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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
The second novella, "Drinking Sapphire Wine," of the two which compose this book, saved this from two stars for me. I did not like "Do Not Bite the Sun," but I kept going because this book was recommended to me by someone whom I esteem. Still, why must everything end with pregnancies?! This Bitter Infertile is yet again displeased and made to feel, yet again, lacking in basic human function. Some fun to get these feelings from my leisure reading. Sigh.
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book. There are such wonders in it that I had a hard time labeling it. I bought it for my birthday last year and hadn't actually planned on reading it quite yet (*Looks at giant pile of library books*) but I opened it up and the first thing I saw was a glossary of "Jang Slang." That, combined with the first line: "My friend Hergal had killed himself again" and there was no going back.
Sometimes book with a lot of world building or a made up language take a bit of getting into and this book was no exception, but once I got into it, I was enthralled. You go on a journey while the protagonist finds herself. (I don't think she is ever actually named) I was caught up in the Jang lifestyle and really felt the heroine's feelings of wanting something more. There were sad moments and happy moments and moments of tenseness. At no point did I feel like the story dragged or was I sitting there thinking "Why don't they hurry up already?" I almost cried when the book ended and it left me with such feelings I had to sit there for a few minutes and contemplate.
If you like science fiction, if you like survival stories, if you like stories of people finding themselves, dystopians, world building or basically any kind of book, you should read this one. It's amazing!
Sometimes book with a lot of world building or a made up language take a bit of getting into and this book was no exception, but once I got into it, I was enthralled. You go on a journey while the protagonist finds herself. (I don't think she is ever actually named) I was caught up in the Jang lifestyle and really felt the heroine's feelings of wanting something more. There were sad moments and happy moments and moments of tenseness. At no point did I feel like the story dragged or was I sitting there thinking "Why don't they hurry up already?" I almost cried when the book ended and it left me with such feelings I had to sit there for a few minutes and contemplate.
If you like science fiction, if you like survival stories, if you like stories of people finding themselves, dystopians, world building or basically any kind of book, you should read this one. It's amazing!
I'm not really a science fiction person, but this book mesmerized me and I devoured it. My favorite character was the pet, of course, but all in all a wonderful, moving read.
4.5 stars
I loved the false Utopian world that this story provided.
The novel(s) provided a narrative on the search for a “real” life.
I loved the false Utopian world that this story provided.
The novel(s) provided a narrative on the search for a “real” life.
A little like Virginia Woolf's [b:Orlando|18839|Orlando|Virginia Woolf|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404345499s/18839.jpg|6057225]. Both stories follow characters who experience body/gender swapping. I loved Tanith Lee's lyrical futuristic world building and wry humour in her satirical take on gender norms.
If this book had a soundtrack - I think the whirlwind of drama that is built into a piece of music like Danse Macabre would suit the characters' moods.
There's an interesting climatic moment in the story involvingthe reintroduction of violence/the idea of murder by the protagonist into this isolated Utopian society and the consequences of trying to address that issue .
Mirroring and Ego related themes which are present in [b:The Silver Metal Lover|567708|The Silver Metal Lover (Silver Metal Lover, #1)|Tanith Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403170262s/567708.jpg|1561956] also resurfaced here.
Also, the androids/robots/AI and their logic were a well played chilling twist towards the end.
If this book had a soundtrack - I think the whirlwind of drama that is built into a piece of music like Danse Macabre would suit the characters' moods.
There's an interesting climatic moment in the story involving
Mirroring and Ego related themes which are present in [b:The Silver Metal Lover|567708|The Silver Metal Lover (Silver Metal Lover, #1)|Tanith Lee|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403170262s/567708.jpg|1561956] also resurfaced here.
Tanith Lee's books have this odd, undefinable, dream-like quality to them. They certainly have the same logic as most dreams, or at the very least feel as though they do. Biting the Sun, a science fiction dystopia in which the world is controlled by some form of robot and the majority of humans are encouraged to spend the entirety of their lives in blissful ignorance of the real realities of life and humanity (there's a 'never growing up' metaphor that isn't quite a metaphor throughout the book), is no exception. It wasn't entirely to my taste (I'm not much of a science fiction person), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A piece of advice - don't think about it too much. Just go along with it, like a dream.
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is actually two novels in one, as it's a volume composed of [b:Don't Bite the Sun|974195|Don't Bite the Sun|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1226805907s/974195.jpg|959092] and [b:Drinking Sapphire Wine|468788|Drinking Sapphire Wine|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224288719s/468788.jpg|1372848]. Both novels are set in the same universe and focus on many of the same characters, so it makes perfect sense for them to be put out in one volume, particularly as I feel the first book is in desperate need of a conclusion that [b:Drinking Sapphire Wine|468788|Drinking Sapphire Wine|Tanith Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1224288719s/468788.jpg|1372848] provides for it.
The people of Four-BEE live in a world where both young and old, but especially the young, can experience any pleasure they like, to the extent that if they get bored with their personal appearance they can suicide and wake up in a new body, male or female, in all sorts of variations. It's almost the ultimate in hedonistic fantasies, with as much sex and drugs as you like as well, and littered with its own slang and attitudes.
Our hero is one of the Jang, embracing it all with enthusiasm, until she gets to a point where the realisation sets in that it's all pretty meaningless. From there on, she begins to buck the system, to the point where (in the second novel) she's living as an outcast from polite society when her idyllic existence is rudely interrupted by the arrival of others who want to follow her example.
It's a lovely piece of world-building, with our protagonist in particular being one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a while. She's not perfect, by any means, and her motivations aren't always clear-cut, but her enthusiasm for whatever she's doing seems to carry the books along with a will. Fortunately there's still a lot of this author's books out there for me to try, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for them.
The people of Four-BEE live in a world where both young and old, but especially the young, can experience any pleasure they like, to the extent that if they get bored with their personal appearance they can suicide and wake up in a new body, male or female, in all sorts of variations. It's almost the ultimate in hedonistic fantasies, with as much sex and drugs as you like as well, and littered with its own slang and attitudes.
Our hero is one of the Jang, embracing it all with enthusiasm, until she gets to a point where the realisation sets in that it's all pretty meaningless. From there on, she begins to buck the system, to the point where (in the second novel) she's living as an outcast from polite society when her idyllic existence is rudely interrupted by the arrival of others who want to follow her example.
It's a lovely piece of world-building, with our protagonist in particular being one of the most interesting characters I've seen in a while. She's not perfect, by any means, and her motivations aren't always clear-cut, but her enthusiasm for whatever she's doing seems to carry the books along with a will. Fortunately there's still a lot of this author's books out there for me to try, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for them.
This ended up being absolutely excellent, but the beginning was...confusing. It really throws you headlong into a world you don't understand, and expects you to figure it all out. And you do, but it takes some time. That's the only reason I'm giving this four stars instead of five. It just took me too long to really get into it. But once I did, wowza. Just...stunning.