Yuletide 2008 'Dear Santa' letter
Dec. 25th, 2008 01:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingDear Yuletide Writer,
I'm pretty easy to please, really -- so long as you write a grammatically correct story that isn't simply a long sex scene, I'll be thrilled just to get a fic in one of the fandoms I asked for. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version.
***************
General Information:
1. I will read almost anything when it comes to pairings -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever, so long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere -- but I prefer gen, and I tend to skim detailed sex scenes because the non-sex parts of the story are usually more interesting to me.
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods (so you can write schmoopy fluff or angsty deathfic and I'll be fine either way), but my favorite endings are bittersweet and a little complicated, kind of like life.
3. When I said 'any' characters, I meant it. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more. (Actually, even if you decide to write Westmark fic, you can focus on someone other than the characters I named, so long as the ones I asked for are mentioned at least once. And for Heroes Die, I have nothing against Berne; it's just that he doesn't interest me as much as everyone else, so I'd prefer he not be the main character. He makes a kick-ass supporting character, though!)
4. Stuff I really, really like: character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; good spelling and grammar; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; people using logic to investigate a problem; fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters...
Um. That's kind of long. Sorry. Most of it can be boiled down to 'please treat characters as intelligent people, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that there's more to life than sex -- not that there's anything wrong with sex!'
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on: character bashing; sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple); gratuitous angst/torture/rape/whatever (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work); idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked two or three obvious questions, but wild plot contortions prevent any such rational behavior); predestination, prophecies, and anything else that denies free will.
Okay. On to specific fandoms.
***************
Westmark: I love this series mostly because it was a couple degrees off what I was used to reading as a kid. It's not fantasy -- there isn't a single bit of magic at all, though there are some fantastic (in the sense of unlikely) events -- but it doesn't properly fit in any other genre. It's a straightforward historical adventure story that just happens to be set in a completely made-up world. Alexander takes his world, his characters, and his readers seriously; actions have consequences, emotions can't be conveniently discarded at the dictates of the plot, and there are no perfect solutions.
And despite the 'return of the monarch' set-up, he's telling a story about the birth of democracy. I love that so much.
(Also, Theo is love, Mickle kicks ass, and Florian and Justin intrigue the hell out of me... which is why I picked them particularly out of the character list.)
***************
The Lions of Al-Rassan: Honestly, I love this book for pretty much the same reasons I love Westmark, except Kay also learned a trick from Tolkien that adds extra poignancy: the constant refrain of beauty lost and fading in a harsh, mortal world. There's an aching sense of lost possibilities, the hope that if just one or two things had gone differently... but then you look again at the larger situation of the world, and you realize historical forces are aligned against your dreams, and nothing lasts forever. As Rodrigo says, "Even the sun goes down."
I particularly like the friendship between Rodrigo and Ammar, the way Jehane is an independent, competent adult, and the Belmontes' marriage.
***************
Heroes Die and The Blade of Tyshalle: I'm going to be lazy and quote my (long; sorry!) amazon.com reviews at you, so you'll get a sense of what struck me about these books:
I bought "Heroes Die" on a trip after I ran out of other reading material; I was bored and found the title intriguing. I didn't expect more than a standard, entertaining slash-em-up, and am delighted at how wrong I was.
"Heroes Die" follows anti-hero Hari Michelson, an Actor (the capital is warranted; this is not the acting we know) in an unpleasant, caste-bound future whose job is, basically, to kill people in another reality for the entertainment of the rich Leisure caste on Earth. On Overworld -- a gritty medieval fantasy setting -- Hari is Caine, a legendary assassin and warrior; his excessively bloody adventures have made him immensely popular back on Earth. As the book opens, he is estranged from his wife Shanna, an Actor who plays magician Pallas Ril. On Overworld, she poses as Simon Jester (a nod to Heinlein), champion of the lower classes. However, she has vanished from the studio's tracking systems and will soon fall back to Earth, fatally and uncontrollably.
Hari is sent to Overworld to rescue his wife, depose the suspiciously godlike emperor of Ankhana, and revive the studio's fortunes. The story includes betrayals, mysteries, megalomaniacs, daring escapes and rescues, gods, magic, gobs of violence, and a climactic final confrontation. "Heroes Die" works beautifully as a straight adventure, but also contains much more. The characters are well-developed (though the villains are occasionally a bit two-dimensional) which gives weight and meaning to their ordeals and changes. And the entire adventure is colored by the ethics of the studio system and the political situations in both worlds.
