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tshepiso's Reviews (740)
This was easily my most random read of the year and honestly it was a fun time. As someone who dips into children's literature occasionally it was fascinating to see how kidlit was packaged and presented in the 80s. The story itself is simple but it's easy to see a 9 year old finding this engaging. R.L. Stine was great at consistent pacing and mystery building.
Petty Treasons is as lovely and frustrating as its predecessor The Hands of the Emperor. In it we follow Artorin Damara the god emperor of his world in the aftermath of the magical collapse of his Empire. Here the Emperor grapples with his self-perception as he fights for personhood under the heavy restrictive mantle of Emperor.
Tor was easily a standout favourite of the Hands of the Emperor so an entire novella in his POV was a treat. I loved the way that Goddard used a blend of second and first person to articulate Tor's depersonalization. I equally adored seeing Tor build his relationships with Cliopher and the rest of his found family. These connections are so meaningful and their centrality in Tor's life is beautifully articulated. This perspective added a delightful new layer to my understanding of the series of overall.
Unfortunately, Petty Treasons also illustrated Victoria Goddard's weakness in overall plot crafting. The political landscape of the Astandalas is treated as tertiary to the narrative and major upheavals in the political dynamics of the world are again are brushed over and quickly resolved in a way I found deeply unsatisfying. Here ending wars and restructuring devastated countries is as simple as setting your favourite secretary to the task.
Tor's POV also allowed us to get a deeper understanding of the ways magic works in this world. On the one hand I do think Goddard has a particularly artful approach to describing magic that was often beautiful. I also generally like stories about the conflict between wild and structured magic. However, her writing style often went past my brain's capacity to fully grasp what was happening. This 100 page novella took me 4 days to read because of my consistent struggle focus and track the action of the story especially in scenes heavily pertaining to Tor's relationship with magic.
In the end Petty Treasons solidifies for me Victoria Goddard's strengths and weaknesses as a writer. So far my love for her character writing can push me through parts of her work I struggle with and I hope that holds true further into the series.
Tor was easily a standout favourite of the Hands of the Emperor so an entire novella in his POV was a treat. I loved the way that Goddard used a blend of second and first person to articulate Tor's depersonalization. I equally adored seeing Tor build his relationships with Cliopher and the rest of his found family. These connections are so meaningful and their centrality in Tor's life is beautifully articulated. This perspective added a delightful new layer to my understanding of the series of overall.
Unfortunately, Petty Treasons also illustrated Victoria Goddard's weakness in overall plot crafting. The political landscape of the Astandalas is treated as tertiary to the narrative and major upheavals in the political dynamics of the world are again are brushed over and quickly resolved in a way I found deeply unsatisfying. Here ending wars and restructuring devastated countries is as simple as setting your favourite secretary to the task.
Tor's POV also allowed us to get a deeper understanding of the ways magic works in this world. On the one hand I do think Goddard has a particularly artful approach to describing magic that was often beautiful. I also generally like stories about the conflict between wild and structured magic. However, her writing style often went past my brain's capacity to fully grasp what was happening. This 100 page novella took me 4 days to read because of my consistent struggle focus and track the action of the story especially in scenes heavily pertaining to Tor's relationship with magic.
In the end Petty Treasons solidifies for me Victoria Goddard's strengths and weaknesses as a writer. So far my love for her character writing can push me through parts of her work I struggle with and I hope that holds true further into the series.
The Hands of the Emperor is a difficult book to review. Not only does its expansive 969-pages leave a lot of content to pick apart, but my feelings on the book are swirling and contradictory. The Hands of the Emperor reaches highs higher than any book I’ve read this year. Victoria Goddard’s approach to worldbuilding and character writing electrified the epic fantasy loving part of my brain I had long thought dormant. However, the structure of this book was often tedious to plod through. The book contains masterful moving writing, but also often felt amateurish in its approach.
The Hands of the Emperor follows Cliopher Mdang, a man who has dedicated his life to public service and has spent decades as the secretary to the Emperor of Zunidh, functioning as the head of the government. In the twilight of his career he is faced with the choice to return home from the far away capital and settle into the comforts of his family or to further commit himself as leader of Zunidh, fully seize his ambitions and radically change the world for the better.
Throughout the book Victoria Goddard takes her readers across her intricately built world through the eyes of Cliopher. We learn about his homeland, Vangavaye-ve, an isolated island in the remote Wild Seas. Here we fully unpack Cliopher’s deep and pure love for his homeland and culture and see the ways that love has been tested by both bigoted, classist royals in the capital and by his reproachful and judgemental family.
I adored the way Goddard explored the pains of being trapped between two cultures and the warring desires for home, family and comfort and reaching for ambitions nobody in your life can quite understand. From what I can tell Goddard is a white Canadian (please tell me otherwise if I’m wrong) but she navigates the painful social reality of being the lone outsider and representation of your culture with an accuracy and specificity that was deeply relatable. So many moments in this novel rung painfully true, from Cliopher’s resignation to his name consistently being mispronounced by everyone around him, to the joy of hearing someone passingly mention your home when violently homesick, to the hurt of rejection when you finally come home and are marked as too different from your past self. It's all just beautifully rendered.
