get an idea of what theyāre like as a couple. (It does fit with Wedgeās terrible luck that his girlfriendās long lost husband comes back though. :-)) Jom and Jas...well. Jom wasnāt even as interesting as whatās his name from the first book. And I canāt even remember that guyās actual name. Ā (Edited: Ā I was actually thinking of Lok from Moving Target, not Aftermath. Ā Even so, that guy was more interesting than Jom.)
R: Among the new characters of the book, I rather liked Conder (though he didnāt get any really fun moments), Brentin, Oblivion, and Eleodie. I think Conder as Leiaās IT guy and Sinjirās boyfriend should show up again. I think thatās a temporary breakup.
K: Of all of the new characters, I was most intrigued by Brentin. He reminds me of Ransolm Casterfo, oddly enough. Not because the characters have anything in common of course, but because I kind of think both characters serve as an example counterpoint to common fandom theories about Kylo Ren and (Armitage) Hux. Casterfo actually is the misguided Imperial-sympathizer who makes mistakes out of fear and trauma, and Brentin Wexley is actually an innocent victim brainwashed into doing things he doesnāt want to do. And when we look at these characters, and see how theyāre portrayed, it makes it very obvious how weak these justifications are when we try to apply them to the actual villains.
R: I hated Lozen, but it was the kind of hate you should have for a villain. Thereās a line in there with Lozen saying he likes the taste of Talz that creeped me out a bit. The Talz were a TCW species, they are sentient. It is a āWeāre eating TALKING stagā moment for me and I was glad to see this guyās end. It and the hunting sequence made him the most depraved villain in the Star Wars canon for me.
The little interlude saga of the red lightsaber is pretty interesting, but Iāll be surprised to see it wrapped up next book. This is the sort of thing that leads to a Luke plotline in a future series. I still wonder if itās Vaderās lightsaber or someone elseās.
Iām glad Sloane survived, I prefer her as a villain to Rax. Iām looking forward to her and Brentin trying to deal with each other.
K: I think Sloane is really what Admiral Thrawn should have been in the Expanded Universe. I mean, yes, heās got those Grand Manipulator tendencies like Gallus Rex, but thereās a reason that Sloane, not Rax, is our primary focus villain. Itās easy to get emotionally invested in Sloaneās arc. I donāt want her to win against our heroes of course, but I definitely want to see her rise in the Empire/First Order.
And I like watching Sloane come up against obstacles. I like seeing her adapt and redirect her focus. I like watching Sloane come up against things she doesnāt know, and the efforts that she makes to learn more. She isnāt magically omniscient when it comes to every single plot point like a certain blue Admiral, and I think she comes across as actually smarter and more formidable because of it. Sheās tenacious, clever, and resourceful. She doesnāt need to be shilled by the narrative to be formidable.
R: Iām not sure where I want the Wexley-Antilles love triangle to go. It was interesting to see that Wedge has slid more easily into father figure role for Temmin than anyone else, even giving him a nickname. The next closest people are Sinjir and Jas, and Temmin seems to still have some serious defenses up with them. Itās an interesting situation I fear may end with Brentinās death next book just to make a tidy family unit.
As for the majors, and the metaplot, I liked what this added. I was a little offput by Han at first, but on reflection this is exactly what he would seem like to someone who didnāt know him. Unpredictable, kind of stupid, relying mainly on luck. We normally see him with Luke, who relies on faith, and Leia, who relies on sheer willpower, so he seems kind of like the sensible of the trio in comparison. Leia, of course, topped all of his actions by being even more batshit crazy at the climax but seeming like she was in perfect control of everything all the time. (Itād be really interesting to see this group encounter Luke after how theyāve reacted to Han and Leia.)
Leiaās bits were the best part of the book, I loved the moment when she first experiences connecting with the Force and gaining knowledge from it. I loved her conflict with Ackbar and Mon. I loved her decision on what to do about all of it. I loved her calling in Evaan and I loved her playing the military guys like a flute.
I didnāt really care much for Jom or Hux, but none of their parts were big enough to drag the rest of the book for me. I really enjoyed it.
K: It was fun. Iām looking forward to seeing how the trilogy resolves..
#Wedge's terrible luck#Han's actually the sensible one#Multiple romantic failure#Luke Skywalker: Still MIA#We're eating TALKING stag!#Seriously who's lightsaber IS that?#Star Wars#Aftermath: Life Debt#Chuck Wendig#A Disney Prince(ss) in Space
2 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
A Womanās Work, by Tanya Huff
Kalinara: So, the beginning of the year has been a little hectic for us lazy barbarians, which led to us falling behind a bit on our weekly schedule. But it's important to get back into the swing of things, so I decided to choose a short story this time around.
