Last night, the New Zealand Parliament passed a bill legalising same-sex marriage. Hurrah, another domino falls!

I suspect my country of origin will be one of the last dominos, but since NZ is now and will forever be my home, last night's victory is also my victory.

Happy holidays to you, whatever you celebrate.

It's a privilege, a public service, and a civic duty.

As noted on Cheryl Morgan's LJ: ReaderCon has stepped up to the plate. Both in word and in deed, they've proven themselves a class act: http://www.readercon.org/publicstatement.htm

Two rejections this month.

One from Strange Horizons -- which I expected, since I know I don't write well enough yet for that market. And, in retrospect, I can see a lot of pretty much un-fix-able problems with the story's premise, which I'm embarrassed about -- it just perpetuates too many cliched stereotypes. So I probably won't be subbing it elsewhere.

The other one from a new market which originally advertised for short stories "less than 5000 words, the shorter the better" but after I subbed my ~1500 word story they changed the guidelines to "4000 - 6000 words". Form rejection. I don't know if it was solely due to length, or if the story itself was also problemetic. It was a bit of a throw-away piece, without much really going for it, so it too can go into the trunk without any pangs.

Now I need to make myself start writing again. I've got half a dozen stories started and stalled. I think I need to figure out the ending of a story before I start writing it, otherwise I have nothing to write to, so I get stuck and give up.

Stacia Kane has done it again: made me cry.

OMG, this book is the perfect ending to the Downside tetrology. While the first two books are big on plot, setting, and character development, the second two books continue the plot and setting while merging character development and romance into something pretty close to perfection. It's rare that a book leaves me saying, "It's just so....Oh, god, it's so....You just have to read it." The book is speechlessly good.

I just finished a fantasy novel in which the character uses song for her magic. And what she sings are the barely (one word per line) modified lyrics of a song that was written by someone other than the book's author. And the book's author does not credit the original author of the song lyrics anywhere in the book. Or at least not that I could find.

Yes, the song is in the public domain. No, it's not copyright infringement. But it is, as far as I can see, a small commission of plagiarism.

And that, to me, is icky.

The Stepsister Scheme, Red Hood's Revenge, and The Snow Queen's Shadow, by Jim C Hines. Excellent light-hearted (but punchy and dramatic) PG-rated fairy tales in which happily ever afters don't always happen, strong-willed princesses kick butt to save the prince, and true love sometimes turns out to be between two women. I really need to get the other(Mermaid) book to complete the set.

Faefever, by Karen Marie Moning
Urban fantasy which I realised, in retrospect, is the third book of a five book series. A trad Southern Belle goes to Ireland to try and solve her sister's murder and finds out that she, like her sister, has special magical powers that let her see and kill the evil Fae. The writing is quite good, the narrator quirky but vivid, and the characters' interactions interesting, but the book ends on a massive cliffhanger, which left me feeling cheated, unsatisfied, manipulated, and quite angry. This is an author I'll actively avoid in future.

The Fallen Queen, by Jane Kindred
Fantasy that mixes our world on earth with angels, a heavenly host, and lots o' demons. It took me several tries to get into this one; the writing is fairly good, but it's a bit info-dumpy due to the massive worldbuilding. The main characters are very well drawn and, when the story is focused on the personal level, very interesting. I loved how the interpersonal romance/relationships were built, and that they included gay, straight, and bisexual characters. The story, thankfully, ended with a happy-for-now. I will look for the next books in this series.

Last Car to Annwn Station, by Michael Marriam
A lesbian urban fantasy-romance. A social worker, unwilling to accept the 'closed case' ruling from her superior, tries to secretly follow up a case of child abuse and finds herself and her friend pulled into the world of fae via an otherworldly trolley car system. They have to take on killer hounds, reanimated corpses, users of evil magic, and angry fairy kings -- while falling in love with each other. Fairly average, but good for an afternoon's entertainment.

The Bone Palace, by Amanda Downum
Fantasy set in a pseudo-Renaissance type world with lots of court intrigue, murder, mystery, royalty, ex-lovers, etc. This is the second book of a series but it easily stands alone and resolves satisfactorily. The prose is lush, heavy on description and sensory detail, and quite readable. The book twines together the storylines of several point-of-view characters including a bisexual necromancer and a transgendered noble who is the prince's mistress. The interpersonal relationships are beautifully rendered. I must read the other books in this series.

