#uk le guin

[gollancz]

April 2023 Audio and eBook Deals!

We have some DEALS! CHEAP BOOKS! Roll up, roll up!

🎧Audible UK🎧

Price Deals!

The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula K. Le Guin - £2.99 between 16th and 22nd April

20th Century Ghosts (containing 'The Black Phone'), Joe Hill - £2.99 between 16th and 22nd April

2-for-1 - 6th-15th April

Red Country, Joe Abercrombie

Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan

Revenger, Alastair Reynolds

2-for-1 - 23rd-30th April

The Tower of the Swallow, Andrzej Sapkowski & David French

📚Kindle UK📚

99p titles ALL MONTH

A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea 1), Ursula K. Le Guin

The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea 2), Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin

Ubik, Philip K. Dick

The Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons

Elantris, Brandon Sanderson

Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski & Danusia Stok

Chronicles of the Black Company, Glen Cook

Permutation City, Greg Egan

The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Buehlman

Lord Foul's Bane, Stephen Donaldson

Empire of Silence, Christopher Ruocchio

Halfway to the Grave, Jeaniene Frost

The Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss

The Forever War, Joe Haldeman

99p titles between 17th-30th April

Against All Gods, Miles Cameron

The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle

Blake's 7, Terry Nation

The This, Adam Roberts

Immortal Rising, Lynsay Sands

The Killing God, Stephen Donaldson

Seasparrow, Kristin Cashore

The Flight of the Aphrodite, S. J. Morden

🚨99p for JUST ONE DAY - 9th April!🚨

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

[joannerowling]

https://www.tumblr.com/joannerowling/758372387687399424/theyre-like-their-favourite-boy-writers-only

I read this post and got really surprised of how many authors were so salty (to not say worse things, GRRM made me disgusted) about JKR’s success. In this context, what do you think about Ursula K Le Guin’s opinions of JKR? Those always sounded to me like a bit of envy.

It's definitely envy, as well as misplaced ego, and i think subconscious misogyny even if she wouldn't have liked hearing that. For context i'll put the quote of hers about Rowling below:

[…] What’s the difference between being influenced by a body of work and admitting it, and being influenced by a body of work and not admitting it? This last is the situation, as I see it, between my A Wizard of Earthsea and J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter. I didn’t originate the idea of a school for wizards — if anybody did it was T.H.White, though he did it in single throwaway line and didn’t develop it. I was the first to do that. Years later, Rowling took the idea and developed it along other lines. She didn't plagiarize. She didn’t copy anything. Her book, in fact, could hardly be more different from mine, in style, spirit, everything. The only thing that rankles me is her apparent reluctance to admit that she ever learned anything from other writers. When ignorant critics praised her wonderful originality in inventing the idea of a wizards’ school, and some of them even seemed to believe that she had invented fantasy, she let them do so. This, I think, was ungenerous, and in the long run unwise.

Two things here:

First, like others, Le Guin apparently couldn't fathom that someone else might have come up with a similar concept as she did all on their own, without having ever read her books. It's worth noting that AWoE was published in 1971 in the UK, when JKR was already 6. While it was praised by critics on release and moderately successful, you could hardly have called it a classic. I mean, it's not like Brits don't have an entire genre dedicated to stories set in private schools, and a love for wizard and fairy tales older than the US. The idea that a British woman couldn't possibly have imagined "a school for wizards" without reading some newcoming American is hilariously conceited.

(Made even funnier by the fact that many of the criticisms that were thrown at Rowling over the years involved a variation of, 'her plot/character/ideas/world-building is too generic'.)

Secondly, no male writer would ever be blamed for the exaggerations and mistakes of journalists. Nor would any man be expected to be "generous" to fellow writers, by pretending to have been influenced by them when they were not. No man who were as open about his literary influences as JKR has been would be suspected of lying.

The fact is, Pratchett, Le Guin, GRRM and co. simply didn't like that JKR cited classics in those interviews, rather than their favoured brand of genre literature, sci-fi and fantasy. People like Pratchett were and are still convinced that they are an oppressed and unfairly derided caste amongst writers, which the snotty elites wrinkle their noses at but the pure of heart lower classes love.

[karlkapri]

going to the uk to do some bookshopping so here’s my wishlist as a poll because i like numbers and pressing buttons and democracy is a beautiful thing

[seaside-werewolf]

What is your Hogwarts house?

Im not a huge fan of Harry Potter anymore after ms.raging terf (especially because i live in the UK), read Earthsea instead!! : )

Has a magic school (briefly) and is better written imo. Even has a young boy/man scarred by an evil that is intrinsically tied to him that he must eventually face etc etc...

