"Free to be you and me."

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold, narrated by Marguerite Gavin
Concluding my reread of the original Five Gods books with the first book I read in that series. Yes, I know that's not the correct order, and in retrospect, I wouldn't recommend it. ("You're reading the third one!?" demanded an exasperated friend who'd spent years trying to talk me into reading The Curse of Chalion.)

Compared to the duology set in Chalion, which I've reread multiple times, I remembered relatively little about this one. Honestly, memory was the scene at the inn with the pregnant sorceress, the polar bear at the funeral, the ending in the sacred forest being confusing, and that I'd been reading it because someone had recommended it as an example of a fic trope when I was trying to get a handle on writing that trope myself. I didn't remember which fic trope, but it turns out it was soul bonding.

I think it benefits from reading them in order because this one somewhat expects you to know how the Five Gods worldbuilding works, and is doing its most interesting stuff by tinkering with it, so I think I was a bit overwhelmed going in cold. It might be a bit of a let down if you just want more of Caz, Ista and the gang, as they're in another country and also not born yet.

Anyway! I really liked it! The hero is a solid Bujold entry in stoic man who believes he's damaged beyond repair but feels the pull to act with honour despite not much of his experience with the world suggesting that's going to work out for him. The heroine would like things to be less stupid, and also not to get raped or murdered, and plans to persist until conditions improve. I felt like her character could've gotten fleshed out and given a bit more to do, but I did like her. There are a lot of vivid side characters who feel like they have their entire own stories while they're not on page, without taking over the narrative. The baddie was somewhat foreseeable (if it walks like a fascist, and talks like a fascist, it's prooooooobably...) but well constructed and convincing.

I did make sense of the big dramatic scene at the end this time, though it didn't quite have the kick of the ending of the first two books. Overall, this one was good, and if you liked the Caz and Ista books, you'll probably like this, but I would read them in order.


Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
Grabbed this second hand as I've been meaning to read more of Yolen. I now feel a bit bad writing this not that long after the woman passed away, because it really shouldn't be held up to represent her writing. I think if you publish 500 books, they can't all be bangers?

I started out really enjoying it, and being pleased at how much SF/F in the 1970s and '80s could just be really fricking weird. It's presented as a series of anthropologists reports of first contact with a new planet, recordings of conversations, and trial transcripts, leading to overlapping, out of sequence, and sometimes contradictory versions of events. Which is usually my favourite thing! All the male characters also seemed to be casually bisexual (though not a lot of concern about consent to be found). I don't remember much sex happening between women, but it was still cool to see in a book that came out in 1984.

( This got long, so I'm putting the rest and the negativity behind a cut )

So yeah. That sure was a book I read. I'm glad it wasn't the first Yolen I encountered, and I will try again, but wow.


The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco
Grabbed this off the library shelf for non-fiction graphic novels while I was looking for something else.

Graphic novel about the author investigating the causes, events and aftermath of a religious riot in rural India. If that's the kind of thing that interests you, this will probably be interesting. I think the author did a good job of trying to pick apart the different strands of events and conflicting narratives to lay out not exactly what happened, then the tensions that lead to it happening, and how the cover up rolled out. Sacco has an eye for how people justify bad actions, and while it's not without judgement, it's certainly with an attempt at empathy. It does feel like that kind of openness and honesty is maybe what will lead to solutions in similar situations, but I also didn't leave with an impression that was happening at all.

(I was fucking around on my phone for the last few hours, while Kaylee slept on her blanket. The second I got my laptop out, Kaylee came over and started to purr aggressively next to me. You can't be on my lap right now, baby.)

These are probably going to be brief, as my memory isn't that strong six months later.


Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim "Joe" Fortes by Ruby Smith Díaz
(Local author, read before she gave a talk for Black History Month.)

Short biography and a poem about a Caribbean Black man working as a lifeguard in Vancouver, BC, in the early 20th century. The records of Serafim Fortes are pretty slight, and almost all from the perspective of white people—who treated him as a sort of mascot, and talked about how great he was despite his race—so Smith Díaz is mostly reading against the grain of the historical record, and speculating lot. I normally do not like history books that include this much speculation, however, Smith Díaz is very clear about when and why she's filling in ideas, and I think it works in this context. It introduced me to Marie-Claire Graham's concept of "speculative archiving" as a way of dealing with gaps in the record created by historical violence, which this book is more or less an example of. I appreciated that Smith Díaz did not shy away from or excuse records of Fortes behaving poorly. Very much worth a read as a local history, and as an example of navigating a fragmented and racist archive.


Everything Is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe, narrated by Nneka Okoye
(Canada Reads Longlist, which I wish had been on the shortlist.)

A coming of age novel about a young woman in western Uganda, who discovers that her beloved older sister is a lesbian. One's reaction to that premise might be, "Oh no!" but this novel was not a tragedy about queer bashing, though the setting and my knowledge of Ugandan politics made it a tense read.

(I also felt that my ((at this point rather hazy)) knowledge of Ugandan geography, culture and food helped me a lot, including having been in the same places described in the book. There's a lot of cultural detail and non-English terms dropped in without explanation, so remembering what most things were saved me a lot of looking stuff up.)

But most of the novel is about a teenager trying to figure out both the world and herself, in a family with a lot of internal conflict and pressures. There's a few cases of sixteen-year-olds making poor choices, but for the most part the novel offers its characters a lot of grace. It's about discovering the world can be a lot bigger than you're told it is, and offering and receiving second chances. Really loved this one.


Witch King by Martha Wells, narrated by Eric Mok
(Reread before getting into the new one.)

I'm really glad I reread this, as I initially rushed through it to find out what happened, and as a result didn't remember several key plot points, which turned out to be essential to the second novel. There are a lot of moving parts!

Basically still love everyone in this band, and appreciate getting a novel about decentralising power, rather than building empires.


Queen Demon by Martha Wells, narrated by Eric Mok
Really enjoyed this one, also, though it ends in a more obvious cliffhanger than the first one, which stands more or less on its own.

Mostly just like the characters and enjoy spending time with them. It's again nice to see people struggling with the work of consensus building, interspersed with battle scenes, lol. I like Kai slowly coming out of his shell in the first timeline, and how much the characters have changed over the centuries between the flashbacks and present day. It really nicely both shows the long-range consequences, and builds up tension as the plots weave towards each other. Bit bummed out by some of the casualties along the way.

I hope we get the next one soon!