#can I tell you when I read the 1st book and murderbot was like

[chibikittens]

Okay but fr, I stumbled upon this series not knowing what I was getting into but - please read it! It's so good!

one of the reasons i love the murderbot diaries is how it doesnt flinch in trying to grapple with some of the Big Questions, such as "why is it that Humanity™ is the goal to strive towards for artificial intelligence if it wants to be acknowledged as a person?" and "What does it look like when someone is both undeniably a person but also unapologetically nonhuman?" and "what if the magic school bus had a gun"

[rjalker]

"why are you so mad about the casual transmisia in The Mudrerbot Diaries, not everything has to be perfect representation!"

because people keep lying to people to get them to read these books by claiming they're awesome representation for trans and nonbinary people, that's why. And because casual transmisia is still transmisia and yeah, maybe you think it's easy to forgive if you've only read The Murderbot Diaries and think it's no big deal, but I've read a lot more of Martha Wells' books than just The Murderbot Diaries.

There are patterns in her stories and the transmisia is one of them. It has not improved in any real way since she wrote her protagonist checking people's genitals before he decided what pronouns he was gonna arbitrarily assign them. She still refuses to even have the characters list their pronouns in their Super Scifi Social Media bios.

And because she said herself The Murderbot Diaries was inspired by The Imperial Radch series. And then you start reading that series and the subject of pronouns is brought up literally within the first scene and then continues to be brought up over the course of the story.

No, not everything has to Be Representation™ but casual transmisia still needs to be criticized and discussed, especially when it's a repeating pattern in an author's works and she literally has examples of the proper way to handle things (The Imperial Radch series!) and then still chooses to drop the ball, despite having her pronouns in her Twitter bio.

Don't even get me started on the way she treated Chime and River.

Saying "don't acknowledge bigotry unless it's blatant and in your face and calling for your death" is just "vote blue no matter who" but with books. If you can't recognize the most ""harmless"" instances of transmisia, then you yourself are going to perpetuate them!

Is Martha Wells being purposefully and maliciously transmisic? No, clearly not. Is she still being transmisic? Yes, and if no one ever bothers to tell her that, she's not going to stop. She's not a saint or a mind reader. She's not just going to magically learn how to be a better ally just because you like her writing. That's not how literally anything works.

Anyways. Stop fucking lying to people to get them to read books. All you're doing is making people resentful towards books that can 100% be entirely enjoyable, unless you've been tricked into thinking they're going to be so much more inclusive than they really are.

Stop telling people The Murderbot Diaries has awesome representation for trans and nonbinary people, and I won't have to spend so much time explaining every way that it doesn't.

Hell, the representation for it/its users isn't even that great considering Martha Wells decided to write it in 1st person POV rather than 3rd, LMFAO. Which is a first for her with all of her books I've read. So yeah that's yet another instance of casual transmisia, as much as you people hate admitting any of it exists at all because you're fucking cowards. Lol.

Especially stop doing this because unless someone's lucky, they're going to have to spend money to read the books because not all libraries have it!!!! Stop lying to people to get them to read books you like! All you're going to do is ruin people's trust in you AND hate the books you lied to them about!

[libertyreads]

Book Review #110 of 2023--

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu. Rating: 3.75 stars.

Read from August 30th to September 1st.

Before I get into the review, a quick thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers over at Solaris (an imprint of Rebellion Publishing) for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. In early August, I heard about this one for the first time and immediately put in a request on NetGalley for the ARC. This is a 21st century retelling of Hamlet with both a SciFi and locked-room murder mystery twist. I got approved which meant I needed to start this one as soon as possible because it comes out in the second week of September. Make sure you keep an eye out for The Death I Gave Him when it's published on September 12th.

