I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. On paper, there’s lots to love. It’s an alternate history set in present day Canada (or maybe a notch in the future) where the British Empire didn’t fall and instead the monarchy made much more humane and multicultural decisions about how to incorporate the subjects of their colonies into the Empire as a whole. There’s still a royal family but over the years the royals have made strategic marriage alliances with their […]
What a strange, lovely little book.
I’m a little torn on this one, honestly! I thought it was a bit slow for my tastes, mostly at the beginning, and I would have appreciated a bit more wallowing in emotions, but I also understand this is a book designed in part to ape Victorian conventions and mores, so perhaps I was never going to get the version of this book that would have pleased me best. And what a strange little book it was! This is an alternate history/speculative take on quite […]
E.K. Johnston also gives good Star Wars.
You know what, the old EU was great (for the most part), but every book I have read in the new Star Wars canon has been great as well. And Ahsoka was no exception. If you haven’t watched the Clone Wars cartoon, you really should. That show, for me, redeemed the younger versions of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and it’s deeper examination of the Clone Wars was fascinating. It also introduced a handful of new characters to the Star Wars universe, including baddy Asajj […]
“I do not want to be anyone’s model for becoming a better person.”
I don’t want to sound overly dramatic when I say this, but I’m gonna go for it nonetheless: rape, or the possibility of rape, is such constant, persistent background noise in the life of most women that we forget the extent to which we negotiate around the threat. Even women who don’t consciously think of themselves as having ever explicitly feared rape or changed their behavior to avoid it will answer in the affirmative when you ask them more specific questions: do you and your […]