Interesting and heartfelt popular-academia book on the intersections of queer identities and folklore (monsters, shapeshifting, gender-bending, storytInteresting and heartfelt popular-academia book on the intersections of queer identities and folklore (monsters, shapeshifting, gender-bending, storytelling, the sense of something not fitting in the 'normal' world). It's a well thought-through thesis with a wide range of examples that bends over backwards to be inclusive and non appropriative. The relatively informal style makes it highly readable, in fact I could have done with fewer exclmation marks, but then I always could.
Thoughtful and passionate; anyone with an interest in folklore or queer fantastical stories would get something from this. Great chapter illustrations, too. ...more
Very readable and entertaining fantasy set in modern Lapland, here presented as extremely rural and weird in a small town / folklore / casual monstersVery readable and entertaining fantasy set in modern Lapland, here presented as extremely rural and weird in a small town / folklore / casual monsters sort of way. It's really about acceptance (of oneself and others) and coming to terms with life just not going how you thought it might. Climate change hangs a heavy shadow over the whole book. (As do mosquitoes, wow, never going to Lapland in summer.)
There's a lot to feel bleak about but the story has an indomitability and cooperativeness that ends up making it an exuberant read. Vividly written/translated, rattles along delightfully....more
There is a lot to like about this. I loved the description of the catching of the mermaid, and the brutal soulless greed of the USian sport fisherman There is a lot to like about this. I loved the description of the catching of the mermaid, and the brutal soulless greed of the USian sport fisherman who wants to sell her and never mind that she's clearly a conscious person. This book is very much about colonialism, greed, the lasting trauma of enslavement, the treating of other people as less than human. It's also a lot about sex (the writing of which is done in a very earthy way), the desire and entitlement of men, the multiple ways that can ruin women. And it's about the forgetting of people's history, the fragility of memory and community. There's a lot there.
I didn't quite feel it came together for me. Possibly that's in the structure, which switches from 1970s present to 2015 reminiscing to the mermaid's thoughts at unspecified times, I assume as a deliberate unmooring effect, but it did make me feel unmoored. And the pacing becomes very slow through the middle after a terrific start. It's really marvellously and vividly imagined, with great atmosphere, and a lot to think about: I just wanted a little more plot. But that's very often magic realism for you, and I am a very plot driven reader, so....more
The sort of litfic I like in theory. Less so in practice. A series of short stories vaguely themed around the Herne myth and with a recurring family nThe sort of litfic I like in theory. Less so in practice. A series of short stories vaguely themed around the Herne myth and with a recurring family name. I didn't find them sufficiently connected or sufficiently different to keep my attention going, and by half way I had failed to grasp the overriding point, so DNF at 47%. ...more
Sweet slow burn romance between a guy who needs to save his sister from a magical curse, and a somewhat Herne-ish fox/stag/forest god.
It's a likeableSweet slow burn romance between a guy who needs to save his sister from a magical curse, and a somewhat Herne-ish fox/stag/forest god.
It's a likeable, engaging story. The magic is beautifully drawn with some delightful and ingenious details, and it's very tender and lyrically written, with hope and kindness. The relationship is very sweet, which honestly I regretted a tiny bit, purely because I liked its initial premise so much: Fenton (the god) is wonderfully alarming at first, all wildness and savagery and brutal killing, but that aspect seemed to switch off completely in the relationship with Prior in favour off a sweet building relationship of love and trust. Which is great in itself, and works very well: I just really enjoyed the wild inhuman aspect of the forest god, and I'd have liked that edge of threat explored more. However, that's not the story. KJ Stop Arguing With Books For Not Being Other Books 2023.
If you like eg Legends and Lattes, you'll love this. ...more
A lot to like about this murder mystery, starring Mud, a Kiowa Native American who left for Silicon Valley a decade ago but is called back by a cryptiA lot to like about this murder mystery, starring Mud, a Kiowa Native American who left for Silicon Valley a decade ago but is called back by a cryptic message, and finds herself embroiled in mystery, murder, and skulduggery, also reuniting with her ?misguided ?evil ex (a woman now married to the local bully boy) and dealing with her ambivalent feelings and her split identity. All of that is really intriguing, as is the detail about life as a Kiowa, the ever-present thrum of tradition and belief, the cultural ways and traditions, and so on.
It did need a stronger edit (it's a debut)--overall, but also there are quite a few points that feel like the author explaining the plot to herself, and a couple of clunky passages of Villains Admit What They Did. Nothing that couldn't have been sorted by a proper edit, but the reading experience wasn't as smooth as it could be.
(There's also an odd kind of repetition: when the author explains something about Kiowa ways (a hand signal, the meaning of a word, a taboo) the exact same information is very frequently repeated at least once in the next few pages. It's so striking and happens so often, I was wondering if it related to Mud's role as the tribe storyteller, given repetition is such a feature of oral traditional storytelling. But I might be completely wrong and it's an editor thinking this stuff needs to be hammered into the reader's head. IDK.)
