Flight into Fantasy

Title: Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories
Author: Chris Crutcher
Genre: Young adult
Reason for Reading: It was a reread, and I’ve been on a YA binge lately.
Synopsis:

From Publishers Weekly
If the stereotype of the “bonehead jock” is ever to be defeated, it will be at Crutcher’s hands. In these six short stories, he and his athlete protagonists take on such weighty issues as racism, homophobia, sexism and the teenager’s essential task of coming to terms with his parents. At the same time the author makes the world of sports compelling enough to engage even the most sedentary readers. Three of the stories revolve around characters featured in Crutcher’s The Crazy Horse Electric Game , including the memorable eccentric known as Telephone Man. Also starring in his own story is Lionel Serbousek, the orphaned artist and swimmer of Stotan! In the book’s final tale, Louie Banks (from Running Loose ) is befriended by a young man with AIDS and must cope once again with the untimely death of a loved one. The stories’ locales–mostly small towns in Montana and Idaho–are vividly evoked, and make a satisfying change from the well-known big cities and bland suburbs where so many YA novels are set. Ages 12-up.

Other Takes:

• Big A Little a: she liked it, too.

Fun Fact: this was a frequently challenged book in 2008 thanks to “Telephone Man”, which features many racial slurs.

My Thoughts:
I’ve been on something of a young adult kick lately. I’m not sure why this is–maybe it’s a longing for the halcyon days of teenagerhood that never were. Or maybe it’s that, in young adult fiction, an author has to cut to the heart of whatever serious issue they’re dealing with and make it relatable. Not that this doesn’t happen in adult fiction, but for whatever reason, realistic YA works better for me than realistic adult stuff.

Added to that, this particular book is a reread. I hadn’t thought about Crutcher in years, until Renay reviewed another of his books. Her experiences with his books brought me back to my own teenagerhood, and so I’ve been reading more Crutcher, because he’s a quick read, and I find some comfort in the sensitivity and thoughtfulness of his writing. That being said, it’s kind of odd that I like this book as much as I do. The heroes of these short stories–most of whom have appeared in Chris Crutcher’s other books–are all athletes, with one major exception. I, on the other hand, am not only the wrong gender, but I’m as athletic as wet cardboard, but I love this book to pieces anyway.

Sports do play a huge role in the lives of Crutcher’s protagonists’, and they use sports to deal with various issues. But this isn’t a collection of sports stories. Rather, it’s a book about young men dealing with painful situations that arise in their lives. In “A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune”, (which was made into a movie that, I’m told, completely butchers the story, and which, incidentally, is my favorite of these stories), Angus is a fat kid whose parents are both gay and who is, seemingly randomly, elected Winter Ball king, and expected to dance with the girl of his dreams.

“The Pin 1″ deals with the issues that perennial smart alec Johnny has with his father, and I like it more now that I’ve actually read The Crazy Horse Electric Game, where Johnny basically was the comic relief sidekick, a character not always allowed the space to remain serious while staying in character in other books I’ve read.

“The Pin 2″ on the other hand, features Petey having to wrestle a girl, which isn’t something the geeky and awkward young man can deal with. What makes this struggle harder for Petey is that he manages to meet the girl and discovers that he likes her as a person.
“Telephone Man” involves a boy learning that maybe the things his father has always told him about black people are wrong. This one is my least favorite, and even after seeing more of this character in, again, The Crazy Horse Electric Game, I still didn’t much like being in his head, and felt pretty humiliated for him most of the time, even if the lesson he learned was a good one.

“Goin’ Fishin’” involves a boy learning to face the boy he blames for the death of his parents. This one didn’t work as well for me either, because quite honestly, I found Lionel’s rudeness entirely justified, and don’t think I could bring myself to forgive anyone if they’d done something like what Neil did to him. Then again, I’ve not read the book that features Lionel, so that’s another reason the story wasn’t as good. Of course, given I’d still rate it a strong B, that probably isn’t saying all that much.

“In the Time I Get”, the last story, involves a boy being befriended by a young man who is dying of AIDS. I don’t remember thinking much of this story when I read it as a teenager, but I understood it much better as an adult, and it works well, even though, again, I’ve not read Running Loose, the book on which it’s based.

