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Recent reads
Mar. 29th, 2024 11:15 amA Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: I did like this, but I wanted very badly to love it and that unfortunately just didn't happen. It's a cerebral and reflective space opera, with intricate worldbuilding inspired by the author's expertise in Byzantine history, and a primary f/f romance. There are a lot of things I could pick at to explain why I didn't quite buy in, from relatively major weaknesses in the plot to trivially minor issues with the prose (so many italics, oh my stars), but I think ultimately what actually let it down is the thinness of the characterisation. There's a lot of tell vs show re. the protagonist Mahit's personality: we're told that she's extroverted, ambitious and politically canny, but I didn't think any of those traits came across in any notable way, and mostly the plot just seemed to happen to her as a side-effect of more convincing political operators doing their thing in her vicinity. The chemistry between Mahit and her love interest also wasn't there for me. I can forgive just about anything in a book that makes me truly love its characters or root for a particular relationship, but without that strong emotional connection, other flaws stand out a lot more.
What I did really savour was the focus on language: Mahit is an ambassador from outside the empire, working in her non-native language, and she has a lot of interesting insights into how different languages express concepts in different ways and so subtly shape their speakers' worldview. There's also some really cool stuff about memory and identity. Mahit's people use a kind of brain implant that lets them install a deceased predecessor in their own mind, which imperial culture (with which in this case I'm inclined to sympathise) finds existentially horrifying. And of course the book's overall theme - the insidiousness of empire as a political structure - is deftly handled, with an uncompromising message that's both direct enough to be deeply thought-provoking and removed enough from our reality not to feel didatic. So if any of that sounds appealing, I think this book is worth a read! It didn't quite scratch the itch I wanted scratched, but it's still got a lot in its favour and I'm glad I read it.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading reskinned Reylo when I could be reading actual Reylo, but as it turns out, I enjoyed the everloving fuck out of this. I've read some of Hazelwood's fic before (though not the fic that turned into this book); she's a skilled, compelling romance writer whose Star Wars opinions are just a little too far removed from mine for it to be a good match. But changing the names is apparently all it takes to take that pressure off; it's Reylo enough to hit some of the same notes that make me like Reylo, but the characterisation I might disagree with for Kylo and Rey doesn't matter when it's Adam and Olive. (Side note, I unironically love that she renamed Kylo as Adam. And that the cover art is blatant Reylo fanart, by one of the most distinctive and instantly recognisable artists in the fandom. Literally no fucks were given about concealing this novel's origins and I have nothing but respect for the chutzpah.)
Fannish biases aside, this is a witty, indulgently tropey novel about a sunny PhD biology student who ends up fake dating her department's most illustrious (and notoriously dickish) professor for genre-typically flimsy reasons. It's full to the brim with banter, mutual pining, STEM nerdery and gorgeous sexual tension. I polished off the whole book in just slightly over a day (and a busy, heavily interrupted day at that) and I'm looking forward to reading more of Hazelwood's original work when I just want to relax and smile.
What I did really savour was the focus on language: Mahit is an ambassador from outside the empire, working in her non-native language, and she has a lot of interesting insights into how different languages express concepts in different ways and so subtly shape their speakers' worldview. There's also some really cool stuff about memory and identity. Mahit's people use a kind of brain implant that lets them install a deceased predecessor in their own mind, which imperial culture (with which in this case I'm inclined to sympathise) finds existentially horrifying. And of course the book's overall theme - the insidiousness of empire as a political structure - is deftly handled, with an uncompromising message that's both direct enough to be deeply thought-provoking and removed enough from our reality not to feel didatic. So if any of that sounds appealing, I think this book is worth a read! It didn't quite scratch the itch I wanted scratched, but it's still got a lot in its favour and I'm glad I read it.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about reading reskinned Reylo when I could be reading actual Reylo, but as it turns out, I enjoyed the everloving fuck out of this. I've read some of Hazelwood's fic before (though not the fic that turned into this book); she's a skilled, compelling romance writer whose Star Wars opinions are just a little too far removed from mine for it to be a good match. But changing the names is apparently all it takes to take that pressure off; it's Reylo enough to hit some of the same notes that make me like Reylo, but the characterisation I might disagree with for Kylo and Rey doesn't matter when it's Adam and Olive. (Side note, I unironically love that she renamed Kylo as Adam. And that the cover art is blatant Reylo fanart, by one of the most distinctive and instantly recognisable artists in the fandom. Literally no fucks were given about concealing this novel's origins and I have nothing but respect for the chutzpah.)
Fannish biases aside, this is a witty, indulgently tropey novel about a sunny PhD biology student who ends up fake dating her department's most illustrious (and notoriously dickish) professor for genre-typically flimsy reasons. It's full to the brim with banter, mutual pining, STEM nerdery and gorgeous sexual tension. I polished off the whole book in just slightly over a day (and a busy, heavily interrupted day at that) and I'm looking forward to reading more of Hazelwood's original work when I just want to relax and smile.
