(no subject)

[skygiants]

I made the rookie mistake of returning N.K. Jemisin's How Long Til Black Future Month to the library before up a post about it, and now I'm trying to match up the plots of all the stories I liked best to the titles on a list ...

Anyway, some favorites!

Red Dirt Witch: a story about outwitting the fae in rural Appalachia; the voice in this one really worked for me

L'Alchimista: this may have been my favorite in the book? It's not the deepest or most impactful but it's so much fun, about a chef who's asked to use her gastronomical talents to craft a magical potion. I made a post a little while ago about fantasy of craft, and this story is such a perfect little example of the stuff I love about that sub-genre when it's done well - professional pride and mundane arts

The Storyteller's Replacement: a very folktale-shaped story about smug dragon princesses. I support them.

The Narcomancer: 'man of faith wrestles with vow of chastity, questions of conscience' is certainly not a new storyline but this variant is well-done; I really enjoy stories about people figuring out how to walk the line between rules and ethics while staying true to their beliefs

The You Train: this story about decommissioned train lines in New York City doesn't have a ton of heft to it but I'm still too much of a New Yorker not to love it anyway

Sinners, Saints, Dragons and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters: my other favorite, about a man who connects with a lizard while riding out Hurricane Katrina; good behavior of a good human in a crisis

I did not love "The City Born Great," which is apparently forming the basis of Jemisin's next novel, but I'll probably like it better when it's novel length.

Comments

[kore]

I loved all the stories, but especially the Katrina one. I was thinking about that re Dorian today.

[skygiants]

I love the whole dynamic with the elderly woman he saves, and how prickly they both are, and how good it is for both of them not to be alone!

[kore]

I LOVED how he saved an elderly prickly lady in my review. Not many writers would have done that. https://kore.dreamwidth.org/1340396.html

[skygiants]

And the moment when the malevolent forces almost take hold of him and they almost turn on each other! and then don't!!

[cinaed]

I really loved the one about the spy who steals the heart and experiments of the female scientist, but I loved pretty much every story in this!

Which is interesting because Jemisin's novels don't tend to work for me.

[skygiants]

lol I forgot to add that one because it was the only one I'd read already! In Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, years ago, iirc. That said, it's the reverse for me overall -- I tend to prefer Jemisin's novels where she has the opportunity to expand on a theme. (But I also tend to prefer novels in general.)

[cinaed]

Gotcha!

Yeah, while I respect Jemisin and think her work is excellent and I hope she writes a dozen more books, I personally always end up feeling weirdly discouraged reading her novels, in a way that's hard to articulate? I think maybe it's just so many horrible things happen, so her short stories worked better for me personally.

And d'oh, I don't know why it didn't occur to me that a lot of these stories were published previously and weren't all new works, whoops.

[skygiants]

It is true the mood of her books is not, um. Optimistic? Overall?

Tense! Compelling! but a certain level of emotional fortitude is required ....

[cinaed]

Haha, yeah, you summed it up. I don't quite have that level of emotional fortitude, I guess! I need a smidge more optimism in stories.

I really adored her short stories. When I let myself buy books again, I am buying that collection....

[chestnut_pod]

Agreed on all of this! L'Alchimista was the first thing of Jemisin's I ever read, I think, and I have a deep affection for it.

I feel like the style of "City Born Great" probably can't be extended over a whole novel - it depended too much on (effectively) creating that sensation of rush and press, which even thrillers don't sustain! I'm interested to see where she goes with it.

[skygiants]

L'ALCHIMISTA MADE ME SO HAPPY.

Yeah, I'm very curious how that will translate to a long-form book -- it felt like one of the more conceptual and least character-based of the stories, to me, which certainly seems like a thing that will probably not be true in a full novel.

[aria]

L'Alchimista was so gooooood!!

And The City Born Great wasn't among my favorites, but I do love a good genius loci story, and I'm assuming the eventual novel is only going to have as much in common with the short story as Stone Hunger ended up having with the Broken Earth books, so I'm ready to be excited about it.

[skygiants]

Just endless magical food porn, please and thank you! (The other magical food porn story in the collection was also good but I didn't like it quite as much.)

And yeah, seah, same -- after the Broken Earth books I'm ready to be excited about any Jemisin novels!