This is definitely highly recommended for anyone interested in YA fiction, especially fiction that manages to come across as sympathetic without talking down to the intended audience. Knowledge of Crutcher’s other books isn’t necessary for enjoying these stories. This one’s a definite keeper.

Final Grade: A-

Yesterday I reviewed the adult fantasy and SF I’ve been reading. Today, I’m going to take a brief look at some of the YA fantasy I’ve gone through over the past few months.

• Skellig by David Almond came recommended by Nymeth. It’s the story of a sad and lonely little boy whose family moves to a ramshackle house. His parents are preoccupied by the fact that his baby sister is seriously ill. Michael, the boy, is fascinated by the garage, which is condemned, and discovers a strange, winged man inside. He begins feeding the man, and with the help of a misfit girl he meets, he begins finding hope again.

  This story packs a lot in a very few words. It took me a while to get into it, and I’m still not entirely sure everything worked for me. I enjoyed the imagery, and I enjoyed the story’s gentle hopefulness, but I’m not sure it’s a book I would have chosen to read on my own. I think this one will get a C.

• I Was a Teenage Fairy is the first book by Francesca Lia Block that I’d read that wasn’t part of the Weetzie Bat series. like the Weetzie Bat books, Block takes us to a glittering version of Los Angeles. We meet Barbie, a struggling teenager whose mother, the worst stage mother ever, wants her to be a model so that she can relive her glory days. Barbie finds herself powerless, and she befriends Mab, a fairy she meets. Mab has a lot to teach Barbie, and in turn, there’s a lot Barbie can teach Mab as well.

  This is the kind of urban fantasy I like–the kind that evokes a definite sense of wonder. I don’t think I’d want to live in Block’s L.A., but it sure would be fun to visit. I found Barbie to be a bit of a doormat at first, but I adored Mab, and I liked watching Barbie come to find a sense of pride in herself. This one gets a strong B.

• Graceling by Kristen Cashore is another book I read because of all the hype. I think Renay was the one who eventually got me to pick this up. And I’m glad she did. While the book does lose a few points for not being as awesome as advertised, those don’t really matter outside of my head. This story features Katsa, a prickly, sharp-tongued young woman with different-colored eyes and amazing special powers. Mary Sue fanfic, right? Well, I thought it veered that way at the beginning, and so it took me a while to truly get to like Katsa. But gradually, without my picking up on it, Ms. Cashore made me care about her. It’s the vulnerability that I really like in my bad-ass fighter chicks, and though Katsa hides hers well, eventually it became obvious and from that point on, I was in her corner all the way. I also really loved Po, and I got why Katsa finds him fascinating. And I do have to say that I agree with part of Renay’s assessment of the book, and I’m glad to see a book end with the couple still together but not married, because that’s a perfectly acceptable choice, and anything else wouldn’t have been true to Katsa. My grade wavers on this one from a B to a B+, so I think I’ll be generous and go for the higher grade, because I do want to revisit this particular fantasy world.
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling wasn’t a book I’d intended to read. I actually haven’t readd any of the supplimentary Harry Potter materials, because honestly, that kind of stuff feels a bit like the author cashing in on the hype. And, in this case, that’s exactly how I felt reading these stories. I didn’t feel like I got much insight into wizarding culture that I’d missed before, and the fairy tales, while interesting in and of themselves, are kind of forgetable. I think I’ll stay clear of JKR until she writes another actual novel. C- for this one.

Come back tomorrow for some quick peeks at the romances I’ve read.

I haven’t been blogging much lately, as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Life got in the way, and then the number of books I had to review kept getting larger and larger, and I’ve found that if I don’t get my thoughts down quickly enough about a particular book I’ve been reading, I tend to lose it.

So, for the next few days, I’ll be writing mini reviews of the stuff I’ve been reading. I’m going to abandon my normal reviewing format for these posts, just to make it easier on myself.

Today’s list of books are all adult and are SF and fantasy related. And, just to put how far behind in reviews I actually am in some perspective, I read this first book in May.

• Nine Princes in Amber is the first of Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber. It tells the story of Corwen, who wakes up in a hospital room with no memory of who he is, and is enmeshed immediately in a family feud so powerful that the wrong move could cause destruction throughout every demension.

