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I have made it through Gideon the Ninth, and for the rest of the month I can read non-book club books. I need to make a bookclub tracker spreadsheet for myself.
How much of my life is book clubs? I have acquired a Book Biffle, which is a item to safely carry a book to a book club in your bag, so it doesn't get scuffed:
Big 'just get through the first season and then it gets good' energy. Also big 'so technically we don't know when the next season is coming, but it will. Don't worry about it, don't even think about it' energy.
So there is a problem authors face in genre writing that isn't based in our world, and that's how to do effective descriptions that make feel natural, make tactile/visceral sense to the readers. If the characters are human, you can use the body as a rich source of metaphor and way to bring people into the world. When the author needs to bend things a bit, use a comparison that maybe doesn't make sense in the world setting, it's usually done in the sort-of forgettable parts of the book, when trying to introduce a concept or item. It's not typically, for example, put in the character dialogue during key moments.
This book takes the revolutionary approach of not caring about all of that. The book is told from the point of view of Gideon, whose only exposure to vegetable matter before leaving The Ninth's planet was boiled and strained fibrous stuff from one plant. The food in Canaan house is not good, but to Gideon is amazing. Grains boiled in an oniony broth? And it's hot? Sign her up. One benefit of how early she goes to meals is that no one sees that she doesn't know what to do if there are leaves on her plate. This is a large part of who she is as a person and it comes up a lot.
But then stuff is described talking about peanuts, mayonnaise and chocolate cake. I am focusing on food specifically, but this happens for a variety of stuff. A lot of the descriptions don't support the world building, it pokes holes in it. Some things Gideon says only make sense if she was isekai'd from our world and is making comments only the audience would understand. While I did intend to make it through the book the first time, I got derailed I didn't intend to DNF, it was an early example of something Gideon said making no sense in the world setting that really deflated my motivation. But, I did make it through this time.
I will continue with the series. Fortunately, the Locked Tomb book club doesn't start until May so I'm in no rush. But, as of yet, I don't know why this is such a big deal that people in my book clubs have T shirts, tote bags and tattoos of Gideon, or why Powells Bookstore carries Lesbian Necromancers in Space stuff that I am pretty sure copyright-dodging instead of licensed.
Maybe in a few months the later books will make the series click with me and I'll suddenly love the first book, like how I've loved weak first seasons of shows that got good. But, yeah, for now just trying to get through the series.
How much of my life is book clubs? I have acquired a Book Biffle, which is a item to safely carry a book to a book club in your bag, so it doesn't get scuffed:
Big 'just get through the first season and then it gets good' energy. Also big 'so technically we don't know when the next season is coming, but it will. Don't worry about it, don't even think about it' energy.
So there is a problem authors face in genre writing that isn't based in our world, and that's how to do effective descriptions that make feel natural, make tactile/visceral sense to the readers. If the characters are human, you can use the body as a rich source of metaphor and way to bring people into the world. When the author needs to bend things a bit, use a comparison that maybe doesn't make sense in the world setting, it's usually done in the sort-of forgettable parts of the book, when trying to introduce a concept or item. It's not typically, for example, put in the character dialogue during key moments.
This book takes the revolutionary approach of not caring about all of that. The book is told from the point of view of Gideon, whose only exposure to vegetable matter before leaving The Ninth's planet was boiled and strained fibrous stuff from one plant. The food in Canaan house is not good, but to Gideon is amazing. Grains boiled in an oniony broth? And it's hot? Sign her up. One benefit of how early she goes to meals is that no one sees that she doesn't know what to do if there are leaves on her plate. This is a large part of who she is as a person and it comes up a lot.
But then stuff is described talking about peanuts, mayonnaise and chocolate cake. I am focusing on food specifically, but this happens for a variety of stuff. A lot of the descriptions don't support the world building, it pokes holes in it. Some things Gideon says only make sense if she was isekai'd from our world and is making comments only the audience would understand. While I did intend to make it through the book the first time, I got derailed I didn't intend to DNF, it was an early example of something Gideon said making no sense in the world setting that really deflated my motivation. But, I did make it through this time.
I will continue with the series. Fortunately, the Locked Tomb book club doesn't start until May so I'm in no rush. But, as of yet, I don't know why this is such a big deal that people in my book clubs have T shirts, tote bags and tattoos of Gideon, or why Powells Bookstore carries Lesbian Necromancers in Space stuff that I am pretty sure copyright-dodging instead of licensed.
Maybe in a few months the later books will make the series click with me and I'll suddenly love the first book, like how I've loved weak first seasons of shows that got good. But, yeah, for now just trying to get through the series.
