I finished American Gods last week and I enjoyed it. There are only a couple story bits that bother me:
Why go through the agonizing detail of that goddess eating a dude with her vagina, then kill her immediately the next time we see her? That seems like a powerful move!
I got lost around the events where Shadow does Wednesday's vigil: He's hung up and there's Wednesday's body, and this farmhouse, and whatnot, then when Shadow gets resurrected the farmhouse has collapsed, Wednesday's body is gone, and the place is like it aged forever, but all the other events are still happening at the same time as they were before. Was that place in a timewarp or some other fantasy handwaving or what?
Any recommendations for fantasy/mythology in a modern setting, either by Neil Gaiman or others?
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
Anything by Neil Gaiman.
Anansi Boys
Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neverwhere
I finished American Gods last week and I enjoyed it. There are only a couple story bits that bother me:
Why go through the agonizing detail of that goddess eating a dude with her vagina, then kill her immediately the next time we see her? That seems like a powerful move!
I got lost around the events where Shadow does Wednesday's vigil: He's hung up and there's Wednesday's body, and this farmhouse, and whatnot, then when Shadow gets resurrected the farmhouse has collapsed, Wednesday's body is gone, and the place is like it aged forever, but all the other events are still happening at the same time as they were before. Was that place in a timewarp or some other fantasy handwaving or what?
Any recommendations for fantasy/mythology in a modern setting, either by Neil Gaiman or others?
Anansi Boys, also by Neil Gaiman. Perhaps Neverwhere as well although I felt that was a little weaker
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
I put American Gods ahead of it just slightly but American Gods triggers the part of my brain that releases endorphins and I know that's not the case for everyone.
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JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
It is super awkward because most branch libraries have two or three actual librarians.
About two years after I became branch manager, I was telling my mom that we were hiring a new librarian. And she got all affronted on my behalf and asked "Why aren't they giving that job to you?"
I don't blame people for not understanding library job titles, though. When I first got here, my reference staff consisted of a librarian, an associate librarian, an assistant librarian, and a library assistant, all of whom had very similar job duties but varying payscales and hours. Since then, I've lost the assistant librarian but added a lead librarian. Progress!
Also, I once had "eMedia All Star" as part of my actual job description. Let us all form a library coven and make @Uriel the wisest Overdrive user there ever was.
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Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
Yeah here at school It is me and my two paraprofessionals. Students tend to call the three of us librarians when I am the only one that is the certified librarian. People tend to think anyone working in a library is a librarian when that couldn't be further from the truth.
Like calling everyone in a hospital a doctor.
In book news I started reading Gemina a sequel to Illuminae. It is pretty cool and continues to make a neat use of the physical words on the pages.
I finished American Gods last week and I enjoyed it. There are only a couple story bits that bother me:
Why go through the agonizing detail of that goddess eating a dude with her vagina, then kill her immediately the next time we see her? That seems like a powerful move!
I got lost around the events where Shadow does Wednesday's vigil: He's hung up and there's Wednesday's body, and this farmhouse, and whatnot, then when Shadow gets resurrected the farmhouse has collapsed, Wednesday's body is gone, and the place is like it aged forever, but all the other events are still happening at the same time as they were before. Was that place in a timewarp or some other fantasy handwaving or what?
Any recommendations for fantasy/mythology in a modern setting, either by Neil Gaiman or others?
If you're interested in a little less modern but a whole lot of mythology, I recommend seeking out Howard Waldrop's A Dozen Tough Jobs, which is a Great Depression spin on the labors of Heracles and the inspiration for O Brother Where Art Thou.
There was also this whole Canongate Myths imprint a few years back, which was all about getting modern authors to rewrite classical mythology in interesting ways. I've read like four of 'em, and the quality and style can vary a bit, but if you see one by an author you already like, i recommend checking it out. They're not all modern though, that's an author's discretion thing.
Finally, I'd recommend seeking out some of Kelly Link's short stories. Get In Trouble is the collection staring back at me from my bookshelf, but I've read more than just that and it's all good. She has a great fondness for fairy tales, but most of her work tends to be at least semi-modern, I think.
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Kraken is China Mieville trying to do a Neil Gaiman thing, sort of.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I was just surprised they got my recommendation and so quickly actually.
It's been about a day! I wonder how many library card holders for my county library use this service though?
Just ask a librarian. They probably have those stats available. If they are like me them they enjoy talking about them with people.
I'll do that for sure if I get the chance.
Selectors love customer recs. Once you've got your core collection and your bestsellers, you're pretty much just blasting the Budget Hose in random directions hoping you don't buy too many stinkers that get weeded after two years with zero circs. One person who is interested enough in a book to proactively recommend it is worth any number of reviews.
JedocIn the scupperswith the staggers and jagsRegistered Userregular
You should really space King out with other authors just so you don't forget that women and black people don't actually talk like malfunctioning alien robots.
I'm reading through Everfair and i'm kinda sad because I'm not sure if I like it?
like, it's pretty interesting, and i've got a great interest in the Congo (two of my favourite books are written about its history)
but it's a really hard book to follow. I'm constantly having to re-read phrases and paragraphs to follow what's going on, and it feels simultaneously overwritten, and also it fails to adequately describe what's actually happening. I'm going to persist, but it's a pity.
I'm reading through Everfair and i'm kinda sad because I'm not sure if I like it?
like, it's pretty interesting, and i've got a great interest in the Congo (two of my favourite books are written about its history)
but it's a really hard book to follow. I'm constantly having to re-read phrases and paragraphs to follow what's going on, and it feels simultaneously overwritten, and also it fails to adequately describe what's actually happening. I'm going to persist, but it's a pity.
