April 2014 Reading Log

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

Hooray, now I’m only a year behind!

Fiction: Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells was a lot of fun, with a spunky heroine, interesting nonhumans, and lots of steampunk. Wells is one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors; this is her first novel specifically aimed at young adults.

Country Heaven by Ava Miles is a contemporary romance about a country singer and a cook. I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the Midwestern heroine’s love of the movie Gone With the Wind and the idea that going to a restored plantation house for a fancy dinner that romanticized the past is a fun thing to do, when all I could think about was the slave quarters that were never mentioned. I am not sure if there was a single black person in the entire novel, even when they were in Mississippi with the hero’s upper-crust family. I was clearly not this book’s intended audience.

Nonfiction: Peoples of Color in the American West is a textbook with a lot of really good essays that I can definitively recommend, despite its being published back in 1994.

Fanfiction: Not About Superheroes (A Private Little War) by AnnaFugazzi is Captain America/Iron Man slash that explores how 1930s-1940s-raised Steve Rogers, who’s gay, might (slowly) adapt to modern acceptance of homosexuality in the military and to gay marriage. It’s the first time I’ve seen a detailed exploration of this idea, instead of it being quickly glossed over to get to the romance, or having Steve easily accept every new social change he encounters.

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March 2014 Reading Log

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (galley) – I have known the author online for many years, though we’ve only met in person a few times, briefly. I loved this. Straight up loved it. And since now it’s been out a while, you can see from various reviews and award nominations that many others loved it as well, so it’s not just me. It’s rare to find a fantasy in which the hero is not constantly cleaving people with swords. I felt an emotional connection to the protagonist almost immediately, and that carried me throughout. After I finished reading, I pre-ordered the hardcover.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie has won many awards, and I liked it for the most part, but was not all that wowed by the creative use of gendered language that so many people wrote about. It did give me some thoughts about colonialism, and the ways colonialism is portrayed in speculative fiction.

The Night Is Mine by M. L. Buchman is romantic suspense with awesome military details and a tough combat-helicopter-pilot heroine who ends up in one of those bizarre situations that come up in romance novels (chef/bodyguard to the First Lady), about which she is very disgruntled. It is first in a series.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer is a mystery featuring Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of the famous brother. It didn’t wow me, but I read it out of a vague completist instinct.

Body & Soul by Jordan Castillo Price, third in the PsyCop series, delivered undemanding entertainment and some new twists on the ongoing romance.

Just One Damned Thing After Another (The Chronicles of St Mary Book 1) by Jodi Taylor is a time-traveling historians story that I didn’t entirely enjoy but was compelled to finish. The tone was a little too dark for me, I think.

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist by Dorothy Gilman seemed not to have been edited; it was rife with run-on sentences, as if it had been written in a sort of stream of consciousness: thoughts were separated only by commas, and sentences were sometimes not broken up like you would expect them to be. It definitely did not match up to my memories of earlier books in the series.

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February 2014 Reading Log

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

Fiction: The Marketplace (Book One of The Marketplace Series) by Laura Antoniou – this was a freebie of a well-known book about dominance and submission. I’d read it back when it came out, but didn’t remember much. Anyway, Submission is not my kink, but reading about it in this book is interesting in that it feels like science fiction to me: I’m reading about a culture that is alien to me, and trying to understand the associated emotions of the characters, but I don’t have all the necessary…something…for me to really comprehend what it’s getting at, and how they feel. I’ve had the same experience reading other work in this genre. If you are into D/S and BDSM, I think you might really like this series.

Unhinge the Universe by Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt – not sure how I feel about this one. This was a galley, which I picked up because of the topic: it’s a male/male romance, WWII setting, featuring a US Army interrogator and a young SS soldier. As expected, the concept made this an uncomfortable experience for me, but I was curious what approach the authors would take. They worked on humanizing the German character (more so than the American) and making him into an individual with human emotions, etc., which was fine and what I’d expected, but I kept running up against, “SS. He’s in the SS,” thoughts, despite the fact that it’s explained he joined that branch because his brother was already in the Wehrmacht, he’s proud of his country, blah, blah. Also, the interrogator was inappropriate (in a military sense) towards him more than once, which I guess was necessary because otherwise there would be no romance, but I was still twitchy about it, and not in a sexy way. So, an uncomfortable experience.

New York to Dallas (In Death, Book 33) and Celebrity in Death (In Death, Book 34) by J.D. Robb – the series is pleasantly formulaic at this point, and even the horrible crimes are somehow soothing, because I know the good guys will win in the end.

