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kateelliottI have been thoroughly enmeshed in writing COLD FIRE, and now in revising COLD FIRE, and as some among you know, in full-bore writing ANGST of the most tiresome kind, which naturally tires me out. I have not done a lot of reading recently, and the reading I have done has been mostly non fiction for research. I did go through a brief spurt of reading historical romances, but then I burned out on those. And I haven't been able to read secondary world fantasies for some months because I was writing so immersively, although at the moment I think I am ready to go back to reading secondary world fantasy but at the moment I simply do not have time until I finish Draft Two of CF.
In the interval, I have decided I need to do a better job mentioning books and films/tv I have enjoyed.
Today: N.K. Jemisin's THE BROKEN KINGDOMS.
I gave a quote to Jemisin's debut, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, because I was so excited by this first novel (I hadn't read any of Jemisin's short stories because by and large I don't read short stories). As much as I enjoyed 100K, though, I totally adored TBS with utter squee. The novel has all the strengths of the first one: a strong narrative first person voice (and I am a tough sell on first person), a complex world that has no easy answers or pat solutions, plenty of action and intrigue and plot. However, while I respected and was gripped by Yeine's story in 100K, I cannot say I loved Yeine. Not so with Oree, the protagonist of TBS. I really identified with her, and not just because I've worn glasses and been terribly near sighted since I was 5, but because I found her terrifically sympathetic. Also, frankly, the story features one of my little secret fondnesses (or perhaps we should say weaknesses or narrative kinks): the arrogant dude who learns his lesson the hard way.
Highly recommended.
In the interval, I have decided I need to do a better job mentioning books and films/tv I have enjoyed.
Today: N.K. Jemisin's THE BROKEN KINGDOMS.
I gave a quote to Jemisin's debut, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, because I was so excited by this first novel (I hadn't read any of Jemisin's short stories because by and large I don't read short stories). As much as I enjoyed 100K, though, I totally adored TBS with utter squee. The novel has all the strengths of the first one: a strong narrative first person voice (and I am a tough sell on first person), a complex world that has no easy answers or pat solutions, plenty of action and intrigue and plot. However, while I respected and was gripped by Yeine's story in 100K, I cannot say I loved Yeine. Not so with Oree, the protagonist of TBS. I really identified with her, and not just because I've worn glasses and been terribly near sighted since I was 5, but because I found her terrifically sympathetic. Also, frankly, the story features one of my little secret fondnesses (or perhaps we should say weaknesses or narrative kinks): the arrogant dude who learns his lesson the hard way.
Highly recommended.