I’m reviewing these two books together because despite their opposite takes on speculative futures, they use similar storytelling techniques to describe how women’s lives might be different in both the near, and far future. Naomi Alderman’s The Power imagines a future where women develop an ability to physically harm others with electric shocks. Due to the release and dispersion of an environmental hazard, women begin to develop a “skein” within their bodies which allows them to physically overpower people (men) with a jolt of energy. The strength of […]
For all the brutal women
CBR10Bingo: Listicles When I had my embarrassing epiphany this spring that my CBR reading list and library were unacceptably skewed toward male authors, I spent a number of hours googling female authors, particularly those in genres with which I’m less familiar. One of the best sources I found was a list called “27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now”, several of which I’ve purchased already and even more that are high on my wishlist. My most recent read from those recommendations was […]
The Sisters who Changed the Game
Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams mostly focuses on the early years of the Williams sisters. It introduces us to the two girls who started learning tennis well before they hit double digits. We see how one sister followed the other, but one day would beat her big sister in the game they both loved. We are shown how these sisters are both sisters, friends and rivals all at once. And Game Changers shows the struggles of becoming not only two of […]
Flynn: more like Gone Girl than Dark Places…which is good.
Gillian Flynn can definitely writer a thriller, and this one was a compelling page turner. I just discovered that I actually read her works in reverse order to her writing them. Sharp Objects is her first novel, followed by Dark Places and book-ended (heh) with Gone Girl. Flynn jumped on my radar like she did for many people, with Gone Girl, so I read it first, then Dark Places mostly because I could get it on audiobook quickly, and finally this one, also on audiobook. […]