As some may know, Hamlet is my favorite Shakespeare play. (I also love some Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead but that's neither here nor there.) So when I heard about this book I had to read it. And maybe my love of Hamlet was part of my problem. Don't get me wrong, this was a great book and I think the author took some really great chances in order to tell this story. But I think when I saw characters deviating from what I expected based on my knowledge of Hamlet it took me out of the story a bit and led to a slightly lower rating than I probably would have given it otherwise. I love how insular the whole story is. It all takes place in this one building and we only have this small cast of characters (that gets smaller and smaller as the evening wears on). It makes everything feel so absolutely suffocating. Which I think is a real credit to the author because they manage to create such a dark atmosphere. I also think they manage to really dive into the head of a man whose constant grappling with the depth of his depression and his manic thoughts becomes sort of--darkly poetic at moments. And other moments it's hard not to shake him and tell him to snap the fuck out of it. You can really see the author's love for Shakespeare in both the characters and the writing style throughout the novel. I really appreciated the fact that the Ophelia character got a much better storyline here. I also enjoyed the SciFi aspect of the story. I love when we can mesh multiple genres together and getting this retelling of a classic with both SciFi and Mystery/Thriller? It's going to be a good time no matter what.

I struggled at times with how the author had turned one of the characters from Hamlet into this AI character. I have no problem with robots or droids or AI in most fiction (gestures at the evidence of my love for Murderbot all over this blog), but the author took the AI in a way that I didn't particularly, enjoy, I guess is the word for it? It's hard to explain without getting into the actual details. Basically, this AI is in love with our Hamlet figure, which harkens back to this sort of impression a lot of people have of the two characters in Hamlet, and it was fine up unto the point where we had to see their relationship attempt to get physical? I really don't know how to describe it better than that without spoiling aspects of the book. I genuinely do not mind the questions of what makes someone/something human or how AI is impacted by their interactions with humans and things like that. I don't even mind the thought of having an AI fall in love with a human. I think I just don't like the way the physical stuff happened here. But maybe that's just my tastes and nothing to do with how it was written?

Overall, I think if you're a general fan of Shakespeare or retellings of classics you're going to have a good time here. I think if you're really into Hamlet you might not quite love it as much. But, also, know that I am definitely a picky person when it comes to retellings.

[asmywhimseytakesme]

As promised, here is a list of my favorite tropes in fiction. I may continue to refine this over time.

Note, I am not pulling these from a website, I’m writing these up myself. There may be a page on tv tropes for all or most of these, but I’m trying to articulate to myself what I like and why I like it, so I’m naming my own tropes and writing descriptions that are specific to my own taste. I’m also including a short list of examples for each.

Needless to say, if you know of a book or show that includes some of these tropes (the more the better) and it isn’t mentioned here—PLEASE TELL ME. And of course, these are just my preferences and opinions—if you disagree, that’s fine, we just don’t like the same things 😁

These are organized loosely by category—character tropes, relationship tropes, and plot tropes.

Under a cut so people who aren’t that interested in my specific tastes don’t have to scroll forever.

Character Tropes

Mastermind—

An extremely clever and competent character who reads people, pulls strings, and often has a grand scheme the other characters are unaware of. Usually a good guy (at least my favorites tend to be), but doesn’t have to be.

Eugenides (Queens Thief), Miles Vorkosigan (Vorkosigan Saga), Peaceable Sherwood (the Sherwood Ring), Lord Peter Wimsey (the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries) Sir Percy Blakeney (the Scarlet Pimpernel), Sherlock Holmes

Note: all the above examples are male characters, but I don’t consider this a gender specific trope. I would love recommendations of female characters who fit this trope.

Not Just A Soldier / Not Just A Mom

I originally had these listed as two tropes, and then realized that they were just inverses of each other. They each have to do with fulfilling gender stereotypes in some ways, while subverting or transcending them in others.

For a male character in the genres I read, Not Just A Soldier is typically a fighter of some kind, and really good at it. Basically, on the surface he appears to be a very Masculine Male Manly Man. But! It turns out he is also just a really nice guy. And not only that—he’s smart, and he’s good with kids!