Enjoy this quote by Ursula K. Le Guin about Rowling:

[officialpenisenvy]

so far my understanding of the history of early mpreg literature is

trans men are invented in real life

zeus carries the fetus of dionysus in his thigh

loki gives birth to sleipnir

the left hand of darkness by ursula k le guin

star wars fanfiction

the uke from patalliro has a miscarriage

star trek fanfiction

bloodchild by octavia butler

marginal by hagio moto

[more sporadic fan works]

the uke from patalliro gives birth

arnold schwarzenegger mpreg movie

[clonerightsagenda]

#recently read 2/24

The Fetishist by Katherine Min. Kyoko plots revenge against her mother's ex-lover Daniel, who she blames for her suicide, while another woman who crossed paths with him wrestles with her declining health. Tackles white male fetishization of Asian women, milder than Disorientation.

None of the Above: Reflections on Life Beyond the Binary by Travis Alabanza. A Black genderqueer person in the UK muses on statements that have impacted their life and self-perception. Gets into the messiness of not having a binary trans identity!

The Way Inn by Will Wiles. A surrealist novel where Neil, who works as a body double for conference attendees, discovers the endless fractal nature of interchangeable corporate hotels.

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera. Fetter was raised by his mother to kill his religious leader father but rejected his calling only to get caught up in the political turmoil of his new city anyway. Watch for this author's next novel, Rakesfall, coming this summer!

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin. A physicist from an anarchist planet visits a capitalist world while working on a theory that will revolutionize interstellar travel and communication.

Behind You is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj. A collection of linked stories following members of Palestinian immigrant families in America.

[earhartsease]

in case anyone wondered where Ursula Le Guin stood regarding trans people, we're sharing here a card we got from her back in 2010 - the context here is that we had a correspondence with her across several years, which began with us reading Tehanu whilst still cosplaying a cis man in England, and then writing her a somewhat Angry Male™ letter about the person Ged becomes between The Farthest Shore and Tehanu (his apparent powerlessness made us really uncomfortable, but that was mostly because of our abusive mother we now suspect)

she wrote back so kindly and patiently, and we ended up writing to each other a few times over the next years about Buddhism (we were ordained into a Buddhist cult at the time and had a Sanskrit name beginning with Padma) and about writing, as we had started writing a novel and realised that characters have their own stories, and writers aren't necessarily the ones steering the craft

and then us finally coming out to her as trans and telling her how much of this anger we'd carried towards women was because of not allowing ourselves to be who we truly are, and that it just dissolved as soon as we came out (note that this exchange of letters was during the year it took us to realise we were not in fact a woman but agender, which we did eventually tell her)

anyway her card reads:

Dear Padma - I wish I could read your name for certain, but anyhow I know "Padma" - your news is very good. I hope you thoroughly enjoy the odd experience of being a woman - people don't always make it easy. But isn't it great to have come out of the anger? All the best, Ursula

sadly we didn't get to write more after that, we could no longer get hold of the prepaid US international airmail letters she asked people to send so she could reply, so we never got a reply to our letter telling her we were agender after all - but we're so very grateful for her kindness and allyship, and that she had long grown past 2nd wave feminism by the time all this happened

then we got to be one of the people funding a documentary* about her, where sadly she died before its release, and we were at the UK premiere and wept when she talked about "getting angry letters from men" about her writing, and how people do grow and change and how she too grew and changed

we didn't really get to know her (different continents or we would surely have tried to meet her - weirdly we did meet her son Ted when we were both in our teens, as he was our best friend's penfriend) but we do love her

also we love the lil dragon on her stationery

*tumblr app is being a dick and won't let us add a link - oh, see https://worldsofukl.com

[gogmstuff]

More images of 1912 fashion -

1912-1913 Afternoon dress.

1912 (Winter) Jeanne Paquin evening gown (Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, FIDM Museum - Los Angeles, California, USA).

1912 (Winter) Jeanne Paquin evening gown (Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection, FIDM Museum - Los Angeles, California, USA).

Left 1912 Lucile dress (V&A). From omgthatdress.tumblr.com/post/654088327176306688/evening-dress-lucile-1912-the-victoria-albert 1280X1707.

Center and right ca. 1912 Chantilly lace dinner dress front quarter and back (location ?). From whitakerauction.smugmug.com-Fall2012-Clothing-ID-22-140-i-b3kCXfz 3068X2895

1912 Lady in Furs, Mrs. Charles A. Searles by Cilde Hassam (location ?). From tumblr.com/catherinedefrance 900X1090.

1912 Lady wearing a large hat sitting by Franz von Stuck (auctioned by Sotheby's). From their Web site 1753X1991.

1912 Mrs J., by Józef Męcina-Krzesz (location ?). From godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com/2016/11/randomly-ix.html; shadows 60% and fixed spots w Pshop 750X975.

