I absolutely loved The Song of Achilles. It was incredibly moving and I was surprised how much it changed my view of a hero I basically considered a tool bag (Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida and Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Firebrand may have helped shape that interpretations). I think at least part of the power was because I didn’t not expect to be so moved by a character that often could easily be reduced to warrior with a huge ego. Circe, on the other hand, was a […]
You Can Never Leave the Island
Since I drove up to visit my parents’ new house last weekend (and to catch up with my cat), I actually had a long enough drive for once to make progress in an audiobook (“thanks” to traffic, it ended up being much more progress than I expected). I think I bought this when it was an Audible deal of the day, and I am so glad I did. It was an enjoyable story, easy to listen to, though I do feel that the narrator’s voice […]
Finally, Some Good Sci-Fi Again
Bothari43 mentioned Elizabeth Moon as an author to check out when I was lamenting my inability to enjoy sci-fi, and this novel had been mentioned on a Book Riot discussion about novels “with a female protagonist over 60” (or “sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author”). With those two recommendations, I decided to give it a shot, and: it wasn’t me! I have simply been choosing the wrong sci-fi novels. It turns out that I might get bored with descriptions of the […]
Don’t Expect Logical Actions from Racists
Thank you so much to caitycat! I doubt I would have stumbled across this novel without her review, and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite some minor complaints about potential red herrings or loose threads. The novel is set near Baltimore in 1880. The North never won the Civil War because of the zombie outbreak that followed the Battle of Gettysburg, leading to a quick reconciliation between the two sides to face the common threat to the survival of humanity. Slaves were declared free, but, for […]