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What are you reading these days?
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
What are you reading currently? Fiction or non-fiction or poetry, any genre, any language! Tell us what you're reading, and talk about it a bit.
I reached the end of the second part of Against the Day, and that absolutely crushed me. I posted on mastodon:
Combined with the hustle of Thanksgiving weekend, I needed to take a step back from that, and started All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. First of all, he totally sold out. Second, it's absolutely his least alienating work that I've read, and feels like a sigh of relief from an artist who spent thirty years proving himself. Each prior work dealt violently with society's ills, with existential grief, with The Big Problems. This was 'just' a cowboy romance, and a gorgeous one. It's more of a sequel to Blood Meridian than is usually credited, seeming to invert all its symbols without arguing against it. Where the Judge will waltz his way through genocide, John Grady will stoically ride into the sunset pursuing the last preserves of wilderness in the west. He sold out, and it was good.
I'm still plugging away at Vorkosigan Saga. Surprisingly, the last 2 novels I read, Mirror Dance and Memory, have actually become my favorites so far, overtaking Shards of Honour and Barrayar... which is no small feat!
At first I thought I would hate Mirror Dance simply because of how much I originally despised Mark's character, but somehow Bujold had me feeling sympathy, and rooting for him by the end. And now I even find myself hoping he shows up a bit more frequently in the future.
Memory was a bit of a strange one, totally unlike all the other novels so far, but also really enjoyable. I loved the detective/thriller aspect of it, which reminded me a lot of The Mountains of Mourning short story but more fleshed out, with higher stakes, and way more intense. And I am really digging the new Imperial Auditor role for Miles too.
And I'm also now about 1/2 way through Komarr. It has been decent so far, but I'm unfortunately not really a fan of Ekaterin... which kinda sucks since I get the distinct impression she's going to be a pretty important character in the future. Who knows though, maybe Bujold will somehow work her magic again like she did for Mark, and make me like her by the end too. 🤞
Edit: Well, Bujold did it again. Ekaterin has won me over. What a finale! :P
cc: @stu2b50 and @Thales
I'm glad you're enjoying it. Personally Komarr and the rest of that mini-series is my favorite in the series. I like political intrigue and investigation more than necessarily action thriller, and I think that grizened version of Miles with infinite de jure power but limited de facto power has interesting dynamics.
Spoilers
Also there's finally a romance that goes somewhereIt really surprised me how much I enjoyed Mirror Dance.
Spoilers for Mirror Dance
When I realized this was going to be a Mark Vorkosigan POV, I kind of rolled my eyes: "Ugh, a side-character POV book. And from a character I don't even like! I guess I'll force my way through since everyone says this arc is worth it…" But I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it.
I'm not a grimdark reader but I really liked how gritty this book turned out. I accused Bujold of pulling punches at times in the series, but this is one where she very much lets the characters have it. The torture scenes with Mark were almost a little too much for me.
That scene with Ivan at the garden party (where Ivan's in tears thinking about Miles) also really stuck with me. It was touching to see how much sardonic, "put upon" Ivan really cares for his cousin.
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The structure of Memory is also really interesting. Swaths of it took on a tone of "aimless soul-searching" more commonly seen in literary fiction that I really loved.
Spoilers for Memory
Two images that come to mind are Miles wandering the halls of Vorkosigan House (a staple of the first, second, and third acts for this book, hahaha) and the fishing trip he takes with Illyan. It's a very internal novel with a lot of the "plot" taking place inside Miles' head.
That title, Memory, is so fitting, both for how it references the novel's main plot device and for how this book journeys through Miles' past. I loved revisiting so many of the old haunts and characters from previous books (Vorkosigan House, the Dendarii mountains, ImpSec, etc.). It's impresses me to no end how Bujold can switch from writing action-packed stuff like Shards of Honor and The Vor Game to slower, more meditative books like Memory and Barrayar (to straight up romances like Komarr, hahaha) and pull it off so effectively.
I did find the conclusion of Memory a little predictable (I never doubted for a second that Miles would reject Haroche's blackmail, nor that they would oust him without much difficulty) but I didn't mind after such an interesting first and second act.
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Mirror Dance and Memory are the point of inflection towards my favourite part of the series!
Vague Spoilers for Mirror Dance, Memory, and Komarr
I really enjoy the emphasis on time "Downside" in this arc because I always preferred the Barrayaran cast to the Dendarii mercenaries and I preferred the politicking/intrigue to the all-out action.Miles' transition to Imperial Auditor does feel a bit like Bujold "pulling punches" (Miles "fails upward" too often for me) but it was a really clever way to have him spend more time on the ground... and it helps when you're friends with the Emperor ;)
Mirror Dance, Memory and Civil Campaign spoilers
Ditto. Too bad absolutely all my sympathy dried up for Ivan after he intentionally unleashed hell on Miles by setting batchelors on Ekatarin, which is what eventually ended up leading to the accusation/blackmail attempt about him killing her husband. Not to mention him messing with the seating arrangement at Mile's first party, which also caused all sorts of problems.
Ditto. The torture parts themselves weren't really what did it for me though, it was Mark's reaction to them. Him having to fragment his personality in order to survive it was utterly heartbreaking to me. :(
Also ditto. But even though his choice was predictable, I actually still really liked how it was handled. Getting to see how surprised every other character was that Miles didn't take the bribe. That element, showing how much everyone else knew he valued the Dendarii, was a wonderful touch.
Eh. He clearly has the brains, will, and balls for it. He also has Gregor's implicit trust, not just because of them growing up together but also because of him saving Gregor's life. And after years of putting his life on the line in service to Barrayar, with ImpSec and the Dendarii, and getting no public recognition for any of it, I would say the position was actually well deserved despite his occasional failures.
I'm currently reading The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack. It's a pop-sci book about different scenarios for the end of the universe according to modern physics.
I find the subject matter incredibly interesting. Not sure I'm quite sold on the writing style, though. It's very casual, which is fine, but at times it can get a little too cute. As in, self-consciously calling attention to how casual it is given the heaviness of the subject. I prefer the prose to fade more into the background in nonfiction. The author is a genuine expert on the subject matter though, so at least the science is sound. Well, as sound as it can get in a book about physics that has practically zero math in it.