I have been reading a good deal of sci-fi and fantasy lately. I wanted to continue the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi, and finally got to reading Ghost Brigades, the second in the series. I highly recommend it. His universe is full and unique and amazing. My favorite part is just how un-special humans are in it. We are not the grand conquerors, and maybe our universe view is skewed. Really great perspective on the future. If you've read all the classic sci-fi, you need to read Scalzi. His stories are reminiscent of the old ones in style, but with a modern wit and perspective. I cannot recommend his work enough. If in doubt, read Redshirts, his Star Trek parody. And then Fuzzy Nation. If you're not sold on my recommendations, just head over to his blog (going since we invented the idea) - Whatever.Scalzi.com
I have been getting through the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. I wanted to read it after a friend and I marathoned the first six episodes of the first season. There are great parts and so-so parts. It is not your childhood medieval fantasy, but that has a charm to it. I have always loved the Eddings books (Belgariad series, etc,), but where Eddings creates tales and adventures around medieval literary archetypes, Martin throws us out of the fantasy and in to a more reality-based situation. But with magic and dragons.
Slow to the party, I FINALLY read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I know! Somehow I managed to be a woman of the twentieth and twenty first centuries and NOT read Austen. I still haven't read Brontes, but I plan on rectifying this! Austen is my girl. I never realized that the movies are snarky because she was. It was not the overly romanic drivel I was expecting. It was great.
AND NOW for something completely different:
This article came across ye olde Facebook page today, discussing the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope in literature and television. As a feminist, this is something that comes in to my thoughts a lot. I am increasingly horrified at the state of girldom in my country these days. There are television shows too many to count that not only show women being vapid and bitchy, but encourage this behavior. All of the "Real Housewives" shows, the sitcoms. It goes beyond the Manic pixie trope, but enforces an idea that women are only worth how pretty they are and the men they can attract. It encourages woman against woman, not banding together to protect our rights as human beings, defending feminism. The article begins with a definition:
It is a particular aspect of sexism in storytelling that pretends to not be sexism. Instead of the bombshell damsel in distress, we get a smart, quirky girl. It seems we have a real person! Except she only lives to support the men in her life. The example used at the start of the article is Doctor Who. Now, I love DW. Like hard. Figurines on my desk and tardis ringtones hard. But I cannot deny this problem in the writing. There are a lot of men who write for the show, and always have. It began in 1963, when women really were expected to be a certain way. And yet, I can remember bits of the first Doctor's granddaughter being much more than just a boost to the Doctor's ego. She had her own sass, she pushed him, and she allowed him to teach her. She was a modern gal. Fast forward to the reboot (2005) and we have STRONG!WOMEN in Rose (series 1&2), Martha (Series 3), Donna (series 4), River (series 4-8), and Amy (series 7-8). But, how strong? In all cases (except River - she is a discussion for another day completely) we have women who look to be these exceptionally independent and tough gals, but spend most of the episode just crying out for the Doctor. They take care of him, physically and emotionally. And sometimes it bothers me. True, they are extraordinary circumstances, but just the sound a girl voice screaming all the time grates on my nerves. It is a part of Who that tears at my heart, a little. Conflicts me. But in terms of Manic Pixie Dream Girls, I don't know that it fits the definition. These women aren't necessarily the quirky odd ones out. And they have more dimension than just taking care of the Doctor. All of them (except Donna, poor dear) continue the path he sets for them, sometimes alone and sometimes with someone. I haven't seen too much of the "sensitive geek boy" fan looking to these women as sexual objects as I think happens with the Manic Pixie gal. These women have issues that stem from their male writers' own issues, but I don't think that this is it.
