Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Croning – Laird Barron

Posted on April 30 2012 by Justin | Leave a comment

I’m not a horror consumer, generally speaking. I’ve never seen what I would call a “scary movie” and authors like Stephen King or Dean Koontz or (dare I say it) H.P. Lovecraft have rarely done it for me. They rely heavily on ambiance and tone, oftentimes leave me wanting more when it comes to plot. Thus, I fully admit to not being Laird Barron’s target audience. Once again in an effort to push the boundaries of what I read, I delved into The Croning with vigor. What I found was an accomplished piece of fiction that never quite coalesced, succeeding scene by scene, but not as a novel in its entire.

The novel begins with a re-imagining of a the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale. Already one of the darker Brothers Grimm stories, Barron takes it up another notch melding a creepy dwarf (er.. little person?) with occult sacrifice rituals. Things then jump to Donald Miller and his wife Michelle, in 1950′s Mexico.… Read the rest

Blue Remembered Earth – Alastair Reynolds

Posted on April 25 2012 by Justin | 2 Comments

Blue Remembered Earth. Great title, isn’t it? The evocative image of leaving Earth behind, only to remember its color in the blackness of space. It’s an image that resonates on a visceral level. It also perfectly describes the nature of the technological period imagined — the moment when Earth no longer becomes the center of humanity. Vast in scope and dense with character development and world building, Alastair Reynold’s newest novel is a return to Utopian science fiction whose story isn’t about the darker side of humanity, but the boundaries of our collective horizons.

Set one hundred and fifty years in the future, Africa has become the dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease, and poverty have been banished to history courtesy of mandatory implants that curb and/or correct deviant behavior. While humanity has colonized the nearby planets, Earth remains the center of attention with known(ish) physics underpinning the whole operation.… Read the rest

Guest Post | Robin Hobb Brings the Agency Discussion to a Close

Posted on April 24 2012 by Justin | 5 Comments

I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have. I asked a swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?
  • Why is it important? 
  • Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females? 
  • Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
  • Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it? 
  • Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
The answers I received were varied. When this series is all said and I done I hope to have an informed opinion on the subject. For now, I’m going to listen.

… Read the rest

Guest Post | Is Robert Jackson Bennett a Secret Agent?

Posted on April 23 2012 by Justin | 3 Comments
I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have. I asked a swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?
  • Why is it important? 
  • Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females? 
  • Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
  • Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it? 
  • Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
The answers I received were varied. When this series is all said and I done I hope to have an informed opinion on the subject. For now, I’m going to listen.

… Read the rest

Guest Post | The Weekend Edition of Character Agency (Long)

Posted on April 20 2012 by Justin | 1 Comment

I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have. I asked a swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?
  • Why is it important? 
  • Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females? 
  • Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
  • Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it? 
  • Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
The answers I received were varied. When this series is all said and I done I hope to have an informed opinion on the subject. For now, I’m going to listen.

… Read the rest

Guest Post | Bad GMs Don’t Allow Agency – Mazarkis Williams

Posted on April 19 2012 by Justin | 3 Comments

I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have. I asked a swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?
  • Why is it important? 
  • Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females? 
  • Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
  • Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it? 
  • Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
The answers I received were varied. When this series is all said and I done I hope to have an informed opinion on the subject. For now, I’m going to listen.

… Read the rest

Guest Post | Michael J. Sullivan on Character Agency

Posted on April 18 2012 by Justin | 13 Comments

I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have. I asked a swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?
  • Why is it important? 
  • Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females? 
  • Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
  • Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it? 
  • Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
The answers I received were varied. When this series is all said and I done I hope to have an informed opinion on the subject. For now, I’m going to listen.

… Read the rest

Guest Post | Elizabeth Bear Knows What Agency Is

Posted on April 18 2012 by Justin | 3 Comments

Several of last year’s more controversial reviews included charges that female characters lacked agency. Not surprisingly the comment sections on those reviews reflected a great deal of confusion about what it means for a character to lack agency, and furthermore some disagreement about whether it was a legitimate criticism. While those examples brought the issue to my attention, I’ve noticed more and more authors lamenting the treatment of women in fantasy novels. Despite widespread agreement that there should be a more concerted effort to depict strong women, I wasn’t necessarily coming away with the impression that agency is something a character has to have.

Given the wonderful Women in SF&F series currently being conducted by Kristen at Fantasy Book Cafe, I thought now might be an appropriate time to ‘survey’ a wide swathe of fantasy authors about their thoughts on the subject. Some of the questions I asked the authors to consider were:

  • What is agency?

… Read the rest

Scourge of the Betrayer – Jeff Salyards

Posted on April 16 2012 by Justin | 7 Comments

I began Scourge of the Betrayer expecting a Joe Abercrombie, Richard Morgan, Glen Cook orgy. Something I’m sure all three of those men have long dreamed about, but only Morgan could write (Steel Remains joke intended). It’s on the cover after all (their names, not the orgy). As a reviewer, expectations are a no-no, but when the publisher puts them in my face, what’s a guy to do? As it turns out, the only one of those names I would truly associate with Jeff Salyards’s debut novel is Glen Cook, and only then for the narrative style. Instead, I found an extremely unique take on the fantasy genre that shares more commonality with one of my favorite 2011 science fiction novels, Germline by T.C. McCarthy.

Like Germline, Scourge is all about a writer outsider who finds himself in the middle of a war he’s completely unprepared for. In this case, the outsider is Arkamondos (Arki), a scribe of no repute who gets offered the chance to follow a Syldoon company into enemy territory and record all that he sees.… Read the rest

Today I wrote a post somewhere else…

Posted on April 13 2012 by Justin | Leave a comment

The Speculative Scotsman is on vacation in America. He’s taking the unlikely tour of the American South for his first trip to the States. To keep his blog alive and well during his absence, Niall asked me to write a post for him. Ok, he also asked like twenty other people many of whom have already had their posts run, but for the purposes of this particular write up let’s assume he only asked me because he thinks I’m the best. I think Niall would have preferred me to write something professional and well thought out. Maybe a review or a post about genre stuff. I did no such thing; I wrote about sex (not gender).

Oh, and if for some reason you’re following MY blog, and NOT Niall’s, you should definitely remedy that situation when you click through to read the rest of my “article”. Enjoy!

Sex. Dirty, icky, squishy, sloppy, romantic, loving, and harmoanious (sic) sex.

… Read the rest