On the flip side, Not Just a Mom seems at first glance to be your typical motherly feminine character. But! That isn’t her entire personality! She also has a (not particularly feminine) career and hobbies outside of parenting, and she is confident and competent doing those things—AND (this is important) those non-mothering things she is good at are essential to the plot. (This tends to be less of an issue that needs to be specified with male characters, grumblegrumble.)

So on both sides, we have a character who is fulfilling gender stereotypes on one hand, but subverting them on the other.

Not Just A Soldier examples: Costis (Queen's Thief), Din Djarin (the Mandalorian), Cazaril (the Curse of Chalion), Uncle Iroh (ATLA)

Not Just A Mom examples: Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels), Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan and Ekaterin Vorsoisson Vorkosigan (Vorkosigan Saga), Katara (ATLA)

Adventurous Parent

A parent who continues to be cool and have adventures and stay involved in the plot even after becoming a parent (a GOOD parent, of course).

Din Djarin (The Mandalorian), Dr Mensah (Murderbot Diaries), Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels—-we’ll see if this holds true now that she actually has her own biological child?? Assuming she’ll show up in future Star Wars projects—I’m hoping to see her in the Ahsoka series🤞)

Reluctant Ruler

It seems like many bad guys would kill to be king—and many good guys would really, REALLY rather not be in charge, thanks. But when a good guy is forced by circumstances beyond their control into becoming a ruler, and they decide that they might as well try to do a good job at it, and then THEY ACTUALLY DO—this trip has my whole heart.

Maia Drazar (The Goblin Emperor—this book is basically the perfect example of this trope and I love it SO MUCH), Eugenides (Queen’s Thief), Sophos (Queens Thief), Aral Vorkosigan (Vorkosigan Saga), And hopefully Din Djarin in Mandalorian season 3? OH PLEASE YES I NEED THIS.

Broken, but loved

The name basically says it—these are characters who believed themselves broken, heartless, and unlovable, but others chose to love them anyway. It’s important to note that they are NOT “saved by love”, but they do CHOOSE to try and be better because of love.

This trope just GETS ME EVERY TIME GUYS. It makes my heart hurt in the most joyful way.

Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Attolia (Queens Thief), Zuko (ATLA), Medraut (the Winter Prince)

Friend Indeed

This is a simple one—a character who befriends someone who is in the middle of a difficult situation, when it would be much easier to just keep their distance.

Ratthi (Murderbot Diaries), Csevet (The Goblin Emperor), Kuill (the Mandalorian)

Magic Schmagic

The character in a fantastical story who can’t do magic, doesn’t know about magic, and doesn’t WANT to. They just wanna carry on being their own non magical, mundane selves and we love them for it.

Sokka (ATLA), Din Djarin (the Mandalorian), Digger (Digger), Gideon (Gideon the Ninth)

Relationship tropes:

Found Family

Ok, this is a popular one so don’t think I need to explain it. Since these often involve large groups of characters, I’m just going to list a few of my favorite pieces of media where this trope features prominently.

Star Wars Rebels, the Mandalorian, Digger, Murderbot Diaries

Reluctant Friendship

Where two characters are thrown together and one or both doesn’t particularly want to be friends with the other, but as they move through the adventure together they gradually come to like each other and form a friendship.

I also love the romance side of this trope but I’m just as happy to read about a platonic relationship.

Ben and Nathaniel (This Was Our Pact), Kaidu and Rat (The Nameless City), Kamet and Costis (Queen’s Thief), Digger and Shadowchild (Digger),

Magical Animal Sidekick

A character who forms a deep personal bond with a magical creature. It doesn’t have to be an actual creature—in a sci-fi setting this could also be a sentient robot or ship.

Temeraire and Laurence (His Majesty’s Dragon), Ani and Falada (Goose Girl), Murderbot and Art (Murderbot Diaries), Ezra and the Loth Wolves (Star Wars Rebels)

Prose/plot tropes:

It’s Complicated

Related to the Mastermind character trope, the distinction here is that this is a plot that wasn’t manipulated by a single character intentionally, rather it’s a complex series of interactions and misunderstandings that are all revealed to be interconnected in the end.