Very well drawn setting, with a strong sense of place and of culture and a vivid cast of characters. The mystery has some nice twists though it's not super complex. There are quite a few unresolved plotlines (the fracking, Mud's company, possible romances) but those will be addressed in the next book judging by the synopsis: the intention is clearly full on roman fleuve, and why not.
Overall a really interesting debut if not flawless, and I want to see where the author goes with the series. ...more
I'm fairly sure I didn't entirely get what the author was doing here, which would be down to my lack of immersion in the culture and literature: it's I'm fairly sure I didn't entirely get what the author was doing here, which would be down to my lack of immersion in the culture and literature: it's a hugely allusive book.
Presented as a companion piece to the Thousand and One Nights, once the despot has decided to stop murdering women. It takes up various stories of people in one quarter of the city he rules: jinn playing hob with the affairs of humanity, women desired and abused, men mostly behaving appallingly under the influence of jinn or greed or lust or ambition or fear or religion.
There's a constant throb of politics through the fairytales: unjust rulers, unjust officials, corruption, arbitrary arrests, torture, executions, and a constant churn at the top as official after official is found wanting. Also a lot of high-minded aphorisms about good rulers and praise of God's mercy, which we may want to compare and contrast to the actual state of the world.
Fascinating and haunting. I need to read the Cairo trilogy, clearly....more
I've wanted to try this author for a while, so very pleased these are coming to Kobo. This is an enjoyable urban fantasy/folk horror romp with magic mI've wanted to try this author for a while, so very pleased these are coming to Kobo. This is an enjoyable urban fantasy/folk horror romp with magic mirrors and mythical murder dog. Lively writing with a slight Emily Dickinson tendency to the em dash as sentence connector. I feel I may be getting more....more
A marvellous reimagining of the story of Kaikeyi, evil stepmother of Rama in the Ramayana. I only know the story as an outline, not in the kind of detA marvellous reimagining of the story of Kaikeyi, evil stepmother of Rama in the Ramayana. I only know the story as an outline, not in the kind of detail that would probably add a lot of richness to the retelling, but that wasn't a problem at all.
This is a terrific, hugely immersive read. Kaikeyi is wonderfully drawn, as is the ancient Indian setting, a world of gods and magic and monsters and warfare and a lot of misogyny. Female solidarity is a huge theme here, between the queens, between Kaikeyi and her most trusted servants, and between the queens and the women their husbands rules. Women lift each other up in a world where men at best fail to support, let them down, abuse them, ignore them, and in which the gods are manipulative for their own purposes and don't give a damn for the lives of individuals (so, kind of like men, then). In particular, Rama is shown to be both an incarnated god and, simultaneously, the result of treating a young man like an incarnated god: without being a bad or ill-meaning person he's disastrously selfish, sucks the independent lives out of people around him, thin-skinned, destructive and wrecks the lives of women. Let's not teach young men that they're gods.
It's very powerful, and really compelling, especially in Kaikeyi's dogged fuck-you defiance of gods and men. She's a strong female character in the good way: she uses soft power all the time and manipulation where she must, she learns to fight but doesn't want war, and she learns to be laser focused on the good of the many, not personal ambition.
Hugely readable, I wolfed it despite the length. ...more
A Tchaikovsky take on the portal fantasy, which is to say it goes weird and dark and there's a lot of swearing.
Hugely enjoyable pandemic-set novella A Tchaikovsky take on the portal fantasy, which is to say it goes weird and dark and there's a lot of swearing.
Hugely enjoyable pandemic-set novella in which a washed up kids TV presenter slowly discovers that his grandmother's apparently knock-off Narnia series is based in, if not reality, at least alternative reality. It's nicely structured, deeply disturbing if you ever fantasised about being a portal kid and meeting fauns, and has a truly awful clown. Also an offer of redemption to a selfish middle-aged man that doesn't involve heroism or Chosen-One-ing so much as simply caring about people. I like. ...more
A collection of stories making up a picture of a remote island with a strongly fairytale feel (people with swan's wings for arms, sisters fighting oveA collection of stories making up a picture of a remote island with a strongly fairytale feel (people with swan's wings for arms, sisters fighting over men, witches and changelings and folk deities). Very atmospheric and well written but I found myself waiting for a point/direction/plot that didn't really emerge. However I'm a plot-driven reader; if you like fine writing and atmosphere and playing with fairytales as an end in itself, this will be your bag.
The Vikram and Vetaal (who is not a vampire, dude, jeez) cycle as told by Sir Richard Burton (the Victorian one, not the actor) through an extremely BThe Vikram and Vetaal (who is not a vampire, dude, jeez) cycle as told by Sir Richard Burton (the Victorian one, not the actor) through an extremely British Victorian lens with bonus heapings of misogyny and colonial condescension, though he at least acknowledges the British had no business being in India. More of a curiosity than anything, plus in the matter of grammar archaism reigns, around with normal order of speech silly buggers playing.
