Kaylee: Can I? Zoe: Sure. He's out, though. Kaylee: He did this for me, once.

'Safe'


Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.

There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."


Consuela - Jul 28, 2021 9:08:31 pm PDT #26874 of 27912
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

Oh, I bought Hands of the Emperor but haven't read it yet. Right now I'm reading I Claudius and Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade, which seems charming.

Here's a rec: Deborah Coates has a series of very evocative supernatural mysteries, set in the Dakotas. Strong characterizations, great sense of place, neat stories. The first one is called Wide Open.


Toddson - Jul 29, 2021 5:55:28 am PDT #26875 of 27912
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"

I, Claudius ... I didn't get through (although I watched the ENTIRE PBS series ... and tried to do a family chart for a friend showing the relationships). And I have some qualms about Robert Graves - there's a section of Suetonius that no one else would translate (with good reason). Spoiler Alert is charming - that's a good description.


hippocampus - Jul 29, 2021 6:31:30 am PDT #26876 of 27912
not your mom's socks.

Thank you, Consuela!


Jesse - Jul 29, 2021 1:40:41 pm PDT #26877 of 27912
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

So despite all of your great recs, I thought I would see what was on the shelf at the library in the sci fi section, and came away with Nalo Hopkinson's Sister Mine, which seems great, but is it sci fi?? (I will still count it as such for the library contest, since the library says it is.)


Consuela - Jul 29, 2021 6:32:22 pm PDT #26878 of 27912
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

My pleasure, hippocampus!

Here's another random rec: Violette Malan has a series of classic sword-and-sorcery novels, with a M/F pair of bonded mercenary fighters. It's all very old school, but I enjoyed the characters and their relationship, and the world-building was pretty good given the genre. The first one is called The Sleeping God. Sadly, I guess they didn't sell that well, and the 4th ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. But they're still enjoyable.

IIRC, I got both of those recs from Liz Burke, whom I have followed for yonks on LJ and Twitter. She's Sleeps With Monsters over at Tor.com.


hippocampus - Jul 31, 2021 10:19:21 am PDT #26879 of 27912
not your mom's socks.

Liz has great taste!


Laura - Aug 02, 2021 8:11:36 am PDT #26880 of 27912
Our wings are not tired.

The only upside to a 6 hour flight delay is actually finishing a book in one day. Read The Midnight Library, which was a light, no real focus required choice for an extremely noisy environment.


Toddson - Aug 05, 2021 9:01:14 am PDT #26881 of 27912
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"

That's one thing I love about e-books - I carry one small-ish device with me and have bunches of books to choose from. I can re-read something if there are a lot of distractions or, given time and quiet, settle in with something new that will require attention. (edited to add: I saw a brief article about Haley Atwell who was traveling with a bag full of books - heavy and bulky - but she needed the reading material)

And, in what may be good news, it seems that Jack Vance's son is authorizing writers to write in his father's worlds. Not sequels to Vance's books, but new books in those universes. It sounds like it might turn out well. Hope springs eternal and all that.


-t - Aug 05, 2021 10:23:13 am PDT #26882 of 27912
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration

Oh, I think I read one of the authors who is part of that - Matthew Hughes? I never read Jack Vance so it didn't mean much to me, but I recognize the name from some About the Authors or similar.

I needed to come in and say that The Hands of the Emperor is magnificent. Thanks again for reccing, juliana! I was reading with tears streaming down my face for the perfection of one particular scene, that hasn't happened in a while (or not for that reason, I do cry pretty easily for a lot of reasons)

I have been reading other Goddard books in the same, um, I don't think universe is quite right but it is a shared setting of sorts...for context and those are enjoyable, too. In trying to figure out the order in which to read (I started The Hands of the Emperor and got a little overwhelmed just by the sheer length of it and thought starting with something related but shorter might be a good idea so jumped to The Tower At the Edge of the World and the meandered around mostly through the Greenwing & Dart books before trying again and settling in more comfortably - I doubt all that is necessary for everyone's enjoyment but it was better for me personally (and enjoyed recognizing breadcrumbs from those other stories although now I am more worried about Basil in the Woods although maybe I don't need to be what with time moving differently in different places )) I came across a blog post, I think, that said there's to be a sequel maybe coming out next year, I'm very excited about that! I'm in the midst of The Return of Fitzroy Angursell and enjoying it more than I thought I would (I expected it to be coy about the Fitzroy Angursell thing and it is not at all, and I didn't enjoy the Ysther stories near as much so maybe had lower expectations) - I'm only most of the way through the first section but it is so good to see Kip's policies in action, particularly the difference the allotment makes to people's lives and how easy it is from someone else's perspective and wanted to come say that now rather than waiting until I finish and maybe forgetting to do so.


juliana - Aug 05, 2021 11:06:55 am PDT #26883 of 27912
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I miss them all tonight…

I'm so glad you liked them, -t! The Ysthar books are probably my least favorite, but I just went back and re-read 'Til Human Voices Wake Us, and it did improve upon the re-read. And Kip. Oh, my heart I love Kip. (In my head he looks like Temuera Morrison [link]