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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I'm a big fan of Hurley's fiction and I came upon this book on my quest to read all her works. I'm not that into non-fiction, but I found myself personally interested in the theme.
There are many aspects I really enjoyed about this collection of essays. First, I loved Hurley's personal stories. I love how brutal and raw the worlds she created could be and as I read about her experiences, that really helped me understand her fiction and her voice as an author. I also was interested in her experience in the SFF writing space, and her comments about the industry, marketing, and even game development.
Some essays didn't hit the mark for me. They felt disjointed, like they didn't belong in the book. Others seemed repetitive. I think this might be because many of these essays started as articles or blogs. On their own, it makes sense to have to repeat yourself to give context. There were also some very niche essays with topics where I felt a bit out of my depth, so I either felt like I was bashed over the head with the same thing multiple times, or left with a big question mark over my head.
But I think many of her essays were lovely, poignant, and generally worth the read. She made me think and question myself and geekdom(??) in multiple ways and that's all you can really ask for.
There are many aspects I really enjoyed about this collection of essays. First, I loved Hurley's personal stories. I love how brutal and raw the worlds she created could be and as I read about her experiences, that really helped me understand her fiction and her voice as an author. I also was interested in her experience in the SFF writing space, and her comments about the industry, marketing, and even game development.
Some essays didn't hit the mark for me. They felt disjointed, like they didn't belong in the book. Others seemed repetitive. I think this might be because many of these essays started as articles or blogs. On their own, it makes sense to have to repeat yourself to give context. There were also some very niche essays with topics where I felt a bit out of my depth, so I either felt like I was bashed over the head with the same thing multiple times, or left with a big question mark over my head.
But I think many of her essays were lovely, poignant, and generally worth the read. She made me think and question myself and geekdom(??) in multiple ways and that's all you can really ask for.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I enjoyed my time reading this, but if you are not a white man in the sff/gaming/geek culture chances are you are already unfortunately aware of these issues as it is your reality in these spaces. Very bare bones to maybe give to a parent or someone wanting to learn more, but not revolutionary as a whole for people in these spheres.
As with most nonfiction books that I pick up and later realize are a bunch of previously written essays put together in book format, I found this very repetitive at times to read. It's pretty much surface level and focuses heavily on the science fiction and fantasy book sphere, and games tv and other media are mentioned briefly if at all.
* Side note, was really thrown off by the usage of several racial slurs in the last essay. I think you can get your point across as a white person without using those slurs in your essay, even though she was not condoning those words and they were presented as wrong to say, you don't need to say them multiple times in your essay.
As with most nonfiction books that I pick up and later realize are a bunch of previously written essays put together in book format, I found this very repetitive at times to read. It's pretty much surface level and focuses heavily on the science fiction and fantasy book sphere, and games tv and other media are mentioned briefly if at all.
* Side note, was really thrown off by the usage of several racial slurs in the last essay. I think you can get your point across as a white person without using those slurs in your essay, even though she was not condoning those words and they were presented as wrong to say, you don't need to say them multiple times in your essay.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I think this is a great introduction to both Kameron Hurley with her non-fiction hat and some of the issues she talks about. However, if you're female and even slightly geeky you're probably already aware of her writing or the issues.
The essays straddle a fine line between being angry and ranting. Some do veer into being a little too ranty but this is few and far between for me. Some of them I would have loved to see expanded from their inital post online into a longer length essay as there were a few that looked like they were going in an interesting direction but never got chance to get there.
Glad I read it but probably not one I'd come back to.
The essays straddle a fine line between being angry and ranting. Some do veer into being a little too ranty but this is few and far between for me. Some of them I would have loved to see expanded from their inital post online into a longer length essay as there were a few that looked like they were going in an interesting direction but never got chance to get there.
Glad I read it but probably not one I'd come back to.
I wouldn't call it mind-blowing, but I really appreciate how well argued some points Hurley raised in these essays.
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
2.5 stars There were a handful of good essays but nothing revolutionary as the title suggests.