But the story is not flawless. Stover dangles some portentious hints and ideas that unfortunately never amount to much. He also never resolves his ethical and political dilemmas to my satisfaction. After taking the trouble to set them up, he shunts them aside or tries to subsume them in Hari's struggle with the studio head and his relationship with Shanna. Given that little changes on Earth, the ending seems unreasonably upbeat; it's also a letdown after the government's grave concern that Hari's subvocalized political musings might affect the people who live his adventure with him.
Despite the loose ends, Stover does a fantastic job bringing plots strands together while maintaining suspense and a breakneck pace. He integrates serious issues without making his story one bit less enjoyable. I honestly think he could have resolved even the dangling bits and still made everything work. I wish he had; it would have transformed a very good book into a great one.
---------------
After reading "Heroes Die," I was very glad to learn that Stover was writing a sequel. Stover is amazingly good at using the conventions of action, fantasy, and dystopian science fiction while also subtly twisting them in service of his all too believable and recognizable characters. Unlike many authors, he understands that actions have consequences, not all conflicts have good solutions, and nobody can be a hero all the time. He writes great fight scenes, too.
"Blade of Tyshalle" is, in some ways, very similar to "Heroes Die." It focuses on Hari Michaelson, and his alter-ego, Caine, as he fights against impossible odds to save his family from threats on both Earth and Overworld. It includes action, dungeons, desperate last stands, and so on. However, this book spends a lot more time on other characters, including Shanna/Pallas Ril, Hari's wife; Ma'elKoth, who goes by Tan'elKoth for much of the book; Raithe, a young Monastic dedicated to killing Caine; Kollberg, Hari's old nemesis, raised up from his exile to the Labor Pool; and Kris/Deliann, the Changeling Prince of the elves. Also, Earth has become more directly involved with Overworld, to the point of creating an enclave of technology, and later releasing an incurable virus to justify an armed invasion, in the name of "restoring order;" this changes the rules of the game.
The plot is even more intricate than in "Heroes Die," but the story also contains much more social commentary and philosophy. There are many brief, odd, semi-mythic interchapters, which, once you figure out which character corresponds to which mythic figure, provide a handy road map for the rest of the book.
After I finished "Blade of Tyshalle," I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it. I let it sink in for a few days, then reread the book. I knew I liked the action and the characters, and the way the loose ends from the first book, particularly the much-vaunted "black flow" were finally resolved, but I wasn't sure about the philosophy and social theory, or about the balance among the various elements of the book.
I think, finally, that "Blade of Tyshalle" is a very, very good book. It is also, unquestionably, a flawed book, from which several plot and character complications -- and fifty to a hundred pages -- could profitably have been trimmed. But it made me think, it involved me emotionally, it convinced me it was worth the money I paid for it, and it hooked me enough that I have already reread it three times. I definitely recommend both the book, and Stover.
Just make sure you have an open mind, and a strong stomach.
***************
Song for the Basilisk: And again, I'm going to quote an amazon.com review at you:
"Song for the Basilisk" ties with the Riddle-Master trilogy for my favorite Patricia McKillip book. However, I would advise reading her other books before this one; it is not as easily accessible as some.
"Basilisk" is the story of Rook, a musician who lives with the bards of Luly and has avoided his past for over thirty years. Eventually he is forced to remember, and he travels to the city of Berylon to right a decades-old wrong done to his family.
But "Basilisk" is not a typical revenge quest, and it holds far more than Rook's story. It tells the stories of Guilia Dulcet, a musician from the provinces; of Justin, a young man with secret plans; of Luna Pellior, the Basilisk's mysterious and powerful daughter; of Hexel Barr, the distracted, irate composer; of Damiet Pellior, the Basilisk's other daughter; of Hollis, Rook's impatient and protective son; and other intriguing characters.
I have read this book many times, and each time it quickly pulls me into a dreamworld where everything is hidden or cast in a new light. Yes, the characterizations are subtle, and the magic is unexplained. Yes, the first few pages are confusing the first time. Yes, the story moves slowly. However, if you accept the book on its own terms, it is rewarding, and will linger with you for weeks.
