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Book thoughts
Jun. 27th, 2024 02:37 pmI usually don't feel compelled to write my thoughts about books until I'm done, but maybe it's the combination of my nerves being on edge from querying and recent events in my personal life, or maybe this book is bothering me just that much.
I requested an ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (from Orbit Books, publishing this October) after reading the first two chapters in an online excerpt and enjoying them. Now I'm nearly 25% of the way through and feeling like this book has already become a slog.
I want to say for the record that I try not to request ARCs of books unless I really want to read them and really think (or hope) I'll enjoy them. I'm an aggressive DNF'er when it comes to books in general and hate being stuck with a book I'm not enjoying, so because I feel pressure to finish ARCs I receive, I try to only request books that I believe I'll enjoy enough to finish.
Before I received my ARC, I read an online review that said the book felt like fanfiction of The Untamed. That made me apprehensive, but I assumed that maybe the two romantic leads would follow the same trope. Tropes can't be copyrighted, after all. Even as a writer myself, I love writing opposites attract/the sunshine one falls for the reserved, grumpy one.
Unfortunately, the similarities are too close as to be distracting.
Leo Loveage, the narrating protagonist, is an alcohol-loving, free-spirited, prank-playing, rules-hating character who even practices forbidden magic. Like, come on, my guy.
At the same time, he's different from Wei Wuxian in one crucial aspect: rather than being clever and a genius, Leo is more the Walking Mess type of character. And this is a pretty crucial difference, because it makes him much, MUCH more annoying to read about.
You can forgive Wei Wuxian's antics because his cleverness makes him fun to follow and makes it more understandable as to why he's constantly bending rules. Even though he antagonizes Lan Wangji, he has the energy of a rambunctious, mischievous, but ultimately harmless puppy who nevertheless wants to befriend Lan Wangji (at least in the C-drama). Leo Loveage, on the other hand, constantly antagonizes Sebastian Grimm for no reason other than he likes to cause trouble and annoy him. I don't know how old he's supposed to be, but given that this is an adult novel, it makes him seem immature rather than endearing. Combined with the fact that Leo is consistently terrible with magic and seems determined not to find a solution for that in order to spite his family, it quickly becomes grating to be in his head.
I don't easily find characters annoying. I also generally like Walking Disaster-type characters, characters who are presented as being messed up, who drink too much, and whose lives are out of control, usually due to past/family trauma. But I think it's the fact that Leo has no goal or desires and can't stop himself from making his life worse that bugs the hell out of me.
The other part that bothers me is that the magic system feels eerily like the author took cultivation from The Untamed and slapped a European coat of paint on it. The system of scriving spells onto paper sounds a lot like paper talismans, and the absolute dead giveaway was the fact that these sorcerers are also taught swordplay. Combining swordsmanship with magic has always been a very Asian, if not Chinese, fantasy tradition.
Why does this bug me? Because Chinese cultivation fantasy is not exactly well represented in American publishing. Very few, if any, Chinese fantasy novels published in the US actually draw from the Chinese fantasy tradition of cultivation---which to me is an indictment of what Chinese fantasy novels US publishers deem "worthy" of publication. So yeah, it bugs me more than a little that slapping a pseudo-European coat of paint on Chinese traditions is deemed palatable while actual Chinese fantasies drawing from that same tradition are not.
I requested an ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (from Orbit Books, publishing this October) after reading the first two chapters in an online excerpt and enjoying them. Now I'm nearly 25% of the way through and feeling like this book has already become a slog.
I want to say for the record that I try not to request ARCs of books unless I really want to read them and really think (or hope) I'll enjoy them. I'm an aggressive DNF'er when it comes to books in general and hate being stuck with a book I'm not enjoying, so because I feel pressure to finish ARCs I receive, I try to only request books that I believe I'll enjoy enough to finish.
Before I received my ARC, I read an online review that said the book felt like fanfiction of The Untamed. That made me apprehensive, but I assumed that maybe the two romantic leads would follow the same trope. Tropes can't be copyrighted, after all. Even as a writer myself, I love writing opposites attract/the sunshine one falls for the reserved, grumpy one.
Unfortunately, the similarities are too close as to be distracting.
Leo Loveage, the narrating protagonist, is an alcohol-loving, free-spirited, prank-playing, rules-hating character who even practices forbidden magic. Like, come on, my guy.
At the same time, he's different from Wei Wuxian in one crucial aspect: rather than being clever and a genius, Leo is more the Walking Mess type of character. And this is a pretty crucial difference, because it makes him much, MUCH more annoying to read about.
You can forgive Wei Wuxian's antics because his cleverness makes him fun to follow and makes it more understandable as to why he's constantly bending rules. Even though he antagonizes Lan Wangji, he has the energy of a rambunctious, mischievous, but ultimately harmless puppy who nevertheless wants to befriend Lan Wangji (at least in the C-drama). Leo Loveage, on the other hand, constantly antagonizes Sebastian Grimm for no reason other than he likes to cause trouble and annoy him. I don't know how old he's supposed to be, but given that this is an adult novel, it makes him seem immature rather than endearing. Combined with the fact that Leo is consistently terrible with magic and seems determined not to find a solution for that in order to spite his family, it quickly becomes grating to be in his head.
I don't easily find characters annoying. I also generally like Walking Disaster-type characters, characters who are presented as being messed up, who drink too much, and whose lives are out of control, usually due to past/family trauma. But I think it's the fact that Leo has no goal or desires and can't stop himself from making his life worse that bugs the hell out of me.
The other part that bothers me is that the magic system feels eerily like the author took cultivation from The Untamed and slapped a European coat of paint on it. The system of scriving spells onto paper sounds a lot like paper talismans, and the absolute dead giveaway was the fact that these sorcerers are also taught swordplay. Combining swordsmanship with magic has always been a very Asian, if not Chinese, fantasy tradition.
Why does this bug me? Because Chinese cultivation fantasy is not exactly well represented in American publishing. Very few, if any, Chinese fantasy novels published in the US actually draw from the Chinese fantasy tradition of cultivation---which to me is an indictment of what Chinese fantasy novels US publishers deem "worthy" of publication. So yeah, it bugs me more than a little that slapping a pseudo-European coat of paint on Chinese traditions is deemed palatable while actual Chinese fantasies drawing from that same tradition are not.
