The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing and Listening in 2012 By Lynne M. Thomas
This was a year of playing catch-up on classic literature, as well as reading works I didn’t have a chance to get to in 2011 once my Tiptree Award Jury duties wound down early this year.
I had a couple of runs of books of the same type. I read several novels that were mashups between fantasy and noir, or fantasy with noir heroes. Among them, Douglas Hulick’s Among Thieves and Kelly McCullough’s Broken Blade were both very satisfying reads, with strong characterization, great fight scenes, and plots that pull you along. Fans of Scott Lynch’s work, or of Alex Bledsoe’s Eddie Lacrosse novels should check these out if they haven’t already done so.
I’m a sucker for Jane Austen and other more recent works set in the Regency period. This year I reread one of my favorite classic novels, Pride and Prejudice. I also greatly enjoyed Mary Robinette Kowal’s Glamour in Glass, the follow-up novel to Shades of Milk and Honey. (If you like Jane Austen with some magic that won’t break the Regency frame added to it, these books are for you.) This time, the newly married protagonists are taking a wedding trip to Belgium as they try to understand how both marriage and glamour (the fictional magic included in this version of Regency England) work best in tandem.
If you prefer your historical fantasies set in Roman or Victorian times, you may enjoy Love and Romanpunk, a short story collection of four linked stories by Tansy Rayner Roberts where lamia are real and are mucking about with the Roman imperial family. These stories are affecting and slyly humorous in the best possible way. Also, Mary Shelley turns up at one point.
Chicks Dig Comics came out this past March, and as you might guess, I consumed a goodly number of comics titles in trade paperback. By far, my favorites were Alias, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Michael Gaydos, and Gotham Central written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, and illustrated by Kano, Stefano Gaudiano, Steve Lieber, Michael Lark, Greg Scott, and Brian Hurtt. Both of these stories focus on broken, complicated characters trying to figure out their place in the universe when their original plans have fallen apart. I also recommend Finder, written and illustrated by Carla Speed McNeil, which is a spectacular SFnal story told through the comics medium.
My viewing this year was relatively limited, but I thoroughly enjoyed Season 7 of Doctor Who. We are currently catching up on series 5 of Burn Notice, which I absolutely adore. In film, Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, The Avengers, and Skyfall (the latest Bond film) were on my list of films that I enjoyed in 2012, and I could not be more excited for the opening of The Hobbit and Les Misérables in the next few weeks.
For listening, this year’s most recent pleasant discovery was Kelly Hogan’s absolutely haunting vocals on her latest album, I Like to Keep Myself in Pain.
Lynne M. Thomas is the current Editor-in-Chief of Apex Magazine. She co-edited the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords, as well as Whedonistas and Chicks Dig Comics. She moderates the Hugo-Award winning SF Squeecast, a monthly SF/F podcast. In her day job, she is the Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, where she is responsible for the papers of over 60 SF/F authors. You can learn more about her shenanigans at lynnemthomas.com.
The Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening in 2011 by Lynne M. Thomas
It’s hard to believe that 2011 is nearly over, but it has been filled with many wonderful things. I began the year by reading what would become this year’s World Fantasy Award-winner for best novel, Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death. Okorafor’s prose was visceral and wrenching in the best possible way; she took on difficult topics with clarity. Lisa Goldstein’s The Uncertain Places was a haunting, lovingly rendered tale of a young man’s life among the fey. Alex Bledsoe’s subtle The Hum and the Shiver incorporated Appalachian music and traditions into a rural twist on urban fantasy that stayed with me long after I’d finished reading, as I contemplated how the novel was shaped like the music that informed it. Andrea Hairston’s Redwood and Wildfire provided an engrossing tale of migration from the Deep South to Chicago’s vaudeville and cinema theaters at the turn of the last century. Genevieve Valentine’s Mechanique twisted and turned through the beautifully written tale of a post-apocalyptic circus company struggling for survival.
In young adult and middle-grade literature, I really enjoyed Catherynne M. Valente’s Andre Norton Award-winning The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making-- a quirky, sly, whimsical adventure tale of September, a young girl who is decidedly not the stay at home type. I’m very much looking forward to reading it my daughter. I also enjoyed Malinda Lo’s Huntress, which had splendidly drawn adolescent characters meeting fairy tale challenges in a haunting, wintry setting.
In short fiction anthologies, I caught up with the work of Shirley Jackson Award-winner Rob Shearman. His Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical took on love and life, and the uncertainty of whether one is actually managing to do either well with wry, self-deprecating humor and a dark amusement at human foibles.