1912 Mrs. Ernest Guinness by Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (auctioned by Christie's) From www.pinterest.com/nouvellegiselle/vintage-inspiration slightly cropped & fit to screen 924X1500.

1912 Mrs. John Lawrence by Edmund Tarbell (private collection). From cutlermiles.com/mrs-john-lawrence-edmund-tarbell/ 992X1280.

Left 1912 Princess Elena of Greece, nee Russia, in 1912, wearing the diamond and pearl tiara she later gave to her daughter as a wedding gift From pinterest.com/inara0798/aristocrats/ 602X960.

Center 1912 Princess Paley in a dinner dress with fancy headdress. From Sacheverelle's photostream on flickr 488X983.

Right 1912 Vizcondesa de Termens From laalacenadelasideas.blogspot.com/2012/12 1018X1316.

1912 Robe de Visite de Paquin (pl.5, La Gazette du Bon ton 1912-1913 n°2) by George Barbier. From edition-originale.com/en/prints-engravings-photographs/ 1682X2518.

Left ca. 1912 Frau Prinzessin Rupprecht in Bayern, Marie Gabrielle in Bayern, by F. Grainer. From eBay fixed spots w Pshop 1017X1600.

Right ca. 1912-1913 Olga de Meyer wearing the famous Paul Poiret coat La Perse, photograph by Baron de Meyer. From facebook.com/144304418968266/photos/a.397639360301436/1143579645707400/?type=1&theater 1123X2048

Left 1912 Winifred, Duchess of Portland by Philip Alexius de László (Portland College - Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, UK). From books0977.tumblr.com/post/111045895147/the-duchess-of-portland-1912-philip-alexius-de 999X1280.

Right 1912 New Book by Walter Bonner Gash (location ?). From tumblr.com/larobeblanche/742427773413556224/the-new-book-c-1912? 876X1024.

Left 1912 Le Manteau bleu by Xavier Gosé (location ?). From tumblr.com/mote-historie/744587745354301440/painting-by-xavier-gos%C3%A9-le-manteau-bleu-1912?.

Center 1912 Fourrures Max (Max Furs) in the catalogue 'Fourrures Portraits Minatures' by George Barbier. From tumblr.com/mote-historie/732453186620866560/george-barbier-illustration-for-the-catalogue?source=share& 1939X2541.

Right 1912 Man and woman in evening dress by Coles Phillips (NYPL). From tumblr.com/sartorialadventure/747029584815489024?; fixed flaws & spots w Pshop 764X1000

ca. 1912 a Femme chic, Supplément by A. Souchel (Rijksmuseum). From their Web site; fixed flaws & spots w Pshop 3229X5315.

[cctinsleybaxter]

2023 in Books

I need to stop bragging that I’ve got this reading thing all figured out, because man if 2023 wasn’t a year of terrible books. I liked less than half of the 37 I read and nothing quite gripped me in the way it has in years past… but to put it more optimistically I liked a full third of what I read, and the ones I liked best were a fascinating and unexpected silver lining. Without further ado:

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, trans. Brian Hooker

Tell this all to the world- and then to me. Say very softly that… she loves you not.

I read a couple of plays this year for the first time since college and liked them fine, but there’s a reason this has been adapted five million times. Everyone go watch Megamind right now.

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand

Of all the found footage-inspired horror fiction I’ve read this one makes the best case for existing in its chosen medium, as a 70s UK folk rock band are interviewed about the summer they spent recording what would become their final album [thunder crashes.] It reminded me of a Tana French mystery in its language and ability to make space feel lived-in; the character writing is so strong I realized that at some point I had stopped checking the interview headings to know who was speaking. Hand unfortunately distrusts her audience to read between the lines at a few crucial moments (and ruins what would have been a perfect ending and a deeply affecting scare by gilding the lily, or, in this case, photograph), but I love that she went from seemingly by-the-numbers American YA fiction to a meticulously-researched and truly unique horror novella. Puts other writers working in the genre to shame.

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin

Reminiscent of the best kind of TCM suspense thriller (and was adapted into one), but could only exist as a book for the kind of narrative tactics it employs. Levin is brilliant at setting and character; I think any one of his contemporaries would have leaned into archetypes for this sort of story, and he instead distinguishes his proper nouns in subtle, clever ways that lend them the weight a noir needs. Can’t wait to read more of his stuff!

