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speculativebecky
Brilliant collection of essays. If I were in the habit of writing in books, this one would be full of underlines and exclamation points. In A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott offers vulnerable personal essays, and necessary criticism of colonialism, most specifically concerning Indigenous people in Canada.
Elliott writes thoughtfully about abuse and trauma, both her own and generational in her community. Residential schools have become a theme in my reading since Indian Horse, and I continue to learn from her discussion of the long lasting effects of this trauma on Indigenous communities. She describes how treaties are disregarded and Native peoples are forcefully assimilated, and delves into the impact of genocide on the mental and physical health, even generations later, of those who experience it. She writes about resulting poverty, and how social services conflates the inability to take care of one’s children with an intentional neglect, then rages against actions that assert “white neglect is better than Indigenous love.”
As a reader I was drawn into her writing about reception of Indigenous writers, how they are derided when they don’t meet the expectation of white critics to be both “sufficiently Indigenous” and also non-threatening and not vocal about colonialism and white supremacy. She calls out the ridiculous line they’re expected to walk where writing too few Indigenous characters and topics is seen as not “authentic”, but writing too few white characters and themes is not “interesting enough” to a white audience. And then she shares times she’s be dismissed by white peers as having an unfair advantage in publishing, because somehow - counter to all evidence! - being Native is sure to make it easy to get her work out there.
I’m mad, and so glad I read this book, and grateful to Alicia Elliott for putting so much of herself on these pages. I have talked a lot here about the big world-focused themes in her writing, but she also writes so intimately and personally about herself, and I don’t even know how to put that into words. If you’re a lover of essays, personal or political, go get this collection!
Elliott writes thoughtfully about abuse and trauma, both her own and generational in her community. Residential schools have become a theme in my reading since Indian Horse, and I continue to learn from her discussion of the long lasting effects of this trauma on Indigenous communities. She describes how treaties are disregarded and Native peoples are forcefully assimilated, and delves into the impact of genocide on the mental and physical health, even generations later, of those who experience it. She writes about resulting poverty, and how social services conflates the inability to take care of one’s children with an intentional neglect, then rages against actions that assert “white neglect is better than Indigenous love.”
As a reader I was drawn into her writing about reception of Indigenous writers, how they are derided when they don’t meet the expectation of white critics to be both “sufficiently Indigenous” and also non-threatening and not vocal about colonialism and white supremacy. She calls out the ridiculous line they’re expected to walk where writing too few Indigenous characters and topics is seen as not “authentic”, but writing too few white characters and themes is not “interesting enough” to a white audience. And then she shares times she’s be dismissed by white peers as having an unfair advantage in publishing, because somehow - counter to all evidence! - being Native is sure to make it easy to get her work out there.
I’m mad, and so glad I read this book, and grateful to Alicia Elliott for putting so much of herself on these pages. I have talked a lot here about the big world-focused themes in her writing, but she also writes so intimately and personally about herself, and I don’t even know how to put that into words. If you’re a lover of essays, personal or political, go get this collection!
I loved reading this gorgeous and fast paced novel, and read the majority in a few breathless sittings. Future Home of the Living God begins with the premise that something has gone wrong with evolution, and things have begun to go backwards. No one really knows what’s going on, particularly our narrator, a young pregnant woman named Cedar. She’s forced on the run from those who seek to study the changes occurring in pregnant women, and the novel is written as a series of diary style letters to her unborn child.
Cedar is a tremendous protagonist, thoughtful and determined and with a beautifully developed spirituality and belief in the vastness of the human experience. I love how Erdrich brings together many themes in this timely novel, which is certainly one I’ll be digesting for a while to come.
Cedar is a tremendous protagonist, thoughtful and determined and with a beautifully developed spirituality and belief in the vastness of the human experience. I love how Erdrich brings together many themes in this timely novel, which is certainly one I’ll be digesting for a while to come.
Mailhot writes exquisite poetry within these pages, an intimate and fragmentary experience written often to a man with whom she’s in love, both deep and difficult. Personally I connect better to a more straightforward narrative, especially in memoir, but I still appreciate the artful construction of this book, and Mailhot’s vulnerability in sharing so much of herself and her fraught love. This is very much less a book you learn from and more a book you sink into and experience. A short and affecting read, I’d recommend it to anyone but especially to lovers of memoir and prose that verges on poetry.
