Horse Camp, Day Four

I'm taking my afternoon hermit-break (part of your balanced breakfast con schedule!), and so I wanted to finish up about horse camp while it's on my mind

( Day 4, very image-heavy )

Iorich, by Steven Brust

Iorich, by Steven Brust

Though Vlad ought, by all rights, to be staying as far away from Adrilankha as possible, once again his personal entanglements draw him back into danger. This time it's his friend Aliera e'Kieron, who has been charged with using elder sorcery... a capital crime. She's guilty of it, of course, but the more important question is: when everyone has known for years, what's the political motivation for charging her now? And how is Vlad going to keep her from going to the Executioner's Star... especially when, for reasons that are unclear to him, both Aliera and all of their mutual friends are not exactly helping?

Here's a funny thing: I went into Jhegaala expecting to be a bit disappointed in it, because it was a backstory-book featuring only three characters we even knew (except for a brief cameo from Noish-Pa); I went into Iorich expecting to find it satisfying because it deals, once again, with Adrilankha, with Aliera and Kiera and Sethra and Morrolan and Kragar and Cawti and Lady Teldra and all the rest. And yet, while my understanding of what the books were about was dead-on, my responses were completely opposite.

Oh, it's not that I didn't like Iorich. I did. If it were anything but one of the Vlad Taltos series, I would say I enjoyed it very much indeed. It was clever and tense and interestingly political, and of course I enjoy Vlad's narrative voice and his interaction with Loiosh (Loiosh!), and Sethra and Kiera and Aliera and Kragar and all the rest. And I really, really, really liked a lot of the worldbuilding details, of how Imperial law and justice work, and so on. I was looking forward to Iorich for those details, and I wasn't disappointed—plus, the major Iorich character, Aliera's lawyer, I quite liked. We're used to seeing Dragaeran society from the POV of those who are above the law (the upper-crust Dragons, Sethra, the Empress, etc.), from those who are sort of beneath the notice of the law (Teckla and Easterners), and, well, from criminals (Jhereg). Seeing Dragaeran society from someone who is immersed in the middle-class position and whose whole life is within the law rather than above, below or around it was pretty cool.

But the problem is... between this and Dzur, I'm beginning to feel like Brust is stalling. It's not enough to really hamper my enjoyment of the books, but if we get a few more Vlad Taltos books that sidestep the major plot questions raised in Phoenix and especially Issola, I'm going to begin to get impatient.

( And I can't discuss any more without getting into spoilers, so assume spoilers for the whole series after this point. )

Anyway, I don't want to make it seem that I didn't enjoy this one. I did. And if you've read the Vlad books this far, you should read it, too. But probably in paperback.

(If you haven't read the Vlad series, be aware that this is one of those series that, IMHO, really has to be read in publication order. Start with Jhereg and work from there.)

Wiscon, Day 1

(I'm counting yesterday as Day 0, since I checked in and then slept a lot.)

Today, on account of still being on Pacific time, I didn't stagger out of bed until late morning. Once I did, though, I met up with ckd and rushthatspeaks for lunch, which was lovely! We discussed the joys of being in an army family, the entertainment value of eccentric relatives, and the ways to get through a wedding without losing your mind. And it was a great way to break myself into the con, meeting with two friendly and interesting people in a more casual environment so I didn't get too overwhelmed. And then, on the way back, rushthatspeaks gave me the scoop on which Gundam series to start with, as a space opera and steampunk fan.

rushthatspeaks: Well, which ones do you know?
coraa: Well, I mostly know of Gundam Wing from when I was in high school, but that was on Cartoon Network with...
rushthatspeaks: ...the awful dub?
coraa: Oh yes. So mostly what I know is that that's the one that's slasheriffic and has the most hilarious emotional trauma.
ckd: *cracks up*

(She recommended Gundam 00 for the space opera and Turn A Gundam for the steampunk-y influence.)

After that the three of us went to the Gathering, where I tagged along after rushthatspeaks. The Gathering is like nothing I've ever quite seen at a con: it's like a meet-and-greet with tons of activities you can take part in at the same time, many of which recall the fun parts of kindergarten. I got a temporary tattoo of a firebird (a bit redundant today, when I'm wearing my firebird t-shirt, but it'll be great tomorrow with my Shinra Electric Power Company t-shirt), made a word-art picture with lots of swirls, voted in the Carl Brandon Society cagematch, saw a lot of people doing fantastic things with fiber art, picked up a couple of ARCs in the Galley Ho! sale, and picked up a faux-fur vest at the clothing swap. (Me: I normally wouldn't get something like this, but it'd be perfect for a Seattle winter and it has kind of a Wolfrider vibe. rushthatspeaks: It does, at that.) (How much do I love being able to say that casually to someone who knows what I mean.)

On the way out, I said hello to meganbmoore again, and then headed into the Dealer's Room. I picked up a pair of elisem earrings, and also some books, including a copy of The Neverending Story in the proper red-and-green coloring. (The ones in italic-and-non have never looked right to me.) I'm sure I'll do more shopping as the week progresses—there was someone selling a gryphon puzzle, for instance, that I am weak to. Plus I'm in a mood where picking up short story collections seems like a good idea, to expose me to new authors.

I took a breather and got dinner, and then went to the LJ party for delicious cake, and the "Goblin Girls and Bedlam Boys" reading. I was particularly taken with Caitlyn Paxson, who had beautiful lyrical works (including a steampunk-esque poem) and was a fantastic reader (writing and reading, not the same skills!), and the beginning of a YA fantasy novel by Ari B. Goelman, set at a Jewish summer camp.

And that's it for today, since I'm about ready to collapse. If I can wake up in time tomorrow, there's "Tarot for Writers;" after that is "The Craft of Writing YA," which is, of course, relevant to my interests. And from there, we'll see!