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Well this is embarrassing. Evidently I was so busy last month I totally forgot to post this entry, even though I'd already had it written and ready.
Oh well, it's not like yr paying a subscription to this thing.
And so.
The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As the tag line suggests, this is a collection of Neil Gaiman’s non-fiction works, including essays, newspaper articles, speeches, book introductions and interviews (as in him interviewing people, not the other way round). As you’d expect, the topics are generally about books, comics, writing, art, libraries, horror, faerie stories, mythology and music, although there are a few other odds and ends to be found. Also as you’d expect, it’s written with the same contagious enthusiasm and dry humor as his fiction, though it’s not all fun and games (for example, his article about a Syrian refugee camp is as harrowing as it is moving).
If there’s a weakness to this collection, it’s that it gets a bit repetitive at times, as some pieces are variations on a particular theme (Gaiman’s childhood obsession with libraries, how great Will Eisner was, etc). And it’s fair to say that what readers get out of this might depend on how much they share Gaiman’s love for the topics, genres and creators he writes about. In any case, this collection demonstrates that Gaiman is an engaging storyteller whether he’s writing fiction or nonfiction. The title track alone (about his experience of attending the Oscars when the film Coraline was nominated for Best Animated Film) is worth the price of admission, but then so is the Lou Reed interview, and … well, there’s a lot to love here, really.
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Who Fears Death is set in a post-apocalyptic African country being torn apart by ethnic cleansing as the light-skinned Nuru enslave, oppress, abuse and murder the dark-skinned Okeke. The story follows Onyesonwu, an Ewu (mixed-race) girl whose Okeke mother was raped by a Nuru sorcerer. Onye – who is an outcast because of her Ewu heritage – soon discovers she has magical abilities as well, and seeks to develop her powers and become a sorcerer, not least because someone is trying to kill her.
By luck rather than design, I read the prequel (The Book of Phoenix) to this book first, so I came into it with a little bit of background, although the two stories do stand alone, as the events described take place decades or perhaps centuries apart. That said, one similarity is that both books feature an impulsive and perpetually angry protagonist driven by sheer rage at the injustices around them. Onye is a hard character for me to like – she’s short-tempered, impatient and generally angry most of the time. On the other hand, she has plenty to be angry about – Nnedi Okorafor uses the future setting and magic/fantasy tropes to address historical and contemporary horrors and injustices in various African cultures (genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, weaponized rape, mob violence, sexism, even female circumcision). She doesn’t pull any punches, which makes this a harrowing and emotionally exhausting experience – but an undeniably powerful one.
And it works thanks to Okorafor creating believable characters and a believable world that isn’t beholden to genre rules. While the narrative follows a familiar template, it’s the imaginative details that make it seem fresh, as well as Okorafor’s fearlessness in not shying away from the dark places it logically has to go. It’s not the kind of book I’d want to read again – but then I arguably won't need to, since much of the book is probably going to stick with me for a long time.
View all my reviews
Desert blues,
This is dF
Oh well, it's not like yr paying a subscription to this thing.
And so.
The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil GaimanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
As the tag line suggests, this is a collection of Neil Gaiman’s non-fiction works, including essays, newspaper articles, speeches, book introductions and interviews (as in him interviewing people, not the other way round). As you’d expect, the topics are generally about books, comics, writing, art, libraries, horror, faerie stories, mythology and music, although there are a few other odds and ends to be found. Also as you’d expect, it’s written with the same contagious enthusiasm and dry humor as his fiction, though it’s not all fun and games (for example, his article about a Syrian refugee camp is as harrowing as it is moving).
If there’s a weakness to this collection, it’s that it gets a bit repetitive at times, as some pieces are variations on a particular theme (Gaiman’s childhood obsession with libraries, how great Will Eisner was, etc). And it’s fair to say that what readers get out of this might depend on how much they share Gaiman’s love for the topics, genres and creators he writes about. In any case, this collection demonstrates that Gaiman is an engaging storyteller whether he’s writing fiction or nonfiction. The title track alone (about his experience of attending the Oscars when the film Coraline was nominated for Best Animated Film) is worth the price of admission, but then so is the Lou Reed interview, and … well, there’s a lot to love here, really.
Who Fears Death by Nnedi OkoraforMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Who Fears Death is set in a post-apocalyptic African country being torn apart by ethnic cleansing as the light-skinned Nuru enslave, oppress, abuse and murder the dark-skinned Okeke. The story follows Onyesonwu, an Ewu (mixed-race) girl whose Okeke mother was raped by a Nuru sorcerer. Onye – who is an outcast because of her Ewu heritage – soon discovers she has magical abilities as well, and seeks to develop her powers and become a sorcerer, not least because someone is trying to kill her.
By luck rather than design, I read the prequel (The Book of Phoenix) to this book first, so I came into it with a little bit of background, although the two stories do stand alone, as the events described take place decades or perhaps centuries apart. That said, one similarity is that both books feature an impulsive and perpetually angry protagonist driven by sheer rage at the injustices around them. Onye is a hard character for me to like – she’s short-tempered, impatient and generally angry most of the time. On the other hand, she has plenty to be angry about – Nnedi Okorafor uses the future setting and magic/fantasy tropes to address historical and contemporary horrors and injustices in various African cultures (genocide, slavery, ethnic cleansing, weaponized rape, mob violence, sexism, even female circumcision). She doesn’t pull any punches, which makes this a harrowing and emotionally exhausting experience – but an undeniably powerful one.
And it works thanks to Okorafor creating believable characters and a believable world that isn’t beholden to genre rules. While the narrative follows a familiar template, it’s the imaginative details that make it seem fresh, as well as Okorafor’s fearlessness in not shying away from the dark places it logically has to go. It’s not the kind of book I’d want to read again – but then I arguably won't need to, since much of the book is probably going to stick with me for a long time.
View all my reviews
Desert blues,
This is dF