Nonfiction: Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies is focused on the 13th century, which is interesting not only for its subject matter but for what I learned about how that period was researched. The authors used a combination of specific types of documents and archaeological method, with occasional anthropological comparison to later and earlier periods.

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Reading Log, September-October 2013

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

I haven’t posted anything substantive in this blog in a really long time! Sorry about that.

I haven’t been doing a lot of writing, but as usual when not writing much, I have been reading, and I’ve been logging that reading, after a fashion. I’ve decided to post my off-the-cuff commentaries in manageable chunks For Your Pleasure. These posts are going to have a mixture of fiction, nonfiction, and fanfiction.

September 2013
Fiction: Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik, latest in the Temeraire series, which I enjoyed despite being braced for a cliffhanger-ish ending (which I got). I think we visited Shogun while the characters were in Japan, a book I haven’t read but have heard a lot about, then they went to China and Russia. One more Temeraire book to go, sigh. I will miss those characters!
The Maker’s Mask (The Books Of Requite Book 1) by Ankaret Wells – the heroine/pov character is a geeky engineer trying to navigate among all these gorgeous fantasy creatures swanning around with swirly capes and swords. There is some interesting stuff with gender which I won’t spoil here.

Nonfiction: About Time 5: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who, which I enjoyed in a thoroughly geeky way, particularly the details and constraints of how television was made in that period (I’m now up to the last volume in this series, BTW).
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach – chatty, informative, entertaining, a ship passing in the night.

Fanfiction: Thaw by Domenika Marzione, who writes military-inflected stories; it’s a sequel to her story Freezer Burn and puts the Winter Soldier movie arc into her version of The Avengers continuity.

October 2013
Fiction: Mounting Danger by Karis Walsh, a lesbian romance with horse and polo and mounted police neepery, which was fun. The author did a great job of integrating the horse stuff with all the other aspects of the plot. I was amused by how one of the characters, Cal, was typically rich and rakish, the other a former foster kid, very upright and rulebound. I did a preview of this one for Heroes and Heartbreakers.

Nonfiction: The Women Who Wrote the War: The Compelling Story of the Path-breaking Women War Correspondents of World War II by Nancy Caldwell Sorel – I had read practically nothing about World War II before, though I have a few books on the To Be Read. This book skips between the various women as it advances forward in time, so I frequently had to remind myself who each person was, mainly because I read it in small segments. I really enjoyed reading about the variety of roles women played in war journalism, and how they worked with and around rules to accomplish things.
Edwardian Life and Leisure by Ronald Pearsall – a recommendation from, I think, Evangeline Holland. It had a lot of good information, but his coverage of the suffrage movement was rather…annoying, I will say.

Fanfiction: User Since by rageprufrock, a very meta story about an online discussion group for fans of Captain America, and the participation of Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D..

After this, my log jumps forward to February 2014, so I’ll start there next time.

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Book Posts!

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

I haven’t done a roundup of my work for Heroes and Heartbreakers and The Criminal Element lately, so here is a collection of my recent posts.

First Look: Lauren Gallagher’s Razor Wire, an intense lesbian romance set on an Okinawan military base; the story begins after one of the protagonists has been raped by a superior officer.

Family Issues and Finding Love in Janice Kay Johnson’s One Frosty Night: this was a slightly unusual book for Johnson, in that there’s an underlying possibly-murder mystery that adds depth to the small town setting.

Gods of Gold by Chris Nickson, a historical mystery set in 1890 Leeds amid a labor strikeby an author who’s explored several periods of that city’s history.

The Firebird’s Feather by Marjorie Eccles, a mystery set in 1911 England.

First Look: Isabel Cooper’s The Highland Dragon’s Lady, a historical paranormal romance.

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Arisia 2015 Schedule

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Victoria Janssen

January 16-19, I’ll be attending Arisia in Boston.

