Reviews: fantasy and superheroes

[rivkat]

Lois McMaster Bujold, The Sharing Knife: Legacy (vol. 2): Dag and Fawn, the Lakewalker patroller and farmer girl who met and married in the first volume, return to Dag’s home, where they face substantial prejudice against their marriage. Fawn lacks groundsense, the power that makes Lakewalkers special and allows them to fight against the malices/bogles that are the legacy of an ancient catastrophe. Dag’s family seeks to split them apart, but personal troubles are soon interrupted by an enormous and surprising malice outbreak. Pretty standard moves, enriched by Bujold’s ability to flesh out characters and give everyone, even the villains of the piece, understandable motivations. Solid fantasy. Note: Bujold has joined the trend among f/sf writers to include increasingly explicit sex scenes; one of these is of interest from a plot perspective. Compared to what crosses my reading list online every day, Bujold is fairly tame – like many writers experimenting with sex scenes, she does not give names or even nouns to the sex organs -- but there is a clear change in her writing, and she’s not alone (Robert Sawyer jumps immediately to mind, but there are plenty of others). Is this a change in publishing generally? Are f/sf writers now more able to add in sex, or are their editors telling them to do it, or some combination of the two?

Sarah Monette, The Mirador: The adventures of Felix and Mildmay, brothers and soul-bonded master and servant, continue, this time with even more palace intrigue and also a new POV from Mehitabel, whom we met in the previous volume. I like Mehitabel, who starts out in a difficult position – forced back into a life of spying by threats to her true love back in the Bastion – and makes the best of it. Her mercenary attitude towards sex is both refreshing and sad, because she’s not ashamed of who she sleeps with but she doesn’t do much of it for fun. I don’t find Felix particularly hateful here – he’s not especially nasty to Mildmay, which is what most people seem to care most about – but then I never had trouble tolerating him even when he was crazy and seeing animal-headed people all the time. Mildmay makes some steps towards self-understanding, and Felix – whose problem was never self-understanding – does some nice things for people who aren’t of use to him, so I’d say they both grow as people. Also, there are ghosts and ancient plots brought forward to the present day, in the aforementioned palace intrigue, though I’ve got to say that the book felt like somewhat less was at stake until the very climax, which ties up a lot of loose ends in the Mirador. I’ll look forward to the next volume.

Austin Grossman, Soon I Will Be Invincible: The good buzz on this superhero novel is justified. An escaped genius villain (think JLU Luthor) and a superpowered woman newly recruited into the highest-profile superteam on the side of good (kind of like Jessica Jones, but not nearly as bitter) alternate the story of the superteam’s hunt for the villain in the context of the disappearance, and apparent death, of the most powerful superhero of all (think Superman). Grossman doesn’t reinvent the form, but it’s well-written and respectful of the conventions while still remaining a bit detached and funny about them. Smarter review than I could come up with at Girl-Wonder; interview with the author in which he is impressive also there. What Grossman said about the role of the body in the superhero narrative reminded me of Jacob’s Farscape reviews – no, don’t run away, the book isn’t like that, but Jacob is always coming back to the idea that the thing that makes you awesome is the thing that makes you suck, and Grossman makes the point that superhero narratives literalize that through the body, though the powers are often related to, or standing in for, personality.

Comments

[cofax7]

Is this a change in publishing generally?

I suspect so. I noticed it recently when I was reading a mainstream mystery novel (one of Dana Stabenow's Liam Campbell books), and there was suddenly a highly explicit sex scene in the middle of the story. This was definitely a change; while Stabenow has always had a fair amount of sex in her novels, mostly it's been offscreen or elided. This was the sort of thing I would classify as NC-17 in a piece of fanfiction. And, which I found more noteworthy, completely unsignaled in any of the metadata on the novel (cover, blurb, etc).

The lines, they are blurring.

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

The Bujold book sounds interesting; I'll have to pick it up. Not sure why, but Monette's book doesn't appeal (I looked at it in the store). Fantasy can be hit or miss with me. I prefer SF.

the thing that makes you awesome is the thing that makes you suck Pithy, and so true... I definitely want Soon I'll Be Invincible.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Monette has a gift for character and worldbuilding; her biggest weakness is clearly pacing, but I just don't care, especially three books in. But there's no question that it's an investment: the worldbuilding is complex, she dumps you right in, and it takes a while to understand what's going on.

I think of myself as an SF fan, but these days I seem to be finding it easier to enjoy fantasy.

books

[sapphoq.livejournal.com]

Third one sounds very interesting and I may have to read it now.
First one-- I think I read an earlier book of hers-- tame.

I do remember when Elizabeth Moon and Mercedes Lackey each had a woman character who was raped and that was a big deal just a couple of years ago.

"powers...standing in for personality" Something I will be thinking about now.

spike

[ter369.livejournal.com]

Is this a change in publishing generally? Are f/sf writers now more able to add in sex, or are their editors telling them to do it, or some combination of the two?

Not just able to add, but requested to do so. One comment I receive regularly in submitting novel-length fantasy (to agents and editors) is varyingly worded hints to up the sex and violence. I think that women writing sf/f in particular (unless they're writing literary sf/f) are somewhat expected to do this, from what I see on the shelves in read in book deal blurbs.