The short story I chose is "A Woman's Work" by Tanya Huff, (published in If I Were an Evil Overlord by Martin H. Greenberg.)
Tanya Huff has always been a favorite of mine. And whenever I see her name on something, I know I'll enjoy it. (Well, there is one exception. But no one is perfect.) She is also one of the very first writers I'd encountered growing up that seemed to make a special effort to include LGBT+ characters. (The very first time I saw a character who was very clearly portrayed as asexual, even if the term wasn't used, was in a Tanya Huff book. And the first time you see yourself reflected really does sit with you.)
"A Woman's Work" doesn't really have a plot per se. It's basically just a running scenario that involves the lead character, Arrabel, avoiding all of the usual pitfalls that bring down a villain in a fantasy novel llike refusing to allow one-on-one duels with random heroes, when archers can just shoot them, or pre-emptively burning giant hay stacks or person-concealing caravans as they come in. Or beheading enemy kings who have conveniently "committed suicide by poison" during an invasion, who had left instructions to "send the body out to the countryside."
Ragnell: Itās pretty good, and gives us an interesting story involving someone actually intelligent in the protagonist position, even if sheās technically a fantasy villain.
K: One of the bits I particularly liked was how Arrabel basically utilizes public works to aid in her villainy. But not in the standard corruption way. Her hospitals, schools, and work programs are legitimate. They just have ulterior purposes as well. (For example, the hospital allows Arrabel to determine who gets healed and how.)
It's not deep, but it is refreshing to see a portrayal of a villain who realizes that it's not necessary to make their people suffer to be effective.
R: I liked that too. I remember reading this thinking I probably wouldnāt be inclined to cause trouble in Arrabelās kingdom either. Ultimately, whether or not the people are comfortable means more than corruption. What kills a tyrant is their need to keep power and fill their pockets at the expense of the public good. Arrabel is a tyrant clearly, but smart enough to make sure everyoneās too comfortable to want a change.
K: And there is then an interesting question. Is a villain still a villain if their effect on the world is actually positive? I would personally say yes, but I would say that if and when a hero does finally bring Arrabel down, I hope they're smart enough to leave her social programs in place. Just with more reforms, to remove the abuse of power.
R: Yeah, her motives are bad and she does not allow political dissidents and she has no concept of due process. She is a bad guy. But, sheās a bad guy whoās made everyoneās life better so hopefully whoever takes her out or succeeds her is smart enough to keep it running.
Honestly, she reminds me of Lord Vetinari in the Discworld books in that way. He is regularly shown doing things objectively horrible to keep power, and is extremely manipulative, but he regularly makes the world better. He understands that he can best secure his power by making the people feel secure. Arrabel is the same mindset.
K: ...now I āship it. That would be one very effective marriage of convenience.
Despite the title, there really isnāt much about gender in this story. Thereās no inherent idea that a woman would be a better overlord than a man. The closest the story comes to that idea is perhaps the unspoken implication that being a woman allows Arrabel to avoid traps set that specifically play on masculine ego tropes. (The aforementioned challenged duel is to Arrabelās son, not to Arrabel herself.) Arrabelās son, Danyel, lacks her wider view, and, while heās smart enough not to challenge his mother, it is clear that he is far more susceptible to playing into the usual fantasy-setting traps. It doesnāt come across as being because Danyel is a man, though. Heās just a little stupid.
R: Heās young.
K: Itās not deep, but itās a cute story from a long time favorite author who is always on my āyes, I must readā list.
1 note
Ā·
View note
Text
Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig
Ragnell:Ā A couple weeks ago I chose Star Wars: Aftermath by Chuck Wendig and predicted to Kal that this would be the first time I fail to read my own pick. Because as much as Iāve badly wanted to know what went on right after Return of the Jedi I have the hardest time being drawn into Star Wars material that doesnāt feature a Jedi or really any forceusers. Iām not a smuggler, or a politics of the Star Wars Galaxy type, Iām all in for the mystic order of space-monks and the various other factions of light and darksiders. But I do like the normal humans and the third book just came out with Lando in so I decided to give the first a try and see if I could get that far.
And wow, once I got a chance to sit down and read it I really got into this. I like most of the new characters, the new villains, the various things happening in the galaxy as a direct result of Return of the Jedi. Iām tearing up my apartment looking for the second book (I swear I picked it up somewhere) as a result.
