Ooo....The Traitor Baru Coromont is probably a pretty good choice as well though it's more fantasy than science fiction.
Brings up issues of colonialism, subversion contrasted with outright opposition and the price of that path.
It's an amazingly good book, but it might be unsuitable for 15y olds
Because the colonialism and culture themes are too complex or? It's been a while since I read it but I guess I wouldn't expect it to be a problem but maybe I am over-estimating 15-year olds.
Ooo....The Traitor Baru Coromont is probably a pretty good choice as well though it's more fantasy than science fiction.
Brings up issues of colonialism, subversion contrasted with outright opposition and the price of that path.
It's an amazingly good book, but it might be unsuitable for 15y olds
Because the colonialism and culture themes are too complex or? It's been a while since I read it but I guess I wouldn't expect it to be a problem but maybe I am over-estimating 15-year olds.
I think it's pretty complex, yeah, and honestly the emotional themes slayed me, and I'm not even a hormonal adolescent.
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Ooo....The Traitor Baru Coromont is probably a pretty good choice as well though it's more fantasy than science fiction.
Brings up issues of colonialism, subversion contrasted with outright opposition and the price of that path.
It's an amazingly good book, but it might be unsuitable for 15y olds
Because the colonialism and culture themes are too complex or? It's been a while since I read it but I guess I wouldn't expect it to be a problem but maybe I am over-estimating 15-year olds.
I think it's pretty complex, yeah, and honestly the emotional themes slayed me, and I'm not even a hormonal adolescent.
Hm. Maybe this is one of those times where I am more phlegmatic and/or emotionally robust than I thought. Not that I didn't find it affecting and pretty brutal, but not so much I thought it would be a problem in this regard.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers might actually work well. It has some sci-fi tropes, is not about galactic ending events but at heart it is a story about people and how they learn to relate and accept each other. Slip that under some nerdy 15 year old's guard by hiding behind all the space aliens.
yeah, that would probably be good for kids to read.
Question for the thread: what one science fiction novel would you teach/would want to read in 10th grade English?
IMO The Hunger Games
The biggest thing with english class in my experience is that most of your class is barely on the level to, like, actually read a book. Like, they are literate in that they can read words but they aren't literate in that they have the experience of sitting down and consuming a book. (I think in general we tend to speed past the whole teaching kids the skill of actually reading a book thing and thus leave them lost and bored when throwing more complex works at them)
Hunger Games is at a suitable level and it's popular and well-known, which basically clears the hurdle of engagement. It's dystopian sci-fi, which is big these days regardless. And it's got a ton of potential hooks for discussion on anything from the power of propaganda and message control to peer pressure.
In general imo, if you are thinking "They are in Grade 10, let's give them a real adult book" you are gonna lose almost everyone except the people who already read for pleasure all the time.
Question for the thread: what one science fiction novel would you teach/would want to read in 10th grade English?
IMO The Hunger Games
The biggest thing with english class in my experience is that most of your class is barely on the level to, like, actually read a book. Like, they are literate in that they can read words but they aren't literate in that they have the experience of sitting down and consuming a book. (I think in general we tend to speed past the whole teaching kids the skill of actually reading a book thing and thus leave them lost and bored when throwing more complex works at them)
Hunger Games is at a suitable level and it's popular and well-known, which basically clears the hurdle of engagement. It's dystopian sci-fi, which is big these days regardless. And it's got a ton of potential hooks for discussion on anything from the power of propaganda and message control to peer pressure.
In general imo, if you are thinking "They are in Grade 10, let's give them a real adult book" you are gonna lose almost everyone except the people who already read for pleasure all the time.
They're gifted kids who have almost all been in gifted ELA block all three years of middle school. They're all fairly astute and most have read up for a good while though a couple struggle with subtext in literature. I actually have considered The Hunger Games, but I think most of this group has already read it which is why I didn't really consider it. I may put it on rotation, though for when I hit a class that hasn't. I think it's honestly a strong book that hits a lot of really good themes that can be connected to things they did with me this year in 9th grade (monomyth/hero's journey and coming-of-age). I really wish I could do all three because I think the PTSD theme in Mockingjay would really set them up well for The Things They Carried when they hit AP in 11th. Hmmmm.
