She's terse. I can be terse. Once in flight school, I was laconic.

Wash ,'War Stories'


We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good  

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."


Connie Neil - Jan 21, 2006 6:39:23 pm PST #9840 of 10002
brillig

anybody read Mary Gentle's Grunts

Yup.

"Pass me another elf, this one's split."


Volans - Jan 22, 2006 12:08:25 am PST #9841 of 10002
move out and draw fire

"Pass me another elf, this one's split."

That's Freddie Mercury, isn't it? "Bring me another boy, this one's broke."

Banewreaker was actually not just anti-LOTR, but also anti-Silmarillion. The Silmarils and Luthien and such were also in there. But it wasn't just that; she also had semi-created her own world, with gods with cool names who each created a particular race, and such. Most of my complaints with it were more writing-based: Characters and cultures and places were introduced just to be destroyed, motivations seemed implausible, and frankly it just didn't grip me.

For fantasy writing, Bujold's latest three are my favorites of the moment. Her world is really cool, and each book has a distinct flavour.

I just finished Woken Furies, the third Takeshi Kovacs novel. Better than the last one, and extremely grim. A small quibble, in that he refers to Romanian as Slavic. And an amusing thing: there's a character who goes by the nom de guerre "Vlad Tepes" and it turns out his real name is "Mallory." When I read that part I had just picked up our Vlad Tepes doll from where Mallory had been chewing on it.


Connie Neil - Jan 22, 2006 12:18:22 pm PST #9842 of 10002
brillig

That's Freddie Mercury, isn't it? "Bring me another boy, this one's broke."

Considering the way the elf got split, I hope not.


IAmNotReallyASpring - Jan 22, 2006 3:40:17 pm PST #9843 of 10002
I think Freddy Quimby should walk out of here a free hotel

Mary Gentle

She was a fan of Angel, if I remember correctly. She wrote some nice things about Tim on, I wanna say, Usenet.


billytea - Jan 22, 2006 4:58:48 pm PST #9844 of 10002
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.

She was a fan of Angel, if I remember correctly. She wrote some nice things about Tim on, I wanna say, Usenet.

Now I wanna say Usenet too!

t steps away from keyboard

Ok, it's out of my system.


DavidS - Jan 23, 2006 2:39:10 pm PST #9845 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I browsed through this book - Self-Made Man by Nora Vincent at lunch and it was really interesting.

Basically Black Like Me except she went in male drag for 18 months. Not a cheap stunt and it's well written and very generous to the people she's with. A lot of insight and compassion and a fascinating story.


§ ita § - Jan 23, 2006 2:42:56 pm PST #9846 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I read Salon's take on it, and it was pretty complimentary. Entertainment Weekly really hated it. More precisely her.


Betsy HP - Jan 23, 2006 2:43:57 pm PST #9847 of 10002
If I only had a brain...

God, I love Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.

[link]


DavidS - Jan 23, 2006 2:47:41 pm PST #9848 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Entertainment Weekly really hated it. More precisely her.

Huh. I found her very likeable. Honest, emotionally generous, open.


erikaj - Jan 23, 2006 3:12:37 pm PST #9849 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!

sounds good, Hec.