Book Post: Duncan, Vernon, Clark and Leckie
The books I finished in June:
Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan, 273pp
I got this as a rec from DW post and it sounded right up my alley so I got this from my library as an e-book. And it was very neat - it was fun to learn all this historical info about the index and how it got started and what it influenced, although the section on rivals in the early modern period and fighting through the index seems a bit silly as surely not all regular public is really that aware of an index. But it was really clever in general (and as I was recently reading "foxglove Summer" I chuckled when Peter was reading various books and immediately went to the index first). I also found the rival indexes at the back of the book entertaining since the author was illustrating the difference between a computer made liveless index and an index made by a professional person. The author's main advice is to hire a proper index person as it is really worth the expertise. So overall, this was a cute delightful history book from an unusual perspective of an index and the history of search engines in general and of course as a trained medieval historian, it was really fun for me to read even if I didn't appreciate all the sections equally. (I also enjoyed when the author was pointing out Nicholas Carr's article on how we don't read deeply anymore to say that people used to complain of invention of writing too. I taught that article to my Expository Writing students years ago, so it was fun to get the references).
Dragonbreath: Lair of the Bat Monster by Ursula Vernon, 202pp [Dragonbreath 4].
Tanya and I read this together. We both read silently next to each other while I hold the book. Tanya reads outloud any comic book sections and also occasionally asks me to read a hard word for her. As usually, I really enjoy this series even though so far the third one remains my favorite. In this one, Danny and Wendell head to Mexico on the weird magic bus system to Danny's cousin who works on bat research to help save a small bat they found and Danny ends up being kidnapped by a giant lady bat who treats him as a baby and is probably an ancient bat god. There are escapes and a lot of learning information about bats and a lot of bat poop. It is certainly entertaining especially as Danny thrives on adventure and Wendell unwillingly tags along, mostly terrified all the time. But it is a fun dynamic. There are eleven books in the series, and we own six copies. Right now we are reading book 5 (after Tanya read the third Ramona book at the end of June), and once we finish the six one, probably by the end of summer, I will need to try to get the other five Dragonbreath books in the library. They are really fun and I really like the vocabulary in there that Tanya is picking up even with occasional hard words.
A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, 390pp
I've been meaning to read more P. Djeli Clark (I only read his short story before) and I heard good things about his first full novel so after it won the Nebula Award (and I really liked his acceptance speech), I figured it was time to actually read it. It does have some style things that make it clear it is an early novel for an author but overall I really enjoyed it and thought it was fun. I certainly want to read the two novellas set in this universe and I really like the characters.
One thing I really thought was fantastic is this book is that the world building just felt so easy. Most of the time when I pick up a new sci-fi or fantasy book, it takes a while to understand the universe and sometimes it is hard for the brain, like swimming against the current until you figure out which way to go. But with this book, the worldbuilding just flowed so naturally. It didn't feel like there was too much exposition, we just learned stuff and it added up.
This book takes place in alternative 1912 Egypt, where fifty years before a philosopher pieced the veil to a magical world and djinn and other magic creatures came to live in Egypt and tipped the balance of power for Egypt, so that Egypt because a political power independent of British Empire and other colonizing forces. Fatma is one of the few women investigators who works for the equivalent to the Ministry of Magic who is investigating the death of the brotherhood which opens the book. And uncovers a plot to awaken even scarier ifrit. She is joined by her girlfriend Siti with special powers, and a new female agent Hadia, with whom she needs to learn to work with. Plus of bunch of other supporting characters.
The plot moves along well. I did figure out who the bad guy was long before Fatma did, which made the section until she figured it out a bit tedious, but once she got there the pacing was good again. And I was wondering why the Fatma was the main character if she wasn't saving the day at the other and just witnessing it, until she actually did save the day. I also found the introverted sculptor ifrit and the scene where all the djinn are talking with main bad guys really hilarious. Also the Russian general's name is Yakov, which is my Dad's name, so that was pretty funny.
So this book does have some growing pains by being the first novel and some things were a bit too coincidental but overall it was really enjoyable and I really liked the characters and I certainly want to visit this world again, so a successful book for me. And I think the worldbuilding part was really well done and thought out.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, 337pp [reread].
I don't reread books that often but for some reason I was thinking about this series since I really love how Leckie wrote several viewpoints of one body at once. I liked the first book, which I read in 2016 according to my tags, and I fell in love with these books when I was reading the third one but I remember when I read this book the first time, it took me a while to understand world building and it made my brain hurt a bit in the beginning. It was already in my Kindle since my Dad bought it as some point and he and I share Household Kindle setting so we can share our books. So I picked it up again on a whim.
Reading it again was a lot easier since I knew the world building (even if I forgot some details) and I was also able to focus on some details I missed (non Radch refer to Anaander Mianaai as 'he', which I didn't catch or forgot, and is interesting considering some casting rumors of the possible tv show). I was also able to focus more on the details I didn't really understand on the first read since it takes a bit to get a handle on worldbuilding. I was able to get Breq more since I already knew the back story and understood Station AI better and what it means. So this was really good to reread. I originally only planned to reread this one but I might end up rereading the whole trilogy. I really enjoy Leckie's writing.