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva

I’d like to know why this anthology got hit with what a friend has termed a pottery barn throw pillow cover + a ‘the tiny things we know to be small’ title, because the eponymous story isn’t even called that! It’s just The Names They Used for God, and is, appropriately, about two women kidnapped by a religious extremist group. High risk-high reward; I think taken at their base premise the stories could have been insufferable and are instead strange, compelling, and fantastical. There’s a methodicalness and, I don't know, lack of whimsy? to them that’s unusual for fantasy, but also an absence of any one goal or moral in the way Le Guin speaks so highly of. It made me feel the way I did reading and adoring Kelly Link in middle school, and Sachdeva has a much different style that I guess works all the better on adults. My favorite was Robert Greenman and the Mermaid.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Lauren Hillenbrand

Someone recommended this to me via Tumblr anon over five years ago, so let me start by saying if that was you I’d like to thank you properly! This book rules! It was written in ‘99 so falls prey to a very specific kind of jingoism, but the mechanics of that are interesting in and of themself. Seabiscuit the animal is a lens through which to view turn-of-the-20th-century America written from the precipice of the 21st; his story told through the expertly-researched biographies of his owner, trainer, and jockey. Hillenbrand is not only a good pop nonfiction historian, but has been a sports writer since the 80s and I never imagined the genre could be so thrilling as I did reading her work. Horse racing is insane and no one should be riding these things btw.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

It was one of the great livery-stableman’s most masterly intuitions to have discovered that Americans want to get away from amusement even more quickly than they want to get to it.

Wharton came from old money New York*, was deeply disillusioned with it and pined for rational (i.e., even more insane) social and political scenes, had myriad thoughts about women and gender relations, and held a love for interior design. I learned all of this after reading but it’s apparent on every page; deeply funny and perceptive, fantastic use of language, the moments where it lost me completely nothing if not interesting. What sticks with me the most are a flair for the operatic and an ability to voice both the feeling and consequences of losing oneself to imagined scenarios. Read the pink parasol scene.

*Ancient Money New York; the saying ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is apocryphally attributed to her father’s side of the family

Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan S. Slaght

We’d return to our camp to huddle in the freezing tent and wait for our owls in silence, like suitors agonizing over a phone that never rings.

One of the better pieces of science writing I’ve read in a long time, as Slaght frames rural communities as a quintessential part of ecology rather than a barrier to it. His style is amiable and matter-of-fact (sometimes overly so; the amount of metric GIS directions, help), but he's super engaging and clearly holds just as much compassion for people and history as he does animals and natural landscapes. The Blakiston’s fish owls he’s studying are described as unreal, with hoots so low and quiet it sounds like someone has thrown them under a blanket. You can listen to them here.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Took my breath away and surprised me in a way a book hasn’t in years. I'd read Clarke’s 2004 novel when I was maybe fourteen and had vaguely positive but mostly neutral memories of it, and Piranesi being sci-fi-fantasy that came recommended by Tiktok had me very dubious. I ended up devouring it in the way I haven’t read books since I was fourteen; more of a mystery than the suspected high fantasy, with characters I would do disservice to in trying to describe in brief. While the mystery isn’t difficult to ‘solve’ (I’d argue the book also skews young!), the story ends in a way that’s both deeply unexpected and in the only way it could have.

Honorable mentions

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, trans. Peter Washington

[Jigsaw voice] Every man has a devouring passion in his heart as every fruit has its worm.

I spent so much time running my mouth about this one on Tumblr there’s really not much left to say. I think it’s a work of genius that was physically exhausting to read, and I’m sticking it with the honorable mentions mostly because I remember The Three Musketeers being the better book. If you want to read Dumas- and you should- start with that one.

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead

I would’ve liked this more had I read it in my late teens/early 20s, but I still think it’s pretty good and would absolutely recommend to anyone in that age bracket. Things that normally annoy me about philosophical first-person lit fic didn’t matter under the weight of Jon’s narratorial voice. He reminded me a little of Lynda Barry’s Maybonne in his understanding and depictions of community and family; his stream of consciousness letting contradictions sit rather than trying to explain them away (Whitehead also makes sex very prosaic and pretty-sounding while still being frank and gross about it, which is a rare talent!)

The Seeds of Life: From Aristotle to da Vinci, from Sharks' Teeth to Frogs' Pants, the Long and Strange Quest to Discover Where Babies Come From by Edward Dolnik

This one fell in the rankings because the writing isn’t my favorite (think early days Vulture article rather than NYT), but I cannot stop referencing it in conversation. I want to read the whole thing to people and make them understand how truly unfathomable it is not only that every one of us is the product of 1 sperm and 1 egg, but that anyone ever figured out how that process works. When Western Europeans first started using microscopes they studied water; there were gross little bugs in there to watch and enjoy, so when semen was revealed to have its own bugs no one was shocked, but they also weren’t impressed. We would not see one enter an egg until EIGHTEEN SEVENTY-FIVE.  

