Miscellaneous reading efforts
Mar. 14th, 2024 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
walkitoutI tried reading Janelle Monae’s _The Memory Librarian_, and the language is delightful but I was super confused. I will likely come back again at this and try later.
I tried reading _Priory of the Orange Tree_. I bought this (and the audio book) as part of the find f/sf for A. that is woman-centered and has good reviews. Reading this has made it super clear to both A. and I that we actually do not like High Fantasy. It is _possible_ that there are examples of High Fantasy that we can like. The definition of “high” is “totally different world” vs. “low” which is some degree of connection to our own reality. And then “high” is usually “epic”. And generally speaking NOT humorous. Apparently Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is unusual in that it _is_ humorous but also considered High Fantasy. Dunno? But a lot of the fantasy that I enjoy (Ilona Andrews, for example) is definitely low fantasy — near term / alternate universe stuff. The Ilona Andrews works that are not low fantasy tend to be more on the SF direction.
I actually don’t know _why_ I don’t like High Fantasy? I don’t think it is a thorough-going hatred of it, because I really enjoyed Travis Baldree’s books, and I also really liked Casey Blair’s tea chronicles. It may be the case that the only “High Fantasy” I like is at the super-humanistic / at least lightly comedic end of things.
I tried reading _Priory of the Orange Tree_. I bought this (and the audio book) as part of the find f/sf for A. that is woman-centered and has good reviews. Reading this has made it super clear to both A. and I that we actually do not like High Fantasy. It is _possible_ that there are examples of High Fantasy that we can like. The definition of “high” is “totally different world” vs. “low” which is some degree of connection to our own reality. And then “high” is usually “epic”. And generally speaking NOT humorous. Apparently Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is unusual in that it _is_ humorous but also considered High Fantasy. Dunno? But a lot of the fantasy that I enjoy (Ilona Andrews, for example) is definitely low fantasy — near term / alternate universe stuff. The Ilona Andrews works that are not low fantasy tend to be more on the SF direction.
I actually don’t know _why_ I don’t like High Fantasy? I don’t think it is a thorough-going hatred of it, because I really enjoyed Travis Baldree’s books, and I also really liked Casey Blair’s tea chronicles. It may be the case that the only “High Fantasy” I like is at the super-humanistic / at least lightly comedic end of things.