It's Always More Complicated

What I read

Finished The Gilda Stories - pretty good with a) the proviso that the ones that are set in the future at the time of writing which is now the past strike a little oddly, though further future looks plausible! and b) I wasn't entirely sold by the article I read's claims that it was doing something Entirely New with vampire tropes, because some of those things had been going on more in genre since the late 70s or so - the not needing to kill, the benign exchange, etc, what Gomez was bringing to it was more vampires who are not originally Ye Haut Aristos and bring that with them into eternal life.

Latest Literary Review, which seemed to have rather a lot of snark and condescension going on this month.

Margaret Drabble, The Realms of Gold (1975), which mostly still holds up.

Georgette Heyer, False Colours (1963) - you know, I thought this one was later? because I didn't remember reading it until later on in my Heyer consumption in youth, maybe it was just the missing volume in local library? Not one of the greats, I thought, or maybe I can now spot things coming, like we all can see what's going to happen when he pretends to be his twin at dinner to meet potential betrothed's wealthy grandmother. Yet another plot-pushing accident. Did think that the early mentions apropos of the man of business were going to lead to revelations of shady goings on, but it went in other directions.

Cecilia Rabess, Everything's Fine (2023), about which I saw some discussion somewhere, and which was a deal on Kobo. Hmmmm. I did think it slipped out of dealing with some of the issues by the good old C19th-novel stratagem of LEGACY, even if that was at cost of father's death.

On the go

Have just started Roshani Chokshi, The Gilded Wolves (2019), which was a Kobo deal, and I think I have seen people mention the writer if not this particular book.

Up Next

Well, next week new KJ Charles and the biography of Hilda Matheson, but not sure what before that.