I remember what I was reading then off my parents' scifi shelf but I'm struggling to think of a good one that doesn't have a ton of sex that might make your student parents mad
Question for the thread: what one science fiction novel would you teach/would want to read in 10th grade English?
IMO The Hunger Games
The biggest thing with english class in my experience is that most of your class is barely on the level to, like, actually read a book. Like, they are literate in that they can read words but they aren't literate in that they have the experience of sitting down and consuming a book. (I think in general we tend to speed past the whole teaching kids the skill of actually reading a book thing and thus leave them lost and bored when throwing more complex works at them)
Hunger Games is at a suitable level and it's popular and well-known, which basically clears the hurdle of engagement. It's dystopian sci-fi, which is big these days regardless. And it's got a ton of potential hooks for discussion on anything from the power of propaganda and message control to peer pressure.
In general imo, if you are thinking "They are in Grade 10, let's give them a real adult book" you are gonna lose almost everyone except the people who already read for pleasure all the time.
They're gifted kids who have almost all been in gifted ELA block all three years of middle school. They're all fairly astute and most have read up for a good while though a couple struggle with subtext in literature. I actually have considered The Hunger Games, but I think most of this group has already read it which is why I didn't really consider it. I may put it on rotation, though for when I hit a class that hasn't. I think it's honestly a strong book that hits a lot of really good themes that can be connected to things they did with me this year in 9th grade (monomyth/hero's journey and coming-of-age). I really wish I could do all three because I think the PTSD theme in Mockingjay would really set them up well for The Things They Carried when they hit AP in 11th. Hmmmm.
Ahh, that changes the calculus a bit yeah. If you can trust that they are onboard with the whole "reading a book" thing you can branch out more.*
I agree with you on it's usefulness though. I'm not the hugest fan and I think the 1st book has some frankly kinda bad writing but as a teaching tool it hits a nice sweet spot of being popular and easy to read and engaging while also having good themes you can use in education and such.\
And Mockingjay is almost criminally underrated on either count.
*I think in general english education at the high school and below level prioritizes "important" books over engagement with the class far too much
I remember what I was reading then off my parents' scifi shelf but I'm struggling to think of a good one that doesn't have a ton of sex that might make your student parents mad
It also makes class discussions aaaaawwwwkward. hahaha
Teens' engagement with reading can be so varied. My wife teaches Lit here in the UK. She once had a year 8 class (12-13yo) who got so involved with Anne of Green Gables that they volunteered to make a patchwork quilt as a gift for a teacher who was leaving. But then she's now got a class aged 13-14 who struggled to understand that Jekyll and Hyde were the same person.
If you're thinking of looking at stuff that's not really sci-fi, but kind of fits due to being "alternative history", then Terry Pratchett's Nation is spot on for that age group. Colonialism, religion, racism, there's a whole bunch of stuff in there to get stuck into - and the main characters are both in the age range you're teaching. It's self-contained, which can be a hard thing to find in this world of series and trilogies.
And anything that encourages more people to read Pratchett is a bonus, in my book.
Slaughterhouse-Five blew my mind wide open when I read it at 17, though 15 might be a bit too young to appreciate it.
I only read it a couple years ago and I'm pretty sure it's one of the most emotionally complicated books I think I've ever read. Like laugh crying in the face of death and that maybe all of that's ok because time is a weird motherfucker. I definitely think it has more impact if you've lived a bit more than a 15 year old.
Ninefox Gambit is the one with the calendars, right?
Yup.
Just requested the sequel, was not aware it had been released.
I snagged an ARC of the sequel to the sequel (Revenant Gun) a month or so ago. It's out in June. So you've got a month or so to catch up!
(Both Raven Stratagem and Revenant Gun are rather good)
I tend to devour books, so I'm not particularly worried about timeline.
