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Jan. 11th, 2018 07:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsWhile we're talking about the Soviet Union, a while back I read The Witch Who Came In From The Cold, the first thirteen issues of what I think is an ongoing Serial Box magical-Cold-War story.
The story takes place in Prague, 1970. The most protagonist-y protagonists are Tanya, a witch with an inconvenient day job as a KGB officer, and Gabe, a CIA officer with an inconvenient set of supernatural powers whom Tanya is attempting to recruit to Team Supernatural Good (she believes) (the actual supernatural teams are Team Flame and Team Ice and it seems like they're probably both pretty bad, much like the teams in the actual Cold War).
Conceptually, this is very neat and provides a lot of room for interesting interpersonal and dramatic tension: a bunch of people on opposite sides of one hypothetically-absolute binary and on the same side of another hypothetically-absolute binary constantly trying to figure out what loyalty is most important when. We're saving the world together today, but tomorrow I've got to steal one of your most important scientists, so ... sorry! Catch you later and don't let my boss see you on your way out because that would be awkward for both of us!
In practice, I found it a little hard to connect in with the characters. I'm not sure if this is the serial format and the author switches or the fact that I was mostly reading it on a plane; any of these things could have been factors. There were a couple episodes I quite liked -- the best one was definitely a standalone where everyone on both sides is panicking about a major bureaucratic inspection, AUDIT STRESS FOR EVERYONE -- but for the most part my emotions were not particularly engaged and I don't know yet if I'll be picking up the next volume. Maybe instead I'll read some actual Le Carre.
Unrelatedly, I have had A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris stuck in my head ALL DAY and, like, it's a real good song, but that's an eight-year-old meme! Enough!
The story takes place in Prague, 1970. The most protagonist-y protagonists are Tanya, a witch with an inconvenient day job as a KGB officer, and Gabe, a CIA officer with an inconvenient set of supernatural powers whom Tanya is attempting to recruit to Team Supernatural Good (she believes) (the actual supernatural teams are Team Flame and Team Ice and it seems like they're probably both pretty bad, much like the teams in the actual Cold War).
Conceptually, this is very neat and provides a lot of room for interesting interpersonal and dramatic tension: a bunch of people on opposite sides of one hypothetically-absolute binary and on the same side of another hypothetically-absolute binary constantly trying to figure out what loyalty is most important when. We're saving the world together today, but tomorrow I've got to steal one of your most important scientists, so ... sorry! Catch you later and don't let my boss see you on your way out because that would be awkward for both of us!
In practice, I found it a little hard to connect in with the characters. I'm not sure if this is the serial format and the author switches or the fact that I was mostly reading it on a plane; any of these things could have been factors. There were a couple episodes I quite liked -- the best one was definitely a standalone where everyone on both sides is panicking about a major bureaucratic inspection, AUDIT STRESS FOR EVERYONE -- but for the most part my emotions were not particularly engaged and I don't know yet if I'll be picking up the next volume. Maybe instead I'll read some actual Le Carre.
Unrelatedly, I have had A Complete History Of The Soviet Union Through The Eyes Of A Humble Worker, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris stuck in my head ALL DAY and, like, it's a real good song, but that's an eight-year-old meme! Enough!
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Date: 2018-01-12 01:30 am (UTC)I really like actual le Carré. I would have expected Max Gladstone and Ian Tregillis at least to be good at supernatural Cold War, though! (I don't know Cassandra Rose Clarke and Lindsay Smith.)
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Date: 2018-01-12 03:45 am (UTC)Nevermind me, I will be over in the corner feeling dreadfully old.
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Date: 2018-01-12 11:08 pm (UTC)And now so do I. :P
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Date: 2018-01-13 01:31 pm (UTC)I would also have expected Max Gladstone to be good at supernatural cold war! And I don't know where my disconnect here lay. I'm tempted to try the second season just to see if I can pin it down, but also, I have five million other things to read, so...
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Date: 2018-01-13 01:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-13 01:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-13 03:03 pm (UTC)Nope. I got it from