LRRC Week 28

Me, a couple weeks ago: Okay, time to work through some of the books on my shelf that I've purchased and not yet gotten around to reading!

The library: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

#55: FLEDGLING by Octavia Butler

Major CW for underage sex!

Okay so this book is definitely not going to be to everyone's taste (see above CW) but I kind of loved it?

It's weird and unsettling at times, but Butler is definitely doing something really interesting with vampire mythology and race and sexuality, and I was definitely fascinated by the exploration. Butler is obviously a master of the craft and the story is engaging to read, even when it's very strange. The story follows Shori, who, through genetic experimentation, is the only Black vampire (in a world where vampires/"Ina" are an entirely separate species), and as a result, is subject to racism by some of the other vampires.

I had forewarning about the underage sex, so I wasn't surprised by it, and it's not super graphic, either. It's definitely an interesting choice, though I confess to being a little unsure of whether or not it's /necessary/. Also, the "underage" part is sort of appearances-only, given the vampirism, and while it seems like Butler handles it tastefully, it definitely makes for an odd reading experience.

In particular, I really loved the polyamorous/symbiosis elements of the story? I love well-done symbiosis, and this in particular was a really lovely exploration of it, in my opinion. The Ina/vampires bond with humans to feed from, but the feeding is pleasurable for both, and it enhances and extends the lives of the humans. They live in these communes, basically, with other same-sex relatives, and it just seemed to me to kind of be a perfect idyllic existence in a lot of ways? Also, hell yeah, what is even the POINT of vampires if the blood drinking isn't at least a little sexy?

Anyway, definitely wouldn't recommend this to everyone, but I thought it was a really fascinating and also really enjoyable little vampire story.

#56: WE UNLEASH THE MERCILESS STORM by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Oh gosh, I was super excited for this sequel, and I think it delivers in some ways, but man, it's been a while since I read anything that suffered this much from Sequel Syndrome.

I was really excited to get back to Dani and Carmen's story, and I really liked that this book was from Carmen's perspective, even if it did take a little getting used to. Without giving spoilers, I liked the way that their relationship continued to develop, even if the context was very different from the first book.

And therein lies the first problem, which happens not-infrequently, in my opinion; I also was deeply less interested in Mockingjay than I was in The Hunger Games or Catching Fire for similar reasons. The story goes from being about surviving in a specific context, and about keeping up appearances and spying, which I was really into, to being about a rebellion, with a lot of those interesting aspects stripped away.

This I could probably have forgiven, but the pacing and the structure also felt a bit off, and the plot just really didn't capture me. I didn't feel like I had a good grasp of any of the secondary characters, and they also frequently didn't act with any common sense. The main villain is one dimensional and extremely predictably evil, and the big "twist" that comes near the end doesn't make any sense.

It makes me question a little bit if some of the writing in this book was a response to criticism of the first? I know I was conflicted about the portrayal of the rebels in the first book, and this expounded upon that, but I felt like it was doing so in the most boring possible way.

Like, why were the rebels doing things that seemed counterproductive and overly violent? Is this a condemnation of rebellion in the real world, or maybe of the ways in which the "opposition" can merely uphold the status quo? Oh, no, it turns out there was just a mole (who is so obviously evil I cannot comprehend why he wasn't immediately ejected) who was actively working against them. Okay, I guess.

I still have good feelings about the first book in the duology, We Set The Dark on Fire, and I look forward to reading what Mejia makes next, but this was a bit of a miss for me.

NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA:
#57: Neuromancer by William Gibson
#58: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal