April 2013 -

26 Apr

Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles

If we could judge authors by the sound of their names, Marissa Meyer would get big points for her similarity to Mercer Mayer, who wrote and illustrated many delightful children’s books, including my favorite ‘What Would You Do With A Kangaroo?’ But I don’t necessarily pick up on author’s names until I’ve read more than one of their books, and when I picked up ‘Cinder’ it was for two reasons: first, it was reportedly a Cinderella retelling involving a cyborg; second, it started as a Nanowrimo project. Read More →

19 Apr

A Golden Vase Filled with Serpents and Scorpions

In 2003, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Russia through the School for International Training. The focus of the program was anthropological, and we had a mix of lectures and experiential education.

One of the meetings which was arranged for our student group was with a local leader of the Chechen diaspora in St. Petersburg. I’m not going to pretend I have a complete understanding of the political situation of the Chechens today, or that I had much of a clue in 2003, either, other than knowing that Chechnya was an area of predominantly Muslim peoples who wished to be independent from the Russians. Read More →

17 Apr

Arabian Tales

You may remember that last summer I was pretty excited about G. Willow Wilson’s debut novel, Alif the Unseen. You can read my earlier thoughts on Alif, or just read the book – it’s out in paperback now. Briefly, it is genre-bending urban political fantasy magical realism which presaged the various recent revolutions of the Middle East.

Part of the plot of Alif involves a book called the 1001 Days, which may or may not be a fake written by a European. Last year I got a copy of another such book – a little younger, a little less magic involved in the plot, but an excellent read. The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan was written by James Morier, who was of Swiss-Dutch extraction. Read More →

10 Apr

Snowshoeing at Mount Rainier

At the end of December, my taller half and I went down to Mount Rainier to do some snowshoeing. Rainier is a special place for us, and maybe for anybody who spends any amount of time in Washington state and occasionally looks out the window. It’s the tallest peak in the continental US (Alaskan translation: it’s no Denali, but it’s aight.) and it’s visible from most of Seattle and Western Washington. We get down there a couple times a year, and we picked a good day this time, because it was perfect blue sky.

Death and Rebirth of Gods

I’m in a period of pleasure reading right now — as opposed to research reading — and have been making a little progress in my quest to catch up on contemporary sci-fi and fantasy. Coincidentally, three of the recent books I picked up all dealt with the death and resurrection of gods. It seems appropriate to be reading these in the spring time. I’ve been watching the buds pop out on the trees and reveling in the appearance of crocii and cherry blossoms in my neighborhood. Plus, despite the secular life I’ve chosen as an adult, I still have a childhood nostalgia for Easter. I even found myself considering dyeing eggs, even though I never eat hard boiled eggs.
However, you won’t find much in the way of Christian symbolism (or Christian-flavored paganism) in these books. Read More →