Another element of the novel I adored was Cliopher’s relationship to his boss best friend and God Emperor, Artorin 'Tor' Damara. The Emperor is a deeply fascinating character throughout the novel. With him we sift through the painful consequences of dehumanization as a man elevated to godhood. The most striking moments in the novel were the Emperor’s cries for the people closest to him to see him as a person. To love him as a man, not a god. Goddard beautifully realizes Artorin’s aching pain and pleas for his humanity to be recognized. Goddard’s worldbuilding in regards to the magical social protocol that rules Tor’s life was brilliantly crafted. The Emperor can’t do things as minor as eat fresh fruit and life altering as making eye and being touched. Goddard masterfully crafts a gilded cage that slowly chips away at Tor’s soul with a specific eye for unique detail that brings that pain to life.
But where there are high highs with The Hands of the Emperor the are frustrating lows. This book is very long, and in some ways I loved the spiralling endlessness of the novel. I love these characters, so spending time with them was never truly a burden. But, plainly, the novel was repetitive. Plot points like Cliopher’s family not understanding or respecting his career were beaten to death so thoroughly it was mind-bending that even in the eleventh hour it still seemed no one in his life understood him or his position.
I was also disappointed in the ways Goddard approached writing a political fantasy. Ostensibly the plot of this book is Cliopher reforming the Imperial government into a socialist utopia. In practice, however, Goddard completely glosses over the political landscape of the world. Don’t get me wrong Goddard lavishes the reader in information, we learn many facts about the government and the history of Zunidh. But the politics of this world are never the plot engine of the story. This made the world, despite its abundance of detail, feel incredibly simplistic. The most complex this book gets in terms of its politics is showing us a few meetings with political leaders that quickly end with Cliopher getting his way. Every potential problem is easily resolved within a chapter. There’s no true conflict or stakes.
When I read a political fantasy I want to see protagonists get their hands dirty, make sacrifices and compromise. I want to see the workings of their ingenuity. I want to see them face consequences for their actions. I want to see the messy ways dominos can fall. I want their efforts to be hard won. And this book has none of that. Cliopher wants universal basic income, government housing, and to deemphasize the aristocracy and he gets it without any (on page) trouble. I'm sorry, but that's just boring to read.
But despite what I would consider major stumbling blocks for The Hand of the Emperor, I still loved the story intimately. It all comes down to Victoria Goddard's excellent character writing. No matter how frustrated I was by the repetitive, basic plot of the novel I was always pulled through by my absolute adoration for Cliopher and the Emperor. I might be too early to predict but I could see myself falling completely in love with the entire Lays of the Hearth Fire series and the Nine Realms world as a whole.
The Hands of the Emperor follows Cliopher Mdang, a man who has dedicated his life to public service and has spent decades as the secretary to the Emperor of Zunidh, functioning as the head of the government. In the twilight of his career he is faced with the choice to return home from the far away capital and settle into the comforts of his family or to further commit himself as leader of Zunidh, fully seize his ambitions and radically change the world for the better.
Throughout the book Victoria Goddard takes her readers across her intricately built world through the eyes of Cliopher. We learn about his homeland, Vangavaye-ve, an isolated island in the remote Wild Seas. Here we fully unpack Cliopher’s deep and pure love for his homeland and culture and see the ways that love has been tested by both bigoted, classist royals in the capital and by his reproachful and judgemental family.
I adored the way Goddard explored the pains of being trapped between two cultures and the warring desires for home, family and comfort and reaching for ambitions nobody in your life can quite understand. From what I can tell Goddard is a white Canadian (please tell me otherwise if I’m wrong) but she navigates the painful social reality of being the lone outsider and representation of your culture with an accuracy and specificity that was deeply relatable. So many moments in this novel rung painfully true, from Cliopher’s resignation to his name consistently being mispronounced by everyone around him, to the joy of hearing someone passingly mention your home when violently homesick, to the hurt of rejection when you finally come home and are marked as too different from your past self. It's all just beautifully rendered.
Another element of the novel I adored was Cliopher’s relationship to his boss best friend and God Emperor, Artorin 'Tor' Damara. The Emperor is a deeply fascinating character throughout the novel. With him we sift through the painful consequences of dehumanization as a man elevated to godhood. The most striking moments in the novel were the Emperor’s cries for the people closest to him to see him as a person. To love him as a man, not a god. Goddard beautifully realizes Artorin’s aching pain and pleas for his humanity to be recognized. Goddard’s worldbuilding in regards to the magical social protocol that rules Tor’s life was brilliantly crafted. The Emperor can’t do things as minor as eat fresh fruit and life altering as making eye and being touched. Goddard masterfully crafts a gilded cage that slowly chips away at Tor’s soul with a specific eye for unique detail that brings that pain to life.
