sigelphoenix

- Death metal vocalist Olle Ekman warms up his death growl. Kind of cool to get a glimpse of how you have to train the grunt ... and yes, also just silly-looking. XD

- In related news, Roy Khan has left Kamelot. :( I really love that guy's voice, and he also has some fantastic charisma on stage. I was lucky enough to see him live once (though at a venue that would not be worth returning to, regardless of the performer) and it kinda sucks that I won't be able to again.

- Unrelated to any of the above, Jim Hines shared a link to (NSFW) femslash fanart of his princess books. It's Snow and Talia, for people who know who those characters are and understand why it makes me squee. (And if you don't, I'd be happy to lend you my copies of the books!)

Here's something shiny I want to read: Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, which is scheduled to arrive on December 29, 2010. The list of authors is highly relevant to my interests.

(via deadbrowalking)

Because it's been way too long since I've made one, and I really ought to right now for all the things that are weighing on me (nothing catastrophic, which is even more reason to focus on the good things).

1. I'm at work and getting paid for it. This is a happy thing for many reasons, both irreverent (I'm stealing a few minutes to write a blog post, for one) and not (I have income, health insurance, other benefits ...).

2. I went to see Wicked at The Paramount on Sunday with ratzeo, lunapome, and music_enforcer. We had great seats, the cast was fantastic, and I had as much fun as I did the first time I saw it live (I was wondering if the effect would be lessened by the fact that I'd seen the show two years ago).

3. My copy of The Mermaid's Madness, second book in Jim Hines' princess series, arrived yesterday, when I expected it wouldn't be released for a few more days yet.

4. I've recently been working on creating epic-level abilities for my D&D character (based on Crusader schools from The Book of Nine Swords, if anyone is interested), which is the most creative activity I've done in awhile. It's been nice, and gives me confidence that I might get back to creative endeavors yet.

5. I'm off to eat my lunch, which is a leek and potato soup I made after shadawyn's entry reminded me of how much I like it (plus linked to a nice and easy recipe). It turned out a little too thick, I think (more like ... very light mashed potatoes than soup), but it's tasty and the weather is perfect for it.

First, some context: I first heard of Jim Hines when I found his LiveJournal during RaceFail, and appreciated his voice as one of the few white authors who spoke sense, and who also owned up to the gaps in his knowledge. So while I have resolved to support more authors of color by buying their books, I also picked up The Stepsister Scheme with confidence that I wouldn't want to bang my head against a wall or throw the book across the room.

The premise of the book itself is a lot of fun: a retelling of popular fairy tales (some Disney version, some not), wherein Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty are essentially secret agents for the queen of Cinderella's home nation. Our POV character is Danielle (Cinderella), who is new to all this business and only got pulled in because her stepsisters kidnapped her husband, Prince Armand.

The book took a while for me to get into, for a couple of reasons. First, it's a mix of comedy and drama, which is more lighthearted than what I usually go for. The comedy isn't slapstick, though, and Hines makes you smile without trying to impress the reader with his wit all the time, so I ended up enjoying it once I got into the flow of the book.

Second, I had to feel out the book to see how high my defenses needed to be. (It's something I always have to do, but sometimes books answer the question early on by being very clearly status quo - for instance, fantasy that is squarely in the Western tradition, usually medieval-ish setting, where everyone is white and straight and there might be strong female characters but no grappling with feminist issues. For better or for worse, that tells me early on to lower my expectations for the book, but at least then I know the book will entirely avoid issues of race and sexuality, and I'll need to tolerate only the omission rather than a royal fucking up.) The Stepsister Scheme, as a reworked fairy tale(s), indicates early on that there will be questioning of the norm. So Danielle is Cinderella - but she's not the demurely feminine Disney version who sings a lot and doesn't get angry. Is she Liberated (in the mainstream-fiction's-interpretation-of-feminism sense)? She's uncomfortable being a princess - just because it's different from what she's used to, or does she question the fact that there are peasants laboring away for her luxury? Does she accept pretty dresses and motherhood without question? And so on.

High expectations? Sure, but I don't apologize for having them when I'm sharing the money that could be dedicated to underrepresented authors. And when these questions actively affect my reading enjoyment, the whole reason I buy books in the first place.

A brief overview on my verdict regarding these and other questions: ( cut for mild spoilers )

( really spoilery )

Damn, but I had a lot to say about this book. And I even cut it down a bit. I think I'm having a little Joss Whedon Syndrome here - I feel like I'm close to really loving the work, and because of that my defenses are accordingly lowered and my expectations are accordingly raised. (See above re: omission versus fucking up.) I want to support a book that is aimed at mainstream readers and accessible to younger (teenaged) readers and also assumes that the wife being the husband's savior, or that the women being both heterosexual and homosexual, needs neither preamble nor excuse. I have high hopes that this is a book I'll be able to describe someday as, "a relatively weak start to the series, but still quite enjoyable, and man do the rest of the books really realize the potential here and get awesome ..."

