Finished Rereading ED Baker's The Frog Princess Which Continued To Be Quite Fun. Also Reread Illuminations,

Finished rereading ED Baker's the Frog Princess which continued to be quite fun. Also reread Illuminations, and reread the ending to Castle Hangnail (both by ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher). Have started reread of A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking (same author) and also The Twisted Ones (also same). It is time for the annual reread of Hogfather. I have read 0 pages in December's book. On the waitlist for the rest of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C Wrede). Might reread all of the Frog Princess series if the library timing works out. Uhhh yeah. That's the state of the bookshelf. Also haven't made progress in the Lovecraft story but 🤷‍♀️

I do not control the reading impulse. The reading impulse controls me.

OH MY GOD

I'm so so interested in the authors notes in this box set!! I breathlessly turned to Partner and said "did you know [author of series you didnt read] wrote [book you haven't read] first even though it is chronologically 4th in the series?!?!?!"

And like.... I.... I'm interested by the fact that I'm SO EXCITED by these authors notes. I would not be this fascinated if I hadn't been reading these books over and over since I was in *checks notes* middle school, and I wouldn't be this fascinated if I had never read any notes before. Like if I'd encountered the AN first at the beginning of the book since I was a wee child I would not care at this point. Or it might even have dimmed some of my experience of the 3rd book.

Am I going to incorporate this thought into how I write and present fanfics? Nope!

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede is really good

Consider this a blanket recommendation for the whole series, for reasons I'll go into eventually

Finished my reread of book 2,starting book 3

This is the first time I've read the authors notes on this one (i picked up a new box set) and it's really neat. I'm glad I've read and reread the whole book a few times before reading them but like... it's cool. She wrote this one last but it's the 3rd chronologically. I'm like 👀 just at that

O darn I'm late for work byeeee

The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (wrap up)

I finished it. I liked it!

It's not about making friends with octopi. It is very much about identity and connection (and isolation).

Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future. Rumors begin to spread of a species of hyperintelligent, dangerous octopus that may have developed its own language and culture. Marine biologist Dr. Ha Nguyen, who has spent her life researching cephalopod intelligence, will do anything for the chance to study them. The transnational tech corporation DIANIMA has sealed the remote Con Dao Archipelago, where the octopuses were discovered, off from the world. Dr. Nguyen joins DIANIMA’s team on the islands: a battle-scarred security agent and the world’s first android. The octopuses hold the key to unprecedented breakthroughs in extrahuman intelligence. The stakes are high: there are vast fortunes to be made by whoever can take advantage of the octopuses’ advancements, and as Dr. Nguyen struggles to communicate with the newly discovered species, forces larger than DIANIMA close in to seize the octopuses for themselves. But no one has yet asked the octopuses what they think. And what they might do about it. A near-future thriller about the nature of consciousness, Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea is a dazzling literary debut and a mind-blowing dive into the treasure and wreckage of humankind’s legacy.

More thoughts and spoilers under the jump.

So, as I said: this book is not about making friends with octopi, but it's very much about consciousness/intelligence and connection/isolation/loneliness. There are octopi, and there are attempts at communication, but the book is much, much more about humans trying to connect with other humans.

The setting is very bleak. I think you could call it near-future Sci-Fi; everything happens on Earth as we know it--more or less. But various corporate forces have reshaped the planet politically in ways that are impossible to miss without the book stopping to explain what has happened. The role of... super-capitalism? In shaping the world reminds me of Murderbot, but it actually feels more bleak overall, I think because of the focus of the story and because of how vividly illustrated the consequences are. There are little glimmers of not-suck here and there, but they're like stars on a cloudy night. All of which is to say, I think the setting is very, very good.

The environment (as in, environmentalism, as in conservation) also features heavily in the book. The stuff about the over-exploitation of the ocean feels very accurate (I grew up with two marine conservationists). It's threaded through the entire book, which is interesting because... it is related to the more "universal" themes that are already present (connection), but it is a theme in its own right.