Killer Dolphin by Ngaio Marsh

The Malaise of First Night Nerves had gripped Peregrine, not tragically and aesthetically by the throat but, as is its habit, shamefully in the guts.

Has made it into my top 5 favorite Inspector Alleyn mysteries. I’m not keen on Marsh’s theater settings (and there are a LOT of them), but a convoluted setup made this one all the more rewarding. The final revelation as to a point of blackmail is visceral and bizarre in a way I haven’t seen from her before.

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

We all have dirty hands; we are all soiling them in the swamps of our country and in the terrifying emptiness of our brains. Every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor.

Best read in conversation with other writers, I wouldn’t recommend Fanon as the end-all-be-all introduction to communist and socialist thinking (the fact that he inadvertently describes what was going wrong with the USSR at time of writing is fascinating), but he explicitly invites that conversation and the value and impact of his work really can’t be overstated. Our points of disagreement tend to be in regard to nationalism, not his condonation of violence.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Fascinating to see how Austen was thinking about relationships near the end of her short life. I laughed to see the idea of preferring your brother-in-law’s family to your own was back in full force from my own favorite Emma, as well as an eleventh-hour ‘maybe I should ship the villains??’ My biggest issue is that, like Emma, Persuasion is written in third person limited narration, but Anne is fundamentally Good™ so doesn’t need to learn anything about herself or the world; critic Bob Irvine points out that she and her dashing, misogynistic sailor are beset rather than changed by it. That said I love a people being beset by people (concussed temptresses) places (Bath) and things (cars), and Austen's writing style is really firing on all cylinders here.

[iantimony]

this tuesdaypost was drafted on monday, please clap

we are cookin with Gas this week

listening: listened to antimai a few times through, favorite track i think is 'ring 5: middle class'. dorian electra - man to man: really fun video too charasho (benny friedman): was linked in jew chat. very charming and funky. 5 Old French Dances: No. 5. Le Basque (arr. for 2 recorders and harpsichord): i heard this a billion year ago on the radio (my wakeup radio station on my alarm clock is classical) and i finally got around to saving a link for it. very bouncy very cute. makes me think of rabbits running in circles a la beatrix potter.

EDIT TO ADD: i also finally listened to beyonce 'cowboy carter'!! i know im late! it's good i like it! not a revolutionary opinion! obsessed with her jolene cover! that's all!

reading: big one this week! i FINISHED 'the left hand of darkness'! i really liked it! still marinating on the themes etc. i started 'the dispossessed', also by le guin, and am devouring that as well. there's some stuff in there that oof ough. existential. but i'm liking it so far, i'm around chapter 5 right now. physicists!

fanfic: imposter syndrome (mikkeneko): i might have already linked it but i can't be assed to go back through a few weeks of tuesdaypost to see if i already have. so if i did, here it is again. really charming premise, gut-punch of an ending, cool twist on the doppelganger setup from dungeon meshi with svsss.

the articles, some of which were actually read a while ago but i forgot to link and am now cleaning out my phone tabs: how will the golden age of 'making it worse' end? (david roth) new canada policy lets indigenous people reclaim their names (emma bowman) what happens to the stay-at-home girlfriend after a breakup? (erika w smith) unschooling is the parenting trend that's pissing everyone off (ej dickson) in defense of 'coffee badging' (monica torres): if i had a job that was all zoom calls i would literally go insane over being made to go into an office to take zoom calls. fuck that what my mother's wardrobe taught me about style and grief after she died: thinking a lot about all my dad's shit will semen destroy your shower drain? granny davis' geocaching page: found when i was looking at some reviews for caches near my apartment. im kind of obsessed with her. she also has a facebook page called 'granny's geo page' if you don't have a geocaching account. literally she is everything to me. she has found So Many fucking geocaches good god. wedding trivia questions: used as reference to create some wedding trivia for a bridal shower! similarly, the wikipedia page for morganatic marriages my fight with a sidewalk robot (emily ackerman): my school has these. hate them. my boyfriend just linked this to me and im obsessed, laser etched paperweights, i am not a huge paperweight girlie but wowwww prettyyyyy. the electron orbitals!!!! i had a search open for "anti mega #1 cray street". i have no idea what this is.

