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hoursgoneby) wrote2015-09-03 05:24 pm
hoursgoneby) wrote2015-09-03 05:24 pm
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What Am I Reading Wednesday, September 2, 2015 (one day late)
What I Just Finished Reading: The Privilege of the Sword, by Ellen Kushner. I think I enjoy this book more every time I read it. :)
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer. Okay, first, that cover has next to nothing to do with the book. (There's a carrying scene. It's brief, and practical and not nearly as dramatic as the cover makes it seem.) The book takes place in a world where men are exceedingly rare, to the point that one man marries an entire family of sisters, and selling and trading of brothers rather than dating and romance is pretty much the only way to find someone(s) to marry. Men are considered property.
The book never goes into detail but I rather get the impression that there was a catrastrophe sometime in the past that resulted in heavy depopulation and fewer boys being born. This results in huge families - the protagonist, Jerin, has nearly three dozen siblings - with one father and multiple mothers. Women having intimitate relationships with other women isn't seen as unsual, and at least one character doesn't see women dressing as men (for sex work anyway) as anything odd, but there's no mention of what life's like for men who are anything other than straight and cis. This isn't unusual in speculative fiction, but the fact that it's addressed for women and no one else is one of the things that really helped drive home the fact that men are property in this world. It's not just gender-flipped for the sake of having a Lady Land, either, a lot of this is actually discussed by the characters.
The book also averts the STD Immunity trope: syphilis is a big big problem, so much so that whole families have been wiped out and if there's even the slightest rumour one member of the family might have it, you're off the marriage market. All of you, since all sisters share one husband, meaning everyone can be infected before the disease is discovered.
The world in question seems to be at about a mid-1800s technology level: rifling for cannons has just been invented, there are steam powered boats and the microscope is a recent discovery. It's kind of like a matriarchal Old West, with a monarchy and a little bit of Jane Austin thrown in for good measure. If you're curious, an excerpt is available here.
Oh, did I mention all the men have long hair? Because all the men have long hair.
What I'm Currently Reading: Celts by Martin J. Dougherty. I think this is the only non-fiction book I've mentioned here? I picked it up initially because it was cheap and I needed to buy something to read while I was waiting to meet someone at the Starbucks in my local Chapters.
What I'm Reading Next: Of Bone and Thunder: A Novel, by Chris Evans, the author of The Iron Elves trilogy. From the Goodreads page, since I haven't read the novel itself yet:
I'll have to let you know if it lives up to this or not.
A Brother's Price by Wen Spencer. Okay, first, that cover has next to nothing to do with the book. (There's a carrying scene. It's brief, and practical and not nearly as dramatic as the cover makes it seem.) The book takes place in a world where men are exceedingly rare, to the point that one man marries an entire family of sisters, and selling and trading of brothers rather than dating and romance is pretty much the only way to find someone(s) to marry. Men are considered property.
The book never goes into detail but I rather get the impression that there was a catrastrophe sometime in the past that resulted in heavy depopulation and fewer boys being born. This results in huge families - the protagonist, Jerin, has nearly three dozen siblings - with one father and multiple mothers. Women having intimitate relationships with other women isn't seen as unsual, and at least one character doesn't see women dressing as men (for sex work anyway) as anything odd, but there's no mention of what life's like for men who are anything other than straight and cis. This isn't unusual in speculative fiction, but the fact that it's addressed for women and no one else is one of the things that really helped drive home the fact that men are property in this world. It's not just gender-flipped for the sake of having a Lady Land, either, a lot of this is actually discussed by the characters.
The book also averts the STD Immunity trope: syphilis is a big big problem, so much so that whole families have been wiped out and if there's even the slightest rumour one member of the family might have it, you're off the marriage market. All of you, since all sisters share one husband, meaning everyone can be infected before the disease is discovered.
The world in question seems to be at about a mid-1800s technology level: rifling for cannons has just been invented, there are steam powered boats and the microscope is a recent discovery. It's kind of like a matriarchal Old West, with a monarchy and a little bit of Jane Austin thrown in for good measure. If you're curious, an excerpt is available here.
Oh, did I mention all the men have long hair? Because all the men have long hair.
What I'm Currently Reading: Celts by Martin J. Dougherty. I think this is the only non-fiction book I've mentioned here? I picked it up initially because it was cheap and I needed to buy something to read while I was waiting to meet someone at the Starbucks in my local Chapters.
What I'm Reading Next: Of Bone and Thunder: A Novel, by Chris Evans, the author of The Iron Elves trilogy. From the Goodreads page, since I haven't read the novel itself yet:
Channeling the turbulent period of the Vietnam War and its ruthless pitting of ideologies, cultures, generations, and races against each other, military historian and acclaimed fantasy writer Chris Evans takes a daring new approach to the traditional world of sword and sorcery by thrusting it into a maelstrom of racial animus, drug use, rebellion, and a growing war that seems at once unwinnable and with no end in sight. In this thrilling epic, right and wrong, country and honor, freedom and sacrifice are all put to the ultimate test in the heart of a dark, bloody, otherworldly jungle.
In this strange, new world deep among the shadows under a triple-canopy jungle and plagued by dangers real and imagined, soldiers strive to fulfill a mission they don’t understand and are ill-equipped to carry out. And high above them, the heavy rush of wings slashing through the humid air herald a coming wave of death and destruction, and just possibly, salvation.
I'll have to let you know if it lives up to this or not.