Question for the thread: what one science fiction novel would you teach/would want to read in 10th grade English?
Ender's Game is great because of the twist at the end. I think at a 10th grade reading level it's something the kids won't expect.
The Martian is also great if you've got kids more interested in science and in particular, NASA.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is probably the one I would recommend the most, though, as at this point they are questioning the world and their place in it, and it takes a really good look at some of the strange things we do as a society. It's also the book that showed me how silly a question like "What's the meaning of life?" really are.
I'm trying to think of the Sci-fi I used to read as a kid.
I'm pretty sure it was all Dragonriders of Pern nonsense
The fantasy/sci-fi series with the second weirdest economy I can think of. Just like the Wizarding World, Pern does not have enough people. Also those books (well, the main series) aren't really bad except the sexual politics, because ye gods the 60s. They're not great, but I will defend Robinton as a great character forever. And Lessa as an interesting one.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
I'm trying to think of the Sci-fi I used to read as a kid.
I'm pretty sure it was all Dragonriders of Pern nonsense
The fantasy/sci-fi series with the second weirdest economy I can think of. Just like the Wizarding World, Pern does not have enough people. Also those books (well, the main series) aren't really bad except the sexual politics, because ye gods the 60s. They're not great, but I will defend Robinton as a great character forever. And Lessa as an interesting one.
It's best to not think about these things. Woo dragons, plausibility be damned.
Well it only took me 3 days to catch the autocorrect typo
10th grade is an age full of landmines for teaching books. An awful lot of influential and important literature - especially that dealing with things like racial and sexual discrimination and violence - is necessarily full of uncomfortable scenes of varying graphicality. It'd be hard to steer clear of discussions around that stuff without teaching to a lower grade level.
I imagine it's not so bad with the students, who'll just be awkward and weird until they get over it. The parents' reactions would concern me more; you're teaching in the South, if I remember right?
Question for the thread: what one science fiction novel would you teach/would want to read in 10th grade English?
IMO The Hunger Games
The biggest thing with english class in my experience is that most of your class is barely on the level to, like, actually read a book. Like, they are literate in that they can read words but they aren't literate in that they have the experience of sitting down and consuming a book. (I think in general we tend to speed past the whole teaching kids the skill of actually reading a book thing and thus leave them lost and bored when throwing more complex works at them)
Hunger Games is at a suitable level and it's popular and well-known, which basically clears the hurdle of engagement. It's dystopian sci-fi, which is big these days regardless. And it's got a ton of potential hooks for discussion on anything from the power of propaganda and message control to peer pressure.
In general imo, if you are thinking "They are in Grade 10, let's give them a real adult book" you are gonna lose almost everyone except the people who already read for pleasure all the time.
They're gifted kids who have almost all been in gifted ELA block all three years of middle school. They're all fairly astute and most have read up for a good while though a couple struggle with subtext in literature. I actually have considered The Hunger Games, but I think most of this group has already read it which is why I didn't really consider it. I may put it on rotation, though for when I hit a class that hasn't. I think it's honestly a strong book that hits a lot of really good themes that can be connected to things they did with me this year in 9th grade (monomyth/hero's journey and coming-of-age). I really wish I could do all three because I think the PTSD theme in Mockingjay would really set them up well for The Things They Carried when they hit AP in 11th. Hmmmm.
I'd second Dogs of War in this case - it has themes that would seem to work, is interestingly written, and maintains an unusual cast of characters that the kids will require some thought to understand their motivations, while also keeping everything on an understandable level, by the nature of the protagonist.
Well it only took me 3 days to catch the autocorrect typo
10th grade is an age full of landmines for teaching books. An awful lot of influential and important literature - especially that dealing with things like racial and sexual discrimination and violence - is necessarily full of uncomfortable scenes of varying graphicality. It'd be hard to steer clear of discussions around that stuff without teaching to a lower grade level.
I imagine it's not so bad with the students, who'll just be awkward and weird until they get over it. The parents' reactions would concern me more; you're teaching in the South, if I remember right?
