Yelling about necromancy, mostly
Jan. 16th, 2020 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enemyofperfectREAD
Some more of Reparations by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Saras_Girl. The plot is thickening and feelings have definitely been caught!
I have also, in the interests of taking part in POI book club next week, happily devoured learning to fall (don't try this at home) byMulaSaWala, which is the shorter prequel to this month's story. It's a delightful pre-series what-if where Nathan and Grace fall in love, and I'm totally looking forward to reading the sequel!
I also finished Gideon the Ninth.
If this novel were a fic on the AO3, I would expect to see it tagged with many content warnings, included by not limited to: major character death; graphic depictions of violence; suicide; child abuse; child death; abusive relationships; cancer; body horror; desecration of bodies; cannibalism (kind of); nonconsensual interference with other people's souls; plus just a whole bunch of bones and blood and gore. It's also incredibly vivid, gripping, and often hilarious when it isn't breaking your heart. It reminds me a little of Tanith Lee, except with even more necromancy and lesbians.
I will now proceed to discuss every twist in the novel, so, you know, spoilers.
I feel pretty pleased with myself for realizing as early as the failed ghost raising that Dulcinea was probably bad news: she and her cavalier prevented Abigail's return, after all. I didn't want to think that; I'd really liked her, plus I wasn't sure how I felt about making the terminally ill character a villain. I guess that... kind of was and wasn't subverted, ultimately. But yeah. Poor awful Septimus.
I also realized that Ianthe was the more powerful of the two twins, and that, I was honestly kind of surprised that the characters didn't pick up on. But I never did guess who the second incinerated body was until the story told me.
It helped, I think, that I knew going in that some good characters were going to die. And after the first four were down, it was more or less clear that this was of the genre where nearly everyone is going to bite it, so the subsquent body count didn't sting as much... except for how it really kind of did. Because I kind of liked Marta Dyas (so efficient, so restrained), and Palamedes (the big nerd) and Camilla (his perfect pragmatic counterpart) were lowkey my faves.
(I'm still hoping against hope that somehow Camilla got to Judith and the two of them found a way off planet between them. It's not impossible, right? Surely?)
And I really, really hurt for Colum: his whole life had been ground down for the greater power of his necromancer, and he had so clearly resigned himself to having his soul taken wholesale -- only to have his relief and faith immediately betrayed by being used as a battery once again, this time against his will, and this time, he died of it. Everyone in this book is a tragedy -- especially Isaac and Jeanmary, those poor fucking kids -- but characters with that kind of dull acceptance that doesn't quite drown out the fear, they get to me.
I don't know if I'm going to read the sequel. I mean, I like Harrow -- she's awful, but I like her. That's a hell of an origin story her parents gave her, you know? And her whole offended cat attitude towards affection and trust is fun. But when I got to the last chapter, when I saw that skull with Gideon's terrible shades and that grin like heyyyyyy -- for a second I somehow thought things were going to be okay, you know? I thought that. I figured this was going to be a long term cohabitation type deal with Gideon annoying Harrow 24/7/365, or however they measure time in space, and I was cool with that.
And then it wasn't. And I like Harrow. But I don't know if I want to keep reading without Gideon. She was just such an unbelievable doofus of a kickass cavalier. I'm going to miss her so much.
But yeah. Damn, this book!
I am also deeply disappointed, for the record, that we no sooner learned that the skeletons were people than they were summarily crumbled to bits. I wanted to learn more about the skeleton friends! I wanted Gideon to thank them for all the breakfasts they'd made her!!!
Hecking stories making me feel feelings, I can't even. I'm so irate.
~~~spoilers finally end here~~~
WATCHED
Doctor Who through episode 11x02, "The Ghost Monument". I've finally met the Thirteenth Doctor! I'm so glad! Two episodes in, I'm already quite liking her, which I think might be faster than I warmed to any previous Doctor -- even Nine. Ryan's dyspraxia is so relatable! I love that he and Yaz are old school friends! And the TARDIS's new entryway is just gorgeous. Well done, old thing.
The Good Place spoilers for episode 4x11, "Mondays, Am I Right?"
I enjoyed this episode a lot more than last week's! I think it's the greater emphasis on characters, or moral dilemmas as played out by specific characters, instead of on questions quite so abstract as the entire future of everyone ever.
But I really liked the the arc of Vicky returning, Michael trying to chase her off because this was his thing, and Tahani and Janet helping him realize that he needed to step back and pass the baton. (I'm also tempted to read that as a very lowkey argument against unfettered capitalism -- what meaning is there in existence without a stone to roll up a hill? -- but that might just be me.)
And Jason was so great, I loved the way he helped Chidi! And Chidi and Eleanor were basically just incredibly adorable. And there's going to be three whole more episodes covering after they get to the Good Place! I'm looking forward to it so much!
