#31

Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating Bookstores by Greg Ketter (Editor)

If you’re a reader, you probably have a favorite bookstore. Or maybe several favorites, as Neil Gaiman admits in his introduction to this collection. Or, if you’re me, maybe you’ve loved every bookstore you’ve ever walked into including big-box chain stores and, the biggest “bookstore” of them all, Amazon.com. In the end, for me, it’s less about the store more about the books. Each store has a different selection. I’ve found things at Barnes & Noble that I never caught a wiff of at A Novel Idea*.

This anthology has some great stories in which the bookstore is the star. P. D. Cacek’s “A Book, By It’s Cover” is an interesting take on the concept of the golem–the golem as building. I really wish there was a current Twilight Zone-esque anthology series on TV because I’d love to see a screen adaptation of this story. ”One Copy Only” by Ramsey Campbell features a bookstore full of books never written. This is the store where you might find the Harry Potter book that J. K. Rowling never writes. Of course, such a bookstore has measures in place to protect itself from surly writers. The anthology is topped off by “The Cheese Stands Alone” by Harlan Ellison. If the Fates had bookstores, what books would they “sell”? One yuppy finds out.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of things that really annoyed me about this book. First, many of the stories were about books, rather than bookstores. Don’t get me wrong, some of these stories are good, but the bookstore is only the setting. Despite its somewhat outdated technology, ”Pixel Pixies” by Charles de Lint is a fun story about Dick, a hob, and the pixies that invade his neighborhood though the bookstore’s computer.  It could have been any computer. The creepy ”Non-Returnable” by Rick Hautala is about a book ordered by an employee of a bookstore. Cats are the stars of “The Hemingway Kittens” by A. R. Morlan. It’s a cute story, but more about the power of story-telling and literacy. Given that these are the things I value above actual stores, I don’t know why its inclusion bugs me so much.

Second, I found some of the attitudes in the stories off-putting. This anthology was originally published in hardback in 2002, at the very early beginning of ebooks. There is definite tension in most of these stories between big chains and small bookstores with a dash ebook and ecommerce worry. I’m not a fan of bashing chain stores or bashing “soulless” books or bashing someone who might run a bookstore but isn’t a “book person.” Only one story gets a pass from me concerning these issues and that’s ” ‘I’m Looking for a Book’ ” by Patrick Weekes. Gorhok the Immitigable is looking for a tome of power. At a Boundries Bookstore. If you’re going to push my artificial dichotomy button, make me smile while you do it.

*If I had to pick one store, A Novel Idea would be it. Yes, even over the two-floor block-long wonder of Powell’s.

Format: Adobe Digital Editions
Procurement: NetGalley

Book #24

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant

It took me a little while to warm up to this anthology. To me, steampunk is a very specific thing: science fiction of the Victorian era. That is, what kinds of technologies could you extrapolate based on steam power? The stories in this anthology stretch the definition of steampunk in a lot of different directions, not many of them sticking to the steaminess of steampunk.

For example, Libba Bray’s “The Last Ride of the Glory Girls”  revolves around one very high tech gadget being used in a traditional Old West setting. “The Summer People” by Kelly Link is contemporarily set and fae centric. These fae have a tenancy to create clockworks. Once I stopped saying “Well, *that’s* not steampunk,” I enjoyed myself a whole lot more.

My two favorite stories are both homages to other, er, sub-genres.  Ysabeau Wilce’s “Hand in Glove” reads very much like a slightly skewed sequel to Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue.” With a little Frankenstein thrown in for good measure. I would love to spend at least a novel-worth of time with Detective Wilkins in dreary Califa. “Steam Girl” by Dylan Horrocks is a love letter to cinema cliffhangers with the brilliant and beautiful Steam Girl as our perpetrator of derring-do. Or maybe Steam Girl is just the alter ego of a young girl trying to make the best of her ugly situation… Either way, Dylan Horrocks (better known as a comic writer and artist) presents a great debut story.

Format: Kindle Cloud Reader
Procurement: Greater Phoenix Digital Library

Book #22

Soulless by Gail Carriger

As I said on Monday, in the past when I considered reading this book, I was dubious. Vampires and werewolves in steampunk London with a parasol wielding heroine? There are so many ways this can go horribly wrong. But for the most part, it doesn’t.

I”m going to compare this book to most Joss Whedon projects. There is a gap between how plausibly good the average Joss Whedon project should be and how much fun it really is. (This analogy does rely on one believing that Joss Whedon has a few good project to his name. If you don’t care for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or even Firefly, you’re probably not going to be inclined to read this book anyway.) Even The Avengers shouldn’t be as much fun as it is, but it comes down to characters. Give me characters I like and I’ll forgive quite a few sins.

I also might be a little softer on this book because I’m (relatively) new to steampunk and not overly jaded when it comes to bodice-ripping romance novels. I’ve somewhat accepted the fact that no writer is going to handle steampunk world building as well as I’d like. It is, basically, science fiction set in the 19th century. Going back and rebuilding the world with new technologies (and supernatural aspects) and the ramifications of those things is a task. I’m certainly not saying that I could do it well. I maintain that the best policy as an author in regards world building is to either be exhaustive* or shut up. Gail Carriger present her world, but doesn’t over-explain. I’m okay with that…

…because I’m too busy enjoying myself. The situations have a level of absurd comedy that I enjoyed. The characters were maybe a little too stereotyped, but there is a lot going on in the book. If your world is already quirky, it might be okay to lighten up on the character eccentricities. The plot did a decent job of presenting one story as well as setting up the series.  The language sparkled. Occasionally, there was too much attention paid to clothing, but that fits more with (my preconceptions about) the Victorian setting. I didn’t feel the epilogue was particularly needed, but I can see where the romance novel fans might want that sort of thing.

