This Is Doing Something To My Brain

This is doing something to my brain

There was nothing here dazzling enough to describe as magic. The spell was in the obsession, the relentless intensity.

From Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, translated by David Boyd and Lucy North

obsessed with the era of historical fashion between the 1860s and 1870s where aniline dyes kept being invented. you can find some absolute fucking eyesores of dresses that were only made that way because “acid magenta” was invented last month and it was trendy.

like this iconic gown:

or this one from the 1870s in aniline purple and aniline black:

or a trendy yellow and black gown from c. 1865, perhaps?

feel free to reblog with additional eyesores (affectionate) that i might have missed

The Archive Undying (thoughts in process)

I am still working my way through The Archive Undying (Emma Mieko Candon) but here are my in the middle thoughts.

Oh, and on the very off-chance that the author or a personal acquaintance of same is on this website, please don't read this post, thank you. (I posted about a recent release and then I'm 90% sure the author of that book liked the post and thought I was going to pass out. If you see something, say nothing.)

First impressions: Good gracious this book is making me work. I have completely filled the back of an envelope trying to keep track of the names of people, places, AIs, and in universe terminology.

This is NOT a book I can read before bed. Nor is it one I can read in an environment where i need to half-pay attention to my surroundings.

Due to the need to constantly take notes, I am progressing very slowly. I was like "sheesh this book is taking FOREVER" and then realized I was interrupting myself like every single page trying to keep my notes up to date.

If you have a better memory than I do, none of that might apply to you! I don't know why I've been relying so heavily on note taking while I read this year.

Characters: my personal favorite soft squishy boi got squished so that's a bummer. The protagonist and his love interest have a fucked up thing going on (I mean that in a positive way) (I'm radiating approval) (fictional fucked up relationships can be so interesting). I wish the women in the story got more time, but that's not a problem, I just think the women who are there are neat and I'd love to spend more time with them :)

World building: the world building is interesting, but it's hard for me to fully appreciate it because waves at notes I find it obfuscated by the terminology. I don't know why I can't keep the Harbor, Engines, Frags, Relics, and whatnot separate, but I can't. 😭

Writing style: the writing is good. It pulls me through and I want to keep reading. There is some playing with the person and tense for story reasons, which I enjoy.

Is it like Murderbot?: no absolutely not. Murderbot is snarky and very accessible. That series is super easy to read/jump into, and the pacing of murderbot is very fast and straightforward.

Is it like a memory called empire: also no. One thing it has in common with Memory called empire is a feeling of a big, unfamiliar world and these big political dimensions, and the physically big and intimidating spaces. Big!

Is it like the Locked Tomb 4-book-trilogy? A little? You might notice the cover quote is form Tamsyn Muir, the author of the locked tomb trilogy. But it's not similar because of the tone--the narrative voice is not snarky like Gideon the Ninth--but because if you want to know what the fuck is going on, you need to pay attention. (I myself am not good at paying attention in that way so I suffer as a result.) I guess I'll report back on whether Candon has the same... approach... to ending books as Muir.

What is it like? It's a little like ninefox gambit (Yoon Ha Lee). There's a lot of terminology and a strong sense of big things happening that aren't simply elucidated for you. The worldbuilding also reminds me a little of Ninefox Gambit because you know the author has it all in here *taps head* but only a fraction makes it onto the page.

It's a little like the fifth season (NK Jemisin) the terminology, playing with the narrative form, and a somewhat shifting cast of characters. Information about the characters is hidden from the reader in service to the story and to support an overall suspense. There is nothing wrong with that in and of itself.

Cool things list:

The opening quickly engaged my interest.

I think the world is interesting!

I love the names of the different AIs, and I think it's cool to think about how their different "personalities" shape the different cultures that spring up in their cities.

I like the characters; they have good texture and voice. The author does a great job of making me feel like I'm meeting these people at a point in their lives, like they really do have their own personal histories.

It falls into a school of 'oh hey casual queer representation' like yeah in the future no one has to explain they/them pronouns, everyone just Gets It.

It also isn't explicitly stated but, like, all the characters are POC. For real. It's like in Avatar Airbender, people don't bring it up because it's just there. And I respect that!

Also the cover art is dope.

In summary I like the book so far. It's going to take me a while to finish, but I'm willing to keep pushing.

Yes I just finished this one! I hope lots of people read it and it develops a thriving fandom. It DOES feel like a very tumblr-friendly work

If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu

Loved, loved this fantasy novella! The protagonist works a soul-sucking corporate job at the call centre of One Wizard, redirecting customers whose spells have gone wrong. When they unexpectedly get to investigate a call, of course it turns out to be less routine than it seems...

The story uses Chinese mythology in a modern-with-magic setting: talismans, Courts of Hell, spirit possession...all the good stuff. It's set in a nameless city in China (I think).

Don't get put off by the second-person narrative ("you"). It's not gimmicky and you soon stop noticing. I think the author used it to avoid gendering the protagonist. They're nonbinary themself, and a number of characters have non-typical genders.

Despite the beginning, the book's tone is ultimately warm and hopeful. It's about opening yourself to caring for others, and the rewards that come from that.

Really, this book is so Tumblr: gender is irrelevant, love is real, found families support each other, and everything you learned from watching The Untamed et al. will come come to good use.

Book shelf clean out: young wizards

I loved this series! I don't know where my copy of the 1st book went but the others are on their way to the library bookstore, and I hope they find a new home there

It was hard to say bye to these books (but I plan to get the new millennium editions in ebook soon... and i need the space). I read them when I was in high school and college.

They're really excellent, set in Our World (not fantasy whatever land). They remind me in some ways of Terry Pratchett's work--not the setting or voice, but in the underlying ethos of the work. Although the characters go through difficult things (big warning for A Wizard's Dilemma), the world overall feels... kind?

More things to love about this series

Hispanic & queer representation, if you pay attention. In other, more recently-written series, these aspects of the characters might have been played up. In this series, those aspects are still present but more subtly. I actually like this because it's more fitting with my experience of the world. It also serves the story itself better and allows the characters' choices and actions to be the focus of the story.

Even in the case of the antagonists, the characters are... They extend civility and understanding to the antagonists, but they don't veer into "all-forgiving hero" territory. The story doesn't get into really black-and-white good-and-evil morality, but it isn't that tiresome "everyone sucks enjoy your undifferentiated grey." The heroes are heroic because of how they choose to treat others.

I love it when stories say "the way you treat others does matter." Kindness is repaid with kindness.

The styles of magic are cool too! I think many people have read "this character has a connection with plants and growing things" magic before. One of the other characters has a connection with mechanical and technical things! There's a scene in one of the books where he communes with, I think it's an airplane? And he can feel its eagerness to be flying, its fierce joy in speed and movement. I think that's lovely.

There are some good jokes in there, like the pig!

If you love space and astronomy, you'll probably like this series :) Especially the later books.

If you like alien cultures (and more traditional fantasy other-cultures) you'll probably like this seriies

Overall I just really enjoy these books and recommend them okay byeeee

Oh Daine, sweet Daine. It is so so so perfectly and wonderfully 13 to be like “No but this universally terrible situation we’re all in upsets me in a way no one else has ever felt before or could possibly understand!!” bless her, bless all the 13 years feeling the unbearable pain of existence with complex emotions for the first time