  Like the reader, Corwen is simply dumped into the story, and I liked learning along with Corwen what was going on. Of course, Corwen does think rather highly of himself, which colors the narrative, but I found him engaging. I’m not sure yet whether I’m intrigued enough to keep going with the series, but this one does rate a B-.

• Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling is an epic fantasy. Alec, wrongfully imprisoned by a cruel lord, is rescued by the mysterious and compelling Seragil, who teaches Alec the art of spying. Soon the two are embroiled in adventure involving cursed objects, wizards, and deadly politics.

  I read this one back in May as well, and it was fairly forgetable. I think a lot of the reason for this is that I’m used to a lot of the tropes Ms. Flewelling employs, and I just don’t find them memorable, although I can see this being a good choice for a newbie fantasy reader. Alec and Seragil, sadly, weren’t particularly compelling characters. I did, however, like that the dialogue flowed in what I thought was a natural way. There’s no pretentious, high-falutin speech here, nor is there a tendency to be as crude as possible, both sins other fantasy writers commit all the time. I did enjoy the book while I was reading it, and may finish up the series. This one gets a C.

• Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest was one of those books I read for the hype. I know several bloggers think she rocks, and whenever bloggers speak in hyperbole, I do tend to listen. It centers around Eden, who has developed some rather unusual abilities, and is told in a compelling Southern Gothic style. I really enjoy Southern Gothic stories, and this one had plenty of the elements I like from that genre–small Southern towns, lots of family drama, and engrossing horror elements. Unfortunately, after I finished it, the details slipped away. I know that I like Ms. Priest’s writing, but I really can’t remember very much about the plot overall, so I’m going to have to give it a B-.
• Blue Diablo by Ann Aguirre is an urban fantasy set in an unusual location. Corine Solomon is living a quiet life running an antique shop in Mexico when she is contacted by her ex, Chance, who wants her to help him find his missing mother.

  As a reviewer, the hardest books to talk about are the ones that don’t leave a significant impression. Particularly when the book is written by one of the reviewer’s favorite authors. Ann Aguirre is talented, and I did find myself enjoying the story while I was reading it, but the gripping excitement I feel when reading her Sirantha Jax series just isn’t here. The story felt a little quieter somehow, and I do like that Ms. Aguirre writes her characters with distinct enough voices that, while I was reading, I wasn’t thinking, ‘OK, so this is Jax but in Mexico.’ Corine seems to be more reflective than Jax, and she’s got a lot of reasonable issues to work through. But there was something about this story that didn’t quite grab me. I don’t even particularly want to argue about which of the two love interests Corine could develop– for the record, I am on team Chance. To that end, this book gets a C+.

• In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Cathrynne M. Valente is the second and final volume of her Orphan’s Tale duology. I really loved the way that the stories spun out in the first book, but the second wasn’t nearly so captivating. The stories in the second book are quite a bit darker than in the first, and when I wasn’t reading I found myself pondering logistical questions, like how the girl who spins the tales acquired language skills considering she was thought to be a demon and banished to the castle gardens. The end wraps all the plot threads up in a neat and tidy bow that, upon further reflection, I find eyeroll-inducing. For all that, though, I do enjoy some of the ideas Valente plays with. I really love the feminist themes in her books, and I like the way her female characters must survive and do the best they can in a world that is often cruel. I think I would read more Valente, but sadly, her urban fantasy novel, Palimsest doesn’t really appeal. C+ for this one.
• Elantris by Brandon Sanderson is a rare breed of book. It is an adult epic fantasy, and it stands alone. It is the story of the titular Elantris, which is a city of magic and beauty. Unfortunately, ten years ago, everything changed when the magic ran out, and now the citizens of Elantris are little more than half-rotten, mad corpses.

  I think I would have liked this book much better had I not listened to an audio version. The narrator doesn’t do this book any favors, and I found his style kind of giggle-inducingly self-important. Also, Sanderson’s writing isn’t particularly polished, something I pick up on a lot more if I listen to someone read me a book than I would have if I were reading on my own. Still, the characters are fun, and subversive enough that I didn’t feel I was reading a cliche-ridden fantasy novel. The characters are warmly drawn, and there’s only one who is distinctly hard to sympathize with. My quibbles with the book are minor, and purely my own preference–I hated that the end required the strong, capable female character to need rescuing from capture, but that’s just me. A strong B for this one.

Tomorrow, come back for some reviews of the children’s and YA fantasy I’ve been reading!