So, to recap the first novel of this trilogy (reader beware thereās spoilers down there)...
We get to meet the characters thread by thread against interludes showing us whatās going on elsewhere in the galaxy. The main villain, Admiral Rae Sloane, is gathering the remaining Imperial leadership for a survival meeting on Akiva. Rae is alive because she was not at the Battle of Endor. The rest of the remaining Imperial leadership remained alive because they were also not at the Battle of Endor. Unfortunately for them someone--no, two someone.. No, three⦠Wait, Four. Four someones who were at the Battle of Endor converge on Akiva for various reasons.
Significantly, one of these someones is Wedge Antilles, who was scouting for Imperial supply lines and got captured by Rae. He manages to try and signal help, but only gets inside the system. Luckily, Norra Wexley who was in Gold Squadron, is there trying to pick up her son Temmin (and if you can identify Temmin from non-Aftermath Star Wars material give yourself a pat on the back), who is in trouble with the local mob boss and has managed to cross the sphere of the other two Endor vets, Jas Emari (bounty hunter who was there to assassinate Leia and changed her mind), and Sinjir Rath Velus (Imperial officer who saw the rag-tag band of rebels blow up the Death Star and the Ewoks decimate his unit and went āfuck this shit, Iām outā).
Kalinara: Confession, I didnāt actually recognize Temmin. :-) Iām usually pretty good at that kind of thing. But not this time. Ragnell defeated me.
R: This book is packed with action scenes, but ultimately the four of these guys team up to try and bust up the meeting. To do this, they incite rioting on Akiva and a little mini-rebellion. (well, planetwide but for Star Wars thatās mini.) Wedge manages to escape when they knock out the power and actually gets a message to the fleet, bringing Admiral Ackbar and some of the Alliance Navy to Akiva to help. They all end up captured and on a ship that crashes into the bay of Sloaneās flagship. Sloane escapes. The rest of the remaining Imperial leadership is captured or killed. Wedge has a really bad week. Jas gets a heart, Sinjir gets courage, Temmin gets a brain and Norra gets a sense of home. They form a team with some guy who was in the book for five pages to hunt Nazis who escaped the Hague Imperial war criminals and I want to read the next book now dammit!
*Ahem* I generally like the new characters. I was sad both times he faked out Norraās death, which were both totally believable because honestly both Star Wars and Disney have this thing against mothers. I recognized Temmin so I knew heād live but I was expecting this to be the story of how he was fully orphaned, instead it was a āHow I learned to stop being a douche and love my motherā story for him.
Sinjar and Jas were great fun. I like the idea that simply being at Endor changed both their lives, for the same reason but in different ways. Both saw the way the wind was blowing and while Sinjir tried to hide away Jas tried to adjust her life to fit. Neither of them got it quite right then, but it looks like theyāre on the right path now which was cool.
K: I have to admit, it took me a while to get into it. Iām very picky about original characters, especially ones who have no obvious connections to the characters I love. Norra drew me in first though. I liked her immediately. Temmin was a douchebag for most of the book, but I thought he had a really nice, not redemption arc precisely though certainly betraying the group was an issue, but just a general growth arc. As child characters go, he was pretty believable. Not always likeable, but believable.
I liked Jas and Sinjir a lot. And I particularly liked the reveal that Sinjur was gay. (I had suspected when he talked about having to interrogate a ābeautifulā young man, but itās always nice to have things addressed overtly.) As reveals go, I thought it struck the right balance. Jas was surprised, because she had misread some signals, but she wasnāt shocked or horrified. It felt like it was a fairly normal, accepted part of the setting. Additionally, Norraās sister, who had been Temminās guardian, has a wife. This is presented in a very matter of fact way.
In a way, the Star Wars new canon reminds me a bit of Bioware games. I feel like they are genuinely trying to give us a more diverse and inclusive setting. They donāt always succeed and there are definitely missteps and missed opportunities (do we really need five white brunette protagonists??). But I do feel there is a general push to do more. And Iām reasonably hopeful that theyāll continue to make efforts to improve.
R: We saw a half-dozen interludes on different planets just establishing how much things have changed for people across the galaxy. I liked that. I donāt feel a particular need to revisit these people for full books but wouldnāt mind updates later, or just more situations that were changed by the actions of the main characters in the trilogy. I like that some of these established that the galaxy was still a complex mess, that some established a brighter future, and that some showed the seeds of darkness being sown.
