Cranky Wednesday Morning

Apparently, I now have the kind of considerate neighbors who move in starting at 10 pm and winding down around midnight, yelling, slamming doors, and generally being as noisy as you possibly can be.

As that naturally had me waking up in a fabulous mood, have a few links:

Apparently, plenty on men will admit to rape if you give it another word.

Paul Cornell makes it easy to choose not to read his books.

The “Marvel's Secret War on Women” section of yesterday's Fangirls Attack does a good job of explaining why I haven't exactly been eager to read superhero comics ever since Avengers Disassembled. Something about excuses to make women Teh Evil so men can save the world from them that doesn't exactly appeal.

Typical warnings for comments in all three.

Also, what’s with all the talk lately about how it’s a good thing that some sff canons have men getting raped/abused/subjugated (by matriarchal societies) instead of women(by patriarchal)? Like, do people (writers or fans) really think that reversing abuse and exploitation somehow makes it less bad? Is there supposed to be some sort of message there that one gender has to oppress the other? I don’t want to read about women being raped and enslaved because it’s a man’s world and men are better, but I don’t want to read about men being raped or enslaved because someone’s going to be, and that’s better than it being the women, either.

The Red Queen's Daughter by Jacqueline Kolosov

Mary Seymour is the daughter of Katherine Parr (Henry VIII’s sixth wife, and the one who made it out alive and relatively unscathed. Because he died.) and Thomas Seymour (Possibly best known for potentially trying to force himself on a very young Elizabeth I. Who spent many of her formative years being raised by Katherine.). Raised by the Countess of Suffolk after her mother died and her father was executed for treason, she’s eventually taken in by Lady Strange, a mysterious woman who has been a part of the court for years. From Lady Strange, she learns that she is a white magician, and destined to guide Elizabeth I’s reign. At court, she finds herself confronted by Edmund Seymour, a cousin she soon learns is also a magician, and has dark plots (Yes I said dark plots! Shush!) of his own.

Historically, Mary Seymour most likely died when she was two. Or at least, there’s no record of her life after that. Possibly, she somehow defied genetics and led a peaceful, quiet life. Regardless, the book was already fantasy even before “ZOMG! Elizabethan magicians!”

Despite that, Kolosov’s history is pretty good, and her plot and characters fun. I was annoyed at the “blonde woman is immediately evil, and you know it as soon as she’s described” trope, but as there are I think six other women (maybe seven) who are portrayed positively, and there’s a lot of attention given to Mary’s relationships with other women, I’m not too bugged by it. More troublesome is the pitfall of “the awful things the man did aren’t really his fault…the evil woman made him do it!” but I don’t think Kolosov was completely absolving the man in question. Kolosov’s Elizabeth I is somewhat idealized, but there are enough nods to the real Elizabeth’s less charming traits to make me think that Kolosov herself has a pretty realistic view of her, she’s just writing her as a positive historical figure. Actually, one of the more appealing things about the book is that it avoids the common trap of negative and/or weak portrayals of historical women in order to make the (mostly) fictional heroine look good.

I enjoyed it a lot, with the above caveats, but I suspect individual success relies a lot on how much “Elizabethan politics! With magic!” appeals to you. I, for one, am all for “Elizabethan politics! With magic!” but not everyone is.