My blogging partner, Lora, and I are trying something new today. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at co-reviewing a book, and since we both like urban fantasy, we figured Diana Rowland’s debut novel, Mark of the Demon was a good place to start.

If you want to check out other opinions, feel free to read the following:

• Sci Fi Guy

• Lurve a la Mode
• Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review
• Dear Author

Synopsis:

Cop and conjurer of demons, she’s a woman in danger of losing control–to a power that could kill….

Why me? Why now? That’s what Beaulac, Louisiana, detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when an angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly
beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who’s already claimed the lives–and souls–of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he’s back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore. Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac’s small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head…

My thoughts:

I can’t say that this was my favorite urban fantasy ever, though I did enjoy it. The author does a few things I liked–the police procedural stuff felt very authentic, Cara wasn’t too stupid to live, and I liked the way she dealt with the conflicted relationship Cara has between two men, which, I have to admit, is the part of most urban fantasy stories I hear about that I haaaaaaaaaaate with a passion! I mean, really, make up your damn mind about which one you want, and qit whining, because some people only wish they had those kinds of problems, you know?

That being said, the mystery didn’t work for me at all. I thought it got bogged down in too many places with the minutia of police work, and then, wham! There’s the solution. And since this was very much a mystery, I was left kind of underwhelmed for the first half of the book. There were also times when things happened and my reaction was a nod and an eyeroll. I didn’t buy for a second that Ryan, the FBI agent Cara meets while she is working on the case and, predictably, the third side of the love triangle, was ever a bad guy, even when the author planted red herrings. I pretty much called the death of a minor character after he called Cara to ask about the case. And the climax went down about like I expected it to, with both the murder mystery and Cara’s occult workings intertwining.

I did like Cara’s voice, and like I said, I liked the choice she has between Rhyzkahl and Ryan. I’m firmly on team Demon myself, which is surprising since I normally don’t end up rooting for the hot but morally ambiguous types. I liked Ryan well enough, but Rhyzkahl… Man, he stole every scene he was in, and I absolutely believed that Cara would be in terror of him, because he could easily break her, which fascinates me and I hope he gets to show up more in future books. At the same time, though, I like how Cara’s not sleeping with Ryan, and their relationship is going to develop more slowly, and Ryan isn’t just the good, stable man (TM.) He’s got secrets, and I want to know what will be in store for him.

I guess if I were to grade this book, I’d go with either a B- or a C+. I loved the second half, but the first half dragged so much, and the overused tropes were kind of eyeroll-inducing.

Lora’s Thoughts

I picked up this book because it had one of my favorite combinations of genres:  police procedural and urban fantasy.  I was a little worried, because this is the first novel Diana Rowland has published, but the stor ywas a pleasant surprise, and well worth the read.

Kara Gillian has been a property crimes detective for the past three years. In the past few weeks, she has transferred to violent crimes.  Serendipity lands the Symbol Man case in her lap, the handiwork of a serial killer obsessed with the demonic.

I enjoyed the conflict between the various police investigators assigned to the case, everything from the resentment of several characters because the rookie was appointed as lead on the case to the inevitable clashes as several different agencies had to work together.  The procedural part felt authentic, and for me it didn’t detract from the story.  I enjoyed the cop humor as well as the police work.

Ms. Rowland develops an interesting society based on demons instead of vampires or werewolves or any of the other common supernatural myths.  I would love to see this society fleshed out even further, as I think there are some fresh and interesting ideas to be explored here, something that will go beyond the usual suspects and the usual plot devices.

Like you, I’m often skeptical of the “torn between two lovers” trope.  It can grow tedious, and there are many times that I would rather the author spent more time on the world, the mystery and the magic, and devoted less space to the predictable romantic angle.  This story was an exception, however.  I liked both Ryan and Rhyzkahl.  Ryan came across as the lovable, if a bit awkward, geek, while Rhyzkahl simply owned every scene he was in. Although I had a little trouble accepting that Kara slept with him on their first encounter, I’ll concede that I could understand her abject fear of him, and fear can make us do strange things.  He is powerful, confident and absolutely compelling, with an underlying streak of anger that could prove very dangerous. I haven’t chosen sides yet.  That’s actually a good thing.  Usually, one of the characters has a clear-cut advantage in these competitions, but I liked both men.  I could almost argue for polyamory in this instance.  Nicely done, Ms. Rowland, for making me enjoy something I’d otherwise find annoying.