But where there are high highs with The Hands of the Emperor the are frustrating lows. This book is very long, and in some ways I loved the spiralling endlessness of the novel. I love these characters, so spending time with them was never truly a burden. But, plainly, the novel was repetitive. Plot points like Cliopher’s family not understanding or respecting his career were beaten to death so thoroughly it was mind-bending that even in the eleventh hour it still seemed no one in his life understood him or his position.
I was also disappointed in the ways Goddard approached writing a political fantasy. Ostensibly the plot of this book is Cliopher reforming the Imperial government into a socialist utopia. In practice, however, Goddard completely glosses over the political landscape of the world. Don’t get me wrong Goddard lavishes the reader in information, we learn many facts about the government and the history of Zunidh. But the politics of this world are never the plot engine of the story. This made the world, despite its abundance of detail, feel incredibly simplistic. The most complex this book gets in terms of its politics is showing us a few meetings with political leaders that quickly end with Cliopher getting his way. Every potential problem is easily resolved within a chapter. There’s no true conflict or stakes.
When I read a political fantasy I want to see protagonists get their hands dirty, make sacrifices and compromise. I want to see the workings of their ingenuity. I want to see them face consequences for their actions. I want to see the messy ways dominos can fall. I want their efforts to be hard won. And this book has none of that. Cliopher wants universal basic income, government housing, and to deemphasize the aristocracy and he gets it without any (on page) trouble. I'm sorry, but that's just boring to read.
But despite what I would consider major stumbling blocks for The Hand of the Emperor, I still loved the story intimately. It all comes down to Victoria Goddard's excellent character writing. No matter how frustrated I was by the repetitive, basic plot of the novel I was always pulled through by my absolute adoration for Cliopher and the Emperor. I might be too early to predict but I could see myself falling completely in love with the entire Lays of the Hearth Fire series and the Nine Realms world as a whole.
Opinions is an expansive look at Roxane Gay's writing, collecting articles she's written from the last 10 years. Here Gay touches on topics like police violence, the #metoo movement and outside of the strictly political we also get her thoughts books and film, celebrity interviews and advice columns.
Getting the chance to dive into Gays journalism and cultural criticism was very exciting. Gay is an incisive writer with a clarity of voice that cuts to the heart of every issue. As someone who largely agrees with her political takes and adores her razor-sharp erudite writing style this book was right up my ally. The all-inclusive approach of this collection allowed me to appreciated the expansive breadth of Gay writing. I especially loved her literary and film criticism. A favourite essay of mine was her review of Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things, a book I had never heard of before reading this but got an in-depth understanding of through Gay's exacting criticism.
However, one of the downsides of the expansive nature of the collection was that some areas of Gay writing simply didn't interest me. For example while her celebrity interviews were occasionally interesting my general lack of interest in Madonna, Sarah Paulson and the like made that section a bit of a drag.
Another flaw in the collection was that it began to feel a tad repetitive. These articles were written over the span of a decade for various different publications so they weren't designed to be read in huge chunks back to back. Gay's writing often centred around issues like racialized violence and misogyny so many of her talking points were echoed consistently throughout the book so began to feel very familiar as you read further into the collection. Overall this wasn't a huge problem because Gay's writing was so strong it was always interesting to see the different ways she articulated certain sentiments. But I would recommend pacing yourself more than I did on this read.
I'm not sure if Opinions is the best introduction to Roxane Gay's writing (for that I'd direct you to her excellent memoir Hunger) but if you're already a fan I think it's a worthwhile read. Gay is an excellent writer and being immersed in her words and opinions is always a treat.
Getting the chance to dive into Gays journalism and cultural criticism was very exciting. Gay is an incisive writer with a clarity of voice that cuts to the heart of every issue. As someone who largely agrees with her political takes and adores her razor-sharp erudite writing style this book was right up my ally. The all-inclusive approach of this collection allowed me to appreciated the expansive breadth of Gay writing. I especially loved her literary and film criticism. A favourite essay of mine was her review of Jodi Picoult's Small Great Things, a book I had never heard of before reading this but got an in-depth understanding of through Gay's exacting criticism.
However, one of the downsides of the expansive nature of the collection was that some areas of Gay writing simply didn't interest me. For example while her celebrity interviews were occasionally interesting my general lack of interest in Madonna, Sarah Paulson and the like made that section a bit of a drag.
Another flaw in the collection was that it began to feel a tad repetitive. These articles were written over the span of a decade for various different publications so they weren't designed to be read in huge chunks back to back. Gay's writing often centred around issues like racialized violence and misogyny so many of her talking points were echoed consistently throughout the book so began to feel very familiar as you read further into the collection. Overall this wasn't a huge problem because Gay's writing was so strong it was always interesting to see the different ways she articulated certain sentiments. But I would recommend pacing yourself more than I did on this read.
I'm not sure if Opinions is the best introduction to Roxane Gay's writing (for that I'd direct you to her excellent memoir Hunger) but if you're already a fan I think it's a worthwhile read. Gay is an excellent writer and being immersed in her words and opinions is always a treat.