LOVED!
Back in September I read Agustín de Rojas’ The Year 200, and discovered part way through that it’s the third book in a “trilogy.” Undaunted, I finished and completely adored The Year 200, and so I was greatly looking forward to approaching the preceding books as “prequels.”
A Legend of the Future is the second book in the series, and I’m happy to report that the term trilogy does appear to be used quite loosely! The technologies of conditioning and the “groups” are familiar from The Year 200, but none of the characters overlap and the story follows a very different trajectory. (The full verdict on the trilogy nomenclature is still out, as the first book, Spiral, is not yet available in English. I’m excited though, because I just discovered there’s now at least an official publication date for the translation - July 2020 let’s go!)
A Legend of the Future follows the surviving crew of a spacecraft after a devastating crash kills half their group and their navigational computer system. The remaining three crew members must work together to repair the ship, cope with their own injuries, and ensure the success of their return trip to Earth in the face of their own deaths. One of the most thrilling aspects of this novel is de Rojas’ deep exploration of the concept of “groups” (which was one of my favorites side notes in The Year 200.) These small groups of people are selected for their compatible psychological profiles and trained as one codependent unit, enabling them to cohabitate and problem-solve successfully while confined together in close quarters for the extended periods required for space travel. The dynamic created by the group training, as well as the psychological conditioning that, once activated, turns one of the characters access to a more robotic/analytical version of herself makes this novel sort of a more-Science-Fiction less-Science-Fact version of The Martian. Rather than exploring the problem solving ability of a single isolated individual however, this novel takes on the relationships and immense bonds between its three characters.
My one squabble with this book is with the disruptive choices in punctuation! Dialogue and characters’ inner thoughts are notated identically with quote marks, often causing confusion over whether a line is being spoken or thought. Other than that though, flawless, exactly my jam novel! An absolutely unforgettable ride, I loved reading this book and was captivated from start to finish. Highly recommend.
Back in September I read Agustín de Rojas’ The Year 200, and discovered part way through that it’s the third book in a “trilogy.” Undaunted, I finished and completely adored The Year 200, and so I was greatly looking forward to approaching the preceding books as “prequels.”
A Legend of the Future is the second book in the series, and I’m happy to report that the term trilogy does appear to be used quite loosely! The technologies of conditioning and the “groups” are familiar from The Year 200, but none of the characters overlap and the story follows a very different trajectory. (The full verdict on the trilogy nomenclature is still out, as the first book, Spiral, is not yet available in English. I’m excited though, because I just discovered there’s now at least an official publication date for the translation - July 2020 let’s go!)
A Legend of the Future follows the surviving crew of a spacecraft after a devastating crash kills half their group and their navigational computer system. The remaining three crew members must work together to repair the ship, cope with their own injuries, and ensure the success of their return trip to Earth in the face of their own deaths. One of the most thrilling aspects of this novel is de Rojas’ deep exploration of the concept of “groups” (which was one of my favorites side notes in The Year 200.) These small groups of people are selected for their compatible psychological profiles and trained as one codependent unit, enabling them to cohabitate and problem-solve successfully while confined together in close quarters for the extended periods required for space travel. The dynamic created by the group training, as well as the psychological conditioning that, once activated, turns one of the characters access to a more robotic/analytical version of herself makes this novel sort of a more-Science-Fiction less-Science-Fact version of The Martian. Rather than exploring the problem solving ability of a single isolated individual however, this novel takes on the relationships and immense bonds between its three characters.
My one squabble with this book is with the disruptive choices in punctuation! Dialogue and characters’ inner thoughts are notated identically with quote marks, often causing confusion over whether a line is being spoken or thought. Other than that though, flawless, exactly my jam novel! An absolutely unforgettable ride, I loved reading this book and was captivated from start to finish. Highly recommend.
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice begins on a small fictional northern Anishinaabe reserve with the loss of satellite, water, and power. The community’s Council is well prepared for an extended emergency but tensions rise as it continues to last, and the intrusion of white visitors from the south brings new conflict and shifting loyalties. This is a beautiful and mesmerizing novel, and an impactful take on the post-apocalyptic genre, which is so often a genre that centers white stories.
