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Penric books, by Lois McMaster Bujold
Mar. 17th, 2021 10:13 pmI read the books Penric's Progress and Penric's Travels, one after the other, almost like I used to before This Year happened.
... a year of nine months not leaving the house, three months doing a weekly Exercise Walk, and a year solid between last time I went to a supermarket and last week going in the bread shop. A year of nothing to do but read, and I read I think 4 books.
Then pretty much this month I caught up on F&SF magazine, almost caught up on Uncanny, and read two books in a row.
They're collections of three novellas each, which suited me very well. None of that nibbling feeling from reading short stories but the plot moved on apace and the characters got introduced and explored at a speed I liked.
I like these books very well.
The intro to the first one says ideally to just go read them from the beginning and read about them ie the intro after you're done. So if you want to do that, dont read under the cut.
They're set in the World of the Five Gods, and ( Read more... )
So now I have an idea of what I've been looking for in stories, because much of it was here. People care about people, and help them, and it works out as improving things. The story never stalls out at stating a problem, there's always movement towards solutions or at least making things better. Even when terrible things happen, and they do, awful injuries and life changing ones, that doesnt just end the story for the injured. People get chances and choices and dont get dropped off the end of the story, especially not for being the wrong demographic now.
And the use of power is examined and interrogated, never just handwaved Because Hero. Every time you wonder if they really did a hero thing just there, they wonder too.
It makes me remember why I like Bujold's stories.
I might go reread a bunch.
... a year of nine months not leaving the house, three months doing a weekly Exercise Walk, and a year solid between last time I went to a supermarket and last week going in the bread shop. A year of nothing to do but read, and I read I think 4 books.
Then pretty much this month I caught up on F&SF magazine, almost caught up on Uncanny, and read two books in a row.
They're collections of three novellas each, which suited me very well. None of that nibbling feeling from reading short stories but the plot moved on apace and the characters got introduced and explored at a speed I liked.
I like these books very well.
The intro to the first one says ideally to just go read them from the beginning and read about them ie the intro after you're done. So if you want to do that, dont read under the cut.
They're set in the World of the Five Gods, and ( Read more... )
So now I have an idea of what I've been looking for in stories, because much of it was here. People care about people, and help them, and it works out as improving things. The story never stalls out at stating a problem, there's always movement towards solutions or at least making things better. Even when terrible things happen, and they do, awful injuries and life changing ones, that doesnt just end the story for the injured. People get chances and choices and dont get dropped off the end of the story, especially not for being the wrong demographic now.
And the use of power is examined and interrogated, never just handwaved Because Hero. Every time you wonder if they really did a hero thing just there, they wonder too.
It makes me remember why I like Bujold's stories.
I might go reread a bunch.