Book Thoughts: Suspension of Disbelief, featuring Huntress by Malinda Lo and Captain America

If you ever read books or watch movies outside of realistic contemporary fiction, you're familiar with the idea of the willing suspension of disbelief, even if you haven't heard the phrase before. It's how when we're faced with a story with fantastic settings or characters, if there's something "real" in there that connects these fantastic situations with the consumer, we're willing to suspend our disbelief - the instinct to roll our eyes and say something is impossible - in order to enjoy the story. Wikipedia is telling me the term was coined by philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was saying that if writers could add "human interest and a semblance of truth" to their stories, readers would be willing to go along with whatever else was thrown at them.

Today, reading the comments in another blog, I came across what is allegedly the contemporary rule for the suspension of disbelief:

The rule of suspension of disbelief is that if you have something fantastic...you have to make everything else as true-to-life as possible. If you have little things which takes you out of the believability, you find it less likely to believe the fantastic things.

In this case, the media in question is the new Captain America movie, where it appears some of the military units have been integrated, even though in reality, integration didn't happen until after WWII.

While reading this, in my head I heard the proverbial needle scratch across the record. Because in the book blogosphere, I think we just had this conversation, in a more specialized sense perhaps, inspired by Malinda Lo's blog post on taking the homophobia out of fantasy. Lo's point is that when authors are creating fantastic new worlds, even if those worlds are often based in some part on our own, we have the ability to remove something that is unfortunately common in our society, and truly imagine some place fantastic. We don't have to "make everything else as true-to-life as possible" - to use Lo's books as an example (and I'll be sure to review Lo's latest, Huntress, this week), just because we have fairies and magic doesn't mean we also have to have an oppressively patriarchal and homophobic society. Lo does an amazing job in Huntress of making love between women just another romantic possibility - there's some good-natured teasing about who likes whom, but it's never a joke because of gender.

So rto go back to Captain America, if we're already going to re-write history to say the Nazis have some bizarre Red Skull on their side, and the US develops a super soldier serum that turns a scrawny guy into Captain-freakin'-America, why would the straw that breaks the camel's back be a black man fighting alongside the personification of American ideals?

Suspension of disbelief is a good rule to keep in mind when creating a fantastic setting - to continue another comic book movie conversation I saw this weekend, will our disbelief be shattered in Iron Man 3 when Tony Stark doesn't call upon the other Avengers to fight the latest bad guy? It's also important we remember the less-than-perfect aspects of our history, and the real struggles real people went through in order to correct historic injustices, but I'm having a hard time seeing this particular argument as anything other than nerd!rage. Want to have a real conversation about re-writing history in a fantasy/sci-fi context? Check out Ta-Nehisi Coates' examination about the dearth of people of color in X-Men: First Class. In the meantime, I plan on enjoying Captain America's look at what WWII could have been like, unless something realy ridiculous pops up - still not sure I'm buying the CGI that makes Captain America's actor look like a 98-pound weakling...

Sci Fi Friday Review: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

It's no secret to long-time readers of this blog that I have a thing for Scott Westerfeld's writing. I wrote my senior thesis on the Uglies series, for goodness' sake! So it's probably no surprise, given my history with Westerfeld's work and my feelings about last year's Leviathan, that I enjoyed Behemoth. Just wanted to get that out of the way in case the curiosity was killing you.

When we last left the crew of the British airship Leviathan, they had just picked up several Austrian passengers, including the son of the recently-assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Alek - not that any of the British crew know that. Alek's lone friend among the crew is a young airman Dylan, who is actually a young woman, Deryn, disguising herself so she can serve in the air force - not that anyone knows about that. The airship is carrying some precious cargo and distinguished guests, including the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, who has some very special eggs she wants delivered to the ruler of the Ottoman Empire before a great war can break out among the European nations in response to the murder of Alek's parents.

