Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Two RHC Books

Two quick reads that both qualified for the RHC this year: a debut novel by a queer author, and a sci-fi novella. Except I see I've already checked off sci-fi novella.  I'm bad at keeping track this year!

At any rate, I read two books and here are my thoughts:

London Calling (by Clare Lydon)

I enjoyed Before You Say I Do,  so I decided to check out Lydon's debut. This is about Jess, a woman living in Australia who gets cheated on and then moves back to London, and then has some lesbian adventures. This had the same problem for me as Before You Say I Do, minus the strength of having a strong plot. Namely, the two main characters fall for each other seemingly because they're both very attractive, and then that's kind of it. It definitely feels like infactuation rather than love, so the emotional stakes are missing. And then there's also no real plot to speak of. Add in a slur for transgender people and some editing mistakes, and it isn't something I'd recommend. It is a light read, and not terrible, but very forgettable.

All Systems Red (by Martha Wells)

Hearing great things about this series and as a sci-fi fan, I had this in mind for the RHC from day one and then I kept checking it out from the library and then forgetting to actually read it. As soon as I started it this time around I realized why: it opens with scenery description.  You know me and scenery description. But I pressed on and found a delightful story about Murderbot, a sentient, humanoid security robot whose "governor module" breaks and thus finds itself with free will.  I will definitely continue with this series because it is, indeed, really good.

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