special edition: the link dump from my trip to the uk last month! some very related to the trip itself, a few random extras! top of the poops, an architectural firm bc i saw a sign with their logo and thought it was cool but now i can't find their logo, waring ader space invaders because i saw someone's shirt with the little space invader guys and was like ooh the tate museum joel meyerowitz (and another page about him) wikipedia on gratin dauphinois, wikipedia page on doncaster for some reason i did not go there list of artworks at the national portrait gallery of scotland wikipedia page on the jacobite uprising of 1745 washi tape that would match the edinburgh one i bought there, tintin in the land of the soviets postcard that i didnt end up getting wikipedia for a quaich which is a traditional scottish bowl, a wiki page on the geology of arthur's seat, a book in the scottish national galleries that i thought about purchasing but didn't want to try and fit in my luggage (she is definitely one of my new favorite artists though) wikipedia page on lauryn hill for some reason not sure how i got there, wikipedia page on salome halpir this post was on tumblr and i tried to find the item in the victoria and albert museum but it was sadly not on display, one of the audio guides i listened to a bit of in the v & a, a scarf i almost bought in the v & a a google search for the fabric library at harrods because my mom mentioned that it existed but i could not find it search for blinq (apparently spelled that way) blossoms because of a cocktail my brother's friend ordered that had one as a garnish wikipedia page on the mechanical explanations of gravitation

watching: from wool to cloth using a historical weaving technique (jillian eve): oughhh colors

emma in the moment/made in the moment: a deep dive into the chunky boy crochet lore the crochet stardew valley pillow drama untangling the shocking tale of mystical creations yarn i tried red heart's new all in one granny square yarn

some crochet tips videos from play hooky with me

tiffanyferg: 'personal style' discourse hgtv is a gentrification masterclass cleantok villains and the morality of messiness

playing: a teeny bit of wizard101

making: fallow. well i guess i drew on some cards for my friend's bridal shower. but generally fallow.

eating: made deb smittenkitchen's delicious carrot cake recipe. mine was a little ugly but really really delicious. i bought a bag of preshredded carrots and just sort of roughly chopped em up a little smaller because i couldn't be assed to grate them. i also couldn't be assed to trim the cakes, i did two smaller round pans and stacked them up but because i didn't trim them they were a little wibbly. oh well.

i'm going to bake another cake for my brother's birthday next weekend and i'm between her chocolate olive oil cake (looks really easy) and bittersweet chocolate and pear cake (a little more involved but highly recommended by bee)

misc: my mom wanted to take a sailing class but didn't want to do it alone so she offered to pay for me to come. sure, said i! i have never sailed! i like learning new skills! reader, it is So Fucking Hot Outside. the wind died and we had to get towed back to shore. the sun was so strong. there are so many ropes with all different names and they all Do Something. sunday's class got cancelled/rescheduled because the weather was That Bad (hot as fuck and no wind) so we're doing it probably friday instead (and saturday. and sunday. it's two weekends in a row of both days at 9am yayyyyy) but i just hope the weather is. better.

[cen0b1te]

really really funny that im a literature student in the uk and my brother is studying politics in denmark and we both have to read ursula k le guin for our courses . her influence

[monstrousproductions]

I trust your taste

Can you recommend some fiction books? Fantasy is highly appreciated!

Oooh what a sign of trust!! OK so I don't actually read a huge ton of fantasy, so I'll do my best with a couple of non-fantasy that I just can't resist mentioning at the end.

Also, this got... a bit long... so I'm putting it under a Read More lol

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin - classic fantasy about a boy who becomes a great wizard. I realise this is likely one you've already read, as a fantasy fan, but it's a classic for a reason! Absolutely beautiful, and really powerful for me as a Quaker because of its rejection of the idea that fantasy must always be about The Goodie winning over The Baddie by doing killing better than them. If you've read it already, read it again lmao Also there's a new audiobook that came out a few years ago read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith which is just brilliant.

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin does come with a decent load of content warnings so do tread carefully if necessary, but it's also the best fantasy I've read in YEARS. The book is split over three different narratives in a world where magic users are an oppressed class, and again the audiobooks are amazing, read by Robin Miles.

Meanwhile I very much do NOT recommend the audiobook for Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, though I did enjoy the book when I read it. The audiobook is, I believe, read by an American putting on what he thinks is an English accent, and um. Well. It sure is something. It's pretty classic fantasy too, and one of those books that you're like "what in God's name do you mean, this wasn't intended to be gay??"

The Heavens by Sandra Newman always makes my rec lists because it made me cry a lot and it's just very beautiful. Again the narrative is split, one taking place in an alternate, utopian present and one in Elizabethan England, with the narratives linked by the fact that the Elizabethan stuff is happening in the dreams of the woman in the present.

