Sooo I missed this when it first came out - but it turns out I'm not too far behind the times as I read this first one (in a day...), went to look forSooo I missed this when it first came out - but it turns out I'm not too far behind the times as I read this first one (in a day...), went to look for the second one, and turns out it came out the next day (which is today, as I write). And the third comes out in October, so actually I'm doing just fine.
So there's many different aliens, pretty much all interacting companionably. One particular species, the Dyesi, search the galaxy for sentients who can sing or dance and then put them through rigourous training and bring them together as pantheons, because at that point those artists are gods. Yes, it's a bit "The Voice" - or, more accurately, "Idol" where the prize is to ACTUALLY be an idol. And their performances get broadcast across the galaxy, and people literally identify as worshippers and send in votives and so on.
The focus of this series is a refugee who has a lot of trouble with ordinary emotional interactions thanks to childhood trauma. Brought together with new people and compelled to live and work with them, this is inherently a story about found family and in that it is simply lovely. There's also, of course, music and art, and - amusingly - food and cooking.
This is a very cosy story, as should be no surprise to readers of Carriger's work: that is, there is real and important trauma in various backgrounds but (so far) little immediate or overwhelming danger to our heroes; there's a lot of focus on friendship and figuring out how all of that works, with a sense that obstacles can and will be overcome (not in a cheesy way). It's a generally upbeat, inclusive, humorous, joyful story - and honestly who doesn't need that in their lives sometimes? If you haven't read any Carriger but you loved Legends and Lattes, I suspect this will work for you.
Merged review:
Sooo I missed this when it first came out - but it turns out I'm not too far behind the times as I read this first one (in a day...), went to look for the second one, and turns out it came out the next day (which is today, as I write). And the third comes out in October, so actually I'm doing just fine.
So there's many different aliens, pretty much all interacting companionably. One particular species, the Dyesi, search the galaxy for sentients who can sing or dance and then put them through rigourous training and bring them together as pantheons, because at that point those artists are gods. Yes, it's a bit "The Voice" - or, more accurately, "Idol" where the prize is to ACTUALLY be an idol. And their performances get broadcast across the galaxy, and people literally identify as worshippers and send in votives and so on.
The focus of this series is a refugee who has a lot of trouble with ordinary emotional interactions thanks to childhood trauma. Brought together with new people and compelled to live and work with them, this is inherently a story about found family and in that it is simply lovely. There's also, of course, music and art, and - amusingly - food and cooking.
This is a very cosy story, as should be no surprise to readers of Carriger's work: that is, there is real and important trauma in various backgrounds but (so far) little immediate or overwhelming danger to our heroes; there's a lot of focus on friendship and figuring out how all of that works, with a sense that obstacles can and will be overcome (not in a cheesy way). It's a generally upbeat, inclusive, humorous, joyful story - and honestly who doesn't need that in their lives sometimes? If you haven't read any Carriger but you loved Legends and Lattes, I suspect this will work for you....more
I've read a bit about Caroline Herschel, often in the context of "here are women who did important things in science who don't get enough recognition.I've read a bit about Caroline Herschel, often in the context of "here are women who did important things in science who don't get enough recognition." She was one of those women who helped a man get lots of science done - in her case, her brother William: she was his assistant for much of his observing life, writing down his observations and helping with his frankly unwieldy telescopes, as well as keeping house for him for many years until he married - and then his wife had money so they had more servants. All of those things are immensely important and often get overlooked; no one is able to do science on the scale of William Herschel, or Robert Boyle, or Charles Darwin, without an immense amount of assistance: usually either female, lower class, or both. Hence why that assistance is often overlooked, because the European narrative in particular is much happier with the 'great man' theory.
To leave Caroline's story at that, though, is to do her an immense disservice. She was an astronomer in her own right, discovering eight comets (two of which she wasn't the official discoverer, because someone else got there first, but she didn't know about that when she found them). She also contributed observations to William's immense catalogue of the 'nebulous' stars. In the late 1700s, most people assumed that that 'cloudy' or nebulous patches in the sky were simply stars that contemporary telescopes couldn't resolve. William used the largest telescopes of the time to realise that actually, some of those areas actually couldn't be resolved - they really did look cloudy - and suggested that maybe some of those areas were where stars were born. (He also discovered Uranus - the first planet to have been discovered by a human, rather than seen naked-eye, which is what shot him to fame.) Caroline personally observed and described some of the Herschel catalogue.
And then there's the other scientific tasks she undertook, which might be easy to skim over because they don't seem that sexy. She worked for years on a massive index and catalogue of stars, using the main one available in English: double checking for errors, making it systematic, and so on. Not glamorous, requiring hours of probably boring labour, required a great deal of knowledge - what an amazing contribution to astronomy.
Anyway, the biography: is not entirely what I was expecting! It focuses largely on a decade in the middle of Caroline's life, her most scientifically productive - and a decade for which she destroyed her dairy entires and never discussed in either of the two memoirs she produced later in life. There's a lot of speculation for why this might be; most people conclude that it's because she wrote some bitchy stuff about her new sister-in-law and that this didn't fit her self-image as meek, self-effacing, and doing everything for family. It's a fascinating question and one that will almost certainly never be resolved. So Winterburn has used letters, information from journals, and references in other places to reconstruct those lost years, and in doing so to highlight just how phenomenal Caroline was as a scientist. While she wasn't the first women to be paid to do science - lots of other women were doing 'science', it just wasn't usually called that - she was the first English woman to have a royal pension for doing science, and that's very damn impressive.
There are oddly repetitive bits throughout the book, where Winterburn repeats ideas or phrases that have just been laid out a paragraph or two earlier; and the book can't solely concentrate on the one decade, because the reader needs greater context for Caroline's life - so it's not without flaws. There's also a frankly odd emphasis on the events of the French Revolution; while it certainly had a huge impact on some of the people Caroline and her brother corresponded with, it didn't actually seem to have a direct impact of Caroline, living in England - she wasn't obviously a supporter of either Burke or Paine (anti or pro the revolution), so I was confused by how many ink was spent discussing those foreign events. Nevertheless, overall I really enjoyed this, and am immensely pleased to know more about Caroline. To the point where I'm considering the so-called Herschel 400 as an observing list....more
A completely believable, dystopic Kansas City where the police and everything else are basically run by corporatioRead via NetGalley. Out March 2024.
A completely believable, dystopic Kansas City where the police and everything else are basically run by corporations and only for the rich (cue an Australian rant about modern USA, if you please).
An anarchic commune that's attempting to be a place where people feel safe, and are allowed to be what and who they want - and which really gets up the nose some rich people.
A trans woman, Dora, who used to live in said commune, and left over differences of opinion about security, and has been making her way for the last few years as a security consultant.
And Dora's ex-girlfriend, still living in the commune, who is found dead - allegedly of an overdose, but Dora discovers evidence of foul play.
This is a fast-paced thriller that I devoured very quickly. Dora is complex, driven, committed, sometimes bitter, and absolutely determined to get answers, even when that might hurt herself or other people. The setting is believable and horrifying, drawn with broad strokes but enough detail that you can see Wasserstein has put a lot of thought into it; and it makes me wonder what modern KC-dwellers think of it, and if they can see the places she describes. It works as a thriller - there are twists and reveals - and just overall it's very clever. Hugely enjoyable, and I look forward to seeing what else Wasserstein has up her sleeve. ...more
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