Hello, new people!

[dolorosa_12]

The recent friending meme inspired me to finally do something I've been meaning to do for years: create a sticky introduction post for my Dreamwidth, rather than repeatedly introducing myself every time I add a bunch of new people.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone I met through the friending meme. To get things started off, consider this post a place where you can ask me anything that takes your fancy. (This doesn't just go for new subscribers: anyone subscribed to me should feel free to ask questions as well!)

So, hello!

Comments

[dolorosa_12]

Wow, that's a lot of stuff to talk about! To keep this reply within a reasonable number of words, I'm going to try to limit what I say about each book to a handful of sentences, but am happy to elaborate further.

Spinning Silver: I just really, really, really love Miryam. I love how her skills (thrift, bargaining, mercantile abilities) are made heroic, so that they resonate like the acts of a fairytale or folklore heroine. On a broader level, I really appreciate how the book itself is an act of reclamation (by a Jewish author) of really terrible, longstanding antisemitic tropes, taking things that have been truly damaging throughout history, and making them a story of family, community, and survival.

Pagan Chronicles: To be honest, I think it was this series that gave me my love of a) found families and b) hurt/comfort. I adore Pagan and Babylonne (and to a lesser extent Isidore and Roland) beyond all reason, and I love that the entire series is basically a family saga of dispossessed, traumatised orphans finding home, family, and purpose in each other. As an immigrant, Pagan's experiences of building a successful (and intellectually enriching) life outside the country of his birth really resonate with me. I also love the compassion and generosity of spirit with which the series is written: the characters have endless empathy for human frailty, and for the compromises people are forced to make when they are weak, and at the mercy of the powerful. But they also have a clear-eyed, unforgiving contempt for the abuses of power perpetuated by those in authority, and I really, really, appreciate that.

A Memory Called Empire: I could say so, so much about this series, but in short, it hits me right in the depths of my immigrant heart. I wrote a bit about it in a recent post: this story just gets what it is to leave your home, to put down roots elsewhere while knowing doing so is fraught with difficulty, and to love the literature and pop culture of a hegemonic culture with the awareness that this love is tinged with a kind of complicity.

As to folktales, fairytales, and mythology: I'm more familiar with those from Britain and Ireland, and in general I find myself drawn to stories that are about women, transformations, and reclamations of self (so things like swan-maidens and selkies). I also like stories that deal with journeys to otherworlds, or underworlds, and mortal characters having to remember various rules to help them survive such journeys, and return home. I also really, really like stories which hinge on names, bargains, truths, half-truths, and circumlocution.

Please feel free to talk to me about any of the books/etc that you've asked me about! I'm astonished in particular to find someone who's read the Pagan Chronicles — that's incredibly rare, in my experience, and I'm delighted!

[sophia_sol]

Hah, oops, I meant my question to be "choose amongst these topics for one to talk about" but I'm not sad to hear all about all of these! :D

Spinning Silver: yessss, Miryem is SO great! I love all the women in that book though, and how all of them get to be heroic in their own ways with their own varying skillsets, many of which are not traditionally heroic. And the way Novik built on and recontextualized the fairy tale tropes she was drawing from is so great.

Pagan Chronicles: I've always been a big fan of found families, so that's absolutely what drew me to the Pagan Chronicles as well! I also love its approach to history: not romanticising the past the way some historical fiction authors like to, but also not pretending that it was grim and awful all the way down either. And it's clear the author has done her research; all the earthy details make the world of the past feel so real. I loved Pagan's relationship with Roland, how much they work to take care of each other and how much they don't understand each other despite how much they care. And I loved loved loved Babylonne; I wish Babylonne and Pagan could have met!

A Memory Called Empire: actually possibly one of my favourite books I've ever read, it's absolutely brilliant and I love everything about it, including but not limited to the stuff you say. My book review of it was ~1700 words and even then I felt like I hadn't managed to mention everything I loved so much about it. It was just so good. I can't wait till the sequel comes out!

Folk tales, fairy tales, & mythology: When I was a kid this was basically my main obsession so I have read a whole lot, but my adult knowledge coming from like, reputable sources, is a bit thinner. I did write my undergrad thesis about the Thousand and One Nights, and still have a great deal of fondness for that group of stories particularly. Overall though I love how traditional stories can give you a glimpse into what was important for the people who told the tale. I'm also drawn particularly to stories about women; for me it's part of my interest in stories that feature things that the traditional 19th century educated white male folklorist would have not found worthwhile. I particularly love stories about women who dress up as men and are better at being men than all the real men! (this is perhaps not surprising given that I am nonbinary trans :P)