I would have to give this book a B, however, because the surprises weren’t quite as surprising, and the mysteries not quite as mysterious, as I would have liked.  The red herrings meant to make Kara think Ryan was a bad guy were just not credible, and I wanted to thump her for falling for them at all.  Ryan had already proven himself under very trying circumstances, and her lack of faith was a bit disheartening.  I did figure out who the murderer was before the reveal, in large part because the conversation where he threatened to pull her off the case, and then relented, felt a bit forced and unbelievable. Given more opportunities to write in this universe, I believe that Ms. Rowland can refine the storytelling process to tackle these concerns, however.  There are at least two more books in this world on the way, and I look forward to reading them both.  Ms. Rowland has a writing style that makes her books fun to read, and she gives her Kara Gillian a strong presence that allows her to be capable and independent, and human enough to make mistakes. 

One of my friends, whom I reconnected with on twitter a few months ago, has an expression. There are things in life that keep happening, over and over, that are annoying each and every time they come up. My friend has a number of these, and I do, too. My friend calls these his bowls of petunias, in reference to a quote in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The one line the bowl of petunias gets in that book, if you’ll recall, is, “Oh, no, not again.” Which is generally the reaction that I have whenever my bowls of petunias come up. Naturally, I’m usually not quite as resigned as the bowl of petunias is in the book, and I’m more inclined to post repetitive blog rants.

So, let’s just talk about one of my particular bowls of petunias one more time. I am, of course, speaking of ebook accessibility, a subject about which I feel somewhat strongly, by which I mean it is the one topic guaranteed to make me want very much to punch people who disagree with me in the head.

Anyway, the latest development on this issue is that a journalism student at the University of Arizona is suing his university because the university is putting in place a pilot program in one of its classes where sighted students get to use the Amazon kindle. Darrell Shandrow, our blind plaintiff, naturally, does not.

I feel like I’m repeating myself, but it’s necessary. Equal access to books should be a right, not a privilege. It’s wonderful that there are resources out there for students like Shandrow, but you know what? They’re not enough. If everyone else in the class is using Kindles to read their course work and a blind student is not, I consider that to be a case of separate and unequal treatment. Presumably the kindles will be used for a specific purpose, and it will, at the very least, take longer for a non-kindle-using student to keep up with his classmates during class if they use another format.

There was and still is an ongoing conversation between Shandrow and several of us blind folks on twitter about this issue. Some people consider him to be an accessibility evangelist, whatever the hell that even means, and think he has been going about his crusade in a beligerent and undiplomatic way. Naturally, I am not one of these people. Being a university student myself, I can see the benefits of using the Kindle. I have also stated, more than once, that my money is as good as a sighted person’s. If this lawsuit is the only way in which Amazon will recognize this fact, then I want someone to sue, too!

Talking of ebook accessibility seems to step on a lot of toes in the blindness community. Even writing this, I find myself wanting to backpedal a bit to make sure that the people who volunteer their time for Bookshare or the folks at Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic know I’m not impuning what they do. I think any service that provides books in ways that blind people can read them is to be commended. Further, if we ever do get an Amazon Kindle that is completely accessible, the need for such services will hardly diminish. But those services are hardly enough. The day I can read any book I want, the same as my sighted peers, the instant I want to read it, will be the day that I consider myself as having equal access to printed materials as sighted people. Telling blind people we should be content with what we have is, I feel, a lot like telling black folks they should have been happy with separate schools, rest rooms, etc., or telling GLBT folks that they shouldn’t be so goddamn uppity and be happy with the domestic partnerships they can get instead of campaigning for marriage equality. Maybe that’s a bit of a harsh statement, but I won’t apologize for it. Too often, I feel that in general, disabled people are under more pressure than other minorities to be nice and not rock the boat lest we appear ungrateful for what we do have.

Well, being nice isn’t going to get us the services we need. I hope Darrell Shandrow’s lawsuit is successful, and if it takes a bunch of other blind people suing a bunch of other companies in order for these needed changes, then I hope they come through and do so in an unapologetic fashion. Because we shouldn’t apologize for wanting what we by rights ought to have.