I actually really think you all should read this book, and I highly encourage you to purchase it rather than borrow it (for similar reasons as I encouraged you to buy Silver Phoenix).

At nekokoban's recommendation, I found GivesMeHope and put it on my Google Reader, so now I get a handful of hopeful true stories every day.

Today I found my own progressive fan version: Sparkymonster GMH!

I highly recommend that you all read Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia [note: some spoilers in the review excerpts], and I'll talk about why in a bit.

However, I also really want you to buy Silver Phoenix, for two reasons:

- Cindy Pon is a first-time published author, and while it's always important to buy the books of authors you want to support, I especially want to do it for this author whose career is one book old.

- An editor rejected the book, not on the strength of the writing, but because he said that "Asian fantasy does not sell." FUCK THAT SHIT, and let's show him that it does.

On to the review: Silver Phoenix is a Chinese historical fantasy about Ai Ling, a 17-year-old girl who seems normal for the daughter of a scholar - except, early on in the book, we learn things like the fact that Ai Ling can read and write, that most girls her age are already betrothed, and that her father was banished from the imperial court in disgrace. When her father goes missing during a trip to the capital city, Ai Ling does what any teenaged fantasy heroine worth her salt would do: she goes to rescue him. On the downside, she runs into demonic monsters along the way. On the upside, she also discovers her own mysterious abilities, meets a handsome and honorable stranger named Chen Yong, and eats some delicious food.

(I have to say, one of the things I love about Ai Ling is her voracious appetite. A kindred spirit! ;D She also describes most of her meals with delicious details, which of course I strongly approve of. Even if it did make me hungry at times when I could not access delicious Chinese food.)

Her journey itself is a lot of fun, and she meets a wide variety of fantastical creatures (not all demonic) along the way. The plot is pretty straightforward, but there's enough mystery to keep it intriguing, and enough adventure to keep it exciting.

One of the things that gave me the biggest thrill while reading this book was the fact that I was reading about a Chinese girl in (fantasy) China, and it was all perfectly normal. Ai Ling and her family are more or less traditional, and (not but) she is also an independent, intelligent heroine worthy of being a fictional role model. Unlike books that borrow East Asian elements for exotic flavor, the Chinese culture didn't feel tacked on or paraded around for our amusement/condescension/appropriation/judgment. Ai Ling's strengths are not presented in contrast to, or rebellions against, her more patriarchal than "us" culture. The habits and customs of the people in the book are described just like, oh, "normal" Western European fantasy books describe Western European (-analogue) cultures. It was very comfortable to read this book.

Somewhat relatedly, Ai Ling is feminine in a comfortable way as well. She isn't the only nurturing one, the only soft-hearted one, the only passive one, or the only scared one of the main characters. She does dress and wear her hair in typical feminine fashion - she doesn't challenge gender roles in a radical way - but she isn't a Girl Character (clearly distinguished from the Boy Character), if that makes sense.

( mild spoilers )

( really spoilery )

Do read this book - buy it if you can - and keep an eye out for the forthcoming prequel.

I was a big fan of Jacqueline Carey's original Kushiel's Legacy trilogy, and have started her new Kushiel trilogy, but I completely missed that she had a standalone* book coming out. Luckily I ran across Oyceter's review of Santa Olivia and picked it up. I finished it awhile ago, but haven't gotten around to posting a review until now.

At first glance, I was tempted to think that Santa Olivia was Carey's attempt to throw her hat in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy ring, what with the cover that features a shadowed, tough-looking young woman. But that's a shallow reading - for one, we follow Loup, the main character, from childhood through her teenage years over the course of the book, so she's not your typical paranormal romance heroine. Santa Olivia also feels less ... slick? ... than the types of paranormal romances that are currently popular - there is no leather, no gunfights or swordfights, no snazzy magic or epic destinies. It's just Loup, a girl trying to make things a little better in her town. Despite the "urban" of "urban fantasy," you don't see a lot of books that deal with contemporary urban issues (though one exception I've found is L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legends). While Santa Olivia's premise is fantastical, I liked the verisimilitude of Outpost No. 12.

You can find a summary of the book here, so I won't go into the plot. Instead, I'll say that I really enjoyed the book, despite it being quite different from what I've come to expect from Carey. No flowery prose, no intensely convoluted political intrigue, and relatively little sex. There is some sex, and some mystery, but both the writing and the world feel more spare than the lush setting of the Kushiel books. The story is on a much smaller scale, and it worked well.

