my wonderful flist recs

[cahn]

julianyap: Slings and Arrows (TV), seasons 1 and 2 (about to watch 3). This show has accomplished something I thought was impossible: it got me to fall in total and raving love with a show where I'm not particularly taken with the (particularly non-romantic) relationships between characters. I adore Geoff with a mad and absolute love; I love the two old gay guys whose names I don't even know; though I do not love Ellen (although I am fond of her) I squee every time Geoff and Ellen are in a scene because they have amazingly hot chemistry (this from someone who generally gets distracted by shiny things like aluminum foil than watch most screen romance/sex scenes) and in general are So Clearly Dysfunctionally Right For Each Other; I love Maria who hardly gets any screen time but is awesome anyway; I adore Anna (and though I do not love Richard I enjoy watching him and I triply love any scene with Anna and Richard interacting).

I think the thing is: yeah, it's not about relationships, which is usually what draws me in. Well, it's not about person-to-person relationships. But it's about the relationship of people to a production, to producing something, and to the audience and the cast of a show, and all of that is so heartbreakingly right that it has won my heart. (It's no coincidence that the show won my heart in the "production" (season finale) episodes, where we actually get to see bits of the performed plays.)

ase: Y, the Last Man (Vaughan), graphic novel. I'm not usually a graphic novel fan (the notable exception being Watchmen, which despite having no likeable characters is in the category of "Have you read this? If not, why not??") - V for Vendetta I mildly liked, but mostly left me pretty bleah, as did The Dark Knight Returns.

Well... I don't know if I love Y. I honestly can't tell yet; we're still in the "getting to know you" phase. But now that I have read the first two volumes I am going to have to read the rest. It is that good, and that arresting, and that chock-full of plot. (And I love Marrisville, and I adore Lydia.) In fact, having inhaled volumes 1 and 2, I am actively avoiding the rest until the last bit comes out - wait - apparently it IS out! Good thing I wrote this! I wonder if I should wait until I can get the whole blame thing in one large omnibus? I wonder if I can wait?

mistful: Flora Segunda (Wilce). I know I don't love this book. The main character is a touch too whiny, the plot is just a bit too transparent, and it doesn't quite draw me in enough that I don't notice the former two things. But. But. It's got a fresh new fantasy world, a military-quasi-Hispanic-quasi-Native-American mishmash that I really like. The world is different and well-imagined (ahem, Kirstein! Anne McCaffrey actually did much of that before, and didn't do it too badly either!) - I'd love to see what Wilce does next. I would totally read another book set in this world. I really want to see one told from Idden's point of view.

Keturah and Lord Death (Leavitt): Okay, this one was clearly chock full of holes (I mean, ...seriously?) but... this one did draw me in, so I didn't notice the holes until I put down the book. I really liked the writing on this one. Again, maybe not so desperately in love with the book, but I'd like to see what she does next.



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Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I will again mention Jim Ottaviani's graphic not-novels[1] about scientists. http://www.gt-labs.com

[1] they aren't fiction, so they aren't novels, but I dunno what else to call them.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Ah, right! Thanks for the reminder! And it looks like my library even has the Oppenheimer one, so when I go tomorrow I will totally pick it up :) (And apologies for forgetting the first time...)

[nolly.livejournal.com]

No worries, I didn't really expect you to remember details from a brief stop in an about-to-close comic shop; I figured text-with-link would be more useful :)

[julianyap.livejournal.com]

I'd love to hear what you think of season 3, I have the most complex feelings about it. I'm glad you like it. Did you know that the actors who play Geoff and Ellen are married in RL?

New recommendations... well I've been watching _The Wire_ recently which is the best cop drama I've ever seen, easily some of the best TV. This caused me to go read Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, which was fantastic nonfiction. I'm not normally a True Crime reader, but this is probably my favorite non-fiction book now.

Have I recommended anything by Sean Stewart to you yet? Emily still has my extra copies of some of the books, which are, sadly, hard to find these days. Still if you can find them, I predict that you'd love _Mockingbird_ and _Galveston_ and probably _Night Watch_. The first is sort of a magical realist fantasy set in Houston, the second two are more urban fantasy set after a magical disaster has radically changed the world. All his books are stand alones, though Galveston, Night Watch and _Resurrection Man_ all take place in the same universe though years and miles apart. Resurrection Man is also great urban fantasy. _Clouds End_ is a very interesting straight up fantasy novel which is sort of like what would happen if Tolkien wrote a book with characters who acted like real people (esp. the female characters).

I think you'd like Sean's stuff because not only does he write extremely well but he writes great characters and character relationships and deals with family and growing up and hard choices.

(I also mention him because I've been so missing his writing that I actually went out and bought the Star Wars novel he wrote - man's gotta eat, I suppose - it actually wasn't bad)

Also, speaking of hard to find books, I've started rereading _I, the Divine_ which is written entirely in first chapters and great. The author's (Rabin Allamedine) new novel, _The Hakawati_ is also pretty good.

Hmm... other than that I'm a little short, I also read a bunch of Dorothy Sayers recently, that was fun. Have you read anything great?

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've started mainlining season 3, and... I don't think i like it all that much. I suspect it's quite good, mind you; I just don't like it (I feel the same way, not coincidentally, about Lear). More on this later, I expect, once I'm done :)

Hmm... I have not read anything by Sean Stewart, though I feel like you have mentioned him before in a post; I'll have to go check him out... (hey! looks like my library actually does have some of his stuff...), because that sounds perfectly like me.

I love Sayers! You've read Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon, right? Those are the ones that are, well, real books (though all the others are lots of fun).

In general I haven't read much lately that I was that excited about, unfortunately. Like everyone else I know, I love the Office (I just started watching it... I run late with TV/movies), which is pure fluff, but well-done fluff...