Miscellaneous Chatter > Literature
Yearly Reading Targets 2022
Wilshire:
As a trade for TDTCB, seems fair. I wont be reading it, but good for you for giving it a shot!
The P:
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie (6)
Great book. While he's maybe not in the upper echelon of authors for me, Abercrombie is pretty close. I like that he doesn't lean on the characters and story from his earlier trilogy. Some familiar faces are around, or their kids are, but nothing feels rehashed or retread. It would be pretty easy for him to fall into familiar character tropes, (i.e. Logen or Glokta v.2) even if they are different characters, but he manages to make the new cast wholly unique. Abercrombie's strength has been his character development, and it remains so. He takes particular care to make sure his main characters are changed by the events they go through and always in ways that seem real or reasonable.
I can't think of much bad to say about it. Part of it deals with the plight of the worker in a time akin to the industrial revolution, and that maybe got a little tedious where I thought I was reading a fantasy version of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, but really it wasn't that bad and was put to good use in the end.
Wilshire:
I am considering grabbing The Trouble With Peace since its on sale. A Little Hatred did grab me as much as I remember Blade Itself, but that was literally hundreds of books ago. Abercrombie is still very good and, of course, if you're looking for good characters/development then look no further.
The P:
Being and Being Bought by Kajsa Ekman (9) (7) (seven comes after six)
Non-fiction, by way of sciborg. It was a pretty interesting read, arguing against prostitution and surrogacy with the main argument being that both institutions justify themselves by treating the woman (Self) and her body as separate entities. But also hits on many other issues with both. It's not too long, and I would have liked to see the main idea developed more. A decent amount of it was spent dismantling arguments of proponents of each and underscoring the reality of many women involved in either prostitution or surrogacy. Sometimes the argument seemed a bit scatter-shot, highlighting class disparity, capitalism, sexism. Overall, it was worth reading. Thanks, sci.
The P:
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie (10) (8 ) (it's eight you fool)
Very good. Improves upon the first one even. I have a small suspicion this was the initial start of the story, but in planning (because that's what good authors do), Abercrombie realized he should back it up a bit to establish the characters. The result it the first book was maybe a little weaker, but this one is tops. As always the character development is great, I only wish there was a little more time spent on the three second tier PoV characters (Broad, Vick, and Clover for those who've read it).
This could easily top The First Law trilogy. It probably will; Abercrombie has improved over the years.
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