Companions

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold, narrated by Marguerite Gavin
Concluding my reread of the original Five Gods books with the first book I read in that series. Yes, I know that's not the correct order, and in retrospect, I wouldn't recommend it. ("You're reading the third one!?" demanded an exasperated friend who'd spent years trying to talk me into reading The Curse of Chalion.)

Compared to the duology set in Chalion, which I've reread multiple times, I remembered relatively little about this one. Honestly, memory was the scene at the inn with the pregnant sorceress, the polar bear at the funeral, the ending in the sacred forest being confusing, and that I'd been reading it because someone had recommended it as an example of a fic trope when I was trying to get a handle on writing that trope myself. I didn't remember which fic trope, but it turns out it was soul bonding.

I think it benefits from reading them in order because this one somewhat expects you to know how the Five Gods worldbuilding works, and is doing its most interesting stuff by tinkering with it, so I think I was a bit overwhelmed going in cold. It might be a bit of a let down if you just want more of Caz, Ista and the gang, as they're in another country and also not born yet.

Anyway! I really liked it! The hero is a solid Bujold entry in stoic man who believes he's damaged beyond repair but feels the pull to act with honour despite not much of his experience with the world suggesting that's going to work out for him. The heroine would like things to be less stupid, and also not to get raped or murdered, and plans to persist until conditions improve. I felt like her character could've gotten fleshed out and given a bit more to do, but I did like her. There are a lot of vivid side characters who feel like they have their entire own stories while they're not on page, without taking over the narrative. The baddie was somewhat foreseeable (if it walks like a fascist, and talks like a fascist, it's prooooooobably...) but well constructed and convincing.

I did make sense of the big dramatic scene at the end this time, though it didn't quite have the kick of the ending of the first two books. Overall, this one was good, and if you liked the Caz and Ista books, you'll probably like this, but I would read them in order.


Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
Grabbed this second hand as I've been meaning to read more of Yolen. I now feel a bit bad writing this not that long after the woman passed away, because it really shouldn't be held up to represent her writing. I think if you publish 500 books, they can't all be bangers?

I started out really enjoying it, and being pleased at how much SF/F in the 1970s and '80s could just be really fricking weird. It's presented as a series of anthropologists reports of first contact with a new planet, recordings of conversations, and trial transcripts, leading to overlapping, out of sequence, and sometimes contradictory versions of events. Which is usually my favourite thing! All the male characters also seemed to be casually bisexual (though not a lot of concern about consent to be found). I don't remember much sex happening between women, but it was still cool to see in a book that came out in 1984.

( This got long, so I'm putting the rest and the negativity behind a cut )

So yeah. That sure was a book I read. I'm glad it wasn't the first Yolen I encountered, and I will try again, but wow.


The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco
Grabbed this off the library shelf for non-fiction graphic novels while I was looking for something else.

Graphic novel about the author investigating the causes, events and aftermath of a religious riot in rural India. If that's the kind of thing that interests you, this will probably be interesting. I think the author did a good job of trying to pick apart the different strands of events and conflicting narratives to lay out not exactly what happened, then the tensions that lead to it happening, and how the cover up rolled out. Sacco has an eye for how people justify bad actions, and while it's not without judgement, it's certainly with an attempt at empathy. It does feel like that kind of openness and honesty is maybe what will lead to solutions in similar situations, but I also didn't leave with an impression that was happening at all.