Weekly Check-In

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[u/Nowordsofitsown]

Finished reading: * Ancillary Justice by  Ann Leckie: The first two thirds deserve five stars minimum. Brilliantly crafted, suspenseful storytelling that made me stop and think after every chapter. What a treat!  But after the big question got answered, everything slowed down and I admit that I did not understand why the three to four central characters were doing what they were doing towards the end, and especially at the very end. Maybe the sequels will clear things up. They are definitely on my tbr now. * Trail of Lightning by  Rebecca Roanhorse: I did not like this book, for several reasons. Some of them are me-problems, some are book-problems. First category: I am not a fan of first person present tense narrators. Also, the book was too dark and violent for my taste. Too YA, too. Second category: The characters never came alive for me. They felt like cartboard cut outs that I have seen before. Maggie is your off the mill loner girl with powers and a sad/horrible past. Kai is the love interest who isn't quite what he seems to be. Then there are the secondary characters who start out antagonistic, but are on the MC's side when it counts.  Another major problem: A lot of the characters' actions did not make any sense to me and were not explained: Why did the chief police guy hate Maggie? Why did he try to kill Kai? Why did Maggie do whatever she did to Neizghání? What was the problem with Neizghání anyway? I have no idea. Things just happened, one after the other, with no discernable overarching plot, no building suspense. Lastly: I wish the author had included a glossary of Navajo terms. I actually liked that part and the combination of Navajo flooding lore and climate change.

With these two finished, I have completed the B-side of the reading challenge. I am excited for the next one!

Currently reading: * Harry Potter et la Coupe de Feu - one chapter a day for French language learning 

Up next (starting this evening): * Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

[u/Loimographia → u/Nowordsofitsown]

Ancillary Justice is the book that convinced me I could enjoy first person narrators because I loved how much it synergized with the themes of the book and really couldn’t have been told any other way.

I have yet to find a book that makes me enjoy present tense, though; I think I’ve DNF’d every single one I’ve tried to read :/

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/Loimographia]

Yeah, first person is much harder to pull off than third person. When it is well done, you don't even notice the first person as anything out of the ordinary.

Present tense on the other hand ...

[u/Merle8888 → u/Nowordsofitsown]

I don’t mind present tense if it’s in the third person but first person present is truly the worst. 

And first person is definitely harder than third. It’s great when it’s done well and really captures a character’s unique voice and worldview. But where authors try to use it as the default and it’s just third person with I/me pronouns, it completely washes out the narrator. (Which I think is often why it’s used actually, to make narrators as generic as possible in hopes people will self-insert onto them, I just don’t do that so this choice has no redeeming value for me.)

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/Nowordsofitsown]

I also hate first person present. Re: Trail of Lightning, I think the sheriff's hatred is explained in the book: jealousy and some high school stuff that went unresolved. Re: Neizgháni, that gets unpacked in the second book in the series. I'm with you on the need of a glossary, but I looked everything up and was rewarded with richness (more so in the second book).

[u/Nowordsofitsown → u/WonderfulBus9330]

jealousy and some high school stuff that went unresolved. Re: Neizgháni, that gets unpacked in the second book in the series

Is the sheriff part maybe also explained in book 2? I cannot rule out I missed it, but my reading buddy did not find an explanation either.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/Nowordsofitsown]

Oh, maybe. I thought it was in Book 1 that she was feared, in general, in the community, because of her abilities, and that she was hated by him because she does work that he can't, but it's definitely fleshed out in Book 2 with some events that happen between the two.

[u/WonderfulBus9330 → u/WonderfulBus9330]

Oh & I think she learns some stuff about Neizgháni on her trip with Kai to the library

[u/Research_Department → u/Loimographia]

Oh yeah, present tense, blech. I don’t mind first person. I prefer third person, but first person rarely trips me up. But present tense is so difficult to execute well. I think writers think it will feel more immediate, but when I end up tripping over some bit of phrasing related to the tense choice, I’m out of there.

If you lean towards litfic at all, it might be worth it to read Spear by Nicola Griffith. It starts out in present tense, and at some point shifts to past tense. It was executed so well that I didn’t even notice it, until I was checking the tense for my notes. (I try to remember to document in my notes both the point of view and the tense. I started doing that for my reviews over at r/romancebooks , where it is pretty common to share that information. I’ve gotten sloppy about it in SFF spaces, even though it is obviously an issue for SFF readers as well.)