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Nov. 16th, 2009 02:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lispethDear Yuletide Writer,
Here is what I requested- obviously you know all about one of them, but here they all are together. The first part of each is the general info and shameless advertisement, and the second part is a note to you if that what was you chose.
Michelle Sagara West- Chronicles of Elantra
These are a bunch of books set in an alternate universe, where two ancient races, the Dragons and the Barrani, fought each other vigorously for some time (as ancient races are wont to do), before reaching a detente that allowed a number of other species- the catline Leontines, the avian Aerians, the hive-minded-but-not-in-a-bad-way Tha'alani, and of course the scrappy humans, to set up shop under the aegis of the Dragon Emperor and his imperial bureaucracy. Of course, they also managed to make half the land a barren waste roamed by feral magic creatures, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Our heroine, Kaylin Neya, is a young human woman, who escaped her childhood slums with her friend Severn under some very dark circumstances. She joined the police force, the Hawks, and he joined what appears to be the Dragon Emperor's Special Ops team, the Wolves. Their relationship is somewhat strained at times, but they are inextricably bound by their shared past, and being compulsive gamblers (these are related). They have Adventures, sometimes with Politics, and always with Magic, of which Kaylin apparently has more than her fair share, although she finds it incredibly difficult to control. She is a very bad student, is always late, has a terrible temper, and is constantly causing trouble for her mentors. On the negative side, she has a creeping case of being Extra Special- has a habit of attracting strange portents, mystical runes, and dark and powerful men/women/creatures. Nevertheless, these are entertaining books. If you like Tamora Pierce's down-to-earth heroines with world-shaking events on their plate, you'll probably like these.
If this is what you offered:
Awesome! If you want to write gen, I like character development a lot and worldbuilding even more- even if you get Jossed, I'd love to hear an extrapolation on a corner of the Elantran world you find fascinating. An old-fashioned caper or slice-of-life would be grand, too- hence the prompt about the bet :D If you like pairings (or more-ings), I can see all kinds of possibilities, so don't be afraid to let your shipper flag fly, either. Leontine/humanoid or Aerian/humanoid sex might freak me out a little bit. But I did say any pairing so- you just have fun now, y'hear?
China Mieville- the City and the City
If you like speculative fiction, Cold-War era espionage and detective novels, or thrillers that deal with conspiracies and dangerous knowledge, why not give it a try? It's a murder mystery that takes place in the twin cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma- cities that each exist in the spaces where the other does not, so that one side of a street could be Beszel (a recovering Eastern Bloc member, it seems) and the other might be Ul Qoma, a booming Near-East type of city. The boundaries between the two are intangible but very real, policed by a mysterious force called Breach that has the power to detect and immediately punish anyone who intentionally notices or tries to reach across to the other city. There is, of course, legal passage between the cities; one must go to the central interchange and undergo Customs and 'attention re-training', so as not to notice one's neighbors, call out, and get everybody Breached. However, this tense equilibrium is upset when a body from Ul Qoma turns up on Detective Tyador Borlu's turf in Beszel, a woman named Mahalia Geary, a student from the outside who was pursuing a troubling theory about the nature of the city and the city. Intrigue, inter-city policework, and allegory ensue.
If this is what you offered:
Man, that was a hell of a book, wasn't it? I was seriously paranoiac scared towards the end of it. The premise interested me quite as much as the characters, so if you want to branch out into the history of the cities, the unificationists, another character's past or future, by all means do so; or maybe you'd like to explore the allegory of race, culture, and stratification. Of course, a little romance never hurt anyone, if you're dying to write that Tyador/Qassim (or any other pairing).
Roger Zelazny- The Amber Chronicles
This is one of the great fantasy epics from the 1960s-'80s. It follows Corwin, one of Zelazny's classic hard-drinking, secret romantic, demigod types on his journey all the way around Fortune's wheel, as he negotiates, battles, kills, and generally tries to survive his hilariously dysfunctional family- the royal family of the archetypal realm of Amber, of which all others are shadows. The shifting alliances and characters of his siblings (all surviving twelve of them) are my favorite part; however, the series' most lasting influence on the genre probably comes from its system of magic use and cosmology of Order vs. Chaos. It's a real cornerstone of the genre and I encourage you to take a look, if that's the sort of thing you like. Note: when I say it's a cornerstone of the genre, I unfortunately also mean that Zelazny was...not great with the women and the queers and the non-white-European people. Just the same heads-up you should get with, say, Tolkien. (Okay, he's not quite as bad as Tolkien with the women.)