The Ottoman Empire is at a crossroads when the Leviathan docks. They are technically neutral in the burgeoning conflict, but are being courted by both German and British forces for an alliance. And all is not well within the Empire, as the current sultan has only been in power for a few years and already militants are planning a coup to replace the monarchy with a democratic government. Alek and Deryn know that technically they are on opposite sides in this war - Clanker and Darwinist, royalty and commoner - but discover they will have to work together, along with an eclectic mix of allies, if they ever hope to achieve their mutual goal: stop a world war from beginning.

If you haven't read Leviathan yet, you absolutely need to read it before reading Behemoth. The story picks up mere days after the end of Leviathan, and the action starts within just a few pages, leaving precious little time to catch the reader up on what happened in the last book. I really liked the fact that Westerfeld just goes with the assumption that the reader already knows the back story, because that means each and every page can be devoted to developing what happens next.

This is one wild ride both similar to and very different from Leviathan. In the last book, we followed Alek wandering in the wilderness towards safety with his body guards, and Deryn spent much of her story alone among the crew out of need to protect her secret. In Behemoth, less physical ground is covered, as the story stays focused on Istanbul, and the story becomes more of a political thriller as Alek and Deryn become involved in the resistance movement - which introduces my favorite character, the feisty revolutionary Lilit, who has dreams of bringing women's liberation to Istanbul. She also has a huge crush on one of our dashing heroes. Lilit is a young woman destined for greatness and could probably support a whole novel of her own!

As expected, there are more great beasties and machines this time around. The Ottoman Empire is a Clanker nation, but they're more in touch with nature than the Germans or Austrians, as their mechanics are based on animals. My favorite was probably the spider-like machine that worked the great library. On the Darwinist side, we finally get to see what was in those eggs that were so carefully guarded in Leviathan and, of course, there's the title beastie, the Behemoth. It's awesome, in every sense of the word.

Because I feel like it's becoming my trademark, I do have to comment for a moment on the romance element of the book. Deryn is beginning to develop "feelings" for Alek. Maybe this just annoyed me because I read it shortly after The Education of Bet and A Golden Web, two other novels about young women dressing up as men, but I'm getting quite tired of girls putting all of their other goals at risk because of some boy that literally thinks they're just one of the guys. Deryn keeps a handle on herself better than the protagonists of the other two books, and it's really just a small bit of this otherwise giant story, but it still rankled me a bit. I am certain Goliath won't go the way of Mockingjay in terms of focus on relationships, but I can't deny there's a little bit of worry in the back of my head. Hopefully, averting World War I will remain the focus.

Rot & Ruin Giveaway Reminder: I'm going to draw the winner for the Rot & Ruin giveaway at 12 pm Eastern time today! If you still want a chance to win, enter here!

Reviewed from ARC picked up at ALA 2010.

Review: Claire de Lune by Christine Johnson

I read Claire de Lune shortly after reading Sisters Red - talk about two totally different werewolf books. Books like Sisters Red are why I can't swear off the werewolf genre, because you never know when something surprising will pop up. Claire de Lune isn't surprising like Sisters Red, but for a paranormal werewolf romance, I've certainly found worse.

Claire's sixteenth birthday party is going perfectly - except for the weird rash on the back of her hands and ears that is driving her crazy. Luckily Matthew, Claire's crush, hasn't noticed anything weird about her - and even talked to her during her party!

Until word arrives that there's been a werewolf attack nearby. The party shuts down fast as everyone runs for the safety of their homes.

Werewolves are a fact of life - Matthew's dad even works with the Federal Human Protection Agency, and hopes his research into a cure for werewolves will net him a position with Lyconthropy Researchers International. A lot of his research, however, is bunk.

How does Claire know this? On the night of her 16th birthday, her mother reveals a family secret: they are werewolves, and over the next three months Claire will complete her transformation into a fully grown werewolf - that rash was the first symptom of her transformation.

As Claire is initiated into the all-female local pack, the loup-garou find themselves dealing with another major issue: the rogue werewolf attacking innocent humans. As Matthew's father leads the hunt on the human side, Claire's mother is leading the pack's hunt, and Claire is left in the middle. Her mother tells her she's too young to know everything about her werewolf powers, and she is also expected to keep her newfound knowledge totally to herself - certainly she can't tell Matthew, and keeping such a major secret is putting a strain on their budding relationship. Forbidden or not, Claire is sure she can help the pack track down the rogue wolf - and just maybe trust Matthew enough to let him into her inner secrets.