This is one of the few books I can read over and over, and never find myself skipping ahead to the "good parts." The whole book is that good.
---------------
To elaborate: what I love most about McKillip is the quality of lucid dreaming that infuses her writing. I'm sure that's extremely difficult to imitate, so I don't mind if you don't try... but I'd love a fic with the sense of wonder and grace that she also conveys, the notion of secret worlds hidden beside and within our own, just waiting for you to turn your head and look at them from a new angle. I also love that her characters, while tangled in the same story, come to it from different places and with different motives, and I'm sure that they continue on with their own plans and desires after the story as well.
And, of course, I am a thwarted musician (and former dilettante music theory student), so if you can work in stuff about instruments, singing, rehearsals, composing, playing in bars or at court functions, or anything else music-related, I will be happy as a clam. *grin*
***************
ETA: I will try my best to comment on Christmas morning, but time and family constraints may prevent more than a general "Yay, thank you!" and then I won't have internet access again until Sunday the 28th. But I will be very appreciative nonetheless!
I'm pretty easy to please, really -- so long as you write a grammatically correct story that isn't simply a long sex scene, I'll be thrilled just to get a fic in one of the fandoms I asked for. *grin* But I realize that's not terribly helpful, so here's the (very!) long version.
***************
General Information:
1. I will read almost anything when it comes to pairings -- het, slash, femslash, threesomes, poly, whatever, so long as you put in a bit of character development so the relationships don't seem to come out of nowhere -- but I prefer gen, and I tend to skim detailed sex scenes because the non-sex parts of the story are usually more interesting to me.
2. I read all kinds of genres and moods (so you can write schmoopy fluff or angsty deathfic and I'll be fine either way), but my favorite endings are bittersweet and a little complicated, kind of like life.
3. When I said 'any' characters, I meant it. I fall in love with worlds and themes as much as I fall in love with characters, if not more. (Actually, even if you decide to write Westmark fic, you can focus on someone other than the characters I named, so long as the ones I asked for are mentioned at least once. And for Heroes Die, I have nothing against Berne; it's just that he doesn't interest me as much as everyone else, so I'd prefer he not be the main character. He makes a kick-ass supporting character, though!)
4. Stuff I really, really like: character development; world-building; explanation of plot holes in canon; subtle humor; good spelling and grammar; a sense of wonder; writing that evokes an emotional reaction as well as telling a story; close relationships that don't necessarily involve sex (i.e., friendship, families, teachers and students, coworkers, traveling companions, soldiers in the same cause, etc.); the consequences of actions and choices; a sense of place and time; dialogue that conveys character as well as plot information; politics; ethics; people being intelligent even if they make bad choices; people trying to do the right thing even if they make bad choices; conflict because of opposing goals that both have points in their favor; a lack of simple solutions; female characters treated as people instead of plot devices; male characters treated as people instead of plot devices; ideas that make me stop and think; the nature of memory; the nature of truth; possession; soul-searching; non-gratuitous torture (...I have a kink, shut up); war and battles; hand-to-hand fighting; swordfights; peace and diplomacy; magic that's properly magical and strange or magic that's explained as a science (but not both at once); books and reading; people exploring a new country/world/city; people using logic to investigate a problem; fires, floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters...
Um. That's kind of long. Sorry. Most of it can be boiled down to 'please treat characters as intelligent people, please take the worlds seriously as settings, and please remember that there's more to life than sex -- not that there's anything wrong with sex!'
5. Stuff I'm not so keen on: character bashing; sex or romantic love with no in-story justification (unless the people in question are already a canon couple); gratuitous angst/torture/rape/whatever (i.e., bad stuff that comes out of nowhere and is not necessary to make the plot or character arc work); idiot plots (i.e., problems that could be solved in five minutes if the characters asked two or three obvious questions, but wild plot contortions prevent any such rational behavior); predestination, prophecies, and anything else that denies free will.
Okay. On to specific fandoms.
***************
Westmark: I love this series mostly because it was a couple degrees off what I was used to reading as a kid. It's not fantasy -- there isn't a single bit of magic at all, though there are some fantastic (in the sense of unlikely) events -- but it doesn't properly fit in any other genre. It's a straightforward historical adventure story that just happens to be set in a completely made-up world. Alexander takes his world, his characters, and his readers seriously; actions have consequences, emotions can't be conveniently discarded at the dictates of the plot, and there are no perfect solutions.