If this is what you offered:
Hey, about that last part above- you know we both know it's true. But we obviously know that there's so much more to love, whether it's Random and Vialle, Corwin and Deirdre's noir-ish doomed and oops-totally-incestuous relationship, Julian's weird thing for Fiona, Fiona's weird thing for hand grenades, or Merlin's epic bromance with Luke. Or, hey, Ghostwheel, the Logrus, the Pattern, the Serpent and the Unicorn, Nayda's shape-shifting past, or Merlin's dysfunctional childhood in the Courts of Chaos. Also, Mandor. Can we discuss how his name is an anagram of Random? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN.
So, yeah. Knock yourself out, queer it up, 'cest if you feel like it, write about your OFC who's secretly Oberon and Dara's child (because Lord knows it's possible, if not probable). I have an embarassingly complete familiarity with this series, so really, write about any little thing you like and I will feel gratified and cherished, e.g. "A history of the Japanese woodcut in Corwin's office! OMG ILU yuletide writer <3" etc.
Eloise Jarvis McGraw- Mara, Daughter of the Nile
Oh, this is such a good book! This is one slender volume of YA Egyptian goodness, set during the reign of His Majesty Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's first reigning female pharaoh. However, in this book, Hatshepsut is unfortunately a bit of a rapacious tyrant, not that this matters so much to Mara, a frequently-beaten, overly-literate guttersnipe who is one of Egypt's many slaves. Mara's life takes a dramatic turn when she is bought to serve as a royal interpreter/spy in the retinue of a Babylonian princess who has come to wed the queen's nephew, the rightful heir, Thutmose III. As Mara becomes aware of the conspiracy to place Thutmose in power, she finds herself swayed from her own self-interest by the disturbingly attractive, infuriatingly competent Sheftu: Egyptian nobleman, favorite of the queen- and fiercest supporter of Thutmose. When the fate of an empire rests in the slave-girl's hands, what will she decide?
It has Ancient Egypt, pyramids, grave robbing, Hatshepsut, a live-by-her-wits amoral heroine, a dangerous, charming hero, and the best YA love story since The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
If this is what you offered:
How good is this book. I mean really. I have to say that pairing-wise, I lean towards Mara/Sheftu, although you have to admit there are possibilities for Thutmose and Sheftu, and I definitely always felt for Inanni. If you offered this book, I kind of think you know what you want to write about already- my suggestions were simply in case I was wrong. Note: I first read this book when I was eleven, so although I am in many ways very mature and discriminating, I will also be secretly jumping up and down and hugging my pillow while reading your fic.
and in conclusion: Thank you so much!
Here is what I requested- obviously you know all about one of them, but here they all are together. The first part of each is the general info and shameless advertisement, and the second part is a note to you if that what was you chose.
Michelle Sagara West- Chronicles of Elantra
These are a bunch of books set in an alternate universe, where two ancient races, the Dragons and the Barrani, fought each other vigorously for some time (as ancient races are wont to do), before reaching a detente that allowed a number of other species- the catline Leontines, the avian Aerians, the hive-minded-but-not-in-a-bad-way Tha'alani, and of course the scrappy humans, to set up shop under the aegis of the Dragon Emperor and his imperial bureaucracy. Of course, they also managed to make half the land a barren waste roamed by feral magic creatures, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Our heroine, Kaylin Neya, is a young human woman, who escaped her childhood slums with her friend Severn under some very dark circumstances. She joined the police force, the Hawks, and he joined what appears to be the Dragon Emperor's Special Ops team, the Wolves. Their relationship is somewhat strained at times, but they are inextricably bound by their shared past, and being compulsive gamblers (these are related). They have Adventures, sometimes with Politics, and always with Magic, of which Kaylin apparently has more than her fair share, although she finds it incredibly difficult to control. She is a very bad student, is always late, has a terrible temper, and is constantly causing trouble for her mentors. On the negative side, she has a creeping case of being Extra Special- has a habit of attracting strange portents, mystical runes, and dark and powerful men/women/creatures. Nevertheless, these are entertaining books. If you like Tamora Pierce's down-to-earth heroines with world-shaking events on their plate, you'll probably like these.
If this is what you offered:
Awesome! If you want to write gen, I like character development a lot and worldbuilding even more- even if you get Jossed, I'd love to hear an extrapolation on a corner of the Elantran world you find fascinating. An old-fashioned caper or slice-of-life would be grand, too- hence the prompt about the bet :D If you like pairings (or more-ings), I can see all kinds of possibilities, so don't be afraid to let your shipper flag fly, either. Leontine/humanoid or Aerian/humanoid sex might freak me out a little bit. But I did say any pairing so- you just have fun now, y'hear?
