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WoGF Review: Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Michael Rosenberg (tintmylf) is a professor of evolutionary biology at Arizona State University and has been reading genre fiction for about 30 years, ever since his mother gave him a copy of The Hobbit (seeing Star Wars at a drive-in theater when it was first released didn’t hurt). He came to Worlds Without End for the Women of Genre Reading Challenge but ended up staying for the cake (which was a lie).
Halfway Human is a story about a society which has done away with sexism, racism, caste and class structure, by creating a new group of asexual androgynous individuals who are the new focus of sexism, racism, caste, and class discrimination. The story is mostly focused on a particular neutered individual (colloquial known as a bland) named Tedla who has escaped her home planet and culture into a different “enlightened” society without her homeland’s biases. Most of the story is told in flashbacks about Tedla growing up and how she came to be in the predicament with which the book begins. To be certain, nothing is as rosy as it is made out.
The story is quite interesting, if moderately predictable at times. The clash of cultures and the descent from the seemingly perfect society to the dark underbelly of the reality is paced fairly well.
One of the complicating factors is that I found it almost impossible to view Tedla as an asexual androgyne and instead mentally viewed it as a “her” for the most part. Some of this is undoubtedly to my own lack of a proper mental reference frame to have an otherwise human character without gender, but part of it may be a failure (or perhaps, less harshly, acknowledge the great difficulty) of the author to be able to write truly genderless characters.
Genre Lit-Flicks Additions
Due to popular demand, we have added a number of new books that have been adapted to film to our Genre Lit-Flicks list! See the full list below, complete with Instant Video links:
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Babylon Babies, by Maurice G. Dantec
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Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard (hey, you asked for it)
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Different Seasons, by Stephen King
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The Iron Man, by Ted Hughes
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Legion, by William Peter Blatty
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Planet of the Apes, by Pierre Boulle
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Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
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The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin
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A Stir of Echoes, by Richard Matheson
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We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, by Philip K. Dick
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Do you know of more adapted books you want added to our list? Tell us in the comments!
Google Hangout event with Jesse Bullington, Lauren Beukes, and Paolo Bacigalupi!
Next Monday at 2 PM Eastern, join Orbit author Jesse Bullington — and Hachette authors Lauren Beukes and Paolo Bacigalupi — in conversation with Jenn Northington of WORD bookstore! These three talented authors of fantasy and science fiction will be discussing their new books in an international event — Paolo and Jesse will be joining us from Colorado and Lauren from South Africa. RSVP to the event here: https://plus.google.com/events/cbnlcfem9s1fhiq69a2qjdabms4
If you’re unable to make the live event on Monday, keep an eye out for the YouTube video after the fact!
Jesse’s most recent book is The Folly of the World, a dark tale of the depraved and desperate that follows three conspirators — a deranged thug at the edge of madness, a ruthless conman on the cusp of fortune, and a half-feral girl balanced between them — as they sail into a 15th century Holland deluged with a flood of biblical proportions. It was named as one of the Los Angeles Times’s recommended holiday gift books for 2012, and PW said of it that “Every page is saturated with wickedness and mischief. Bullington’s fans will be happy to see him bring his trademark dark humor, gritty detail, and loopy characters into a new gruesome landscape.”
WoGF Review: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
For Lynn Williams (lynnsbooks) books are much more than a hobby or a pastime they’re really an obsession. If she’s not reading a book, she’s talking about books on her blog, Lynn’s Book Blog, or deciding which books to buy next. Lynn reads all sorts of books, sometimes straying into YA, but her first love is fantasy. Recently she started to cross into science fiction thanks to the suggestions of some very excellent bloggers.
As part of my WWE Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge my book for April was the first in Robin Hobb‘s acclaimed Farseer Trilogy, Assassin’s Apprentice. I absolutely loved this book in fact I probably won’t be able to do it justice here! For the past three days I’ve been living in this world and resenting all the natural little breaks from reading such as going to work, sleeping and other general, everyday minutiae that have come between me and the story. The characters and the world building together with such an intriguing plot have totally captivated me. In fact, I have no hesitation in saying that if you enjoy Rothfuss, Martin and Lynch you can’t fail to love this and as far as I’m concerned that’s some pretty damn fine praise right there.
The story brings to us, and is told by, Fitz (or boy or bastard as he is equally as often called). No prizes here then for guessing that Fitz’s arrival at Buckeep Castle was not a cause for celebration for many of the inhabitants. Fitz was born out of wedlock, son to a King in Waiting and the result of a brief liaison to a now long forgotten woman. At the start of the story, and being one of the earliest recollections that Fitz can recall, he is being delivered, rather unceremoniously, to the Castle which King Shrewd reins. His Grandfather thinks it’s time for the father of the child to have a hand in his upbringing.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Trailer
I haven’t read the books, or seen the first film, but this trailer looks pretty damn good if you ask me – and you can’t really argue with that cast. Looks like a trip to Netflix is in order and we’ll soon have another movie to add to our Genre Lit-Flicks list. What do you think? Did you like the first book/film?
WoGF Review: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Daniel Roy (Triseult) is a writer, slow traveler, backpack foodie, endurance runner, and SF junkie. He has lived in Canada, China, and India, and currently resides in South Korea.
