LRRC Week 46
Honestly, at this point my life has just been entirely taken up by Supernatural tumblr drama, with some other things interspersed. Blog who? NaNo what?
Anyway here’s some things that are not that.
#91: BLACK SUN by Rebecca Roanhorse
Hell! Yeah!
I love epic fantasy so much, and it's indescribably cool to me to see people making epic fantasy but like, non-European based? And with queer characters?? I love it, I'm all the way here for it.
BLACK SUN follows the days leading up to an event called The Convergence, a solar eclipse during which one particular god will have more power than the others. It follows a variety of characters on multiple different sides of this upcoming conflict, and it's all just so goshdarn good.
All the characters are really interesting and it's awesome and terrible to see them all headed for something where you know they'll have to go against each other, which is one of my favourite tropes. Also, all the world-building is fascinating. Special shout-out to Xiala, who belongs to a mermaid-like race who can influence the weather/the sea by singing, and who's a badass bi/pan woman. Everything about her is fascinating.
I liked the way that the relationships developed and then built, too. Also? Canon trans characters?? I feel like even in (tradpub) spec fiction books that are very pro-queer, it’s rare to see trans characters. Especially in epic fantasy, so hell yeah.
#92: LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn
This was perhaps one of the strangest experiences I've had reading a book this year, and I mean that in a good way.
In a lot of ways, LEGENDBORN reminds me of the kind of YA books that were popular when I was a teen. In particular, it reminds me a lot of the Mortal Instruments series - ie, "normal" girl finds out about secret magical world and also that she's not so normal, is pursued by multiple guys, has to learn how to adjust, etc etc.
BUT THEN. Deonn pulls a sweet bait-and-switch of going "ACTUALLY, the magic system and the secret society sucks and is awful and the main character has to actively move against it" which is both very nervy and also makes this a true joy to read. The main character is a Black girl attempting to join a secret society of entirely white people and based on Arthurian myth, and the book is not at all shy about calling out how Western-centric that is.
Like I said, as someone who grew up reading the books that LEGENDBORN is, I would assume, playing off of somewhat, this was such a lovely breath of fresh air. I really loved the way the plot and the worldbuilding unfolded, I was genuinely surprised by some of the plot twists, and I liked the characters quite a bit, too!
I did find myself a little bit frustrated with how useless the main character was at fighting (again, a staple of the genre, LOOKING AT YOU CLARY), but I wasn't too bothered by it given the themes of the story.
There is a love triangle, but it also didn’t bother me too much. I’m actually kind of interested to see where this one will go, as there doesn’t seem like one character is OBVIOUSLY the endgame choice. Also, without spoilers, it’s a true triangle in a way that makes me tap my gay little fingers together and go, “…polyamory?”
All in all, I’m really excited to read the next installment when it comes out!
NEXT WEEK'S AGENDA
#93: Shadows and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
#94: We Shall Be Monsters ed. Derek Newman-Stille