One point that made me squee is that Loup is POC - more than that, she's multiracial! Granted, Carey doesn't spend much time developing Loup's ethnic identity; rather, any meditations on race and ethnicity are subsumed into the Outpost in general, and its relationship with the U.S. Still, this is worlds better than the exotification and Othering of the non-white analogue nations in the Kushiel books (I loved those books, but ... man).

( mild spoilers )

( really spoilery )

Overall, I definitely recommend this book. A little post-apocalyptic, a little urban fantasy and/or sci-fi, a little coming-of-age, all blended together into an enjoyable book.

( Some personal background explaining the reasons behind this post )

1. For those who are still asking, "What is RaceFail '09?" the briefest answer I can manage is: what started as another instance of the discussion about misrepresentation/lack of representation of people of color in science fiction and fantasy has resulted in a particularly public and particularly ugly backlash from (often white) writers and readers.

For a timeline of specific events, please start with this summary by Avalon's Willow. Further events occurred later, as described here by rydra_wong, who has also painstakingly collected all the RaceFail-related links she could find, under this tag

If you're ready for further detail, please see my LiveJournal memories for (what I consider) some of the important posts.

And finally, please refer to this guide to the positive, productive actions taken by POC and allies in the face of RaceFail. Not because of. In the face of.

Read as much as you can. Learn as much as you can. If you take nothing else away from this, remember these two things: This is not "just another wankfest," because it's about race, racism, and representation - not individual personality clashes and this or that book. Also, this is not the first or only such conversation, even if it's the first time you've heard of one like this.

2. One of the best responses to RaceFail has, by far, been the creation of Verb Noire, an e-publishing company dedicated to written works by and about people of color and/or queer people. Please support them by donating.

3.I've posted this before, but remember: if you are an Asian woman or an ally, please contribute to the first Asian Women Blog Carnival. The deadline is tomorrow.

4. This is not a new study (it was published in 2007), but it's highly relevant: Subtle Discrimination is More Taxing On The Brain. Instances of ambiguous racism were more detrimental to black test subjects than obvious cases.

"Interestingly, white volunteers were more impaired by overt racism than by the more ambiguous discrimination. Salvatore and Shelton figure this is because whites rarely experience any racism; they do not even notice the subtle forms of racism, and are thrown off balance when they are hit over the head by overt acts. Many blacks, by contrast, have developed coping strategies for the most hateful kinds of racism; it's the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of racism that impair performance, day in and day out."

This is why I'm more disturbed by expressions of privileged ignorance from people whom I have some trust in, rather than dude-on-the-street spouting a racial slur. This is why I care more about creative works that fail in race or other areas when they come from creators who should know better, based on their previous performance (Joss Whedon, I'm looking at you).

5. This is not race-related, but it's important: March 31st was End the R-word Day, a day dedicated to ending the use of "retard"/"retarded" as a derogatory term.

I have succeeded in removing the word from my vocabulary, but I've utterly failed in speaking out to the people around me. There's no excuse for this. I wouldn't tolerate people using "cunt," "pussy," or "gay" as insults to me, so I can't tolerate "retard" used in the same manner.

I will start by resolving to respond to derogatory uses of "retard"/"retarded" by saying, "Please don't use 'retard'/'retarded' as an insult." That's all. It's just a start.

In James Alan Gardner's Explorer Corps series, each member of the Explorer Corps is drilled into acquiring one of three automatic responses to being surprised: some Explorers drop, roll, and rise in a fighting stance; some become utterly immobilized; and some (I believe) drop and crouch or cower. The idea is that, when Explorers are poking around in unknown planets, they have no idea what local predators are like, and what behavior constitutes a proper defense versus provocation of an attack, so you might as well try each technique and hope at least one person gets out alive.

Anyway. As you can imagine, Gardner uses the trained responses as a characterization technique. Festina Ramos, Our Heroine, is trained to the first response. She also has a tendency to seek out and/or attract conflict, and wades right into it. Youn Suu, the protagonist of Radiant (the latest novel in the series), is trained in the second response. Her personality, as well as the arc of her narrative, involves observing, deliberating, and coming to a conclusion, rather than fighting directly.

This isn't the only potential interpretation of the "freezing" response - someone who reacts that way could also become immobile and impotent, refusing to interact with the surroundings and letting things pass by without either engaging or learning about them.

I'm afraid that, at times, I react to surprise or conflict in this way - freezing rather than simply pausing, withdrawing rather than acting judiciously. I do try to move towards the latter, though - the Youn Suu response, I guess you could say. I want to be a deliberate, thoughtful person who takes considered actions. But sometimes I fall prey to weakness and just hide.

Just a thought I had. No real point to this besides that.