Book review and other fandom stuff
So, I've finished reading Big Damn Hero, and earlier rant aside, it wasn't bad. I'll try not to get spoilery here, but my review is behind a cut just in case.
It told a good story that fit well with the series. And, btw, *handwaving* was not necessary because it was set on Alliance Day, not U-Day, which is apparently a different holiday. Whatevs. The author had a pretty good handle on Mal's 'voice', as he did with most of the others. Some of his Zoe/Wash interactions were a bit off, imo, but individually they were good. River was a hit and miss, sometimes good, other times not so much, but then most people have trouble with her. The ones he didn't have a good handle, imo, on were Kaylee and Simon, Simon worse than Kaylee. He also gave Mal a backstory that I'm not 100% behind, but that's the author's prerogative, right? ;) It worked with the story, and that's what matters.
The only other 'ranty' thing I have to say is that at one point Inara calls River bao bei. That might've flown in fanfic 14-18 years ago, but since then there's been online discussions as to why that's not a good Chinese substitute for sweetheart (all about it meaning a treasured possession, or words to that effect), so seeing it there really jarred me right out of the story. And, oh, yeah, the bit I ranted about before? Was mentioned again later, but with the right location that time. So, seriously, didn't anyone think to check it before publication? Obviously not. *sigh* All in all, I'd give it a B, but I hope the author has learned some things for the next story.
In other fandom news, I'm starting to post my fics on AO3. :D Thanks for the invite,
vae! Gonna take a while to get them all on there, since I don't want to overwhelm the front page. ;) I'm also working on a couple of new stories, so yay for the muse returning!
And in RL/Fandom collision news, or whatever you call something that happened months ago that I just remembered again... I've mentioned that I'm a member of the local Embroiderers' Guild. Well, at a meeting sometime last year, one of our members - who's about my age - mentioned something about her husband buying? making? ship models (I forget which) and going to an event that involved that. I asked her about it, with the thought that she might be talking about one of the local conventions, and sure enough. :) Apparently he did/does security there, and she goes along. Anyway, she said something about Firefly with the followup of "I don't know if you know about Firefly, but..." You can believe I was quick to let her know I know EXACTLY what Firefly is. :D She's not as much of a Browncoat as I am, heck, she can't even remember some of the characters' names, but that's ok! She's still a Browncoat!
Firefly Forever!
It told a good story that fit well with the series. And, btw, *handwaving* was not necessary because it was set on Alliance Day, not U-Day, which is apparently a different holiday. Whatevs. The author had a pretty good handle on Mal's 'voice', as he did with most of the others. Some of his Zoe/Wash interactions were a bit off, imo, but individually they were good. River was a hit and miss, sometimes good, other times not so much, but then most people have trouble with her. The ones he didn't have a good handle, imo, on were Kaylee and Simon, Simon worse than Kaylee. He also gave Mal a backstory that I'm not 100% behind, but that's the author's prerogative, right? ;) It worked with the story, and that's what matters.
The only other 'ranty' thing I have to say is that at one point Inara calls River bao bei. That might've flown in fanfic 14-18 years ago, but since then there's been online discussions as to why that's not a good Chinese substitute for sweetheart (all about it meaning a treasured possession, or words to that effect), so seeing it there really jarred me right out of the story. And, oh, yeah, the bit I ranted about before? Was mentioned again later, but with the right location that time. So, seriously, didn't anyone think to check it before publication? Obviously not. *sigh* All in all, I'd give it a B, but I hope the author has learned some things for the next story.
In other fandom news, I'm starting to post my fics on AO3. :D Thanks for the invite,
vae! Gonna take a while to get them all on there, since I don't want to overwhelm the front page. ;) I'm also working on a couple of new stories, so yay for the muse returning!
And in RL/Fandom collision news, or whatever you call something that happened months ago that I just remembered again... I've mentioned that I'm a member of the local Embroiderers' Guild. Well, at a meeting sometime last year, one of our members - who's about my age - mentioned something about her husband buying? making? ship models (I forget which) and going to an event that involved that. I asked her about it, with the thought that she might be talking about one of the local conventions, and sure enough. :) Apparently he did/does security there, and she goes along. Anyway, she said something about Firefly with the followup of "I don't know if you know about Firefly, but..." You can believe I was quick to let her know I know EXACTLY what Firefly is. :D She's not as much of a Browncoat as I am, heck, she can't even remember some of the characters' names, but that's ok! She's still a Browncoat!
Firefly Forever!