Yaddith Times

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I wasn't completely sure whether to give this one 4 or 5 stars, but finally settled on 5 for its sheer emotional power. Yes, there is rather modern British dialogue & slang (but, hey, we already know the PBS Roman Empire speaks British English, why not the ancient Greeks?). Yes, it is occasionally disconcerting when the plot shifts viewpoints between Briseis (first person) and her captor Achilles (third person). And even at the end, I was never completely sure who Briseis was telling her tale to. Other than me, of course.

However, none of this mattered while I was reading this very different, very lovely, & very brutal take on the Trojan War. This is war from the captive's view, and not just any captive. Briseis, a young royal woman from a Trojan city, was Achilles' personal prize -- and the the cause of his refusal to fight after Agamemnon took her away. Most of the novel is told from her POV, and it's every bit as harsh (& conflicted) as you'd imagine. Although Barker never gets gratuitously graphic, there's no question here about what happens to women in war.

If you've read the Iliad, you know the plot already. What matters here -- other than some breathtaking writing every so often -- is how women, mostly enslaved, figured into that plot. And how some men were decent in spite of the situation, and how many weren't.

Recommended (strongly) for Mary Renault fans, and anyone else looking for a different view of classical war. Or, probably, war as it still is.





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The Good House by Tananarive Due

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A decent modern Gothic horror novel -- feels like Southern Gothic even though most of it takes place in the Northwest --with some really fascinating Vodou aspects. The story is female-focused with a sympathetic protagonist who refuses to be a victim. All good! This is the first Due novel I've ever read / listened to, and I was hoping to broaden my horror reading experience.

In some ways, the novel did this. Unfortunately, it felt much too long, even given that it was a generational story. Combine this with a nonlinear storytelling style (the entire plot zigzags back and forth, sometimes by decades at a time) and an unsatisfying ending, and you wind up with a book that's rather hard to get through.

I think I may have stuck with it because the Audible narrator was doing an excellent job. I'm not sure I would have been so persistent if I'd had, say, a paperback.

YMMV, especially if you're really looking for a chewy late-summer chiller.





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Tor.Com http://www.tor.com/ is celebrating Space Opera Week (yes!). Author Judith Tarr has contributed an article of particular interest to those of us intrigued by women's literature:


"From Dark to Dark: Yes, Women Have Always Written Space Opera"


http://tinyurl.com/mfhyeus


This one's worth every minute of reading time, but be warned. It is loaded with useful, fascinating, & time-eating links on female writers of space opera, gender inequalities in the field, & even the Smurfette Principle (of which I was totally ignorant until today).



http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSmurfettePrinciple

I'm a day late for her birthday, it seems -- but there is no bad day to post about James Tiptree, Jr., & I only stumbled across this very informative article on Tor.com today.

What James Tiptree, Jr. Can Teach Us About the Power of the SF Community

If you aren't (yet) familiar with Tiptree's groundbreaking work -- most of it short fiction -- Tor.com also has a link for that!

Where to Start with the Works of James Tiptree, Jr.

Either way, happy belated birthday to one of the most unique voices in women's SF.

Or SF, period.

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Although this short but incredibly concentrated collection is apparently a modern classic, I’d never run into it until now. And that’s a shame, because it’s one of the more elegant bits of darkness I’ve read in some time.

In these ten tales, Angela Carter doesn’t so much retell various fairy tales & legends as rip them apart and rebuild them entirely. Her style is elaborate, poetic, and measured. Her viewpoint is unabashedly feminist, yet critical to the point of cynicism. Her obsessions – and she seems to have had quite a few – are worked out over & over again, reflections in a series of precisely warped mirrors.

Whether this approach works or not depends upon the individual reader. It certainly worked for me – once I slowed down enough to absorb these stories as the near prose-poems they are. My personal favorites were “The Bloody Chamber,” “The Tiger’s Bride,” and “The Lady in the House of Love,” but YMMV – and it’s almost sure to. Do yourself a favor, though, and read this collection in order. Many of the tales play off previous ones, and skipping around may dilute the effect.




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I am really, really happy to report that my new dark fiction collection, Dark Equinox & Other Tales of Lovecraftian Horror, is now available from Hippocampus Press. The web site’s still listing it as being released for NecronomiCon 2015 -- but I checked with the publisher, & it’s already in stock.

This nicely produced trade paperback offers sixteen tales (four previously unpublished, others emerging from many years in the dark) of the cosmic &/or supernatural. Available here for the first time is the entire run of my Cassie Barrett tales, which take place in rural Wyoming & the Southwest. The Southwestern cover art & very spooky frontispiece are by Lyndsay Harper. Find all the details -- & ordering information -- here.

And if you’re planning to attend NecronomiCon Providence yourself, I’ll be delighted to sign your copy there!