And despite the 'return of the monarch' set-up, he's telling a story about the birth of democracy. I love that so much.
(Also, Theo is love, Mickle kicks ass, and Florian and Justin intrigue the hell out of me... which is why I picked them particularly out of the character list.)
***************
The Lions of Al-Rassan: Honestly, I love this book for pretty much the same reasons I love Westmark, except Kay also learned a trick from Tolkien that adds extra poignancy: the constant refrain of beauty lost and fading in a harsh, mortal world. There's an aching sense of lost possibilities, the hope that if just one or two things had gone differently... but then you look again at the larger situation of the world, and you realize historical forces are aligned against your dreams, and nothing lasts forever. As Rodrigo says, "Even the sun goes down."
I particularly like the friendship between Rodrigo and Ammar, the way Jehane is an independent, competent adult, and the Belmontes' marriage.
***************
Heroes Die and The Blade of Tyshalle: I'm going to be lazy and quote my (long; sorry!) amazon.com reviews at you, so you'll get a sense of what struck me about these books:
I bought "Heroes Die" on a trip after I ran out of other reading material; I was bored and found the title intriguing. I didn't expect more than a standard, entertaining slash-em-up, and am delighted at how wrong I was.
"Heroes Die" follows anti-hero Hari Michelson, an Actor (the capital is warranted; this is not the acting we know) in an unpleasant, caste-bound future whose job is, basically, to kill people in another reality for the entertainment of the rich Leisure caste on Earth. On Overworld -- a gritty medieval fantasy setting -- Hari is Caine, a legendary assassin and warrior; his excessively bloody adventures have made him immensely popular back on Earth. As the book opens, he is estranged from his wife Shanna, an Actor who plays magician Pallas Ril. On Overworld, she poses as Simon Jester (a nod to Heinlein), champion of the lower classes. However, she has vanished from the studio's tracking systems and will soon fall back to Earth, fatally and uncontrollably.
Hari is sent to Overworld to rescue his wife, depose the suspiciously godlike emperor of Ankhana, and revive the studio's fortunes. The story includes betrayals, mysteries, megalomaniacs, daring escapes and rescues, gods, magic, gobs of violence, and a climactic final confrontation. "Heroes Die" works beautifully as a straight adventure, but also contains much more. The characters are well-developed (though the villains are occasionally a bit two-dimensional) which gives weight and meaning to their ordeals and changes. And the entire adventure is colored by the ethics of the studio system and the political situations in both worlds.
But the story is not flawless. Stover dangles some portentious hints and ideas that unfortunately never amount to much. He also never resolves his ethical and political dilemmas to my satisfaction. After taking the trouble to set them up, he shunts them aside or tries to subsume them in Hari's struggle with the studio head and his relationship with Shanna. Given that little changes on Earth, the ending seems unreasonably upbeat; it's also a letdown after the government's grave concern that Hari's subvocalized political musings might affect the people who live his adventure with him.
Despite the loose ends, Stover does a fantastic job bringing plots strands together while maintaining suspense and a breakneck pace. He integrates serious issues without making his story one bit less enjoyable. I honestly think he could have resolved even the dangling bits and still made everything work. I wish he had; it would have transformed a very good book into a great one.
---------------
After reading "Heroes Die," I was very glad to learn that Stover was writing a sequel. Stover is amazingly good at using the conventions of action, fantasy, and dystopian science fiction while also subtly twisting them in service of his all too believable and recognizable characters. Unlike many authors, he understands that actions have consequences, not all conflicts have good solutions, and nobody can be a hero all the time. He writes great fight scenes, too.
"Blade of Tyshalle" is, in some ways, very similar to "Heroes Die." It focuses on Hari Michaelson, and his alter-ego, Caine, as he fights against impossible odds to save his family from threats on both Earth and Overworld. It includes action, dungeons, desperate last stands, and so on. However, this book spends a lot more time on other characters, including Shanna/Pallas Ril, Hari's wife; Ma'elKoth, who goes by Tan'elKoth for much of the book; Raithe, a young Monastic dedicated to killing Caine; Kollberg, Hari's old nemesis, raised up from his exile to the Labor Pool; and Kris/Deliann, the Changeling Prince of the elves. Also, Earth has become more directly involved with Overworld, to the point of creating an enclave of technology, and later releasing an incurable virus to justify an armed invasion, in the name of "restoring order;" this changes the rules of the game.
