enbygojira's reviews
738 reviews

So this one was right up my alley, wasn't it? Robots and gay romance. I mean, it's not great, it's not a perfect novel—it has its flaws—, but I just couldn't stop reading. I read it all almost in one sitting, and it's not a short book. Though I wouldn't complain if there were more Bex in it, the main couple is so captivating and cute I didn't really care about the other characters, not really—Nico definitely has a Dante Quintana-ness to him that I couldn't shake off.

It also raises interesting questions about technology, artificial intelligence, and humanity in general. As a person who both loves technology and is terrified of a robot rebellion, I could relate.

The Description of a New World, Called The Blazing-World, or simply The Blazing World, is considered one of the earliest examples of science fiction in history, so of course I had to include it in my 2017 sci-fi journey—more out of curiosity than actual hope of enjoying the experience. Considering it's a 1666 autobiographic, quasi-nonsensical story, I admit it's way less boring than I thought it would be—though it is quite boring. Its importance to science fiction and even women's writing is notable, however, and I don't regret reading it.

I recommend this book as an academic endeavor; a study. It is fascinating if you're interested in science fiction, women's history, genre fiction etc. You will hardly enjoy it otherwise.

Not wanting to compare—actually wanting very much to compare, I'm so sorry—, but Binti: Home was so much better than the first one, in so many ways. Binti was very good, it really was, but I guess because B:H didn't have to establish much of a setting, as it was already established, or else because it was way more intimate and personal to the protagonist, I loved it so much more. The main character, Binti, shines in a way she didn't get to amidst the turmoil of the Meduse attack, she is an amazing character and I fell in love with her life and story. This is a delightful read, and a quick one too. Recommended to everyone who likes and wants good contemporaneous science fiction.

Now I know for sure that Frankenstein is my favorite horror classic—which is a relatively easy task, though, considering the competition... yeah, well. Still, this little piece of writing, assembled by a 18 to 20-year-old Mary Shelley, is one hell of a read, with a message that feels new even though it's two centuries old: prejudice can fuck everyone up real good, friend.

Well, while I am sure that wasn't exactly the message Shelley intended, at least not the words, it's what my 21st century brain can read here. Frankenstein warns us about playing God and creating what we don't understand, yes, but it also shows that prejudice is good for no one.

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Victor doesn't even try to understand the creature, not really, and where does it get him? Where does it get "Adam?"

This is, I believe, the kind of message that gets lost or feels unimportant close to the more obvious, "don't-play-God" one, but it's relevant, it's oh-so-relevant nowadays.

Such philosophy, much Plato. Yeah, well. The Just City can be summed up as an imaginary of how Plato's Republic would play out in real life—but with active participation of Gods and robots and, like, time travel. It's a good book, and it's really interesting to see how it tackles Plato's theories and plays with them, bringing up questions and discussions and counter-arguments and

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an amazing debate between Sokrates and Pallas Athene

and whatnot. The great issue here, in my opinion at least, is that it doesn't really bring anything new to the table.

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So humans are flawed, what's new? So Gods can play with mortals, what's new? So robots might develop sentience, intelligence and/or free will, what's freaking new about that? Apollo wanting to reach excellence is interesting, but... it's not really the focus here, is it? He's just along for the ride.

It is a nice read. Jo Walton's prose is fluid, and it takes us competently in a journey with three different characters who show us different points of view on the Just City's foundation and development. It's just sad that the only thing that made me really, actually glad about it was that it had a definite end, instead of ending in a cliffhanger—it does leave stuff for later, and its ending is sort of anti-climatic, but it is finished nonetheless; it's almost a self-contained story, meaning you could just leave it here and just disregard its sequels entirely. I intend to read them—the sequels, that is; eventually—, but I'm just not in a hurry.

Very character-driven, and with little to no action going on, I can kind of see why someone would find Never Let Me Go a boring novel, but I absolutely adored it. At some point, I considered rating it 4 stars, if only because I didn't quite understand how Kathy and Tommy still managed to stay friends with Ruth, but what the hell? It's a 5/5 for me. Ishiguro did a brilliant job.

Besides being a great novel, it's also great sci-fi disguised as "literary fiction," which is bullshit. Saying it's not science fiction just because it's not about science itself is, well, bullshit. Reinterpreting as nothing but a love story is utter. bullshit. It is. Sorry 'bout it.

For many reasons, it kept reminding me of Ian McEwan's Atonement. I didn't love Atonement, but some of the same sentiments can be found here: melancholy helplessness, resignation, Keira Knightley. The prose is also similarly beautiful, but while McEwan's book took its toll on me, I couldn't put Ishiguro's down.

It is said that Swastika Night is 1984 older, long-forgotten sibling, a companion piece of sorts. I can see that. I can even see some degree of inspiration for the latter—though I can't help but think George Orwell's is the better novel. Burdekin's prose, though not bad by any means, is notably not as good as Orwell's. It reads well, but tends to be overly didactic at times, and though we have some really great scenes—the very first chapter, for example, is really, really powerful, and certainly one of the highlights—, I believe SN's importance is purely historical.

However, that is not to say this isn't an interesting book. SN was written in 1937, before the war even started, showing an incredible power of thought. What Burdekin did was write a dystopian novel about the aftermath of a war that was yet to happen, picturing a future 700 years ahead, in which the Axis won and dominated Europe. The society we find in this book is sickening, and the treatment of women leaves more than enough room for discussion. Even the main characters are deeply flawed, being males in a extremely misogynistic society, and their redeeming qualities are all in spite of. The one serious problem I found was Burdekin's treatment of homosexuality. The indulgence in acts of homosexuality in SN's society is seen as preferable to those with women, but it seems that it happens only because ladies aren't exactly seen as human beings. I couldn't shake off the feeling that Burdekin added homosexuality to the mix as a form of reproach, as part of her argument that women are intrinsic to a proper functioning of our society—without them, we'd have homosexuality! the horror! I obviously agree with her for the most part, but I can't with homophobia. 1937 or not, I just can't.

Eu quero ser o Rodrigo van Kampen quando crescer.

Não sei explicar como esse livro mexeu comigo, de verdade. Sentei para ler de cabo a rabo em fevereiro, um mês que foi sincera e completamente horrível pra mim, e Quinze dias foi, com certeza, a famosa luz no fim do túnel — ou pelo menos um ponto positivo em meio a vários negativos. Conhecendo o Vitor, eu sabia que seria um livro maravilhoso, mas confesso que superou todas as minhas expectativas (biased? jamais). O romance entre Caio e Felipe é do tipo que qualquer um fica feliz em encontrar num YA, e eu acho que, levando em consideração os temas que são abordados aqui, essa é uma história necessária no cenário jovem adulto nacional.

Como li antes do lançamento, pretendo reler assim que tiver o livro EM MÃOS, mas não acho que minha opinião vá mudar. Quinze dias já é um clássico LGBT, o livro jovem adulto que a gente precisa neste momento.