More bits and pieces
Jan. 23rd, 2006 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredericksInitially found via Neil Gaiman's blog and recalled because of an exchange I had with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
xioley, an essay on race in fantasy (specifically touches on Sci-Fi's take on The Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin). As a black female fan of sci-fi/fantasy, I found few "role models" that looked like me. Most noticeably in the comic world I had Storm of the X-Men, but like most black women in comics she had very Caucasian characteristics (in her case above and beyond the call of duty). No matter what I tried, my hair would not be long enough to reach my ass and it simply refused to flow behind me when the wind blew. My nose would never be pointed, and my eyes would always be dark as coal (shiny coal, but coal nonetheless). As I've gotten older things have gotten better, although Sci-Fi's decision to ignore one of the driving points behind LeGuin's work (making dark-skinned characters the default) did irk anger me. The essay? wonderfully written and highly recommended reading.
And...Kristen KRUEK?? *facepalm*.
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I've finished Mordred, Bastard Son and problems with typesetting and improbabilities in details aside (how is it possible for Mordred to be cradled in the arms of someone he's doubling a saddle with when we're being told that he's pressed against the person's back? does that make sense to anyone?), it's "meh". It has its lovely parts, but it also has parts that make me roll my eyes and snort. Quite a number of those. By the end my problem was that I knew what happens to Mordred with things set up the way they are (the book is supposed to be the first part of a trilogy); anyone even remotely familiar with the legend knows what eventually goes down. And, dammit, I like the dude enough to not want to see that happen. I really am ridiculously soft.
I figure I'll re-read American Gods next. Damn school cutting into my valuable slacking off time.
xioley, an essay on race in fantasy (specifically touches on Sci-Fi's take on The Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin). As a black female fan of sci-fi/fantasy, I found few "role models" that looked like me. Most noticeably in the comic world I had Storm of the X-Men, but like most black women in comics she had very Caucasian characteristics (in her case above and beyond the call of duty). No matter what I tried, my hair would not be long enough to reach my ass and it simply refused to flow behind me when the wind blew. My nose would never be pointed, and my eyes would always be dark as coal (shiny coal, but coal nonetheless). As I've gotten older things have gotten better, although Sci-Fi's decision to ignore one of the driving points behind LeGuin's work (making dark-skinned characters the default) did And...Kristen KRUEK?? *facepalm*.
*
I've finished Mordred, Bastard Son and problems with typesetting and improbabilities in details aside (how is it possible for Mordred to be cradled in the arms of someone he's doubling a saddle with when we're being told that he's pressed against the person's back? does that make sense to anyone?), it's "meh". It has its lovely parts, but it also has parts that make me roll my eyes and snort. Quite a number of those. By the end my problem was that I knew what happens to Mordred with things set up the way they are (the book is supposed to be the first part of a trilogy); anyone even remotely familiar with the legend knows what eventually goes down. And, dammit, I like the dude enough to not want to see that happen. I really am ridiculously soft.
I figure I'll re-read American Gods next. Damn school cutting into my valuable slacking off time.
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-24 12:36 pm (UTC)Mordred is a bastard; Galahad is the punk. Get it right, my friend. *grin*