That's gotta be a little nerve-wracking.
I am in the South, in a still-slightly-rural-and-pretending-to-be-small-town suburb of a university town. I...often circumvent the "acceptable" lists and rules, but I'm always prepared to staunchly defend the decisions I make about books/stories/films because the world around them is full of these things, and these kiddos in particular are often viscerally aware of the world around them, and I have never seen my job as merely throwing skills and major works of literature at them. Teaching the humanities is about teaching humanity and how to grapple with all the blessings and problems therein. It may end up biting me in the ass one day, but if more high school teachers felt the freedom to really dig in to these things, I think more people would be less dismissive of English class. Anyway. Yeah. Generally my concerns with those landmine issues are whether it's gratuitous and whether or not it's handled at an accesible level, if that makes sense.
Also, I totally knew what you meant, so I was baffled by what typo it was. hahaha
I just want to say again, thank you guys so much. All of these suggestions have been very helpful, and I've added to my personal reading list. haha. Once finals start, I'll be digging in and solidifying my list for next year.
I'm trying to think of the Sci-fi I used to read as a kid.
I'm pretty sure it was all Dragonriders of Pern nonsense
The fantasy/sci-fi series with the second weirdest economy I can think of. Just like the Wizarding World, Pern does not have enough people. Also those books (well, the main series) aren't really bad except the sexual politics, because ye gods the 60s. They're not great, but I will defend Robinton as a great character forever. And Lessa as an interesting one.
It's best to not think about these things. Woo dragons, plausibility be damned.
Even as a kid I had a hard time getting over the idea of the thread and how there would even be any life left on the planet. But whatever, woo dragons!
Also the first time I found out Oort clouds were a real thing and not just something from a book I was all 'ooooh shit the threeeads!'
I think in 10th grade (maybe 11th) i had to read One Hundred Years of Solitude. I know we read some american authors but my teach really tried to get us to read some more "other" cultural books. I don't recommend OHYoS for 10th graders. I'd try to narrow it down to a book that covers a topic you want the class to explore. What does it mean to be brave? What does it mean to stand up and make a difference? Those are books that teenagers should be reading. Quite a few of the books suggested already would be great fits.
I think in 10th grade (maybe 11th) i had to read One Hundred Years of Solitude. I know we read some american authors but my teach really tried to get us to read some more "other" cultural books. I don't recommend OHYoS for 10th graders. I'd try to narrow it down to a book that covers a topic you want the class to explore. What does it mean to be brave? What does it mean to stand up and make a difference? Those are books that teenagers should be reading. Quite a few of the books suggested already would be great fits.
Damn dude, that book is chock full of rape, incest, murder, genocide, more rape, more incest, and pedophilia. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely incredible, almost stunningly beautiful novel, but pretty extreme stuff for a high school sophomore.
In 10th grade, we read Catcher in the Rye, Macbeth, Huck Finn, and half of the Great Gatsby before the teacher gave up and just showed us the '74 movie. Reading Huck Finn aloud in a classroom which included black students was immensely awkward, what was our teacher thinking?
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BrodyThe WatchThe First ShoreRegistered Userregular
Yeah, thats why I want to suggest Who Fears Death more strongly, but I think its probably too detailed in its descriptions of rape and female circumcision.
"I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."
Hmm, we read The Things They Carried in sophomore year. I don't remember our books being too challenging emotionally, so much as understanding the themes and perspectives approached by the author.
I'm trying to think of the Sci-fi I used to read as a kid.
I'm pretty sure it was all Dragonriders of Pern nonsense
The fantasy/sci-fi series with the second weirdest economy I can think of. Just like the Wizarding World, Pern does not have enough people. Also those books (well, the main series) aren't really bad except the sexual politics, because ye gods the 60s. They're not great, but I will defend Robinton as a great character forever. And Lessa as an interesting one.
It's best to not think about these things. Woo dragons, plausibility be damned.