The plot is even more intricate than in "Heroes Die," but the story also contains much more social commentary and philosophy. There are many brief, odd, semi-mythic interchapters, which, once you figure out which character corresponds to which mythic figure, provide a handy road map for the rest of the book.
After I finished "Blade of Tyshalle," I wasn't quite sure what I thought of it. I let it sink in for a few days, then reread the book. I knew I liked the action and the characters, and the way the loose ends from the first book, particularly the much-vaunted "black flow" were finally resolved, but I wasn't sure about the philosophy and social theory, or about the balance among the various elements of the book.
I think, finally, that "Blade of Tyshalle" is a very, very good book. It is also, unquestionably, a flawed book, from which several plot and character complications -- and fifty to a hundred pages -- could profitably have been trimmed. But it made me think, it involved me emotionally, it convinced me it was worth the money I paid for it, and it hooked me enough that I have already reread it three times. I definitely recommend both the book, and Stover.
Just make sure you have an open mind, and a strong stomach.
***************
Song for the Basilisk: And again, I'm going to quote an amazon.com review at you:
"Song for the Basilisk" ties with the Riddle-Master trilogy for my favorite Patricia McKillip book. However, I would advise reading her other books before this one; it is not as easily accessible as some.
"Basilisk" is the story of Rook, a musician who lives with the bards of Luly and has avoided his past for over thirty years. Eventually he is forced to remember, and he travels to the city of Berylon to right a decades-old wrong done to his family.
But "Basilisk" is not a typical revenge quest, and it holds far more than Rook's story. It tells the stories of Guilia Dulcet, a musician from the provinces; of Justin, a young man with secret plans; of Luna Pellior, the Basilisk's mysterious and powerful daughter; of Hexel Barr, the distracted, irate composer; of Damiet Pellior, the Basilisk's other daughter; of Hollis, Rook's impatient and protective son; and other intriguing characters.
I have read this book many times, and each time it quickly pulls me into a dreamworld where everything is hidden or cast in a new light. Yes, the characterizations are subtle, and the magic is unexplained. Yes, the first few pages are confusing the first time. Yes, the story moves slowly. However, if you accept the book on its own terms, it is rewarding, and will linger with you for weeks.
This is one of the few books I can read over and over, and never find myself skipping ahead to the "good parts." The whole book is that good.
---------------
To elaborate: what I love most about McKillip is the quality of lucid dreaming that infuses her writing. I'm sure that's extremely difficult to imitate, so I don't mind if you don't try... but I'd love a fic with the sense of wonder and grace that she also conveys, the notion of secret worlds hidden beside and within our own, just waiting for you to turn your head and look at them from a new angle. I also love that her characters, while tangled in the same story, come to it from different places and with different motives, and I'm sure that they continue on with their own plans and desires after the story as well.
And, of course, I am a thwarted musician (and former dilettante music theory student), so if you can work in stuff about instruments, singing, rehearsals, composing, playing in bars or at court functions, or anything else music-related, I will be happy as a clam. *grin*
***************
ETA: I will try my best to comment on Christmas morning, but time and family constraints may prevent more than a general "Yay, thank you!" and then I won't have internet access again until Sunday the 28th. But I will be very appreciative nonetheless!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-01 11:51 am (UTC)(Then again, I was going to ship Karin Lowachee's books anyway. Which reminds me - what's your opinion on them?)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-01 08:23 pm (UTC)Burndive is much slower, very internal and hardly any action at all; it's a character story. The American paperback version suffers from a very bad back cover summary that makes it sound like an action plot will surface, so I think my experience of the book was somewhat marred because I kept expecting it to be something it wasn't.
Cagebird is, I think, even better than Warchild, but it is dark and depressing as hell -- the main character is nihilistic and probably borderline suicidal through most of the story, and the ending is at best ambiguously hopeful. But it's brilliant.
Those three books are a sequence, and they are written in chronological order, but they're not sequels. Each has a different protagonist and as such a subtly (or not-so-subtly) different focus and perspective on Lowachee's universe and overarching plot.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-01 09:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-12 08:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-13 03:46 am (UTC)