Not nearly as interesting as Gayathri Prabhu's recent Vetaal and Vikram. I remain in need of a good ur-version in English translation, but with a story cycle this old, maybe there's no such thing?...more
This came garnished with lavish praise on the cover and award nominations and I...can't entirely see why. It's a perfectly serviceable retelling of vaThis came garnished with lavish praise on the cover and award nominations and I...can't entirely see why. It's a perfectly serviceable retelling of various British myths and legends, although it's not fully clear which parts the author embroidered/added and which are from the originals. That didn't bother me in the wonderful Vetaal and Vikram: Riddles of the Undead but then, that was so wonderfully written. Here the writing's not particularly exciting or evocative so I was reading it for the actual folklore and didn't really want interpolations and alterations.
It's fine, I was just expecting it to be amazing. Hype strikes again. ...more
Another immensely enjoyable instalment in the rural-fantasy series. This is kind of...think Jack Reacher but with heart and magic. Big taciturn hero (Another immensely enjoyable instalment in the rural-fantasy series. This is kind of...think Jack Reacher but with heart and magic. Big taciturn hero (who is in this case a dryad's son) and narrates in a low-affect, heavily detailed-oriented way; a bit of a drifter who takes on terrifying bad guysin order to do the right thing. It is immensely satisfying.
Here we have a Welsh setting for a Queen under the Hill/fairy abduction case, some properly sinister magic, and an intriguing hint that Dan might have more power than he realises, boding well for the next book. /rubs hands/ I enjoyed it enormously.
I had an ARC from the publisher, which came exactly when I needed to kick me out of an imminent reading slump. ...more
Overview of mostly British folklore, divided by theme, with a strong sense of place. Interesting on what the tales are really telling us, and the veryOverview of mostly British folklore, divided by theme, with a strong sense of place. Interesting on what the tales are really telling us, and the very late rise of the Green Man figure (a fairly modern invention).
There's a fair bit on modern uses of folklore in TV and books, which is frankly WTF. Doesn't so much as *mention* Terry Pratchett, whose deep knowledge of folklore informs Discworld in really interesting and ingenious ways (how can there be a whole chapter on the Tam Lin thing without discussing Lords and Ladies?!). But there's a ton of admiration for JK Rowling's back-of-the-fridge approach of dumping in a bunch of magpied names. Nothing to do with this being a Bloomsbury book, I'm sure....more
A delve into English history, attempting to trace the roots of a folk legend of a dragon killer in a tiny Hertfordshire village. Interesting in how hiA delve into English history, attempting to trace the roots of a folk legend of a dragon killer in a tiny Hertfordshire village. Interesting in how historians go about looking for clues and answers, with lots of intriguing byways about tradition, superstition, mythmaking and history.
Ultimately a bit inconclusive since there are of course no answers to be had at a thousand years' distance and there isn't a super strong thesis, more a meditation. Good for those with an interest in folklore.
However, I had the 2020 HarperCollins paperback with the teal cover and I have to point out that the text seems to have been formatted for a completely different size of book since it has ludicrously massive margins and is poorly sited on the page. Not sure why the publisher couldn't have adjusted the layout rather than wasting quite so much paper on making a slim book into a brick. ...more
Absolutely superb fantasy set in modern Malaysia, as a Malaysian American lesbian finds herself haunted by her grandmother and then meddling in the afAbsolutely superb fantasy set in modern Malaysia, as a Malaysian American lesbian finds herself haunted by her grandmother and then meddling in the affairs of gods, which is always a bad idea.
Glorious dialogue, great characters depicted with deep affection as well as clearsightedness, magnificently vivid setting, and a twisty, unpredictable plot, plus a thrumming current of rage: at how men treat women, at racism, at how immigrants are abused, societal homophobia, capitalism, greed--there's a lot to be angry about here and we are, and that engine of rage is at the core of the plot because it's what drives the god too.
I really enjoyed this series about a priest, a New Ager and a hedge witch in a modernish Brexit Britain town on the borders of fairyland. That said, tI really enjoyed this series about a priest, a New Ager and a hedge witch in a modernish Brexit Britain town on the borders of fairyland. That said, this installment didn't quite land for me. It may be because I'm in a reading slump, but the plot felt a bit...unfocused, maybe, or insufficiently grounded, with an awful lot of things being set up and happening quite quickly so I didn't feel the impact. Lots of great ideas, vivid, and I really enjoy the characters and voice, so don't know, maybe I'm just not a very good reader atm. ...more
That was an experience. A sort of dreamlike ramble through a landscape of Nigerian folktales and mythology, told in a marvellously deadpan narrative vThat was an experience. A sort of dreamlike ramble through a landscape of Nigerian folktales and mythology, told in a marvellously deadpan narrative voice. I read the whole thing with bewildered fascination and came out the other side feeling slightly woozy in the head. ...more
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