The Court Jester, Howl’s Moving Castle, To Say Nothing of the Dog, Digger

Sarcastic, Witty, and/or Colloquial narration

The name says it all. I usually prefer this in 1st person, but it can be fun in 3rd person too. In 3rd person it might be the narrator who is witty, or it might just be the main character's thoughts that are witty as related by the narrator.

1st person— The Thief, Murderbot, Digger, Dragonhaven

3rd person—Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Gideon the Ninth

Written For You

First person narratives are interesting and tricky because there is the question of WHY narrator is telling the story, and who they intend it for. I love first person stories where the narrative is specifically addressed to a person or group, which adds a level of meaning to the story. This isn’t the same as a story told in diaries or letters (though that can be fun too).

The Thief and A Conspiracy of Kings, the Winter Prince, All Systems Red, Dragonhaven

The juxtaposition of Magic and Mundane

I deeply love stories that mix magical things with mundane details of life in a deliberate way. I feel this makes real life feel a bit more magical, and helps magic feel a bit more real. This juxtaposition can be a central idea of the plot, or might simply be present in the way a narrator describes things.

This may be my favorite trope of all, come to think of it (though there are a lot of great ones listed above, so maybe I shouldn’t start naming favorites…) most of my own story ideas center on this idea to one degree or another.

Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, His Majesty’s Dragon, Digger, Hilda, Queens Thief, Dragonhaven

Tropes I would like to see less of: prophecies, hereditary magic, a Chosen One, Soul Mates, fate/destiny. Yes, many of the stories I love involve these tropes, they’re hard to get away from in the genres I prefer to read. These tropes are Iess exciting to me first off because they’re done so often, but there’s a bigger reason I’d like to see less of them, which has to do with characters agency. I’m much more interested in a story that is about a character who CHOOSES to do the right thing, not because they were Chosen, but because they CHOOSE themselves to do the right thing. In the same vein, characters who CHOOSE to build and maintain a relationship are so much more interesting and, frankly, romantic to me than people who are just meant for each other BECAUSE FATE OK. Just.... no. People making tough choices because it’s the right thing to do makes for a much better story (aim my opinion) than people who do the right thing because DESTINY. So the overall theme here is, more character agency! (And as I said above—if you disagree, that’s fine! This is just me listing my preferences and opinions.)

If you read all that—wow! To all those who made it this far, thanks, and if you have any book/show recommendations that involve these tropes, please tell me about them!!

[silveredgears]

So now I'm involved in a tag game

Rules: Tag 9 people you would like to know/catch up with.

thank you @junebuggeryy for thinking of me and tagging me!

I guess I copy the categories?

Last song: Ok so when I first saw this it was Kubrick and the Beast by Lemon Demon (I have the album and my phone won't go off shuffle artist/album for some reason. It's not bad but I would be ignoring it if my phone was working right I think). When I actually wrote this apparently it was a medieval cover of boulevard of broken dreams.

Last TV show: I think the last show I intentionally watched was when I pulled a couple people into watching Death Note with me. Idk I like watching bastards set off plans and also sometimes have those plans come crashing down. And watching characters act excessively dramatic.

Anyway I don't watch a lot of TV so this was the most recent thing I could think of. Last one I watched to the end was I think Babylon 5 and it is. Very long and also very good. Also not new by any means lol.

Currently watching: See above, I don't watch a lot of TV.

Currently reading: The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. On the fifth book (1st full novel though). It's set in the space-travel-filled future, and told from the perspective of a rogue security robot/cyborg who calls itself Murderbot (Usually only inside its own head) and has spent most of its time since it secretly got free will watching soap operas and loads of other media. Then this apathetic robot who just wants to get through another day of dangerous work and watch its shows gets pulled into intrigue and drama and accidentally starting to care about things and it's just so wonderful. Anyway can you tell I like this series.

I don't know 9 people to tag. I don't know 1 person to tag. Join if you want to that'd be real cool but idk anyone here really