The basics of the story are strong and interesting - I like Johnson's take on the loup-garou legends and the matriarchal pack structure (all werewolves are female in this world), and the mystery of the lone werewolf had me guessing up until the big reveal. Like in The Body Finder, the tension is ratcheted up as we see brief glimpses from the killer wolf's point of view - usually right before she sinks her teeth into the throat of some hapless human.

Less-strong is the storyline between Claire and her best friend Emily. Emily's sole contribution to the novel is giving Claire and excuse to talk awkwardly and very briefly about her growing relationship with Matthew - the girls literally talk about nothing else.

I also didn't like the relationship between Claire and her mother a lot of the time. I hate parent-child relationships where the parent refuses to tell her child something on the basis that the kid isn't old enough. It's exacerbated here because Claire's mother acknowledges there is a lot for Claire to learn, but puts an apparently arbitrary deadline on when she will actually talk to Claire about it. Until then, Claire should just sit back and be quiet, even as the rogue wolf puts everyone she loves in danger.

I also wish more background had been given about the history of the world. Werewolves are a fact of life in this story - but when did that begin? Have werewolves always been part of the human world, never becoming mere myths as they have in ours? Or is like the dragons in Voices of Dragons that appeared after World War II? It looks like this is going to be a trilogy, like so many paranormal stories are these days, with the sequel Nocturne coming out in May next year, and hopefully we'll get more background then.

Since this is a paranormal romance I should probably comment about that, too, huh? The good news is the romance is one of the strong points in the novel. It's nothing groundbreaking, but Claire and Matthew have a fairly normal relationship - as normal as you can have when one partner is secretly a werewolf, at least. It's nice to see this normalcy contrasted with the craziness that Claire's life is quickly becoming.

Review: Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn

Found via: Publisher's Weekly 2/22

As a kid, I loved, loved, loved the movie Pete's Dragon. And yet I don't read a lot of dragon stories. Probably because none will ever be as cool as Eliot. This continues to hold true in Voices of Dragons, but I won't hold that against the book (Eliot leaves quite large footprints to fill).

Movies tell us that after the nukes went off in WWII, Godzilla rose from the depths to go on his roaring rampage of revenge on Tokyo. In Voices of Dragons, replace "Godzilla" with dragons and "Tokyo" with everywhere, and you have the basic origin story of why there are dragons flying over 21st century Montana. When the dragons realized the humanity had progressed far beyond the medieval weaponry of the last time they'd lived together, and that now any battles would be a war of attrition between dragons and airplanes, the dragons made a truce with the humans, agreeing to remain within their designated territories, and never to bother humans again.

Fast forward roughly 60 years to the 21st century and the Montana town that is closest to the border with Dragon. Kay Wyatt is used to spending time on her own, since her father is the town sheriff and her mother works with Border Enforcement, monitoring the border to ensure no dragons (or humans) violate the treaty. On one of Kay's many hiking trips she takes alone, one misstep sends her plummeting into the river that marks the border. When she's rescued, she finds herself on the wrong side of the border, facing a giant dragon - her rescuer. Artegal is essentially just a teenager himself and has a fascination with humans - not as food, but wanting to learn English. Kay is terrified, after a lifetime of stories about the viciousness of dragons, but she and Artegal begin a tentative friendship, she teaching him English while he shares his knowledge of how humans and dragons used to live in harmony.

When the border is breeched again - this time by US military aircraft - tensions begin to mount again. Dragon drills at school increase, as does surveillance on both sides of the border. Both Kay and Artegal are convinced that their friendship and knowledge of ancient dragon lore is all that can stop all-out war from breaking out again.