Even as a kid I had a hard time getting over the idea of the thread and how there would even be any life left on the planet. But whatever, woo dragons!
Also the first time I found out Oort clouds were a real thing and not just something from a book I was all 'ooooh shit the threeeads!'
the Dragon Riders series is way too pro-vaccination for schools today.
AbsalonLands of Always WinterRegistered Userregular
edited May 2018
Bird Box by Josh Malerman is post-apocalyptic horror. Very good at that.
It is: short, jumping between two periods, only from one POV, simplified in its setting, and austere in language and world-building. All of that makes it effective as a genre story and engaging as an experience.
It is about a woman with two small kids making a relatively short journey after our current society faced a collapse because of the arrival of beings that you absolutely cannot look at. That's the whole premise. (no duh there is going to be a movie)
Descender and Paper Girls, both volume two, both ace stuff. I also finally got around to catching up on the last couple of issues of The Wicked and the Divine, which continues to surprise with long awaiting plot bombs going off almost every issue.
Also Low, volume one, which has gorgeous if slightly confusing art and is as relentlessly down as Rick Remender's other stuff, even if the central character is a fervent optimist (and even if the book is about that optimism). Not sure I'm going to continue with this one, and I have to get the last two volumes of Black Science anyway.
Next up, Robert Macfarlane's Landmarks, a book about language and peatlands.
Mojo_JojoWe are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourseRegistered Userregular
I finished The Fifth Season. All in all it was pretty good!
The start is very strong but with each subsequent section it sort of loses a bit of steam until it flops out an ending with a few rushed ideas that aren't fully explored. I already had the second one and it's a direct continuation, so I'll beaver along with it. Hopefully it bucks the downward slope trend.
I really enjoyed having some fantasy/sci-fi/whatever with a quality of writing above functional. It's a rare treat.
More spoilery things
The gay sex as mashing dongs together was a wonderful and unexpectedly funny take on the issue of white male straight authors trying to be diverse and just coming out a bit confused. Especially coming off the back of Moustaches and Muskets
I liked that the conceit of the three different perspectives wasn't so much a sudden twist but more of a gradual realisation with confirmation coming along as soon as I'd basically decided they were all the same.
The use of occasional first person was odd. I assume there's a narrative reason for it though.
There's a really interesting line that is sailed around the empire being immortal and the only sensible choice but also lots of undermining of this with common history going before these times. It really worked to add a feeling of depth to thingh
The reactions of the characters to things seemed really off and blasé fairly regularly. They also don't seem very inquisitive. Alabaster has a stone eater friend? Well let's not mention that during our several years together. Why did the stone eater take them to this particular island? Do all obelisks have dead(?) stone eaters inside them?
Hoa the stone eater doesn't work very well. He's described in a way that makes it fairly clear he's a monster and the reader lacks sufficient knowledge of stone eaters to guess he's not meant to obviously be one. So from what you know, you assume he is. And then the twist is that he's a different type of stone eater? It's all very weak.
Shirtless Pete the Guardian probably could have been dropped in lieu of having Syenite discovering her powers and interacting with the obelisk in different ways
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Forever War or Speaker of the Dead are more 10th grade stuff.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Because the colonialism and culture themes are too complex or? It's been a while since I read it but I guess I wouldn't expect it to be a problem but maybe I am over-estimating 15-year olds.
I think it's pretty complex, yeah, and honestly the emotional themes slayed me, and I'm not even a hormonal adolescent.
Hm. Maybe this is one of those times where I am more phlegmatic and/or emotionally robust than I thought. Not that I didn't find it affecting and pretty brutal, but not so much I thought it would be a problem in this regard.
yeah, that would probably be good for kids to read.
IMO The Hunger Games
The biggest thing with english class in my experience is that most of your class is barely on the level to, like, actually read a book. Like, they are literate in that they can read words but they aren't literate in that they have the experience of sitting down and consuming a book. (I think in general we tend to speed past the whole teaching kids the skill of actually reading a book thing and thus leave them lost and bored when throwing more complex works at them)
Hunger Games is at a suitable level and it's popular and well-known, which basically clears the hurdle of engagement. It's dystopian sci-fi, which is big these days regardless. And it's got a ton of potential hooks for discussion on anything from the power of propaganda and message control to peer pressure.