Viewing has been a bit limited this year, and most of the things I watched were from the past. However, I can note that I have very much enjoyed this season of Doctor Who, especially the River Song arc. I finally saw for the first time the first season of the 1990s Batman: The Animated Series, which was a fantastic example of how animation can tell riveting visual stories. My favorite new-to-me series that I watched this year was The Middleman, which may well be the geekiest television series ever produced, with a heart of gold. This was a summer of comic book movies, and I found both Captain America and Thor quite entertaining. As is in keeping with the characters themselves, Captain America was a straightforward origin story, while Thor was a bit more exuberant in its storytelling.
Listening? My iPod is not the most adventurous, but I enjoyed the Radio Free Skaro (Doctor Who news and chat), and (still!) Galactic Suburbia podcasts (general SF news and chat from a decidedly feminist and snarky perspective) when I could catch them.
I’m looking forward to what 2012 will bring.
Lynne M. Thomas is the Editor-in-Chiefof Apex Magazine. She co-edited the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords, as well as Whedonistas, and the forthcoming Chicks Dig Comics (all from Mad Norwegian Press). She is also the moderator for the SF Squeecast, a monthly SF/F podcast. In her day job, she is the Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, where she is responsible for the papers of over 55 SF/F authors. You can learn more about her shenanigans at lynnemthomas.com.
Pleasures of Reading, Viewing, and Listening 2010 By Lynne M. Thomas
Reading (Books):
My to-be-read pile is always massive. I didn’t read as many new books this year as I had originally intended, but here are some of the books I did read, and enjoyed. Mary Robinette Kowal’s Shades of Milk and Honey adds the skill of “glamour” (a magic that creates illusions out of light) to the list of a Regency lady’s expected accomplishments, and then sends two sisters (one with the skill, one without) into society, neatly capturing the feel and tone of Jane Austen’s books. Speaking of interesting magic systems, I particularly enjoyed Laura Anne Gilman’s Flesh and Fire, the first in her Vineart War series, a coming-of-age story about an apprentice magician named Jerzy that bases its magic system on the winemaking process. Jerzy’s story is poignant as he discovers his own abilities. N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was a dynamic, well-crafted pleasure to read. Jemisin characterizes flawed gods and mortals with aplomb and finesse. This is the tale of Yeine, an outsider fostered away from the kingdom, who challenges a flawed society to accept a birthright that she isn’t sure she wants. Jim C. Hines’s third princess book, Red Hood’s Revenge, was the grand adventure I’ve come to expect from this series, which began with The Stepsister Scheme. If you appreciate the notion of Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella as Charlie’s Angels, with Red Riding Hood as an assassin, this is the book for you.
Gail Carriger’s Soulless and Changeless were great fun, introducing a Steampunk Victorian England in which werewolves and vampires help the Queen maintain her Empire. Alexia, her protagonist, can defang both through her powers and her wicked sense of humor, which becomes problematic when she falls in love with one of them. Bringing Steampunk stateside, Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker explores an alternate 1880s Seattle where the Civil War never ended and zombies have taken over as a backdrop for a mother’s journey to recover her son, who has gone missing in his attempt to clear his father’s name. Briar’s unflagging determination and grit contrasts neatly with a world that still assumes she’s merely a trophy wife. If you prefer the fantastic to the mechanical, Seanan McGuire’s Rosemary and Rue is a compelling glimpse into faerie through the eyes of a suspicious half-fae gumshoe trying to rebuild her life.
I also managed to read some titles from my personal backlist. I devoured all three books in Diana Pharaoh Francis’s Path of Fate trilogy. I enjoy spending time with Rieseltark, the protagonist, so very much; she bristles and fights against her fate, but always comes through with grace, humor, and a bit of prodding from her companion animal. Barth Anderson’s The Patron Saint of Plagues, a tightly plotted epidemic novel, places scientific and religious methods of coping with disease and death up against one another, shining light on both. Jay Lake’s Mainspring describes a clockwork world that is experienced radically differently depending upon where you live in relation to the mechanism. His protagonist, Hethor, is spurred onward by a visitation from the Archangel Gabriel and charged with rewinding the world. I also finally read Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, a book that I enjoyed so much I berated my friends for not having forced me to read it sooner. Walton’s novel of manners, written in a Trollopesque style to match, where all of the characters are dragons, may have hit every “happy reader” button that I have. I also enjoyed playing catch-up on Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels.