Heiresses of Russ (can't remember the editor; Lethe Press)
A very enjoyable lesbian spec fic "best of" collection, with stories from some top authors as well as several authors who were new to me. I loved the range of settings and storylines, which reflected the wide variety of cultures and backgrounds of the authors, and the mix of fantasy, SF, slipstream, fairy tales, and steampunk. Only one story seemed to not belong; in this illustrious company it seemed pedestrian, cliched, poorly plotted, and full of stupid coincidences, so I skipped reading the last half of the story and moved on. But overall an excellent collection, and one I'll be buying annually.


The Hedgewitch Queen, by Lilith Saintcrow
Alt-historical fantasy with a strong yet nicely-imperfect female lead whom Fate kicks up the steps to the throne. The language is formal and just ye-olde-y enough to evoke the period without being unintelligible, and the plot's twists and turns, along with a very believable main character, make for a compelling read. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and I was bitterly disappointed to find the sequel has not yet been released.


Shield of Fire (A Bringer and the Bane Novel, #1), by Boone Brux
A truly dreadful fantasy that I stopped reading halfway through. Rife with cliches, improbable names, trite shallow characters, badly-overacted angst for the ostensible purpose of sexual tension, occasional sentences with incorrect structure, and a few laughably bad moments, this story just didn't work for me on any level. An example of the prose:

Him: You'll take my cabin.
Her: No. I. Won't.
Him: Yes. You. Will.
Her: Noooo IIIII woooon't!


Machine, by Jennifer Pelland
Excellent SF that breaks all the rules. The protagonist is lesbian, agnostic, and a person of colour; her partner is Jewish; the story is very anti-American-Religous-Right; and it's disturbing enough to have given me nightmares. Celia, who gets put into an artificial body while researchers try to cure the fatal disease her biological body contracted, becomes a target of the religious right, who stalk and picket people like her, raging that souls cannot be created or copied. Her fear, confusion, and self-loathing lead her to join others like herself who deal with their issues by altering their machine bodies in grotesque ways and working in prostitution. The ending is both unanticipated and perfect, and completes the bittersweet story. The overt parallels between this story and the way the American religious right of our world treat abortionists and GLBTQ, and the self-punishment and (squickily disturbing rather than erotic) sex scenes, are what makes this book both very good and very un-mainstream. And nightmare-engendering. Do buy it and read it -- but don't say I didn't warn you.

Unwelcome Bodies, by Jennifer Pelland (Apex Books)
SF short story collection -- and the best collection I've read. The stories are all engaging and compelling, but they also leave you thinking -- each SF story has a theme that matches up very well with our own world and culture. The 'unwelcome bodies' theme is explored in various ways -- cybernetics, deformities, fear of mortality, enforced appearances. The stories aren't horror, though most look at the rotten things we do to each other and the horrible ways we treat each other. Each one is very different, and each one becomes your new favourite. And the last story ends with a positive note, in which the character will not give in, will not give up -- so the book leaves you feeling optimistic. If you like SF, like short stories, or just like challenging, thought-provoking fiction, read this book. I promptly went and bought Pelland's new novel, and it's next on my to-read list.

Hushed, by Kelley York (Entangled Publishing)
Contemporary gay YA novel. I'd been hearing good things about this book, so I picked it up -- and, wow. Archer is one of the most screwed up protagonists I've ever met, yet I could like and understand him and was cheering for him right though to the last page. Archer, a college freshman, is Vivian's best friend. He's always there for her. He loves her to the point of self destruction. And he picks up the pieces for her, again and again. Then she goes off with yet another loser, another abuser, another worthless guy, while he sits, ignored, waiting for her to need him again. Until Evan draws Archer out of his shell and shows him what it is to live and love. Archer finds happiness with Evan, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that Evan points out, quite clearly, that the things Archer has done to help and protect Vivian -- including murder -- have made him a monster. Archer wants to find peace, to find happiness with Evan. But that means no longer being at Vivian's beck and call. And Vivian doesn't like not being able to take Archer for granted. It's an ugly yet beautiful story, uncompromising and honest, but tender and compassionate. I'll definitely read any other books this author publishes, and I'll be looking for more books from Entangled. Small presses are really impressing me.

Men of Bronze, by Scott Oden (Medallion Books)
This is a historical novel set in Egypt just prior to Alexander the Great, when the Persians are trying to invade Egypt, and Greeks living in Egypt get caught up in -- or try to play -- both sides. On the plus side, it's very well written; I'd read it again just to study the author's style and turn of phrase. It's also well researched (as far as I can tell) and the historical setting is very interesting. On the not so plus side, it's a cast of dozens of POV characters; it's fight after battle after fight after battle, with a lot of espionage, intrigue, and betrayal in between. And it's definitely a Manly book: there's only one female character, who exists mainly to let the Manliest of the Manly men fall in love and be redeemed. OVerall, not quite my style, but there's a lot to admire in this book.