Also reading Everfair. You have accurately described all of my feelings toward this book so far.
Finished sci fi novel Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. Some REALLY interesting concepts that I think are unique, although it's hard to actually explain the story without sounding like a lunatic. I think I can boil the main concept down to: Reality can be shaped by a rigidly enforced mindset. The story involves the main society's attempts to quell rebellion, said rebellion being literally believing strongly enough in a different reality that it becomes true for the rebels. For example, the rebels have taken a fortress whose shields are powered by the the defender's belief system, and it's basically overcome by targeted propaganda as a literal weapon.
Probably explaining it really poorly, and the author does not spell things out much. It's largely a story of military tactics under such a system, and it's just endlessly inventive although it does make it slightly challenging to read.
true to my word, I read through The Gone Away World while I was off in China
I liked it quite a bit
though I kind of realized the twist part of the way through when the narrator never gave or said their name at any point in time and how tightly they were wound to Gonzo throughout and Gonzo feeling like a bit character in his own story, given the narrator's point of reference to him. I thought the ending was a bit... abrupt? I felt like the story could have kept going for a bit before getting to that crescendo. And didn't really address any of the issues of living in the Gone Away parts of the world (though I guess the implication was some of the characters had figured out how to do it without FOX, maybe).
Posts
Damn
Yeah, that's pretty much how I always imagined Eddie, too.
I got lost around the events where Shadow does Wednesday's vigil: He's hung up and there's Wednesday's body, and this farmhouse, and whatnot, then when Shadow gets resurrected the farmhouse has collapsed, Wednesday's body is gone, and the place is like it aged forever, but all the other events are still happening at the same time as they were before. Was that place in a timewarp or some other fantasy handwaving or what?
Any recommendations for fantasy/mythology in a modern setting, either by Neil Gaiman or others?
Anansi Boys
Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neverwhere
Anansi Boys, also by Neil Gaiman. Perhaps Neverwhere as well although I felt that was a little weaker
About two years after I became branch manager, I was telling my mom that we were hiring a new librarian. And she got all affronted on my behalf and asked "Why aren't they giving that job to you?"
I don't blame people for not understanding library job titles, though. When I first got here, my reference staff consisted of a librarian, an associate librarian, an assistant librarian, and a library assistant, all of whom had very similar job duties but varying payscales and hours. Since then, I've lost the assistant librarian but added a lead librarian. Progress!
Also, I once had "eMedia All Star" as part of my actual job description. Let us all form a library coven and make @Uriel the wisest Overdrive user there ever was.
Like calling everyone in a hospital a doctor.
In book news I started reading Gemina a sequel to Illuminae. It is pretty cool and continues to make a neat use of the physical words on the pages.
With special consideration for Good Omens since it is only half his.
Neverwhere's villains legit scared me when I read it a couple of years ago
They shouldn't have, but something about them really got to me
Croup and Vandemar are legit terrifying
I keep trying to figure out why they scared me
I think it's like, they were so over the top evil that it came back around to being otherworldly
They were alien in a way those kinds of characters usually aren't
If you're interested in a little less modern but a whole lot of mythology, I recommend seeking out Howard Waldrop's A Dozen Tough Jobs, which is a Great Depression spin on the labors of Heracles and the inspiration for O Brother Where Art Thou.
There was also this whole Canongate Myths imprint a few years back, which was all about getting modern authors to rewrite classical mythology in interesting ways. I've read like four of 'em, and the quality and style can vary a bit, but if you see one by an author you already like, i recommend checking it out. They're not all modern though, that's an author's discretion thing.
Finally, I'd recommend seeking out some of Kelly Link's short stories. Get In Trouble is the collection staring back at me from my bookshelf, but I've read more than just that and it's all good. She has a great fondness for fairy tales, but most of her work tends to be at least semi-modern, I think.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
@Peen @timspork's ghost
I think I figured it out!
I got the app on my phone and am going to listen to masters of doom!
It's been about a day! I wonder how many library card holders for my county library use this service though?
Just ask a librarian. They probably have those stats available. If they are like me them they enjoy talking about them with people.
I'll do that for sure if I get the chance.
Selectors love customer recs. Once you've got your core collection and your bestsellers, you're pretty much just blasting the Budget Hose in random directions hoping you don't buy too many stinkers that get weeded after two years with zero circs. One person who is interested enough in a book to proactively recommend it is worth any number of reviews.
so I picked up The Stand
what the fuck do you mean this thing is 1350 pages long
Read something that is not King instead
Do not overload on King
The uncut version right?
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
I am also expecting every character I meet to die horribly
like, it's pretty interesting, and i've got a great interest in the Congo (two of my favourite books are written about its history)
but it's a really hard book to follow. I'm constantly having to re-read phrases and paragraphs to follow what's going on, and it feels simultaneously overwritten, and also it fails to adequately describe what's actually happening. I'm going to persist, but it's a pity.
Steam // Secret Satan
i'm probably going to come back to it in a year and re-read it. I feel like it deserves another go at some point.
at any rate, it should be my favourite book ever. It's putting down so many things that I love. But I just didn't enjoy reading it.
Steam // Secret Satan
If nobody that's actually read the whole series wants to make it, I'll get that done soon
Also reading Everfair. You have accurately described all of my feelings toward this book so far.
M-O-O-N. That spells "my favorite book."
Probably explaining it really poorly, and the author does not spell things out much. It's largely a story of military tactics under such a system, and it's just endlessly inventive although it does make it slightly challenging to read.
I liked it quite a bit