yo, I'm just like my country I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
Let’s do this thing.
Between the return of Sleepy Hollow and the existence of the Hamilton soundtrack, I’ve been in a very colonial place recently. But, like, Colonial America where half of George Washington’s meetings were about the occult and Thomas Jefferson routinely did this:
It’s a very happy place to be, and I recommend it.
The Hamilton soundtrack, by the way, is incredible. I haven’t gone so hard for a musical since…Ragtime, maybe? And Ragtime was THE musical as far as I was concerned, so that’s huge. The Hamilton CDs come out today, but you can also listen to it on Spotify or get the album on itunes. You should definitely do one of those things.
Notable Breakfast
Everything bagel, apple chicken sausage
Dog Thing
This face.
Mixed Media
I mentioned a while back that after finishing Rachel Bach’s Paradox trilogy, I’m immediately dived into another sci-fi trilogy, simply because an excerpt was included at the end of the last book and I was emotionally compromised. That’s true, but even without the raw emotions I probably would have read Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice–it was a very strong excerpt. The third book in that trilogy finally came out last week, and while I did truly love the whole series, nothing holds a candle to the first book. It is masterful.
(I recommended it to a friend, and this was his response)
I love the trilogy because it is an incredibly unique story in an incredibly unique place. Leckie has crafted a gorgeously detailed universe, and some of the material and cultural information had me practically giddy. Leckie is so meticulous with it that by the end of the third book, when a character serves tea in a specific set of porcelain, I had no trouble understanding what was being communicated by that choice. As a person who studied decorative arts and material culture, that stuff is my jam.
But the first book is where the heavy lifting occurs, and one of the biggest parts of that is pronouns. If you’ve heard anything about this book, it was probably in reference to its pronouns–most of the characters in Ancillary Justice speak a language called Radchaai, which only has a single gender pronoun. In the book, that pronoun is “she.” Because the main character speaks many languages, the reader sometimes learns that a person who was referred to as “her” in Radchaai would actually be “him” in a different language. Or another, 3rd pronoun based on their standing within their community or whether they had grandchildren. The Radch culture is completely androgynous. Nearly everyone is only ever referred to as “she” throughout the books, and you only actually learn the sexes of about 3 characters. None of those is Breq, the protagonist.
(Limited edition hardcover cover art by Lauren Saint-Onge)
I love this choice. It made reading the first book a little tricky because my brain was constantly trying to solve the mystery of what sex everyone was, until I finally realized that it didn’t matter. What a freeing moment! There was no mystery to solve because gender is a social construct which simply didn’t exist within that culture. From that point on, I found myself examining the descriptions Leckie used, i.e., tall, or wide, or broad-shouldered, and why my brain immediately jumped to “male” or “female” in each case. It was just a fascinating way to read a book. (My aforementioned friend, Adam, said that he just assumed that everyone was a woman unless explicitly told otherwise, so mine is obviously not the only way to read this book.)
Additionally, if you’re a person who hankers for more diversity in their sci-fi (or fiction in general, or books in general), everyone in the Imperial Radch series is black or brown. In fact, darker skin is culturally regarded as more beautiful. It doesn’t play a huge role in the books, but nonetheless is a choice I appreciate, and one I hope we’ll see more of. All this to say: I cannot recommend this series highly enough. It’s literally changed the way I think about sci-fi as a genre.
Also: I read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, and loved it. It’s a spin-off of Rowell’s earlier book Fangirl, but it easily stands on its own as modern fantasy. It feels a little like reading Harry Potter (which is deliberate), but it’s also completely different from Harry Potter. I saw The Martian, which was also fantastic. My favourite part was all of the astronauts’ comfy NASA clothing.
I Read Comics for a Living
Paper Girls #1 was far and away the best thing that I read, which is a relief because it was also my most highly anticipated comic. Brian K. Vaughan is a big name in comics, and his work on Saga and Y the Last Man and other books is undeniably great. But Cliff Chiang is who I’m here for. His Wonder Woman was pretty monumental for me, and I am so thrilled to see him on a creator-owned book. But enough with those dudes, because the girls in this book are where it’s at. It takes place in 1988, and follows four girls who have overlapping paper routes in the same neighborhood, so they protect one another. Being a paper girl is still sort of groundbreaking in their town in 1988, so they’re making history. More than they know, when they run into a group of people who are definitely not from around there.
Also Good:
Star Wars Shattered Empire #3 There are a lot of Star Wars comics coming out right now, and I generally love them all. That said, this issue featured Princess Leia and the Queen of Naboo flying fighters, which is completely a thing I didn’t know I needed until I had it.
Copperhead #10 This was very delayed, but worth the wait. We finally see Boo rescued, and more of Clara being a complete BAMF. This issue finished the arc, but sets a few other things in motion. My only two complaints about this series is that it needs more women, and it needs to come out more quickly.
A-Force #5 This is the last issue for the Secret Wars series of A-Force (the new series picks up after Secret Wars is over), and it was immensely satisfying. In so many ways exactly what I wanted from this series, and what I hope to see more of.
Anxiety Pyjamas
ASOS All-Over Space Print Pajama Set
Fics I Shouted About
Untitled by bleep0bleep Check, Please!, Jack/Bitty, future AU. Jack comes back to visit the Haus. Jack’s timing is terrible.
“I Didn’t Know You Could Sing” by brookesbutler Teen Wolf, Sterek, future AU. Derek is a singer in a bar. A random dude starts coming in, looking at him and talking to him like he knows him.
Untitled by crossroadswrite Teen Wolf, Sterek, dragons AU. I don’t exactly know how to categorize this, but it is definitely an alternate universe where they are dragons! Derek’s a librarian, Stiles in a college student. This is very cute.
Lastly
DID Y’ALL SEE THIS?? ALIEN MEGASTRUCTURE.
I’ve started getting Emily Hummel’s Internet Explorers Club newsletter, and I love it!
That’s all I got, see ya later!
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