Operation "Fifty in Twelve": August Round-Up

[gelbes_gilatier]

Okay, then. It's Sunday, I have nothing to do but watch travel documentaries on TV and be lazy in my pajamas, so it's a good time for posting my August reading list. It's not much (four books) but I'm getting closer to the fifty goal!

Let's just go ahead, then.

Comments

[pax_athena]

So the Jewish part was the one that left me scratching my head. She did not make any factual errors* and I do appreciate what she tried, but I do wish she went for something else but Jews + moneylending. I was also missing two things: first an adaptation of Judaism to a world that clearly has magic in it. It just felt as if it was slapped into the fantasy world! But it has a thousand rules, some of them official, some not, and an own mythology and there would be a thousand ways to adapt it and to make the magic an integral part of it

[gelbes_gilatier]

So the Jewish part was the one that left me scratching my head.

That's exactly what I thought! (which is why I'm so grateful for your input!)

but I do wish she went for something else but Jews + moneylending

Yes, that felt cringy to me, too, in the beginning. I wasn't really convinced for some time that this was a good idea but I came around when her character was unapologetic about it and wouldn't let people get away with cheating her out of money that by right belonged to her. She owns this business, and she's good at it and she puts bread on her family's table and keeps her parents fed plus Wanda and her family. Of course I can't say how this went over with other readers (I'm honestly not sure I want to know :S), but I actually liked the character for it. I was definitely on her side. But yeah, I totally get why that would throw you off. It's definitely let's say difficult and it makes sense to have problems with it.

It just felt as if it was slapped into the fantasy world!True but for me, it was mostly "Oh, okay. Just roll

[pax_athena]

Interesting! The changing silver to gold worked for me, the way I understood the rules of this world/magic system: once you make something that was really hard for you happen (even if it is in an indirect way), you obtain this ability. So by "turning" the silver coins into gold in the "normal" world, she obtains the ability to do so in the Staryk world. Once you pushed yourself past a certain barrier, even if through "cheating", it becomes easy - I think there was a point where the Staryk king was trying to explain this? I thought this a clever idea and it worked for me.

Yeah. And her husband is at least ethnically Jewish so she may herself have quiet a bit of a background and personal experience. I looked up before reading, just to know what to expect ;)

She did - which is strange given the Shabbat and the wedding parts. One could argue that some people are just less observant, but well, I would have liked it addressed. It's a bit lazy ...

[pax_athena]

Btw., here another Jewish view of the book that is rather opposite of mine (funnily even though me and hamsterwoman have a somewhat similar background in terms of our heritage): https://hamsterwoman.livejournal.com/782123.html