Rice has crafted precise dramatic tension, and I couldn’t look away from this novel, stomach twisted with anxiety that would not abate, heart deeply in love with the central characters, mind whirling unpacking the throughlines, themes of colonization and a return to a culture that was forcibly removed. Brilliant novel, highly recommend.
Rice has crafted precise dramatic tension, and I couldn’t look away from this novel, stomach twisted with anxiety that would not abate, heart deeply in love with the central characters, mind whirling unpacking the throughlines, themes of colonization and a return to a culture that was forcibly removed. Brilliant novel, highly recommend.
This novel was everything I hoped it would be. Woodson is a phenomenal writer, and packs a broad story into this short, precise, poetic novel. It’s definitely a book I loved going into with no idea of the premise or plot, so I’m going to pretty much stop talking about it and just recommend reading it if you haven’t yet. I intended to read this book in a sitting, but ended up reading it over three days, and I feel glad for the way that extended my time caught up in this story. One I’ll continue to think about.
I was excited to read Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan, but I struggled! Although SFF is my favorite, I prefer reading contemporary when it comes to YA, my suspension of disbelief strained by teenagers being the best in the universe at whatever. So I was in trouble from the get go with the premise of this novel, seventeen year old MOST DANGEROUS CRIMINAL IN THE GALAXY is captured by the Empire bad guys she’s spent her life fighting, and they torture her until she agrees to join their prestigious military academy? Because what a great symbol it will be to have her there? Because that’s an idea that makes any sense?
Black Indian is a memoir of Shonda Buchanan's family, collapsing a personal story with a study of genealogy and migration, reaching for healing of trauma both generational and personal with every page. This text sings with poetic prose as Buchanan illuminates a complex story of her family, and lays alongside it the historic treatment of mixed race people in the US, both generally and specifically the intersection of American Indian and African American. This book is a deep dive, at times it was difficult to keep the nonlinear narrative together and the large cast of people separate. There isn’t really a clear story arc happening here, though in that way it’s real life. I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to journey through this still unfolding story, and I feel like it stretched my nonfiction muscles more than many of the texts I tackled this year.
Don’t miss this one if you’re a big lover of nonfiction. Whether you lean more toward memoir or history, I think you will find a lot to treasure in this book.
Don’t miss this one if you’re a big lover of nonfiction. Whether you lean more toward memoir or history, I think you will find a lot to treasure in this book.
This is an exciting, smart and overwhelmingly creative collection of speculative fiction stories! I loved reading this book, and was swept away time and again by Takács’ thoughtful and exhilarating writing. Eir stories have such range I’m struggling to integrate it all in a sentence - science fiction, powerful but difficult to control magic, Jewish faith, Hungarian culture, humans both now and in the far flung future, the octopi suggested by the title, magic meets BDSM, warfare and the psychological results of being used as a weapon, the uncomprehending gaze of outsiders on queer relationships, love and devotion. Occasionally the stories were a little underspecified, and I struggled to fully grasp the worldbuilding and follow the plot, but the ideas were exciting nonetheless, and I greatly look forward to reading more of eir work in the future!
Some of my favorite stories were ‘Given Sufficient Desperation’, which builds on the idea of human-aided computing in image recognition and tells a story of a person held captive to identify items after an alien invasion; ‘Recordings of a More Personal Nature’, which grapples with the aftermath of the Archive used to maintain knowledge becoming difficult to reach; and ‘This Secular Technology’ and ‘Three Partitions,’ which both imagine Jewish people in new parts of the cosmos.
Would recommend this one, especially to fans of any flavor of SFF, or if anyone looking for something pretty different from the usual.
Some of my favorite stories were ‘Given Sufficient Desperation’, which builds on the idea of human-aided computing in image recognition and tells a story of a person held captive to identify items after an alien invasion; ‘Recordings of a More Personal Nature’, which grapples with the aftermath of the Archive used to maintain knowledge becoming difficult to reach; and ‘This Secular Technology’ and ‘Three Partitions,’ which both imagine Jewish people in new parts of the cosmos.
Would recommend this one, especially to fans of any flavor of SFF, or if anyone looking for something pretty different from the usual.