Rae Sloane is now one of my favorite supplemental villains. I honestly prefer someone like her to Thrawn, someone whoās pretty badass but not without flaw or mistake. Her plans are sensible, not ridiculously far ahead, and she is good at working by the seat of her pants. Honestly, in the Star Wars universe youāre always better off as an improviser than a long-term planner. But she has the ability to scheme and layout plans.
K: I agree with you. There were one or two moments early on that felt a little Thrawn-ishly heavy handed. But for the most part, Sloane got to be a three dimensional villain. She made mistakes, she miscalculated, and she recovered. It made her far more effective to me. Iām looking forward to seeing how she regroups from this affair.
The other villains are a great cross-section of the type of non-force-user bad guys you see in the Star Wars universe. You have your mob boss, your rich asshole who is behaving criminally but keeps a legitimate front up, your Moff, your Admiral, and your weird religious dude. Of them I thought Tashu, the old Emperorās Advisor who was WAAAAY into being a Sith Acolyte, was pretty interesting. He and one of the interludes established a cult worship of Sith thatās a good darkside counterpart for the reverence the Jedi get from the Church of the Force and the Guardians of the Whills. Iām glad he survived and someone can dig him up to a) vex Luke, and b) menace Wedge again.
And finally, I just wanted to say⦠poor Wedge. He really has bad luck when Luke isnāt around.
#The Secret Origin of Snap Wexley: Ā Resistance Pilot 3#How Anakin Skywalker screwed up other people's children#And of course the droid was Toto#Wedge and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day#Luke Skywalker has VANISHED#A Disney Prince(ss) in Space#Star Wars: Aftermath#Chuck Wendig#Ragnell's pick
11 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
Being attacked by wicked illness at the moment so we're gonna delay this week again. Sorry!
1 note
Ā·
View note
Text
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner
Kalinara: So it was my turn to pick the book again, and I decided to step away from Star Wars for a bit. I did however keep things in the Young Adult field by choosing The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
The Thief is one of those books that is very hard to review, because itās very easy to say too much about this very simple story. Fortunately, we have a cut tag.
Okay, so the Thief is a pretty basic story about Gen, a the titular thief of course, who has been recruited out of the kingās dungeon (he stole the Kingās seal and was caught bragging about it) for a very important quest.
You see, the King of Sounis (Genās not-so-amiable host) is looking to marry the Queen of a neighboring kingdom, Eddis. Eddis is a mountain kingdom that separates Sounis from the enemy nation of Attolia. If Sounis marries Eddis, then heāll have a clear path to attack Attolia.
Ragnell: Worth pointing out, Sounis is a dick.
K: Eddis however will have none of Sounisās advances. So the Magus in service of the King has hatched a plan. In Eddis lore, there is a mythical stone, called Hamathesās Gift, which is supposed to grant immortality and the rightful rule of Eddis to whoever holds it. The catch is that the stoneās power doesnāt work if itās stolen. It must be given to its bearer for the power to work. But the loophole is that the stone can be stolen, and then given to someone else. The person who steals the stone and becomes kingmaker is known as the āKingās Thiefā. This stone was lost many years ago, so now the throne passes through basic heredity like any other kingdom.
R: Told you, heās a dick.
K: The Magus believes he has discovered the location of the stone and intends to use Gen to help him steal it so it can be given to Sounis. Sounis will then use the stone and its symbolic power to force Eddis to marry him and seize her kingdom that way.
The story is, at first glance, a very straightforward and entertaining quest story. Gen is our narrator and he is both charming and obnoxious. He travels with the Magus, the guard Pol, and two students, Ambiades and Sophos.
But itās not quite that simple, Gen is a thief. He was in the Kingās dungeon, having been caught bragging after stealing the Kingās seal. Gen told us all of this early on. What he did not tell us is that he is Eddisian. And not just any thief. He is the Queenās Thief. A role that has, like the role of King/Queen, become hereditary since the loss of the stone.
The amazing thing about the reveal is that itās so seamless. Gen is our narrator, and his account is so frank, deft and thorough that it seems impossible for something that big to have escaped our notice.
R: It was a good reveal, but it struck me as kind of a cheat. Itās very sudden and she didnāt really give all that many hints that the narrator was hiding something.
K: I actually disagree with you there. Itās true that on a first read, there is very little indication that Gen is hiding something, but there is a lot to unpack on a second read. A lot of things that seem very abrupt are actually seeded from the very first chapter. But you have to know what youāre looking at.
