I came to this slim volume (just 124 pages, easily read in a single sitting) of feminism-themed essays by author, historian, and human rights activistI came to this slim volume (just 124 pages, easily read in a single sitting) of feminism-themed essays by author, historian, and human rights activist Rebecca Solnit, having read little of her work but the . Beginning with that short essay, which manages to be both hilarious and frustrating, and is famous on the internet for having popularized the concept of 'mansplaining', Solnit argues powerfully for the necessity and relevance of feminism in today's world.
All of the essays convey valuable insights but the most powerful to me was 'The Longest War', in which Solnit asks pointedly why men commit violent acts, especially against women (making her case using some statistics which will certainly shock, if not surprise, the reader), and why we do not address this question as a society but rather accept it as normal. "Violence..." she argues "does not have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender", and it's difficult to disagree. Solnit closes with another highlight, "Pandora's Box and the Volunteer Police Force", which addresses the grim realities faced by feminists today but makes that point that things are, on the whole, better than they used to be thanks to the work of feminists and allies. Progress cannot be stopped in the long term, only slowed, and that's reason both to be optimistic and to fight even harder. ...more
For millennia the Citadel has stood untouched, sealed by the powerful magic of the ancient mages after their bitter war against the gods and built to For millennia the Citadel has stood untouched, sealed by the powerful magic of the ancient mages after their bitter war against the gods and built to contain their greatest treasures. Now three adventurers have succeeded in breaching it. For Lord Aaron Frith of the Blackwood the secrets of the Citadel hold the key to winning back his birthright and taking revenge for the death of his family, but for his hired companions the famous thief Wydrin of Crosshaven and disgraced knight Sir Sebastian Carverson, it's just a job like any other. None of them expect that their trespass will release a great evil on the world.
Specifically, great evil in the form of a big bloody dragon.
If that sounds like the setup for an epic D&D session that's because it very easily could be. Jen Williams' debut novel calls back to the heroic adventure fantasy that had the teenage me constantly scouring the library and bookshop for the names Gemmell, Moorcock, or Leiber, hoping for more sword and sorcery even as I tore through the latest Eddings. It's a big story, told across four distinct chapters (each has been published elsewhere as a novella in its own right) in which the heroes encounter giant bears, wizards, pirates, griffins, demons, the aforementioned dragon, and all sorts of other weird characters and locales. The story is dark and fun in nearly equal measure, but always action packed and never sacrificing depth or characterization (I enjoyed some of the supporting cast, including a magical glassworker and one of the villain's henchwomen, as much as the main characters), and all the story threads come together in a thrilling conclusion.
I love these characters (even that jerk Frith, by the end), and I love the world Williams has built for them, and I can't wait to visit it again with The Iron Ghost in 2015. ...more
Originally published in a series of blog posts on the author's website to mark Women’s History Month, 50 Roman Mistresses: Scandal, virtue and womanhoOriginally published in a series of blog posts on the author's website to mark Women’s History Month, 50 Roman Mistresses: Scandal, virtue and womanhood in Ancient Rome, is a concise, accessible, and very snarky guide to the lives of fifty extraordinary women of classical history, from the probably mythical Sabine wife of Romulus to the more familiar (Cleopatra VII, Antonia, Livilla) and concluding with Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. I was disappointed to not see the Empress Theodora, wife of Justinian - one of my favorite "Roman" women - included, but to tackle fifty biographies and eight centuries of history in a mere 101 pages is such an impressive task that it would be churlish to ask for more.
With humour and sarcasm Roberts - who besides being a fantasy and crime novelist is also a classical historian - explores the good and bad, the virtuous, the scandalous, the misunderstood and the downright insane. In doing so she effectively and sometimes hilariously skewers view of history as a story of men, in which women are only bystanders, which makes this a terrific companion piece to her Hugo-award winning essay (also for fantasy readers, the short stories in Love and Romanpunk approach similar themes, but with the addition of vampires and airships). ...more
Miriam Black knows when you will die. All it takes is a touch. Skin on skin, and she can see your death. Over the years she's seen every kind of deathMiriam Black knows when you will die. All it takes is a touch. Skin on skin, and she can see your death. Over the years she's seen every kind of death. Boring deaths, accidental deaths, terrible deaths. She's never seen "Hello Miriam" written in the still-warm blood of the person she's just touched.
That's new. That's bad.
The third book in the Miriam Black series sees Chuck Wendig's foul-mouthed protagonist, haunted by the events of the previous books and - as ever - in need of quick cash and a place to stay, lured to the Florida keys by the promise of an easy paycheck. A wealthy man wants to know how he'll die. She's the one person who can tell him. It's easy money, nothing she hasn't done before. But when she receives the aforementioned message, left at the scene of a murder that hasn't been committed yet it quickly becomes clear that she's been lured into a trap.
At this point Miriam Black is one of my favourite fantasy/horror protagonists. She's bad tempered, foul mouthed, and unpleasant to virtually everyone she meets but still struggling to be a good person. In the previous book in the series, Mockingbird, Wendig put her through hell. In The Cormorant he takes it to another level. Here, Miriam is being hunted. Hunted by the FBI, by gangsters, and by a serial killer with similar supernatural abilities to her own. She's grown accustomed to death over the years, but not to people dying because of her.
I won't go too deep into the story, but as with the previous books there's plenty of action, shocking violence, horror, and swearing (lots of swearing!). From the moment that Black arrives in The Keys the hunt is on and it never lets up, and Wendig ups the emotional stakes by having Miriam forced by circumstance to move in with her estranged mother, who has changed a lot from the figure described in previous books. The ending adds more to the evolving mythos of this world, and raises many new questions, before ending the trilogy on a cliffhanger. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Miriam Black's life soon, whether from Angry Robot or another publisher....more
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