My favourite book ever is Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, it's about an unlikely friendship between a girl and a young man with lots of fae things and that brilliant blending of magic and reality that DWJ does so well. It's so much my favourite that when I recommend it to friends, I ask them to please not tell me if they didn't like it - just pretend you didn't read it haha Honestly I recommend any DWJ, but F&H is my baby <3

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees was one of those books I read once that just stayed with me. It's about a Perfectly Ordinary English Town that sees an influx of fairy fruit and has to deal with that, and while I'm fuzzy on remembering the details, I know I loved it!

And then because I actually read more SF than fantasy as a general rule, here's a jumble of SF titles that I adore (though I'll spare you the waffle!):

the Imperial Radch triology by Ann Leckie about a troop carrier who becomes a person (she also has a fantasy book - The Raven's Tower - if that appeals more and all her audiobooks in the UK are read by Adjoa Andoh who I would simply die for)

the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, about a security bot who becomes a person (audiobooks are read by Kevin R Free, of Nightvale fame, and they're brilliant)

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, about two soldiers in warring time-travel factions sending letters to each other (also made me cry)

To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, about space researchers who change their bodies to adapt to the worlds they find and what ethical issues they come up against

The City We Became by NK Jemisin, about people who become living avatars of the different districts of New York to fight an alien presence (also a good audiobook - Robin Miles again)

All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai, about a man from a utopian timeline suddenly stuck in our timeline instead (good audiobook too)

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, about a travelling theatre troup in a world where civilisation collapsed after a terrible pandemic (obviously tread carefully wrt how upsetting that might be for you!)

And then it isn't SFF in any strict sense but The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton (Simon Vance does the audiobook I like) is just very very fun and good and I like it a lot. Also the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, for the same reason!

[gollancz]

Nominations for the 2023 Hugo Awards!

Nominations are still open for everyone's favourite phallic* SFF award! If you are able to nominate, why not consider some of our great books?

Everyone with memberships to either Chicon 8 or the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon that was purchased before February 1, 2023 is eligible to nominate up to five items in each of the 17 Hugo and 2 other award categories.

Some of the things you might consider nominating us for are under the cut!

*I don't wanna invoke the stalactite post but, like, come on

BEST NOVEL

Anything that came out in 2022 is eligible! And we had some bangers.

BEST SERIES

The Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore

The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock

The Last War trilogy by Mike Shackle

The Hussite Trilogy by Andrzej Sapkowski

The Legacy of the Mercenary King trilogy by Nick Martell

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

The Great God's War trilogy by Stephen Donaldson

THE ASTOUNDING AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER

Rebecca Zahabi, The Collarbound

Kelly Andrew, The Whispering Dark

BEST EDITOR - LONG FORM

Gillian Redfearn

Maybe we’re biased, but Gillian’s the best. She’s been at Gollancz nearly 20 years, and is the editor for Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Alastair Reynolds, Aliette de Bodard, Joanne Harris, Garth Nix, Elizabeth Bear, Patrick Rothfuss, Miles Cameron, Chris Wooding, Sarah Pinborough, Charlaine Harris… the list goes on! She is so involved in the SFF community, attending cons worldwide and she is staggeringly great at what she does. The only UK-based editor to be shortlisted for a Hugo award, she’s also genuinely one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Shortly after I first met her, she said something nice to me in the pub and I cried. On the plus side I set the bar for our future relationship very achievably low.

Marcus Gipps

Marcus has been in the biz for decades, starting as a bookseller and had a review Livejournal (yes, that's right, one of us) that helped him build respect with so many people in the industry. Any of the legendary, big names of SFF? He probably edits them. Michael Moorcock, Christopher Priest, Paul McAuley, Pat Cadigan, Stephen Baxter... He led the acquisition of THE LAST UNICORN once Peter S. Beagle got his rights back, he heads our WITCHER publishing, and his knowlege of SFF history is encyclopedic. He also leads our SF Gateway and Masterworks projects, archiving out of print SFF and saving them to keep in circulation. Marcus may be the most unflappable many on the planet, which is good because I'm extremely flappable so we balance out nicely.

Brendan Durkin

Do you like CHONKY books? So does Brendan. If you want a book to use as an offensive weapon, Brendan will have likely commissioned it. Brendan finds the books that are going to be the classics of the future. He works with J. T. Greathouse, Christopher Buehlman, Mike Shackle, SJ Morden, Chris Wooding, as well as being the lead for the Ursula K. Le Guin estate, the Terry Pratchett estate AND the Frank Herbert estate! Oh, and our beautiful D2C editions? All from his crazy genius mastermind brain. Also if you need somewhere to eat in central London? Go to him for a recommendation. I impressed him with my lunch choice the other day and felt like I'd Made It.