Some more of Reparations by
I have also, in the interests of taking part in POI book club next week, happily devoured learning to fall (don't try this at home) by
I also finished Gideon the Ninth.
If this novel were a fic on the AO3, I would expect to see it tagged with many content warnings, included by not limited to: major character death; graphic depictions of violence; suicide; child abuse; child death; abusive relationships; cancer; body horror; desecration of bodies; cannibalism (kind of); nonconsensual interference with other people's souls; plus just a whole bunch of bones and blood and gore. It's also incredibly vivid, gripping, and often hilarious when it isn't breaking your heart. It reminds me a little of Tanith Lee, except with even more necromancy and lesbians.
I will now proceed to discuss every twist in the novel, so, you know, spoilers.
I feel pretty pleased with myself for realizing as early as the failed ghost raising that Dulcinea was probably bad news: she and her cavalier prevented Abigail's return, after all. I didn't want to think that; I'd really liked her, plus I wasn't sure how I felt about making the terminally ill character a villain. I guess that... kind of was and wasn't subverted, ultimately. But yeah. Poor awful Septimus.
I also realized that Ianthe was the more powerful of the two twins, and that, I was honestly kind of surprised that the characters didn't pick up on. But I never did guess who the second incinerated body was until the story told me.
It helped, I think, that I knew going in that some good characters were going to die. And after the first four were down, it was more or less clear that this was of the genre where nearly everyone is going to bite it, so the subsquent body count didn't sting as much... except for how it really kind of did. Because I kind of liked Marta Dyas (so efficient, so restrained), and Palamedes (the big nerd) and Camilla (his perfect pragmatic counterpart) were lowkey my faves.
(I'm still hoping against hope that somehow Camilla got to Judith and the two of them found a way off planet between them. It's not impossible, right? Surely?)
And I really, really hurt for Colum: his whole life had been ground down for the greater power of his necromancer, and he had so clearly resigned himself to having his soul taken wholesale -- only to have his relief and faith immediately betrayed by being used as a battery once again, this time against his will, and this time, he died of it. Everyone in this book is a tragedy -- especially Isaac and Jeanmary, those poor fucking kids -- but characters with that kind of dull acceptance that doesn't quite drown out the fear, they get to me.
I don't know if I'm going to read the sequel. I mean, I like Harrow -- she's awful, but I like her. That's a hell of an origin story her parents gave her, you know? And her whole offended cat attitude towards affection and trust is fun. But when I got to the last chapter, when I saw that skull with Gideon's terrible shades and that grin like heyyyyyy -- for a second I somehow thought things were going to be okay, you know? I thought that. I figured this was going to be a long term cohabitation type deal with Gideon annoying Harrow 24/7/365, or however they measure time in space, and I was cool with that.
And then it wasn't. And I like Harrow. But I don't know if I want to keep reading without Gideon. She was just such an unbelievable doofus of a kickass cavalier. I'm going to miss her so much.
But yeah. Damn, this book!
I am also deeply disappointed, for the record, that we no sooner learned that the skeletons were people than they were summarily crumbled to bits. I wanted to learn more about the skeleton friends! I wanted Gideon to thank them for all the breakfasts they'd made her!!!
Hecking stories making me feel feelings, I can't even. I'm so irate.
~~~spoilers finally end here~~~
WATCHED
Doctor Who through episode 11x02, "The Ghost Monument". I've finally met the Thirteenth Doctor! I'm so glad! Two episodes in, I'm already quite liking her, which I think might be faster than I warmed to any previous Doctor -- even Nine. Ryan's dyspraxia is so relatable! I love that he and Yaz are old school friends! And the TARDIS's new entryway is just gorgeous. Well done, old thing.
The Good Place spoilers for episode 4x11, "Mondays, Am I Right?"
I enjoyed this episode a lot more than last week's! I think it's the greater emphasis on characters, or moral dilemmas as played out by specific characters, instead of on questions quite so abstract as the entire future of everyone ever.
But I really liked the the arc of Vicky returning, Michael trying to chase her off because this was his thing, and Tahani and Janet helping him realize that he needed to step back and pass the baton. (I'm also tempted to read that as a very lowkey argument against unfettered capitalism -- what meaning is there in existence without a stone to roll up a hill? -- but that might just be me.)
And Jason was so great, I loved the way he helped Chidi! And Chidi and Eleanor were basically just incredibly adorable. And there's going to be three whole more episodes covering after they get to the Good Place! I'm looking forward to it so much!
no subject
Date: 2020-01-18 10:12 am (UTC)I've finally met the Thirteenth Doctor! I'm so glad!
Isn't she great! I love her.
no subject
Date: 2020-01-18 07:36 pm (UTC)And yeah, I'm really liking Thirteen. I probably couldn't make a good case for why, but the iteration she's reminding me of most is Nine -- something about the defiant hope, the lack of self-importance? We'll see how that feeling evolves as I get farther into her run, I guess.