I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't disappointed in the book. I enjoy Kameron Hurley's work so I was looking forward to reading a nonfiction about geek culture and feminism. Only for it to not really be about geek culture and the feminism was more of a side dish compared to Kameron's life story. This made the title and the description all the more miss leading
I'll go into what I enjoyed before moving on to the bad. I was fascinated by her insights into the writing industry and her tips on writing. Those essays really held my attention. Also, her story about discovering her chronic illness in a pre-obamacare health care industry broke my heart. I liked her Mad Max essay for the most part, but it did bring up the question of why she enjoyed the 80s action heros as much as she did. I know she put down some reasoning but considering how she frowned upon gender stereotypes for women and how it's looked down for men to feel emotions I'm really curious why she would enjoy them so much she'd want them to influence her characters.
But I digress. The book is really well written although it needed an editor badly. When you do a collection of essays you should edit it so it reads more smoothly. By that I mean don't mention certain things (like living in South Africa or the name of her books) fifty trillion times. It really brings the reader out of the moment and gets aggravating as it goes on. In a singular essay, I can understand mentioning certain things for first-time readers but in a book that really needs to be changed. One thing that got across to me was Kameron's anger and frustration. In a trump America that seems to be getting worse by the minute, I understand that all too well.
I just really wish the book was more of what it advertised. There's nothing really new here. It barely covers any geek stuff outside of scifi and 80s movies. She brings up video games and comics a time or two but her knowledge is clearly lacking. Even when she does bring up comics she doesn't go into the feminist revolution that has been going on there. She talks about Gamergate and Sad puppies but again she never goes into the movement contracting it or how certain people are aiming to change the industry.
Honestly, you could find better information on pretty much 85% of the topics she covers with a simple google search. To me, that's the real shame here. It does nothing new. It spouts things we have heard so many times before. So for people, the book is aimed at that's a really bad thing.
This book is so close to two stars for me simply because of how much is a repeat of basic knowledge at people the book is aimed at and the false advertising. Still the writing and how good the essays on writing and such are makes the book worth at least a read. Just don't go into this expecting to learn anything about feminism or geek culture.
Due to the contents of the book I couldn't recommend more than checking this book out at your local library. For what is there it's honestly not worth a buy to me. Not even used.
I'll go into what I enjoyed before moving on to the bad. I was fascinated by her insights into the writing industry and her tips on writing. Those essays really held my attention. Also, her story about discovering her chronic illness in a pre-obamacare health care industry broke my heart. I liked her Mad Max essay for the most part, but it did bring up the question of why she enjoyed the 80s action heros as much as she did. I know she put down some reasoning but considering how she frowned upon gender stereotypes for women and how it's looked down for men to feel emotions I'm really curious why she would enjoy them so much she'd want them to influence her characters.
But I digress. The book is really well written although it needed an editor badly. When you do a collection of essays you should edit it so it reads more smoothly. By that I mean don't mention certain things (like living in South Africa or the name of her books) fifty trillion times. It really brings the reader out of the moment and gets aggravating as it goes on. In a singular essay, I can understand mentioning certain things for first-time readers but in a book that really needs to be changed. One thing that got across to me was Kameron's anger and frustration. In a trump America that seems to be getting worse by the minute, I understand that all too well.
I just really wish the book was more of what it advertised. There's nothing really new here. It barely covers any geek stuff outside of scifi and 80s movies. She brings up video games and comics a time or two but her knowledge is clearly lacking. Even when she does bring up comics she doesn't go into the feminist revolution that has been going on there. She talks about Gamergate and Sad puppies but again she never goes into the movement contracting it or how certain people are aiming to change the industry.
Honestly, you could find better information on pretty much 85% of the topics she covers with a simple google search. To me, that's the real shame here. It does nothing new. It spouts things we have heard so many times before. So for people, the book is aimed at that's a really bad thing.
This book is so close to two stars for me simply because of how much is a repeat of basic knowledge at people the book is aimed at and the false advertising. Still the writing and how good the essays on writing and such are makes the book worth at least a read. Just don't go into this expecting to learn anything about feminism or geek culture.
Due to the contents of the book I couldn't recommend more than checking this book out at your local library. For what is there it's honestly not worth a buy to me. Not even used.