Now that’s what I call a fantasy adventure! The premise—Napoleonic Wars with dragons—is a bit over the top, but there is enough genuine emotion and excitement on display to suspend disbelief without any second thought. I mean; who needs verisimilitude? There’s dragons fighting over the Channel!
“It’s just some light reading” is a phrase often heard when defending books that lack depth, tight plotting, or engaging characters. His Majesty’s Dragon is the proof that a lighthearted tale is no excuse for shoddy writing. Yes, the story of Laurence and Temeraire is a light read: there is no philosophical treatise on the meaning of existence, no innovation in the turn of a phrase. But that doesn’t make it “just” a popcorn book. The characters are engaging, and the story is written with enough tenderness and care that it is easy to fall in love with the characters.
What really anchors the story is the relationship between Captain Laurence and his companion of fortune, the dragon Temeraire. It’s heartwarming to see them grow closer together, and their friendship is often touching and genuine. Let’s call it what it is: an inter-species bromance. Laurence by himself is not that engaging a character; he’s a bit stiff-lipped, and always offended by this or that breach of etiquette. But his genuine love for Temeraire, and the way this love ends up affecting other dragons, is really great to read. I couldn’t help laughing at the gruff relationship between Maximus and Berkley, for instance, or shed a tear for poor Levitas.
Ask N. K. Jemisin Anything
We will soon launch an exciting new monthly feature: an interview with some of the most celebrated authors in the SF/F/H genres. The questions will come from you, the WWEnd reader. We are thrilled to announce that our first author will be N. K. Jemisin, whose novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, made quite a splash in 2010-11, netting nominations for the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. The final book in that same trilogy, The Kingdom of Gods, was also nominated for a Nebula, and the first book in her latest series, The Killing Moon, is up for the 2012 Nebula (stay tuned to see if she wins!).
A key component of the new interview series is the Urtak poll, embedded at the top of this post. Just read the questions and tell us whether you want each one to be asked. To vote, click “Yes” if you would like to see her answer the question or “No” if you don’t care (please don’t select “I don’t care,” though. I’m told it messes up our metrics. If you don’t care, then answer “no”). When you have voted on all submitted questions, you will be able to add your own questions. You may also click on the green “Ask” button at the top of the Urtak survey, but please do all of the voting first, in case someone else has already asked your question. It need not be a yes/no question. It’s just that WWEnders will then vote yes/no on whether they like the question. Got it?
The most popular questions will be asked first, so don’t split your vote by asking the same question twice!
WoGF Review: Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
Rhonda Knight is a frequent contributor to WWEnd through her many reviews and her excellent blog series Automata 101 and Outside the Norm. Ronda is an Associate Professor of English at Coker College in Hartsville, SC. She teaches Medieval and Renaissance literature as well as composition courses.
Are There Stranger Things than Stranger Things Happen?
When I read the review of Kelly Link‘s Stranger Things Happen (2001) on Salon.com, I was sure that I would love this collection of eleven short stories. According to the reviewer, Laura Miller, the stories are a mixture of modern horror and fantasy. Unfortunately, I was not as taken with this collection as Miller was. However, they are intriguing and clever.
Let’s start with intriguing. I keep bringing them up in conversation whenever I can. I want to tell people about the stories—sometimes to tell them about a clever idea, sometimes to share a sentence with them, and sometimes to complain about them. Even though the stories are clever, they are not all satisfying. Often a story can get by with shortcomings in character and plot just because it is so cleverly written. In my opinion, only a few of Link’s stories can get by on cleverness alone. The others left me frustrated or simply scratching my head.
Be My Enemy by Ian McDonald
Scott Lazerus is a Professor of Economics at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, and has been a science fiction fan since the 1970s. Scott’s Forays into Fantasy series is an exploration of the various threads of fantastic literature that have led to the wide variety of fantasy found today, from the perspective of an SF fan newly exploring the fantasy landscape. FiF will examine some of the most interesting landmark books of the past, along with a few of today’s most acclaimed fantasies, in an attempt to understand the connections between fantasy’s origins, its touchstones, and its many strands of influence.
No Letdown in the Everness Series
The adventures of teenage genius Everett Singh and his Earth 3 “electropunk” airship crew companions continue in Ian McDonald‘s second installment of the young adult Everness series, Be My Enemy (2012). I enjoyed this one even more than the first (Planesrunner), as McDonald uses an adventure romp through the multiverse to bring out one science fictional concept after another, while still managing to further explore his characters and their relationships, especially that between Everett and Sen, the adopted daughter of Everness‘s captain and Everett’s partner in adventure. The search for Everett’s father continues, as does the pursuit of Everett by the villainous Order responsible for his father’s disappearance.
(Insert Planesrunner spoiler alert here!) At the end of the previous novel, Everett had used his Infundibulum technology, which allows travel anywhere in the multiverse, to escape evil villainess Charlotte Villers and her colleagues from the Order—the still shady group determined to maintain control over travel within the multiverse, and thus willing to do whatever is necessary to get their hands on Everett’s Infundibulum—to escape to an unexplored alternate Earth currently in the grip of an ice age. But Charlotte, now with her “alternate” from another Earth, Charles Villiers, in tow, is able to track them, leading them to jump once again, this time back to Everett’s (and our) Earth.