Another component of the book is the question of "what measure is a non-human?" (* I was about to hit "post" and then remembered a more succinct way to encompass this theme is just "personhood.") Despite the octopus appearing ON THE COVER, there's a lot more near-human AI stuff on the page. Heck, one of the characters is an AI in a body. I personally don't have much to say about this topic overall, but I can't not talk about it when thinking about this book.

This book had a high concept- and thematic-density, while still providing a fast-paced read. Despite the girthiness of the book, I finished it pretty quickly. (This write-up was sitting in drafts because that's how I roll.)

As I was reading it, I actually dug out my little sticker flag thingies and flagged pages throughout the book where the writing was just good. I rarely do that. I just couldn't move on until I'd done something to acknowledge this moment, and that moment, throughout.

Reading it made me feel like I wasn't quite smart enough to get enough out of it as I wanted--and I mean that in a good way! It was challenging in an exciting way.

When I finished it, I wanted to talk to someone smarter/savvier than I was about the book--or better yet, listen to them talk about what they found interesting about it.

Not just the worldbuilding (although that is fabulous and interesting) and the vision of the future that it presents (ditto), and not just the consciousness/communication/AI stuff and the subject matter, but the way the book is put together in itself is interesting! From a writing-craft perspective, I feel like there's more going on under the hood than I gleaned on my first read, and that's exciting too.

Another thing I found interesting was the ending--despite how bleak the book was overall, the ending was... not exactly hopeful, but lighter than I expected. It ends on something like a question mark rather than the period I was expecting.

Okay. Overall: Recommend. Strongly recommend! I have to sit and think about it STILL, EVEN MORE because I... really liked this book but I'm not sure how to talk about it/recommend it yet. I am still digesting.

Oh, and below please find some of the questions I scribbled down after I finished. Please forgive my spelling; I returned my copy to its owner and can't refer back for the characters' names.

Compare and contrast Rustem and Eiko and their roles in the story. What does each respective character's presence (and that of the Sea Wolf) add to the story?

Who or what controls the faceless woman?

Alongside the broader themes of identity, connection, and isolation, there is also the contrast between top-down and networked "control." (How) do these themes connect?

Altansteg is first portrayed as one thing, then another. She goes out of her way to be a cyper with her different translator. Everim is portrayed as whole and complete, as singular, as known yet mysterious. Compare and contrast other features of these characters.

Compare and contrast Ha and Dr Minervudottoir-Chen.

Anyway, if anyone out there goes and reads this book and enjoyed it, please @ me because I want to know what others thought.

“You need to believe in things that aren’t true. How else can they become” - Hogfather, Terry Pratchett

JANUARY: The Perfect Assassin by KA Doore

Since December's book got unceremoniously canned, here's January's book. I either finish it by the end of January or it goes to the donation box.

The Perfect Assassin by KA Doore.

Divine justice is written in blood.

Or so Amastan has been taught. As a new assassin in the Basbowen family, he’s already having second thoughts about taking a life. A scarcity of contracts ends up being just what he needs.

Until, unexpectedly, Amastan finds the body of a very important drum chief. Until, impossibly, Basbowen’s finest start showing up dead, with their murderous jaan running wild in the dusty streets of Ghadid. Until, inevitably, Amastan is ordered to solve these murders, before the family gets blamed.

Every life has its price, but when the tables are turned, Amastan must find this perfect assassin or be their next target

I picked up this book because I had heard good things, but for the life of me I no longer remember what they are. I do remember that it was a recommendation from the Be The Serpent podcast, which I adored. I got so many good book recommendations from them. If you haven't, I strongly recommend checking out their backlog. (I think they're on hiatus or something? Life got busy so I fell behind.) They talk about books, fanfic, other media, and stories and storytelling (and TROPES).

If I recall correctly, I didn't even finish the first chapter last time, but I'm ready to try again :)

Anyone remember a post from Tumblr past, where somebody said something about being tired of having teenage chosen ones and they wish someone would write one that's older? Because my older sister did that and it's getting published in April.