So in my September reading update, I said I was going to do one of these posts either monthly or every other month, then I somehow only read six books over the past four months... Honestly, I completely blame the job I had at the time for this. Hopefully now that I have a lot more free time again, I'll soon be back on track! Here's my reads from October to February:
L-R:
Ice Like Fire - Sarah Raasch | 4/5 stars • Silently and Very Fast - Catherynne M. Valente | 5/5 stars • The Falcon Throne - Karen Miller | 3/5 stars • The Melancholy of Mechagirl - Catherynne M. Valente | 5/5 stars • Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo | 5/5 stars • The Witch Hunter - Virginia Boecker | 2/5 stars
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My top picks:
Silently and Very Fast by Catherynne M. Valente
I'm not usually one for short stories, but I ADORED this book. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I don't mean that in a negative way at all.
Silently and Very Fast follows Elefsis, an AI of sorts, and Neva, whose family have been working with and developing Elefsis for generations. In a way it feels almost like a coming of age story; it's a story of growth, family, persecution, what it means to be different and what it means to be alive. It ends up being very much like a Turing test for the reader, and I think this worked incredibly well; when picturing Elefsis in my mind, I was not imagining a robot, or anything "un-human" at all. Looks like he passed the test with me, at least.
Silently and Very Fast follows Elefsis, an AI of sorts, and Neva, whose family have been working with and developing Elefsis for generations. In a way it feels almost like a coming of age story; it's a story of growth, family, persecution, what it means to be different and what it means to be alive. It ends up being very much like a Turing test for the reader, and I think this worked incredibly well; when picturing Elefsis in my mind, I was not imagining a robot, or anything "un-human" at all. Looks like he passed the test with me, at least.
“I do not want to be human. I want to be myself. They think I’m a lion, that I will chase them. I will not deny that I have lions in me. I am the monster in the wood. I have wonders in my house of sugar. I have parts of myself I do not yet understand.
I am not a Good Robot. To tell a story about a robot who wants to be human is a distraction. There is no difference. Alive is alive.There is only one verb that matters: to be.”
As always with Cat Valente's books, the writing style is beautiful; it completely swept me away and made me feel as though I was right there in a futuristic Japan. I also loved Elefsis's means of communication - they mostly do this through unusual metaphors, such as covering their "body" with blooming flowers to reflect happiness. I've never read anything similar to this novella, and I doubt I will again; the imagination throughout it is just astounding and so unique. I'd definitely recommend this book, and would also recommend re-reading it again later on - I've just finished reading it through a second time and was definitely able to grasp a lot of it much more this time.
There isn't much more I can say without full-on gushing, but honestly, this book is a beautiful experience and I'm so glad I decided to give it a go.
Recommended for:
Sci-fi fans, philosophers, artificial intelligences.
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The Melancholy of Mechagirl by Catherynne M. Valente
I'll honestly just read (and love) anything that Cat Valente writes these days. I'd probably even read her shopping lists, should she ever decide to sell those in book format.
The Melancholy of Mechagirl is Valente's short story and poetry collection which has a Japanese theme running throughout - this is a theme that is more prevalent in some extracts than others, but is always there. I mostly bought this after reading Silently and Very Fast, thoroughly enjoying it, and then discovering it was one of the stories in this collection. I assumed that I'd like the other stories and poems included, and I wasn't wrong.
Everything included in this collection was amazing, but I'll do a couple of mini reviews on my favourite short stories from it:
The Melancholy of Mechagirl is Valente's short story and poetry collection which has a Japanese theme running throughout - this is a theme that is more prevalent in some extracts than others, but is always there. I mostly bought this after reading Silently and Very Fast, thoroughly enjoying it, and then discovering it was one of the stories in this collection. I assumed that I'd like the other stories and poems included, and I wasn't wrong.
