Abandoned @ 11 %

I'm not finding this very interesting, so I'm throwing in the towel after a couple chapters. I've read too many books that I've disliked lately to put up with one that I'm pretty sure I'll only find mediocre.

Next!

THE HOUSE OF DISCARDED DREAMS, BY EKATERINA SEDIA

This one was recommended to me by a friend who is very into Magical Realism. I'm not sure what that means, to be honest, but I guess it would be something like Urban Fantasy with a blasé outlook. Weird shit happens and everybody is really cool about it.

Synopsis: Vimbai is the American daughter of Zimbabwean immigrants. She moves to a house in the dunes, trying to escape her mother, and ends up in a weird universe in the middle of the ocean, along with the ghost of her grandmother, a psychic energy baby, a best friend who has a pack of dog-like creatures, a boy whose hair is an entrance to an alien dimension and her own army of horseshoe crabs.

Overall enjoyment: It was weird, but I liked it. It took a while for the story to get started, it only really gets going on the second half of the book. The first half is more background information and kind of a philosophical trip into weirdness. Still, I am quite fond of philosophical trips into weirdness, so it was fine by me.

Plot: Like I said, it takes a while to get started. But I think she did it so the weirdness would creep up on you and you would be almost expecting it, instead of surprised by it.

Characters: I thought they were quite interesting. Vimbai is clearly the center of the narrative, so she's the most well-developed, but all the others still get their share of depth.

World/setting: It was really interesting, and quite fresh. The mythical background she uses for this is based on African folktales, and I'm sadly very ignorant on those (although I'm trying to rectify this). There are also many elements she made up herself and they blend in beautifully with the atmosphere.

Writing style: It was, maybe, too blasé for me. She's so commonplace and unimpressed by all the magic going on in the story. Maybe that was the effect she was going for, but I, personally, would have preferred a bit more wonder... Then again, it's just my personal preference.

Representation: The only white character is Fisk, and he's not even fully human. Vimbai and Maya are both black and queer.

Political correctness: The entire story is a magical metaphor for black and white conflict. Both in Africa, with Imperialism, and in America, with prejudice and racism. There is also some discussion of queerness, with Vimbai being attracted to girls but choking her own sexuality down so firmly that she herself sometimes wonders if she would also be attracted to boys if she ever tried to find out.

This book would be a really nice one to read during a lazy, rainy afternoon. It has very interesting and dense content presented in a beautiful and easy to consume package.

Up next: Deeper Than the Dead, by Tami Hoag

31. Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi.   Because I'd read iffy reviews, but love the concepts.   And it was on a buy four books for twenty dollars table.  I had to give it a try!

32. Get Kaja by Simon Logan.  Do you know what's better than a Chizine book?   A Chizine book by Simon Logan, because I knew him before I read Chizine books.   So it's kinda got that must buy Logan+must buy Chizine double orgasm thing going on. 

33. City of the Lost by Stephen Blackmore.  I got it at Barnes and Noble.  On my way to Readercon.   I'm counting it!

34. You Might Sleep... by Nick Mamatas. I've met him at an earlier Readercon, although he didn't seem to be there this time around.   Still, lovely, lovely man, fantastic writer, and I just needed three other books to make the four for twenty... but this is what ensured I did the deal (otherwise it was ten dollars per book!) because as soon as I saw Mamatas, I was in!

35. The Ones That Got Away by Stephen Graham Jones.   The fourth book after I picked up the last of Mamatas' book. 

36. Love in the Time of Metal and Flesh by Jay Lake.   This is love.   Also, I bought three copies, two to give away.  Love, love, love. 

37. Star Trek 2 by James Blish.   Got it from a freebie box. 

38. Star Trek 3 by James Blish.   See 37. 

39. Star Trek 10 by James Blish.   See 37. 

40. The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia.   Relevant to my interests. 

As I was not yet writing reviews when I read this book, I don't have reviews for each of the short stories included in this anthology. So here are my ratings; if I ever reread the book, I intend to add reviews.

★★★☆☆ Knickerbocker Holiday by Richard Bowes
★★☆☆☆ That Girl by Kaaron Warren
★☆☆☆☆ Akbar by Kit Reed
★★☆☆☆ The Spring Heel by Steven Pirie
★★★☆☆ As Red as Red by Caitlín R. Kiernan
★★★★☆ Tin Cans by Ekaterina Sedia
★★★★★ Shoebox Train Wreck by John Mantooth
★★★☆☆ Fifteen Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai by Catherynne M. Valente
★★★☆☆ La Llorona by Carolyn Turgeon
★★★☆☆ Face Like a Monkey by Carrie Laben
★★★☆☆ Down Atsion Road by Jeffrey Ford
★★★☆☆ Return to Mariabronn by Gary A. Braunbeck
★★☆☆☆ Following Double-Face Woman by Erzebet YellowBoy
★★★☆☆ Oaks Park by M.K. Hobson
★★★☆☆ For Those in Peril on the Sea by Stephen Dedman
★★★☆☆ The Foxes by Lily Hoang
★★★☆☆ The Redfield Girls by Laird Barron
★☆☆☆☆ Between Heaven and Hull by Pat Cadigan
★★☆☆☆ Chucky Comes to Liverpool by Ramsey Campbell
★★★★☆ The Folding Man by Joe R. Lansdale

Why is nobody reading this book? It's so interesting - especially Mattie, the emancipated, intelligent, alchemy practicing automaton, who is still bound to her maker by the winding key he refuses to hand over. I keep picturing her soft curls, her metallic limbs, her clockwork heart and her porcelain face as the cute doll from that otherwise awful Oz movie although she is human-sized and an adult. 

... Maybe because it's character-driven and a bit melancholically slow?