Usually I don't pay too much attention to what point of view a story is written in - lots of YA books are being written from first person these days, but how much of a difference would it really make if some of those stories switched to third? Voices of Dragons is a third person novel, which makes it stick out a bit in the first place, but for the first time I totally felt it was the wrong perspective for the story. When Kay actually has the chance to fly by riding on Artegal's back, it should be an absolutely thrilling scene and we should be able to almost feel her fear and exhilaration. While all the right descriptions are there, telling this story in third person added a distance that definitely didn't need to be there.

But POV aside, this was a fun adventure story. I loved watching Artegal's and Kay's relationship build from wariness to affection. The ending clearly sets the stage for a sequel, though unlike other genre series we've seen lately, there's no release date set and the book hasn't even been started, so who knows how long we'll have to wait to see where Kay's and Artegal's adventures take them next.

Review: Nation by Terry Pratchett

I have a confession to make:

Nation is the first Terry Pratchett book I've ever read.

I don't know why; I've just never felt like picking up any of Pratchett's other works.

And unfortunately, I can't say that Nation is a book that is going to change my mind.

There's nothing inherently bad about this book: it's excellently written, the world is developed wonderfully and it's funny and touching and thought provoking - really everything you could ask from a book, right?

Except for one thing: I found absolutely nothing compelling about the story. It was interesting enough, but I really didn't care whether or not I ever reached the end.

This is the story of Mau and Daphne. At the story's outset, Mau is a boy on a quest to become a man. He sails by himself away from the island of the Nation to spend a night on the Boy's Island. As is the tradition of the Nation, when a boy completes his time on the Boy's Island, he returns to the Nation as a man.

Except while Mau is on the Boy's Island, a terrible wave hits the Nation, destroying everything - and everyone - Mau has ever known.

But brought along with the destruction is a ship that had been sailing across the Great Pelagic ocean, carrying Ermintrude, 138th in line for the English throne (as her grandmother always reminds her, should 137 other people die, Ermintrude would be queen!).

Ermintrude doesn't much care for the idea of being in line for the throne - she doesn't have it in her to wish for 137 other people to die. She considers herself something of a scholar: she has attended lectures at the Royal Society with her father who has encouraged her curious mind as they debate who is a greater scientist, Darwin or Newton. Ermintrude's grandmother thinks this is scandalous, of course, but when Ermintrude's father is named governor of an island in the Great Pelagic ocean, he decrees that his daughter will join him, and that is the end of that!

But it is during this voyage that the great wave that destroyed the Nation also sweeps Ermintrude's ship onto the island, leaving her the only survivor of the wreck. When she meets Mau, she realizes she has a chance to start over, in a way. She tries to Maintain Standards, wearing her proper clothes and inviting Mau to the wreckage of the ship for tea, but she also takes the opportunity to remake herself, by introducing herself to Mau as Daphne (it's a much more suitable name for adventuring than Ermintrude).

Despite the initial language and cultural barriers, Mau and Daphne work together to rebuild the Nation as refugees from other nearby islands come to what remains of the Nation. Among them are women who take Daphne under their wing and teach her how to make beer (a demon drink in Daphne's former life, but she makes the best beer on the island which, the women assure her, will lead to her getting a fine husband!), and a priest who serves as Mau's foil, as the destruction of his home has shaken Mau's previous belief in the gods.

The whole story touches on more themes than can be contained in a single summary. Gender, faith, science, imperialism, identity and family are all integral to the story and are woven in seamlessly. I probably most enjoyed the anti-imperialist sentiment, and Daphne's discovery of the Grandmothers. The Grandfathers - Mau's ancestors - spend most of the book haranguing Mau for not maintaining the old ways in the face of disaster. They yell in Mau's head and generally make him feel miserable for a long time. But as Daphne begins to understand Mau and his culture, slowly and quietly the Grandmothers - for, after all, every grandfather first had a mother and a grandmother who comforted him, fed him and taught him - begin speaking to Daphne, sharing their feminine wisdom with her.

And yet, despite all of these great, interesting tidbits...overall the whole book fell flat for me, which is unfortunate. I wanted to like this book, because I've heard so many good things about Pratchett. Considering I've read reviews on Goodreads from Pratchett fans that say this is among Pratchett's finest books, I probably won't be running out to pick up his other books any time soon.