In general imo, if you are thinking "They are in Grade 10, let's give them a real adult book" you are gonna lose almost everyone except the people who already read for pleasure all the time.
Neuromancer
You'll inspire at least one student to want to write like that
Neuromancer.
Might as well teach the kids where the world is headed.
It’s about a man who falls in love with a wildebeest
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
They're gifted kids who have almost all been in gifted ELA block all three years of middle school. They're all fairly astute and most have read up for a good while though a couple struggle with subtext in literature. I actually have considered The Hunger Games, but I think most of this group has already read it which is why I didn't really consider it. I may put it on rotation, though for when I hit a class that hasn't. I think it's honestly a strong book that hits a lot of really good themes that can be connected to things they did with me this year in 9th grade (monomyth/hero's journey and coming-of-age). I really wish I could do all three because I think the PTSD theme in Mockingjay would really set them up well for The Things They Carried when they hit AP in 11th. Hmmmm.
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Etsy wishlist
Variable Star maybe?
Three Body Problem might be interesting to compare to character centric stories.
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
Ahh, that changes the calculus a bit yeah. If you can trust that they are onboard with the whole "reading a book" thing you can branch out more.*
I agree with you on it's usefulness though. I'm not the hugest fan and I think the 1st book has some frankly kinda bad writing but as a teaching tool it hits a nice sweet spot of being popular and easy to read and engaging while also having good themes you can use in education and such.\
And Mockingjay is almost criminally underrated on either count.
*I think in general english education at the high school and below level prioritizes "important" books over engagement with the class far too much
It also makes class discussions aaaaawwwwkward. hahaha
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
If you're thinking of looking at stuff that's not really sci-fi, but kind of fits due to being "alternative history", then Terry Pratchett's Nation is spot on for that age group. Colonialism, religion, racism, there's a whole bunch of stuff in there to get stuck into - and the main characters are both in the age range you're teaching. It's self-contained, which can be a hard thing to find in this world of series and trilogies.
And anything that encourages more people to read Pratchett is a bonus, in my book.
I'm pretty sure it was all Dragonriders of Pern nonsense
I only read it a couple years ago and I'm pretty sure it's one of the most emotionally complicated books I think I've ever read. Like laugh crying in the face of death and that maybe all of that's ok because time is a weird motherfucker. I definitely think it has more impact if you've lived a bit more than a 15 year old.
Do you have a hunger for knowledge?
Ender's Game is great because of the twist at the end. I think at a 10th grade reading level it's something the kids won't expect.
The Martian is also great if you've got kids more interested in science and in particular, NASA.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is probably the one I would recommend the most, though, as at this point they are questioning the world and their place in it, and it takes a really good look at some of the strange things we do as a society. It's also the book that showed me how silly a question like "What's the meaning of life?" really are.
The fantasy/sci-fi series with the second weirdest economy I can think of. Just like the Wizarding World, Pern does not have enough people. Also those books (well, the main series) aren't really bad except the sexual politics, because ye gods the 60s. They're not great, but I will defend Robinton as a great character forever. And Lessa as an interesting one.
It's best to not think about these things. Woo dragons, plausibility be damned.
10th grade is an age full of landmines for teaching books. An awful lot of influential and important literature - especially that dealing with things like racial and sexual discrimination and violence - is necessarily full of uncomfortable scenes of varying graphicality. It'd be hard to steer clear of discussions around that stuff without teaching to a lower grade level.
I imagine it's not so bad with the students, who'll just be awkward and weird until they get over it. The parents' reactions would concern me more; you're teaching in the South, if I remember right?
That's gotta be a little nerve-wracking.
