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yet another book review
Dec. 20th, 2009 11:36 amI finally read Havemercy, by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett, which for some reason I didn't hear of until recently despite it being a fantasy novel with m/m romance written by people with fannish connections.
Havemercy is hard for me to comment on in a way, because there are things I love about it, but objectively it's not a very good book and in some ways it's quite a problematic one.
( spoilers under the cut, including a fairly major one for a character-related revelation that occurs about two-third of the way through )
You know what I'd like to see in 2010? Not just more published sff that features queer characters and relationships (both f/f and m/m) but better queer sff. Stories that actually reflect on queer experiences beyond sex and romance (or that explore what a world that doesn't discriminate against queer people/relationships might be like), stories that innovate in more ways than just queer inclusivity, stories that don't rely so much on convention and cliché (especially conventions borrowed wholesale from the heterosexual romance genre). Sadly, given how few books are being published these days, I doubt 2010 will be a breakthrough year in that regard.
Havemercy is hard for me to comment on in a way, because there are things I love about it, but objectively it's not a very good book and in some ways it's quite a problematic one.
( spoilers under the cut, including a fairly major one for a character-related revelation that occurs about two-third of the way through )
You know what I'd like to see in 2010? Not just more published sff that features queer characters and relationships (both f/f and m/m) but better queer sff. Stories that actually reflect on queer experiences beyond sex and romance (or that explore what a world that doesn't discriminate against queer people/relationships might be like), stories that innovate in more ways than just queer inclusivity, stories that don't rely so much on convention and cliché (especially conventions borrowed wholesale from the heterosexual romance genre). Sadly, given how few books are being published these days, I doubt 2010 will be a breakthrough year in that regard.