China Mieville- the City and the City
If you like speculative fiction, Cold-War era espionage and detective novels, or thrillers that deal with conspiracies and dangerous knowledge, why not give it a try? It's a murder mystery that takes place in the twin cities of Beszel and Ul Qoma- cities that each exist in the spaces where the other does not, so that one side of a street could be Beszel (a recovering Eastern Bloc member, it seems) and the other might be Ul Qoma, a booming Near-East type of city. The boundaries between the two are intangible but very real, policed by a mysterious force called Breach that has the power to detect and immediately punish anyone who intentionally notices or tries to reach across to the other city. There is, of course, legal passage between the cities; one must go to the central interchange and undergo Customs and 'attention re-training', so as not to notice one's neighbors, call out, and get everybody Breached. However, this tense equilibrium is upset when a body from Ul Qoma turns up on Detective Tyador Borlu's turf in Beszel, a woman named Mahalia Geary, a student from the outside who was pursuing a troubling theory about the nature of the city and the city. Intrigue, inter-city policework, and allegory ensue.
If this is what you offered:
Man, that was a hell of a book, wasn't it? I was seriously paranoiac scared towards the end of it. The premise interested me quite as much as the characters, so if you want to branch out into the history of the cities, the unificationists, another character's past or future, by all means do so; or maybe you'd like to explore the allegory of race, culture, and stratification. Of course, a little romance never hurt anyone, if you're dying to write that Tyador/Qassim (or any other pairing).
Roger Zelazny- The Amber Chronicles
This is one of the great fantasy epics from the 1960s-'80s. It follows Corwin, one of Zelazny's classic hard-drinking, secret romantic, demigod types on his journey all the way around Fortune's wheel, as he negotiates, battles, kills, and generally tries to survive his hilariously dysfunctional family- the royal family of the archetypal realm of Amber, of which all others are shadows. The shifting alliances and characters of his siblings (all surviving twelve of them) are my favorite part; however, the series' most lasting influence on the genre probably comes from its system of magic use and cosmology of Order vs. Chaos. It's a real cornerstone of the genre and I encourage you to take a look, if that's the sort of thing you like. Note: when I say it's a cornerstone of the genre, I unfortunately also mean that Zelazny was...not great with the women and the queers and the non-white-European people. Just the same heads-up you should get with, say, Tolkien. (Okay, he's not quite as bad as Tolkien with the women.)
If this is what you offered:
Hey, about that last part above- you know we both know it's true. But we obviously know that there's so much more to love, whether it's Random and Vialle, Corwin and Deirdre's noir-ish doomed and oops-totally-incestuous relationship, Julian's weird thing for Fiona, Fiona's weird thing for hand grenades, or Merlin's epic bromance with Luke. Or, hey, Ghostwheel, the Logrus, the Pattern, the Serpent and the Unicorn, Nayda's shape-shifting past, or Merlin's dysfunctional childhood in the Courts of Chaos. Also, Mandor. Can we discuss how his name is an anagram of Random? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN.
So, yeah. Knock yourself out, queer it up, 'cest if you feel like it, write about your OFC who's secretly Oberon and Dara's child (because Lord knows it's possible, if not probable). I have an embarassingly complete familiarity with this series, so really, write about any little thing you like and I will feel gratified and cherished, e.g. "A history of the Japanese woodcut in Corwin's office! OMG ILU yuletide writer <3" etc.
Eloise Jarvis McGraw- Mara, Daughter of the Nile
Oh, this is such a good book! This is one slender volume of YA Egyptian goodness, set during the reign of His Majesty Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's first reigning female pharaoh. However, in this book, Hatshepsut is unfortunately a bit of a rapacious tyrant, not that this matters so much to Mara, a frequently-beaten, overly-literate guttersnipe who is one of Egypt's many slaves. Mara's life takes a dramatic turn when she is bought to serve as a royal interpreter/spy in the retinue of a Babylonian princess who has come to wed the queen's nephew, the rightful heir, Thutmose III. As Mara becomes aware of the conspiracy to place Thutmose in power, she finds herself swayed from her own self-interest by the disturbingly attractive, infuriatingly competent Sheftu: Egyptian nobleman, favorite of the queen- and fiercest supporter of Thutmose. When the fate of an empire rests in the slave-girl's hands, what will she decide?
It has Ancient Egypt, pyramids, grave robbing, Hatshepsut, a live-by-her-wits amoral heroine, a dangerous, charming hero, and the best YA love story since The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
If this is what you offered:
How good is this book. I mean really. I have to say that pairing-wise, I lean towards Mara/Sheftu, although you have to admit there are possibilities for Thutmose and Sheftu, and I definitely always felt for Inanni. If you offered this book, I kind of think you know what you want to write about already- my suggestions were simply in case I was wrong. Note: I first read this book when I was eleven, so although I am in many ways very mature and discriminating, I will also be secretly jumping up and down and hugging my pillow while reading your fic.
and in conclusion: Thank you so much!
