Sunshine Book Club Week 2

[accidentallymel]

So in this section, we have . . . a lot of walking. Seriously, that is a lot of walking. I consider myself a pretty good hiker, but there is just no way I would have been able to do anything remotely like what Sunshine and Constantine do in this section. Anyone else have some good hiking stories to share? Or do we just want to talk about the book?

Comments

[biggersandwich]

The thing I like best about the hiking here is how realistic it is. They're not tens of miles from the city, it's not an insanely impossible endurance test or something that can only be surmounted by Con's amazing vampire powers, it's something that is humanly doable, but really, really sucks, especially under the distinctly unfavourable conditions involved. It grounds the book very well, especially coming right after the reveal of Sunshine's father which is a much more classic fantasy novel kind of reveal and one that seems to presage more speshulness than "shit, I have this one cool thing going on, but also now I have to walk forever while injured and can't get out of it. :((((" (Not that I don't want allllllll that story about the Blaises, but I like how this book goes too.)

[accidentallymel]

Right? I really like how realistic (for a given value of realistic, we're still talking fantasy here) Sunshine is. I like her reactions to things a lot - her breakdown about the car, for example, is a really great example of a person who has just reached her limits, because she's spent the past couple of days coping with vampires and being a captive and dealing with that fairly well, and then her car is gone, and she just hits her breaking point.

(The general theme of reading this book is, "what? what is this thing that you've just mentioned in passing? more backstory, please!!!")

[biggersandwich]

Yes! She is 100% DONE there, and it's so understandable, and then she pulls herself together enough to get them into the city in the fading sunlight, and then she's REALLY done and has to actually recover at length. It's such a good melding of competence being valued and saying that even people who aren't particularly stoic can do things just fine, and understanding that not everyone has to be capable of holding up flawlessly under everything.

(I guess that's her secret to the infodumps? She does drop a ton of details on your head, but she's got so many in hers that there's clearly so much we don't know!)

[accidentallymel]

Sunshine is probably the fictional character that I can relate to the most, because despite her power she feels so. . . I hate to use the word normal, so maybe ordinary? And the whole needing to feed people thing, and the fact that she has so clearly had it up to here with all of this, and she may not be dealing with it perfectly but she is dealing with it, and. . . I have a lot of feelings about Rae Seddon.

(I want all the details. 50000 books set in this universe, please??)

[kikainausagi]

Late because life intervened, but I wanted to talk about walking!

Twenty miles in twelve hours is pretty brutal. Crazy backpackers (and the Roman Legions) do twenty miles in a day, but the most I've ever done was sixteen miles in maybe eight hours? I can't remember the exact time, just that we made the last ferry crossing at 5:00. Second longest day was maybe 15.75 miles in ten hours. Since we were backpacking for fun (whatever demented definition of fun includes strapping twenty-odd pounds to your back and walking for miles,) not fleeing vampires, we were well fed, with good shoes, and stopped frequently for short breaks and high calorie, high protein snacks. And still, after the brief euphoric moment of "we have arrived! We didn't miss the ferry and have to hike another four miles to the car!" sixteen-ish miles is enough to wipe me out.

So basically, I'm glad Sunshine had a helpful vampire carriage. ;) I'm pretty sure she would not have made it thirty miles in twelve hours, while barefoot, underfed and shocky.

[accidentallymel]

Dude if I had been Sunshine, I would have been extremely grateful for the helpful vampire carriage as well - I don't think I've ever hiked more than 13 or so miles in a day, and I was SUPER EXHAUSTED by the time I got done (and whiney. Very whiney). I have major respect for people who go backpacking for fun, though, because hiking without something on my back is not exactly my idea of a fun time, and some people are actually willing to strap a bunch extra on and then hike. Like, hats off to you.