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First I must tell you that I am a very happy bunny because Lois McMaster Bujold has announced that she is writing a new book. When her last one was published in 2012 she more or less said that she was retiring and didn’t have any plans for more books at the moment. But now she has said that she is writing a book about Cordelia, Miles mother and it will arrive in February next year. Yay! I hope it will be set on Sergyar were she and Aral goes as Vicereine and Viceroy at the time of Memory and that Mark will be in it too. But it may also be about her time after Aral’s death and in that case it will probably be rather heartbreaking. But Cordelia is a wonderful heroine and I love that she will come to her own again. I actually loved her character so much that I didn’t want to read about Miles at all.

What I am reading: A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold

Soulless by Gail Carriger


What I have finished reading: Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold. This book is told from two different point of views, Miles and Ekaterin Vorsoisson. Ekaterin lives with her husband on the planet Komarr when her uncle Vorthys, a colleague to Miles, and Miles himself turns up to investigate what everyone hopes is a terrible accident, but which looks more and more like a terrorist attack. The investigation is exiting in good Bujold manner, but it is Ekaterin who is the really interesting person in this book. Her marriage is very unhappy, she is staying becaiúse she has a son and because she takes her marriage vows seriously, but also because her husband, Tien, is ill, though he refuses to do anything about it.

Tien is one of the worst characters in all Bujold’s books. Not because he is an evil monster, but because he is the kind of awful man everyone meets and some are unlucky to be in a relationship with. You know the kind, the one who can only feel good about himself if he makes everyone else less. Who is jealous without a cause and who is constantly belittling their partner, making them feel that they are at fault for everything. Tien was my boyfriend when I was 18 and he is the husband to one of my childhood friends who has steadily turned into a shadow of her former self. She is beautiful and bright and I see her face when I read about Ekaterin. She has even come with the same excuse for his psycological abuse as Ekaterin does at one point; at least he has never hit me.

Ekaterin is a great portrayal of a person who has been diminished for years and who is starting to realise that she has to go, or be destroyed. She is also everything that Miles have ever dreamed about, but to complicate things Tien is killed and Miles is with him when it happens…

When I re-read it I was struck about another things in Bujold’s book that makes me love them so much; people have interests. Ekaterin loves gardening and her son is into spaceships. Ivan’s mother Alys is passionately interested in fashion and loves to go to concerts, the Koudelka sisters are into fitness and so on. It really makes them more alive.

The Shunned House
by H. P. Lovecraft. I thought I had read everything by Lovecraft, but this story was new to me. It tells a story about a house where the inhaitants have vasted aways and died in large numbers, until no one wants to live there anymore. Lovecraft touches upon vamipres and werewolves until he settles on something other. Not one of his best, it’s a quite early work, but with definite potential and an interesting basic story.

What I will be reading next: Lord Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Horror In the Museum by H. P. Lovecraft

Date: 2015-03-18 04:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] velvetwhip.livejournal.com
I am so happy your favorite writer is working on a new book.


Gabrielle

Date: 2015-03-19 06:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scripsi.livejournal.com
Thank you. :)

Date: 2015-03-19 01:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com
Ohhh, that is awesome!! So glad she is writing another!

Date: 2015-03-19 06:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scripsi.livejournal.com
Yes, I'm very pleased :)

Date: 2015-03-26 09:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flowsoffire.livejournal.com
Yay, new, expected books! And the abusive relationship portrayal sounds quite interesting.

Date: 2015-03-27 03:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] scripsi.livejournal.com
It is. And real, which perhaps isn't what you expect of a SF book, they so often are a bit over the top and deal with the HUGE baddies. :)

Date: 2015-04-02 09:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flowsoffire.livejournal.com
A bit of a real feeling is always interesting! :)

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