Abandoned books
Apr. 7th, 2019 06:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightreadsThe ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
And here I thought I was getting my epic fantasy mojo back. I gave this doorstop about a hundred thousand words, and it was all teenaged boy carrying a powerful magical artifact also he has mysterious (not really) parental origins, and also he's an accomplished thief, and also also he has a thing for a sex slave who gets fridged, and I was like nah bro. The "twist" in this one is that apparently the prophecy of which he is the subject (because obviously) is about how he's going to destroy everything, not unite the kingdoms, but eh, I'm not gonna read a couple million words just to say good riddance at the end. Book somewhat redeemed by the text being peppered with generally crabby footnotes disputing its accuracy and sense.
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
One of those unusual books that I am abandoning for being too good at what it is doing. This is a dark fairy tale transformative work about the girl rescued from the dragon, which as everyone knows means she is to marry the prince, whether she wants to or not. The world she finds herself in is so stifling and quietly terrifying; I suspect there is a satisfying ending here, but it was just so stressful along the way. Quite a good twisted feminist story if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.
And here I thought I was getting my epic fantasy mojo back. I gave this doorstop about a hundred thousand words, and it was all teenaged boy carrying a powerful magical artifact also he has mysterious (not really) parental origins, and also he's an accomplished thief, and also also he has a thing for a sex slave who gets fridged, and I was like nah bro. The "twist" in this one is that apparently the prophecy of which he is the subject (because obviously) is about how he's going to destroy everything, not unite the kingdoms, but eh, I'm not gonna read a couple million words just to say good riddance at the end. Book somewhat redeemed by the text being peppered with generally crabby footnotes disputing its accuracy and sense.
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
One of those unusual books that I am abandoning for being too good at what it is doing. This is a dark fairy tale transformative work about the girl rescued from the dragon, which as everyone knows means she is to marry the prince, whether she wants to or not. The world she finds herself in is so stifling and quietly terrifying; I suspect there is a satisfying ending here, but it was just so stressful along the way. Quite a good twisted feminist story if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-08 12:54 am (UTC)Also, your note about the crabby footnotes made me remember Fred Saberhagen's Dracula stories. In one of them (I think it was the first?) Dracula annotates Jonathan Harker's journals with snide footnotes. I love those books in high school. Can't remember them well enough to know whether I'd rec them now.