I'd second Dogs of War in this case - it has themes that would seem to work, is interestingly written, and maintains an unusual cast of characters that the kids will require some thought to understand their motivations, while also keeping everything on an understandable level, by the nature of the protagonist.
I am in the South, in a still-slightly-rural-and-pretending-to-be-small-town suburb of a university town. I...often circumvent the "acceptable" lists and rules, but I'm always prepared to staunchly defend the decisions I make about books/stories/films because the world around them is full of these things, and these kiddos in particular are often viscerally aware of the world around them, and I have never seen my job as merely throwing skills and major works of literature at them. Teaching the humanities is about teaching humanity and how to grapple with all the blessings and problems therein. It may end up biting me in the ass one day, but if more high school teachers felt the freedom to really dig in to these things, I think more people would be less dismissive of English class. Anyway. Yeah. Generally my concerns with those landmine issues are whether it's gratuitous and whether or not it's handled at an accesible level, if that makes sense.
Also, I totally knew what you meant, so I was baffled by what typo it was. hahaha
I just want to say again, thank you guys so much. All of these suggestions have been very helpful, and I've added to my personal reading list. haha. Once finals start, I'll be digging in and solidifying my list for next year.
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
Even as a kid I had a hard time getting over the idea of the thread and how there would even be any life left on the planet. But whatever, woo dragons!
Also the first time I found out Oort clouds were a real thing and not just something from a book I was all 'ooooh shit the threeeads!'
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
Damn dude, that book is chock full of rape, incest, murder, genocide, more rape, more incest, and pedophilia. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely incredible, almost stunningly beautiful novel, but pretty extreme stuff for a high school sophomore.
In 10th grade, we read Catcher in the Rye, Macbeth, Huck Finn, and half of the Great Gatsby before the teacher gave up and just showed us the '74 movie. Reading Huck Finn aloud in a classroom which included black students was immensely awkward, what was our teacher thinking?
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain
the Dragon Riders series is way too pro-vaccination for schools today.
I will!
wish list
Steam wishlist
Etsy wishlist
It is: short, jumping between two periods, only from one POV, simplified in its setting, and austere in language and world-building. All of that makes it effective as a genre story and engaging as an experience.
It is about a woman with two small kids making a relatively short journey after our current society faced a collapse because of the arrival of beings that you absolutely cannot look at. That's the whole premise. (no duh there is going to be a movie)
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
Next up, Robert Macfarlane's Landmarks, a book about language and peatlands.
Choose Your Own Chat 1 Choose Your Own Chat 2 Choose Your Own Chat 3
The start is very strong but with each subsequent section it sort of loses a bit of steam until it flops out an ending with a few rushed ideas that aren't fully explored. I already had the second one and it's a direct continuation, so I'll beaver along with it. Hopefully it bucks the downward slope trend.
I really enjoyed having some fantasy/sci-fi/whatever with a quality of writing above functional. It's a rare treat.
More spoilery things
I liked that the conceit of the three different perspectives wasn't so much a sudden twist but more of a gradual realisation with confirmation coming along as soon as I'd basically decided they were all the same.
The use of occasional first person was odd. I assume there's a narrative reason for it though.
There's a really interesting line that is sailed around the empire being immortal and the only sensible choice but also lots of undermining of this with common history going before these times. It really worked to add a feeling of depth to thingh
The reactions of the characters to things seemed really off and blasé fairly regularly. They also don't seem very inquisitive. Alabaster has a stone eater friend? Well let's not mention that during our several years together. Why did the stone eater take them to this particular island? Do all obelisks have dead(?) stone eaters inside them?
Hoa the stone eater doesn't work very well. He's described in a way that makes it fairly clear he's a monster and the reader lacks sufficient knowledge of stone eaters to guess he's not meant to obviously be one. So from what you know, you assume he is. And then the twist is that he's a different type of stone eater? It's all very weak.
Shirtless Pete the Guardian probably could have been dropped in lieu of having Syenite discovering her powers and interacting with the obelisk in different ways
Nintendo ID: Incindium
PSN: IncindiumX
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Steam: Korvalain