Weird, offputting, gross, and full of reproductive gore. A woman who is broke and meandering finds herself on a farmstead and neck deep in sheep manurWeird, offputting, gross, and full of reproductive gore. A woman who is broke and meandering finds herself on a farmstead and neck deep in sheep manure. There's a real dirty grittiness to this book, in both the imagery of the text and the way the narrative moves. Very enjoyable and a quick read that still manages to take you on a full journey with a weightiness to the story....more
The family is bourgeois and love is not real; labor and work creates a haze of reality where nothing is real; violence and political upheavals always The family is bourgeois and love is not real; labor and work creates a haze of reality where nothing is real; violence and political upheavals always exist on the small scale, within the homes, as the world changes
The longer short stories in here were quite excellent! Loved loved loved the creepiness and human fallacy of The Bone Ward and A Scale Model of Gull PThe longer short stories in here were quite excellent! Loved loved loved the creepiness and human fallacy of The Bone Ward and A Scale Model of Gull Point...more
Women, narrative, and survival. The violence of intimacies and closeness, knowing too much and saying too much, not knowing enough and saying too littWomen, narrative, and survival. The violence of intimacies and closeness, knowing too much and saying too much, not knowing enough and saying too little, motherhood and sisterhood in all their non traditional ways, and betrayal. Playing with narrative form with perspective and point of view, dialogue with such distinct character voices, and Spanish that’s peaks through the translation, this novel brings to life the violence and rage of girlhood and transfemininity in such a brutal, explicit way that you can’t help but fiercely love these characters. Interwoven strands of narrative and the encounters these characters have build such a vibrant landscape of this fictional world. I found the ending a little unsatisfying and loose, but that seems intentional on the author’s part, and is just a reflection of my experience and taste as a reader. So excited to discuss with lesbian feminist book club! ...more
Parent/child relationships, multigenerational family lines, grandparents and aging, the ties of womanhood, subtle queerness, the legacy of the Amer4.5
Parent/child relationships, multigenerational family lines, grandparents and aging, the ties of womanhood, subtle queerness, the legacy of the American south, climate apocalypse, compelling characters and love and very good storytelling with strong writing!! The short story form is not dead!!...more
Utopian novels are supposed to all be dystopian or post dystopian, but I think this series is genuinely a gorgeous and hopeful imagination of our actuUtopian novels are supposed to all be dystopian or post dystopian, but I think this series is genuinely a gorgeous and hopeful imagination of our actual world in a healed state. It has the gentle and free setting of Panga, familiar to us through the first novella, with an even more gentle and sweet relationship of Mosscap and Dex, also familiar. The quiet humor and loud reciprocity of their dynamic is the most heartwarming duo in all of fiction perhaps. I like seeing them encounter other communities and people together, and it’s a good direction for the sequel to have gone in, as the first book was robot and monk getting to know each other, while this book explores various angles and approaches to technology and life from different and kind people. Becky Chambers tells futuristic stories of queer life stunningly as always. The novella format of this series is also perfect. I’m just so obsessed!!!...more
war, manufactured state violence, corporate controlled false resource scarcity, technology like video games and social media, & state regulated faces war, manufactured state violence, corporate controlled false resource scarcity, technology like video games and social media, & state regulated faces of resistance and celebrity- all meaningfully and realistically explored in a thrilling and suspenseful and action packed dystopian universe ! I enjoyed this so muchhhhhhh loved the characters and dynamics and lack of romantic plot line in favor of a richly political and cerebral exploration of a well crafted city and protagonist ...more
absolutely terrifying- gun violence is a result of white supremacist imperialist male chauvinism and this shit took it to the next level, which is horabsolutely terrifying- gun violence is a result of white supremacist imperialist male chauvinism and this shit took it to the next level, which is horrifyingly close to the reality we live in...more
this was a sweet. wonderful. incredible. heartwarming. DELIGHT!!!!! I’m absolutely obsessed with this very niche genre of young adult sci fi fantasy bthis was a sweet. wonderful. incredible. heartwarming. DELIGHT!!!!! I’m absolutely obsessed with this very niche genre of young adult sci fi fantasy books set in a world that future generations of humans have built to be beautiful, post-revolutionary, one where people’s needs are met and communities are in harmony with each other as well as the earth- but it’s not a perfect world, not because of a dystopian government plot like we see in the hunger games and that genre of grim dark dystopian YA books, but because humans are humans! And in this book’s case, robots are robots. This novella (tor.com forever proving its supremacy as a publisher imprint!) reminds me most of some books I’ve read recently about AI/human interaction but more earthy, grounded, and less cerebral, and also reminds me of Akwaeke Emezi’s novel Pet, which is another short YA sci fi fantasy set in a future that is better and safer than our present world. Both novels feature casual trans representation in their main characters, and presents tasks and journeys that feel both realistic and tied specifically to the world that they occupy. In A Psalm The Wild Built, I adored seeing the dynamic between this robot and human and the lovely ways they learn about each other and how we, as the reader, are able to get glimpses at how the world operates and how things became the way they did, without going too in detail or depth about the actual mechanics of it all. I want to give this book so all of my friends and oomfs and mutuals and hope they can get as much hope and joy that I got out of it!...more
Loading...