Viewing (TV, Movies, and Comics):
Series Five of Doctor Who, starring Matt Smith in the title role, was enchanting, and provides another great entry point into the series. Don’t let Matt Smith’s apparent youth deter you: he is most definitely the Doctor, and plays the role as weary traveler in a young man’s body, often echoing the performances of previous actors to play the role in its original run.
The BBC revamp of Sherlock (starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson) is a deftly executed modernization with a sly sense of humor. Holmes and Watson’s burgeoning friendship and their need for each other to function effectively in life and in mystery-solving are emphasized to great effect. The final episode ends on a cliffhanger, so be warned that you might be yelling at the television after the last episode, as I was. I’m greatly looking forward to the next series.
There were two things I saw this year that truly pleasantly surprised me. An older SF film that I hadn’t seen at the time of release, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a thoughtful exploration an SF concept, telling the story of a couple who choose to erase painful memories of their relationship after they break up. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet turn in astonishingly nuanced, emotional performances, and the direction is visually arresting. I was particularly pleasantly surprised by an ending that managed to be uplifting without becoming pat or saccharine.
My other pleasant surprise comes out of a series of cartoons and animated films based in the DC Character universe, all produced by Bruce Timm. My taste in comics tends to run much more towards independent titles than superhero stories, but Cartoon Network’s Justice League: Unlimited demonstrates the kinds of epic storytelling that can happen with superheroes if you take the time to get it right. JLU uses an extended cast of the more obscure DC Universe superheroes and villains (Black Canary, Booster Gold, and Deadshot, for example) in addition to the seven core members of the Justice League (Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash) and their respective villains. JLU tells stories where even the “lowest-powered” superheroes have something to give, often solving problems that flummox the core members who have become so far removed from humanity. Also, Batman sings. (It’s brilliant. Just trust me on this.) Sharp-eared viewers will also note that the voice casting directors of the series are clearly big Firefly fans; nearly all of Firefly's alumni (and several other Whedonverse favorites) lend their voices to characters for this series.
As a result of my enjoyment of Justice League: Unlimited, I spent some more time reading comics and graphic novels this year, and superhero comics in particular. Because I have developed great affection for JLU’s Black Canary, I sought out Gail Simone’s initial run on Birds of Prey. Oracle/Barbara Gordon, Huntress, and Black Canary, who make up the Birds of Prey, are superheroes and friends who actually talk to one another over dinner about their lives. Simone demonstrates that having great action sequences in superhero comics featuring female characters need not preclude treating them as interesting people with complex motivations for their actions. Simone’s Wonder Woman run is also worth a look; it lends depth, pathos and humor to a character whose massive powers seem to flummox other writers on occasion. In non-superhero comics, I need to mention Greg Rucka’s Queen and Country. This is among the best, most wrenching storytelling I’ve seen. Rucka weaves a tale of a female MI6 agent who must actually face the emotional, political, and bureaucratic consequences of her work, in an effective critique of the James Bond franchise. It’s also worth checking out Jen Van Meter’s Hopeless Savages, which tells a charming tale of a family headed by two former punk musicians trying to navigate suburban life when the parents are kidnapped, and the kids need to save them.
Listening:
While I’m not a huge podcast listener, I want to point out one that I think does an excellent job: Galactic Suburbia. (http://web.me.com/aifinch/TPP/Galactic_Suburbia/Galactic_Suburbia.html). Alisa, Alex, and Tansy have a lively discussion of the SF universe with a feminist bent and a wicked sense of humor. I particularly enjoy that in addition to taking on the issues of the day, they make a point of discussing things that they love, too.
My music tastes are eclectic and not particularly edgy, but I’m enjoying Belle & Sebastian’s new album, Write About Love. St. Vincent’s work continues to grow on me as well. I’ve returned recently to Tori Amos’s The Beekeeper as one of my editing soundtracks. When I need to reaffirm my faith in humanity, I need look no further than Carrie Newcomer’s work; My True Name remains one of my favorite folk albums of all time.
That was the year that was. There were many things that gave me pleasure, and I look forward to many more in 2011.
Lynne M. Thomas is the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, where she is responsible for the archives of over 40 SF writers as part of NIU's popular culture collections (http://www.ulib.niu.edu/rarebooks/sciencefiction.cfm). She is also the co-editor of Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It (Mad Norwegian Press, 2010) and the forthcoming Whedonistas: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them (Mad Norwegian Press, March 2010).