[eve-is-obsessed]

eve's media roundup: january

January was perhaps the longest month of all time. not in a bad way, just... it was long.

books

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin: my first Le Guin, loved it, worldbuilding was compelling, themes were amazing, prose was to die for. Genly and Estraven's relationship broke me. 5/5 stars to start the year off strong

The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 3): I really enjoyed most of this book, found one plotline boring and got annoyed at the ending. overall a solid read though, 4/5 stars

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal: this was a very "what you see is what you get" book. it was fun, not really groundbreaking in its discussion of sexism and racism in STEM but still nice. the sex scenes were, um. there were a lot of rocket innuendos. 3.5/5 stars

House of Chains by Steven Erikson (Malazan 4): absolute banger, my favorite Malazan book so far except I have beef with the ending. 4/5 stars

tv/movies

y'all I actually watched things this month. multiple of them.

Wheel of Time season 2: BANGER. this is the only thing on this list I watched on my own, and it's SO GOOD.

My Neighbor Totoro: I hadn't watched this since elementary school. adorable movie

Ponyo: likewise

Saltburn: what the fuck was that, incredible.

Doctor Who: watched some random episodes with my roommate, enjoyed way more than I expected.

A Whisker Away: huh??? I didn't even finish this movie but the premise is a teenage girl can turn into a cat and go hang out with her crush (who doesn't like her back) in cat form and it was weird. cute cats though

Love Island UK: I never would have watched this on my own but it was fun with friends, and we did get invested

Hot Fuzz: I did not like this movie. there were some funny bits but I couldn't bring myself to care about any aspect of it. I guess the bromance was kind of fun.

music

these album covers together are very visually pleasing. good job me.

closure (demos) by Zeph: a lot of them are short and loopable which is why it has so many plays

Stick Season by Noah Kahan: finally succumbed to the winter gloominess

In the End It Always Does by The Japanese House: I find this funny bc I only listened to two songs on this album this month, I just listened to them a lot. (Touching Yourself and Spot Dog)

bury me at makeout creek by Mitski: again, winter angst, young woman angst, all that good stuff

Snow Angel by Renee Rapp: this album is just all bangers, it has everything - gay panic, yearning, devastation, grief... obsessed

misc

Baldur's Gate 3: I am making the slowest progress known to man, currently in the Underdark and enjoying it. I just did the creche and really liked it bc I love Lae'zel

ok see you next month

[abwwia]

Jessie Makinson, This is going to be a tense afternoon, 2021, Oil on canvas, 80 3/4 x 65 inches, 205.1 x 165.1 cm

Jessie Makinson's work is darkly erotic and draws from influences including Ursula Le Guin, British folklore, stories of travelers, myths of pre-agricultural societies, 17th and 18th-century erotica, Flemish kitchen scenes, science fiction, and early Renaissance altarpieces. Makinson readdresses a patriarchal past from a female perspective. Plucking themes and narratives from historical precedent, she creates a bold new context for the motifs she selects. Vivid colors describe tense, erotic scenes in which women are dangerous active participants, not passive permission givers. Makinson’s characters practice rituals, they embrace, plot, and conspire. They hold sexual power and disrupt expectations, inhabiting a universe that surprises, delights, and tests its audience. Jessie Makinson (b. 1985, London, UK) lives and works in London. via

[simpmasterv2]

Get to know you game! Answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better.

Tagged by @theloopus tysm for tagging me this was fun ✨️

Last song listened to: had to be I Don't Live Here Anymore (feat Lucius) by The War on Drugs while I was on my drive home. 10/10 song to dissociate to if you just got off work

Currently reading: a few things! I'm in the middle of listening to A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin for the first time and Greenwood by Michael Christie (I had to take a break from this one) and I'm also currently trekking through a reread of Orlando by Virginia Woolf bc I haven't read it since college

Currently obsessed with: uuuuuhhhhh oh god I haven't felt the true passion of a hyperfixation in so long, yall know my ride or dies always gonna be star trek and mash but I have had and will continue to have baldurs gate 3 brain worms

Currently watching: like intently? Ghosts UK! Incredibly delightful i will be rewatching

Tagging some friends and moots- pls feel free to ignore, I hope you have a great day :)

@thoughts-of-jellie @ds9mp4 @gunstreet @trashbinary @dykebeckett @halliwellynn @justveeing @remyfire @hunnyhawks @sp0ckism