The main thing is Gen is not actually intentionally deceiving the reader. As the end shows us, the story is his account as written to his cousin Eddis. He doesnāt mention being the Thief of Eddis because she already knows who he is. Itās not a matter of misdirection as much as it is a matter of interpretation. But from the readerās perception, it completely changes everything, not just the chapters going forward, but all of the previous chapters as well.
Everything he says has a different nuance and meaning when you actually know the truth. For example, there is a scene when he is talking to the younger student, Sophos, and corrects his assumption about Genās family by stating that his sisters are happily married and his brothers are a watchmaker and a soldier. When Iād first read it, Iād assumed that Gen came from a middle class family but had instead chosen a life of crime. Once we know the truth, well, these well-married women, watchmaker, and soldier, also happen to be satellite members of the Eddisian royal family.
Itās not just bigger things like that though. Even little details have the same kind of dual perception. One example that springs to mind early on in the story is when the Magus, annoyed with Gen, demands that he stop chewing with his mouth open. Gen does so, which was difficult, as he had been chewing with his mouth open āassiduouslyā since heād left the prison. The word means āwith great care and deliberationā, and I had figured that meant that Gen was being deliberately obnoxious. But on reread, itās clearer that what Gen meant was actually the āgreat careā part. Gen is a royal cousin of the Queen of Eddis trying to convince the Magus that he is peasant boy with more ability and ego than sense. He was carefully sticking to his masquerade.
I think this story says some really interesting things about perception and assumption. I am a person who often figures out twists before they are revealed, or at least, I often pick up on something not quite right, even if I donāt figure it out in its entirety. But I didnāt see this one.
R; Yeah. What struck me were the family details. From the description of the mother I was expecting them to get to Eddis and learn that heās actually next in line for the position or something. So it was in line with everything, but still a major surprise when you find out heās been in the position for a while and was actually the person the magus brought up earlier in the book.
K: And I think itās because I went in assuming I knew what the story was. I read the first chapter went āokay, kid in jail, was skilled but sloppy and arrogant, got caught by his own egoā and figured okay, this is going to be a coming of age type quest story where the kid learns humility and wisdom. So whenever Gen said something about his life and his family and his backstory, I filtered it through that context. I thought Genās account was complete, because I was filling in the holes with my own assumptions. Just like the Magus.
Gen isnāt the only one concealing important facts on this mission though. Which makes it even more fun. Sophos is, in fact, the very disappointing heir to the throne of Sounis (nephew of the current King), who had been sent to study with the Magus because he was otherwise so hopeless. Pol is no mere bodyguard, but the Captain of a royal guard. While Ambiades is a traitor and spy. No one is exactly what they seem.
R: Ehh.. Ambiades you could see coming. Heās bitter, cruel, and acting strangely and is from an aristocratic line that lost their fortune. It was pretty clear he stole the food and honestly, I thought heād taken the Gift too. Sophos was a surprise, though. Sounis is not only a dick, heās kind of an idiot to put BOTH the living heir and the chance of a future heir in this basket.
K: Another part of the story that I find very interesting is the way they incorporate the myths and legends. Especially in terms of the Magus, who isnāt that bad a guy despite his mission. (He truly believes that uniting Sounis and Eddis would be the best thing for both countries.) The Magus starts from an idea that preserved records are better than the word of mouth tellings of the people who believe it, because of the way people change the story. He argues that the people of Eddis use the wrong, old pronunciation for their country when the rest of the civilized world has āmoved onā. He is an academic in the driest sense of the word, but he seems to start getting an appreciation for how myth/religion and language are as much about people as they are historical record.
I think this growing appreciation for the human side of things is what helps him deal with his eventual defeat with some grace.
R: Yeah, and of the unlikeable at the beginning characters the magus is actually the one who turns out the best once you get to know him. Iām glad he made it through safely. I was more glad, though, that Ambiades didnāt. I really hated that kid.
K: Probably the last character worth noting is the Queen of Attolia. At this point, sheās more of a concept than a character. We know sheās beautiful, cruel, and that Sounis apparently fears her enough to allow the Magus to embark on a crazy artifact-hunting quest with his heir. But so far, she hasnāt even had as much development as Sounis himself. Though, given that the next book in the series is called āThe Queen of Attoliaā, thatās probably due to change.
#the thief#megan whalen turner#awkward marriage proposals#now I have a craving for olives#don't look at the man behind the curtain :-)
5 notes
Ā·
View notes