Uffish Thought

So the upside of not having power is that I finally sat down and read my shiny hardback copy of Winter's Orbit! (The bit in the mountains was very #relatable, lemme tell you) I loved it, but I had some thoughts about how it's changed since I read the first version The Course of Honour on AO3 (as a WIP even! That was delicious agony waiting for updates, let me tell you).

( spoilers )

What are you reading now?:
Busman's Honeymoon, the last of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. (Well. Last written by Sayers. I have not read the Jill Patton Walsh books on...everyone's recommendation.) I've been re-reading all the Harriet books this month -- mostly for Gaudy Night, which continues to be one of my favorite books and romances of all time but does require all of Peter and Harriet's rich history to be fully appreciated. I always end up slowly working through Busman's Honeymoon once I reach it, because it starts off slow and meandering and sweet, and I know it's the last one ever.

What did you just finish?:
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer. Alas, slightly disappointing despite the premise (post-apocalyptic cyborg Cinderella!), partly because I didn't realize it was actually the first in a quartet and therefore cliffhangs, argh, and also because the politics were annoyingly facile, especially in contrast to the complex emotional dynamics of Cinder's stepfamily. Cinder herself was awesome, so I'll probably pick up the others to see what happens to her. And I'm totally a sucker for ( spoilers ) And cyborgs. And no-nonsense mechanics. And fairy tale retellings.

Oh, god, all the busy. Got sick over Thanksgiving weekend (thanks a lot, inmyriadbits), then the call center job went insane post-Black Friday, as per usual - at least they feed us for free now that they've taken away our lunch breaks? - and I realized that I am technically working 7 days a week at three separate jobs (call center, employee massage, private practice massage). SO TIRED.

But on Sunday, I finally got a chance to sit down and read my copy of marthawells's The Siren Depths! I've had it since the 17th (delivered while at RenFest, not funny, universe), but I knew I'd want an open night because, as usual, I sat down and didn't stop reading until I was done. I kept getting up for water/snacks and it felt like the clock was a time lapse photo - 9:16pm, 10:34pm, 12:40am. Whoops.

For those of you who haven't read the Books of the Raksura: they're awesome. Moon, the main character, is a shapeshifter was orphaned at a young age and doesn't know who or what he is at first. When The Cloud Roads (go look at the gorgeous cover, trust me) starts, he's spent most of his life hiding in his humanoid form, but the rest of the time he looks like this. LOOKIT THOSE WINGS. Pretty, right? Unfortunately, he resembles a race of horrible sociopathic predators called the Fell, so he's forced to hide who he is and has been systematically betrayed, abandoned and attacked since he was a child. Despite this, he is an utter sweetheart. Well, underneath all the trust issues and paranoia and habitual lying and superior combat skills. I'm really fond of his disembowling talons. Shut up.

The first two books involve Moon finding his people, the Raksura, and his continuing adventures with the colony. The Raksura are a wonderfully alien race while still being entirely relatable, with a tendency to be as crotchety and opinionated as they are communal and gossipy. The world is filled with a huge array of other weird and wonderful races who tend to put their settlements in odd places. Cities aren't built next to waterfalls, but on them, or carved inside ancient statues and into giant trees, or set on the backs of sea monsters.

I really really want to live in a mountain-tree. Not that that's relevant. But I really do.

Martha writes a hell of an action scene, and does, repeatedly, but I love all the emotional hell she puts Moon through over the series, and his slow and never-easy adaptation to living with other people and - so help him - eventually trusting and falling in love with some of them. It's all the emotion hurt/comfort and found family you could want, with awesome world-building and badass action to round it out.

( And shit went *down* in this last book.... )

Shit, now I want to go re-read the whole series. Noooooo, I need to sleep....