Everything included in this collection was amazing, but I'll do a couple of mini reviews on my favourite short stories from it:
"Ink, Water, Milk"
I love Valente's way of anthropomorphising objects to create characters - a technique which she uses throughout the entire collection. Ink, Water, Milktells a story from three perspectives; a scroll and paintbrush, a lantern and a yokai (a sort of phantom that consumes flames), and a lonely American Navy wife in Japan. These stories are all linked, and though the concept sounds bizarre, create a beautiful short story of forgotten things and lonely, outcast people.
"One Breath, One Stroke" is another slightly odd sounding tale of a man who lives in a house in the middle of the forest in Japan. When in one side of this house, he is simply a man, but when he crosses to the other side he is a paintbrush, living with a skeleton and a jar of lightning, amongst other things. This story was so unique in it's narrative that I couldn't help but love everything about it.
"Fade to White" is a dystopian short story set in America. This is one of the extracts from the collection in which the Japanese influence isn't so strong, but it's still very much there if you know where to look. It began with the line, Fight the Communist Threat in Your Own Backyard! and the stark difference to this from the rest of the book so far immediately drew me in. The story alternates between sections of the scripts for patriotic wartime adverts, and the story of three characters; Sylvie, Martin and Thomas. These three live in a post-war America. The three are getting ready for their 'presentations' in which they will find a future spouse.
One thing I loved about this story, besides it's general plot, was the play on words in the title. "Fade to White" both refers to the end of each of the advert sections, where the script proclaims that the editors should 'fade to white', and the racist undertones seen throughout the story. This was probably my favourite of the whole collection.
All in all, this was an amazing collection, without a single low point. I'm definitely going to be reading more of Valente's short story collections after how much I enjoyed this one!
Recommended for:
Lovers of sci-fi and dystopia/utopia, those interested in Japanese mythology, poetry and short story enthusiasts.
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Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
No mourners. No funerals.
Oh my gosh. I have just been blown away by this book.
I originally wasn't too sure about reading Six of Crows, since I found the ending of the Shadow and Bone series so disastrous after it had had such a perfect start and so much potential. However, a friend who felt the same about that series told me I wouldn't be disappointed with SoC and I'm so glad I listened to her!
SoC is set two years after the Shadow and Bone series, and is much darker. The writing style seems almost more mature in a way, as if it's aimed at a slightly older audience. It's written from five different pov's, with two other cameo ones included, but despite this it still manages to flow perfectly and you still feel as though you know the characters - none are skimped out on.
The book is immediately gripping and stays that way through it's entirety - it was one of those books that I just didn't want to put down, and was reading at every possible moment over the past two days. All of the characters are so instantly likeable, especially Inej, who I adored from the start. A truly badass girl with an interesting back story is something that always makes a book perfect for me.
Oh my gosh. I have just been blown away by this book.
I originally wasn't too sure about reading Six of Crows, since I found the ending of the Shadow and Bone series so disastrous after it had had such a perfect start and so much potential. However, a friend who felt the same about that series told me I wouldn't be disappointed with SoC and I'm so glad I listened to her!
SoC is set two years after the Shadow and Bone series, and is much darker. The writing style seems almost more mature in a way, as if it's aimed at a slightly older audience. It's written from five different pov's, with two other cameo ones included, but despite this it still manages to flow perfectly and you still feel as though you know the characters - none are skimped out on.
The book is immediately gripping and stays that way through it's entirety - it was one of those books that I just didn't want to put down, and was reading at every possible moment over the past two days. All of the characters are so instantly likeable, especially Inej, who I adored from the start. A truly badass girl with an interesting back story is something that always makes a book perfect for me.
She was not a lynx or a spider or even the Wraith. She was Inej Ghafa, and her future was waiting above.
I have to say, the typical bad boy is also kind of appealing to me in a good fantasy. Kaz, however, is so, SO much more than that. Again, the backstory is what makes it for me, but all I will say on the matter is:
"I will have you without armour, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all."
Recommended for:
Fans of the Grisha trilogy, lovers of high fantasy and badass characters, those who want to get immersed in a beautifully created fantasy world.
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