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Reading roundup: the novella edition
Feb. 19th, 2021 07:16 pmLast weekend I bought a batch of novellas in an attempt to lift my flagging spirits. It was definitely the right thing to do: I devoured all four books, and they certainly contributed a lot to improve my mood.
It sounds odd to describe Aliette de Bodard's 'Fireheart Tiger' as something that cheered me up: with a fantasy setting directly referencing pre-colonial Vietnam, and telling the story of a princess trying to navigate political tensions, stave off a colonising power, prove her worth to her emotionally abusive mother, and figure out how to handle the arrival of the woman with whom she previously had an affair at the head of the colonising country's delegation to her mother's court, this is not exactly a light and fluffy story. Like much of de Bodard's writing, the story imagines a world in which homophobia and sexism do not exist (jobs and the ability to hold positions of authority are not tied to gender, relationships and marriages between same-sex partners are as ubiquitous and unremarkable as those between heterosexual couples), but in which racism and colonialism play a major role. This is a well-crafted story of a woman clawing her way out of various abusive relationships, finding her voice, and getting her happy ending.
I think my favourite of the four novellas would have to be 'The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water' by Zen Cho. This was a rollicking, wuxia-inspired tale, set in a world resembling Malaysia immediately after World War II, about a band of hapless (and somewhat incompetent) outlaws, joined by a no-nonsense nun, and their various misadventures. As with all of Cho's work, it was laugh-out-loud hilarious — she is such a good writer of humour, and this novella sparkled with her characteristic wit.
'When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain' by Nghi Vo might give Cho's novella a run for its money in my affections. This story sees two human characters held hostage by a pack of shapeshifting tigers, and having to save their lives by telling an engaging story, much in the manner of Scheherazade. It's a sharp, pointed tale, with a meandering story-with-in-a-story that explores issues of memory, history, and the slippery nature of narrative. I really, really enjoyed it.
Last of this recent batch of novellas was 'The Drowned Country' by Emily Tesh, the second half of her Greenhallow fantasy m/m romance duology. Like the first book, I found this good, rather than great — I feel like the characters are underdeveloped (meaning it's hard to invest in their will-they-won't-they romance), and I feel like the central premise (that the supernatural sits uneasily next to the quotidian world, always threatening to break through in ways that evoke folk horror imagery) is also a bit underdeveloped. This was one of those novellas that I felt really would have been better as a full-length novel, although I'm not sure the author would have been able to sustain things for that long. I liked the setting, though — an obvious analogue for Whitby in England, complete with throwaway references to vampires — while at the same time feeling that the whole thing was a little unformed.
I'm currently reading the fourth Bridgerton book, but I'm finding it hard to stay motivated, possibly due to the characters in the central romance. ( Spoilers for an eighteen-year-old book )
I suspect there will be more books to come this weekend.
It sounds odd to describe Aliette de Bodard's 'Fireheart Tiger' as something that cheered me up: with a fantasy setting directly referencing pre-colonial Vietnam, and telling the story of a princess trying to navigate political tensions, stave off a colonising power, prove her worth to her emotionally abusive mother, and figure out how to handle the arrival of the woman with whom she previously had an affair at the head of the colonising country's delegation to her mother's court, this is not exactly a light and fluffy story. Like much of de Bodard's writing, the story imagines a world in which homophobia and sexism do not exist (jobs and the ability to hold positions of authority are not tied to gender, relationships and marriages between same-sex partners are as ubiquitous and unremarkable as those between heterosexual couples), but in which racism and colonialism play a major role. This is a well-crafted story of a woman clawing her way out of various abusive relationships, finding her voice, and getting her happy ending.
I think my favourite of the four novellas would have to be 'The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water' by Zen Cho. This was a rollicking, wuxia-inspired tale, set in a world resembling Malaysia immediately after World War II, about a band of hapless (and somewhat incompetent) outlaws, joined by a no-nonsense nun, and their various misadventures. As with all of Cho's work, it was laugh-out-loud hilarious — she is such a good writer of humour, and this novella sparkled with her characteristic wit.
'When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain' by Nghi Vo might give Cho's novella a run for its money in my affections. This story sees two human characters held hostage by a pack of shapeshifting tigers, and having to save their lives by telling an engaging story, much in the manner of Scheherazade. It's a sharp, pointed tale, with a meandering story-with-in-a-story that explores issues of memory, history, and the slippery nature of narrative. I really, really enjoyed it.
Last of this recent batch of novellas was 'The Drowned Country' by Emily Tesh, the second half of her Greenhallow fantasy m/m romance duology. Like the first book, I found this good, rather than great — I feel like the characters are underdeveloped (meaning it's hard to invest in their will-they-won't-they romance), and I feel like the central premise (that the supernatural sits uneasily next to the quotidian world, always threatening to break through in ways that evoke folk horror imagery) is also a bit underdeveloped. This was one of those novellas that I felt really would have been better as a full-length novel, although I'm not sure the author would have been able to sustain things for that long. I liked the setting, though — an obvious analogue for Whitby in England, complete with throwaway references to vampires — while at the same time feeling that the whole thing was a little unformed.
I'm currently reading the fourth Bridgerton book, but I'm finding it hard to stay motivated, possibly due to the characters in the central romance. ( Spoilers for an eighteen-year-old book )
I suspect there will be more books to come this weekend.