I suppose the true test might be, am I going to read the other books in this series? There are four more. I’m not sure. I’m certainly not going to do it now. While a few hours of fun and a nice break, I’m not up for more fluff just yet.

*If you go the exhaustive route, you don’t need to share every last detail with your reader, but you do need to know all the details.

Format: Kindle Cloud Reader
Procurement: Greater Phoenix Digital Library

Short Stories #14 & #15

“Requiem Duet, Concerto for Flute and Voodoo” by Eugie Foster

Read this back in September and didn’t get around to posting about it. That shouldn’t reflect on this story. In fact, part of the reason I didn’t post about it immediately is that it touches on a sensitive thing going on in my life.  It’s a lovely tale; urban fantasy, I suppose, but not in the usual way one might think. As always, Foster does a fantastic job of dropping us within the setting and a culture.

“Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes” by Michael Bishop

I’m shooting to read a short story daily during November. I have a fairly long to-be-read list and the internet is absolutely bursting with free fiction if you know where to look. Heck, right at the top of this page is a story from DailyScienceFiction.com!

Bookmarked “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes” because I confused David G. Hartwell with John Hertz. It was the beanie that threw me off. While enjoyable enough, I’m not sure that I really get this story. I can see some symmetries, but I”m not a fan of switching POVs. For me, it just gets in the way of telling the story. Maybe I’ll give it a second read in the future and see if time gives me some perspective on it.

Book #15 & Short Story #13

War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

I wasn’t sure what to expect from War for the Oaks. Over the course of several genre writing conventions and online discussions of urban fantasy, I knew that it was considered An Important Work. Which means that if you’ve immersed yourself in studying the genre, you can see a breaking point in what came before it and what came after it, and a casual reader might have to take your word for it. This is not to say that War for the Oaks isn’t An Important Work; I just can’t comment on that. I suspected that it was not Buffy/Angel-like, which is (right or wrong) my default standard of what urban fantasy is. I also had a vague notion that it involved the Seelie and Unseelie courts.

I’ve never been a fan of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Unlike the regimented Greek and Roman mythologies, fairy lore always seemed to me to be nonsensically political and vaguely allegorical. No doubt, my opinions are based on the fact that the “classical mythology” taught in schools is Greek/Roman. (Forget about covering the myths of non-European cultures, we don’t even cover all of Europe!) Regardless, I’m not a fan of the fae. So, it had that against it.

Happily, the book surprised me.  It’s a fast, enjoyable read. Bull obviously knows Minneapolis and imparts its beauty in a manner that avoid Tolkien-esque exposition. Speaking of Tolkien and traditional tropes of the fantasy genre, Bull obviously loves music and incorporates it into the book, but instead of lute-and-lyre  poetry, Bull’s bards are rock musicians. That was probably the aspect of the book I didn’t expect and was somewhat dubious of at first. A protagonist that might save humanity through rock music is both cheesy and culturally appropriate for the late 20th century. Bull pulls it off. The characters are likeable and Phouka might make my top ten of favorite characters ever for his goofy swoon-worthy charm.

I do have two criticisms.  Occasionally, the romantic relationship aspects of the story are too drawn out. I felt myself skipping a line of two to get back to the good bits. Secondly, I still don’t quite grasp the preoccupation in urban fantasy with clothing. Outfits are given way too much time. Sure; clothes make the man, are sometimes functional, and affect self-esteem, but I think more than three noted clothes changes in a book is way too many. (As a writer, I’m sure I’ll annoy readers with my preoccupation with food…)

Also read lately:

“Booth’s Ghost” by Karen Joy Fowler – Interesting story, though sometimes exhausting in its litany of names. I will assume the historical details about the Booth family are correct.

Book # 14

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

First, I must recuse myself. I am not a fan of first person POV. I’ve mentioned this before. I dislike first person so much that I generally disqualify books on that basis alone. This is the second 1st person POV book that I’ve read this year. The first was for the Women of Fantasy reading list. This one, Jim Butcher’s Storm Front, was also for my edification. I’m writing urban fantasy (kinda sorta), so I figured it was best to partake of some of the keystones of the genre.

Harry Dresden, Butcher’s private detective wizard, is an immensely likeable character. He’s an everyman with powers. This makes him very identifiable and, on that basis, it’s easy to understand why the Dresden Files have been popular. There’s also enough mystery to Dresden’s world to keep readers reading. What is Harry’s past? What other dangers are lurking just under the world that we, the readers, think we’re familiar with?

But alas, I won’t be reading further. There are too many things that bug me about Storm Front and what I fear is the general philosophy of these novels. Butcher doesn’t get into the nuts and bolts of the magic system, so he doesn’t really hurt himself with it. On the other hand, I wondered occasionally why Dresden didn’t rely a little more on magic. Why not use the handy wind spell to put out fire or at least bolster a dangling Harry? I can chalk it up to the wizard being too tired or too distracted, but I’m not given those reasons. I’m also never a fan of “I can’t tell X what is going on because it would be too Y.” Within a first person POV, a writer can easily make this sort of thought process sound reasonable. I don’t think it is. Honestly, within the bounds of this book, Dresden working as a consultant for the police doesn’t add much. (Considering I’ve read a few Dresden stories from Butcher’s Side Jobs, I assume this is a plot point that plays out more in later books.)

On the plus side, Butcher does a good job presenting a fast-faced, fun novel. As writer, there’s something to be learned from both side of the ledger.