Now I know I don't have to read Bujold's latest series. It sounds like a variation on Aral and Cordelia, and I really wish she'd written more about them amid Miles' adventures.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I want more Miles too; I enjoy her space opera more than her fantasy. But she's clearly writing what she wants to write, and it is certainly far from bad. It's just not what I want it to be.

[shiba-inu.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting for the novel that's about Ivan. She mentioned in an interview once that it would be fun to do such a thing.

Wow.

Miles as a supporting character. The mind boggles.

[ladyagnew.livejournal.com]

Miles as a supporting character. The mind boggles.

I actually think that'd be a fabulous way for her to get back to the Vor-verse. The last Vor book, Diplomatic Immunity was good, but I got a definite sense that while Bujold was not done with playing in the universe, she was finding it a little difficult to move forward with Miles as a character. She's brought him round full circle, to a place where his character is at peace and on good terms with life, i.e. perfect wife, perfect job, zygotes on the way to being kids, etc. Her best work, even from a non-Miles POV, has been when her characters start out miserable and disoriented to their fates : Gregor in The Vor Game, Mark in Mirror Dance, even Cordelia in Barrayar.

I think I'd love an Ivan novel. He is not only a great supporting character, but I also am curious about what his future holds because he's one character totally unsettled in life as yet. Plus: he brings the comedy. In some ways, I prefer the lighter novels in the series because she does have a deft hand at romantic comedy.

-- all this has made me realize how much I miss more Miles and company.

[cofax7]

IvanIvanIvan!

Yeah, I really really want the Ivan novel. I think she must have an idea about it, because she's been clearly positioning him for something.

I believe I heard a rumor that one of the reasons she's held off on the Vor-verse lately is because the next major novel will really have to deal with Aral's declining health (and, I assume, possible death) and that's going to be very painful to write (and to read: I love Aral!). It makes sense, but ouch.

[temporalrose.livejournal.com]

Oh man, an Ivan novel! That would be awesome. I would love to see a return to Barrayar, or at least to space.

[poodlerat.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of your fanfic for years, so it was kind of strange seeing your name attached to a review of The Mirador on LT---blurring the lines between different parts of my life.

I really hope that Bujold dumps the sex scenes when she goes back to the Vorkosigan or Chalion series. To me they just felt awkward and too revealing, somehow. Of course, it didn't help that I loathed the way the characters in TSK talked, so the fact that there was dialogue during the sex scenes was probably part of what made them such uncomfortable reading for me.

I love The Mirador and its prequels so very, very much. I find it odd how many people have a problem with her pacing, since her characters are so interesting that most of the time I couldn't care less whether the plot is going anywhere.

but then I never had trouble tolerating him even when he was crazy and seeing animal-headed people all the time

I actually liked him better when he was crazy. I love what Sarah Monette did with him---creating this character who arouses your sympathy because he's powerless, abused or ignored by everyone, and then you find out that when he's sane, he spends a lot of time being unkind and abusive. I think she did a marvellous job with Felix's characterization: he has so many seriously unattractive qualities, but it's still 100% clear why Mildmay cares about him so much---without Felix or Mildmay ever justifying or excusing Felix's darker behaviour.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Yes, the longer I'm in fandom, the more the threads seem to intertwine. I really like LT, and not just because we actually use Library of Congress labels to shelve our books.

I'm not sure how I feel about the explicitness trend. Mostly it just surprises me the first time an author whose work I know well adds in an explicit sex scene. I kind of wish there were more labels, the way fanfic usually has. The dialogue was not a problem for me; it was just that I wasn't as interested in these characters as in the Vors -- which I guess may have made me indifferent to what was revealed.

On Monette, I noticed the pacing when I was writing up the review, but I agree with you -- these folks are interesting enough that I just want to learn more about them. But I do think it was a good decision to end the way she did, clearing the decks for new adventures and new palace intrigue. Though I hope she lets Mildmay improve physically, or he's going to be immobile! I'm not sure I felt sympathy for Felix, because he was so alienating, in his crazy world -- also the initial glimpses of pre-crazy Felix we got were not particularly flattering. But I liked him; he was interesting as a character. And the Felix/Mildmay relationship is so rich!

[poodlerat.livejournal.com]

I find, with good authors, that if they don't usually include explicit sex in their books, it's for a good reason---generally because such a scene would be unnecessary, obtrusive, or just wouldn't fit the tone of the book. I'm really not happy with the idea that publishers would request/demand explicit sex scenes from authors who don't usually provide them.

That said, although I found the sex scenes between Dag and Fawn entirely unsexy, my biggest problem with TSK was that I had zero interest in any of the characters; most of them, including Dag and Fawn, both bored and annoyed me. I couldn't drum up any enthusiasm for the plot, either. Weird, because LMB is one of my favourite authors, and her plots and characters are the two things I love best about her other work. I guess TSK and I are fundamentally incompatible.

Yes, I think Felix and Mildmay's relationship is one of the most interesting I've ever read (just as they, individually, are two of the most fascinating fictional characters I know.) It provides the kind of satisfaction I usually only get from fanfic. And I liked the way The Mirador ended, too: not actually a cliffhanger, but it'll definitely keep me guessing about what will come next until the fourth book is released.

[temporalrose.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I can't remember whether I read the Sharing Knife or not-- a Very Bad Thing to say about it, since I loved all of her other books besides The Hallowed Hunt. I'll have to check that series out again, as I may have simply missed it in my continuous re-readings of The Curse of Chalion and Cordelia's Honor.