Passing Strange by Ellen Klages

Passing Strange

4/5. A novella about six queer women in 1940 San Francisco, falling in love and living their queer lives full of art and music, with magic lurking around the corners.

Lovely, full of history and many kinds of art and many kinds of queerness. This also has the trick of making you very conscious of the dangers these women were in, even as they patronize lesbian piano bars, without making you wallow in police brutality or tourist homophobia. And this is structured in a way I always appreciate, where many things get casually laid out, and none of them cohere until the very end, when you say "ah, the magic." I'm a predictive reader to a fault, and I don't often read something where I can just sit back and enjoy the journey.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine

A Memory Called Empire

4/5. A new ambassador is sent from a tiny, precariously independent space station to the heart of the empire. She has in her head a recording of the memories of her predecessor, and her attempts to figure out what happened to him put her in the center of imperial politics.

You guys were right, this is terrific. It took me a while to put my finger on what's so great about it. The main thing for me is this book's focus on our protagonist's deep conflict: she is fascinated by this imperial culture, loves it, but is also fundamentally horrified by it. And of course it thinks she is a barbarian. And the conflict doesn't just play out in her head. There are a series of questions asked in this book of escalating importance across a cultural gap. How different are these two definitions of "you?" How about "we?"

And the book involves the reader in the conflict. We're supposed to find parts of this empire compelling – the poetry – and parts deeply charming – the names! Love the names. All while maintaining the consciousness that this is an imperial monster that eats other cultures for breakfast. The deftness of this book made me realize how rarely I see stories about culture told so complexly. And the ending is perfect, oof. I was like how do I feel about this? as it was playing out, and my answer was complicated. I feel complicated about this. Which . . . yes.

Also, it's a pretty good political/spy/intrigue story. And there's a lesbian romance. And promise of a much more sprawling plot to come.