I am doomed
Oct. 7th, 2014 10:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrSo I read today that the adobe ebook reader does all sorts of dodgy spying, and decided to uninstall it (never liked it anyway) in favour of the Kobo application(*).
Then, looking at my newly imported library, I decided to get around to starting the Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein, which I have been recced forever and bought on special ages ago.
And it was AMAZING. A fantasy story with solid worldbuilding, light and easy to read prose, great female characters, involving story, and a DEEP love of science. Like it legit made me tear up a little the way the main character loves finding and sharing the truth about the world with others. And it feels like a deliberate alternative to all those creepy macho odes to science by the likes of Neal Stephenson *spits in the general direction of Anathem* without being woo anti-science fluff.
The Steerswomen (there are some men but women are the default) are an organisation dedicated to finding out and telling the truth. They welcome anyone who is willing to do the training and pass the tests, and share their knowledge freely and enthusiastically. And people ask, there isn't this elitist Us vs Them dichotomy with the Common People, though the book does draw a stronger line between Logical Science Types and regular people than I have noticed in real life, even if the latter group are treated sympathetically. Anyway: the main character, the titular Steerswoman, starts the book poking at a mystery, then as is usually the way in such stories finds herself caught up in Large And Important Things which I found quite thrilling and interesting (if not STAGGERINGLY original) and forms a charming and femslashy bond with a barbarian woman who is also quite intelligent but much happier to solve her problems by gutting people with her sword.
And then I got to the end and it was satisfying for that SPECIFIC ARC but I still wanted to know MORE...and I could just...buy the next book. Because the reader is tied to the store. Thus the title of this post, I am doomed.
Though as it turns out I already owned the second book since it was part of the original sale.
But then someone else's post reminded me that I've been meaning to check out Ancillary Justice, and the Steerswoman series has like four books....(and isn't finished /o\)
DOOMED.
(*)The Kobo store isn't the cheapest, but they are a fairly reliable source of Australian-friendly ebooks that are DRM free when they can be and aren't associated with any Evil Overlords like Google or Amazon (as far as I know...)
Also while I'm being paranthetical: though not grimdark, and generally circumspect about the details, the book has a moderate amount of violence and there's an Evil Incestuous Bisexual who briefly threatens the heroine with rape and for the moment is the only sign of queerness in the world, though I vaguely recall hearing that that improves.
Then, looking at my newly imported library, I decided to get around to starting the Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein, which I have been recced forever and bought on special ages ago.
And it was AMAZING. A fantasy story with solid worldbuilding, light and easy to read prose, great female characters, involving story, and a DEEP love of science. Like it legit made me tear up a little the way the main character loves finding and sharing the truth about the world with others. And it feels like a deliberate alternative to all those creepy macho odes to science by the likes of Neal Stephenson *spits in the general direction of Anathem* without being woo anti-science fluff.
The Steerswomen (there are some men but women are the default) are an organisation dedicated to finding out and telling the truth. They welcome anyone who is willing to do the training and pass the tests, and share their knowledge freely and enthusiastically. And people ask, there isn't this elitist Us vs Them dichotomy with the Common People, though the book does draw a stronger line between Logical Science Types and regular people than I have noticed in real life, even if the latter group are treated sympathetically. Anyway: the main character, the titular Steerswoman, starts the book poking at a mystery, then as is usually the way in such stories finds herself caught up in Large And Important Things which I found quite thrilling and interesting (if not STAGGERINGLY original) and forms a charming and femslashy bond with a barbarian woman who is also quite intelligent but much happier to solve her problems by gutting people with her sword.
And then I got to the end and it was satisfying for that SPECIFIC ARC but I still wanted to know MORE...and I could just...buy the next book. Because the reader is tied to the store. Thus the title of this post, I am doomed.
Though as it turns out I already owned the second book since it was part of the original sale.
But then someone else's post reminded me that I've been meaning to check out Ancillary Justice, and the Steerswoman series has like four books....(and isn't finished /o\)
DOOMED.
(*)The Kobo store isn't the cheapest, but they are a fairly reliable source of Australian-friendly ebooks that are DRM free when they can be and aren't associated with any Evil Overlords like Google or Amazon (as far as I know...)
Also while I'm being paranthetical: though not grimdark, and generally circumspect about the details, the book has a moderate amount of violence and there's an Evil Incestuous Bisexual who briefly threatens the heroine with rape and for the moment is the only sign of queerness in the world, though I vaguely recall hearing that that improves.
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Date: 2014-10-07 03:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-08 05:51 pm (UTC)Thanks!
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Date: 2014-10-08 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-08 05:42 pm (UTC):P
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Date: 2014-10-09 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-10 12:18 pm (UTC)Yeah I am putting off book 2 for a while. I hate that feeling of waiting for books, I was burned badly by Isobelle Carmody in my formative years.
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Date: 2014-10-09 07:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-10 11:45 am (UTC)Yeah, and I have the previous unspying version. Still, now if I have to upgrade I have a less invasive alternative.
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Date: 2014-10-09 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-10 11:39 am (UTC)The Evil Incestuous Bisexual part is on the plus side pretty minor. I hope you enjoy them!
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Date: 2014-10-12 07:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-10-15 09:29 am (UTC)Yes Cam got me onto Calibre and now his kindle is full of delicious ebooks :) Thanks for reminding me about the discount threads!