Here’s where you can find me at the convention:

Orgasmatron: The Erotic & Not So Erotic in SF/F
Sat. 10:00 pm, Marina 2
Not every SF/F story fades to black when the sexy times start. Let’s talk about our favorite erotic SF/F stories and some that just AREN’T RIGHT.
Jo Vanderhooft [mod.], Connie Wilkins, N.K. Jemisin, Victoria Janssen, Tegan Mannino

The Arisia Mega Fan-Casting Panel
Sun. 2:30 pm, Marina 4
Believe it or not, not every great book or comic has been made into a movie or TV show. Come hear the panelists talk about properties need to be filmed, and to talk about the perfect dream cast they’ve come up with. Audience participation will be encouraged, so come armed with your own suggestions!
Dungeonmaster Jim [mod.], Nomi S. Burstein, Victoria Janssen, Bishonen Judge, Daniel Miller

Fan Speak: The Language of Fandom
Sunday 4:00 pm, Douglas
What communications styles, methods, and vocabulary seem unique to fandom? Hyperbole seems to be used more than in mainstream speech. Also, literary and media references are more common. Interrupting conversation isn’t seen as rude. How did these patterns develop and why? Have they changed?
Eric Zuckerman [mod.], Nomi S. Burstein, Ellen, Victoria Janssen, Jo Vanderhooft

Positive Representations of Women’s Sexuality
Sun. 5:30 pm, Marina 2
Too often, women’s sexuality in genre fiction is used to penalize or caricature them. Our Guest of Honor’s work is an example of positive representations of female sexuality. Let’s discuss works that show a full spectrum of female sexuality, beyond madonna/whore and into real-life complexity.
Rachel Kenley [mod.], Barbara Chepatis, M.L. Brennan, Victoria Janssen, Vikki C.

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Philcon 2014 Schedule

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Victoria Janssen

Here’s where you can find me at Philcon this year.

Sat 5:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Three
The Capaldi Report: A New Who
Victoria Janssen (mod), Gordon Linzner, Deborah Stanish, Rebecca Robare, Christine Norris, Gail Z. Martin
With the first season of Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor concluded and fandom awaiting the Doctor Who Christmas special, what has worked and what has not? Has this new “alien” Doctor worked out well?  How has Moffat’s new season helped or hurt the arrival of the new Time Lord?  Where do Capaldi and Doctor Who go from here?

Sat 6:00 PM in Plaza III
Is Fandom Still Producing The Next Generation Of Writers?
Elektra Hammond (mod), Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Victoria Janssen, Steve Wilson
There was a time when virtually all of the hot new writers (like Asimov, Bradbury, Pohl and Kornbluth) came up through the ranks of organized fandom.  This seems to be less true today. Is that the case?  Would it be a bad thing or just a sign of the field broadening its appeal?

Sat 8:00 PM in Plaza II
Expanding A Short Story Into A Novel
Hildy Silverman (mod), Brian Koscienski, Sally Wiener Grotta, Victoria Janssen, Mike McPhail, Fran Wilde
Many shorter works, from “Flowers for Algernon” to “Ender’s Game” have been successfully expanded into novels.  How is this done? Are there times when this is not a good idea?

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“Two Hundred Years After,” Siegfried Sassoon

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Victoria Janssen

Two Hundred Years After

Trudging by Corbie Ridge one winter’s night,
(Unless old hearsay memories tricked his sight)
Along the pallid edge of the quiet sky
He watched a nosing lorry grinding on,
And straggling files of men; when these were gone,
A double limber and six mules went by,
Hauling the rations up through ruts and mud
To trench-lines digged two hundred years ago.
Then darkness hid them with a rainy scud,
And soon he saw the village lights below.

But when he’d told his tale, an old man said
That he’d seen soldiers pass along that hill;
‘Poor silent things, they were the English dead
Who came to fight in France and got their fill.’

–Siegfried Sassoon, The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, 1918

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World Fantasy 2014 Schedule

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Victoria Janssen

This week, I’ll be attending World Fantasy in Arlington, Virginia.

You can find me on the following program item:

The Great Game in History and Fiction
3pm-4pm, Nov. 8, Tidewater 2
Ian Drury (M), David Drake, Jim Fiscus, Jennifer Povey, Victoria Janssen

Before World War I, there was the Great Game, as from 1813 to 1907, the British and Russian empires vied for supremacy. The geopolitical machinations of this period influenced the politics of many fantastic novels, coloring the colonialism of The Blue Sword to post-colonial River of Gods, or Ghosts of the White Nights for their alternate depictions of the later Cold War. The panel will explore the literary impact of the Great Game on fantasy writers of the period as well as today.

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CapClave and Links

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Victoria Janssen

I recently enjoyed this post about category romances by Jessica Tripler over at Book Riot and this post about the history of erotic romance by Meoskop at Love in the Margins.

I wrote a preview of the new Eileen Wilks novel, Unbinding over at Heroes and Heartbreakers.

And I previewed an anthology of alternate universe Sherlock Holmes stories at The Criminal Element.

I’ll be attending CapClave this weekend, and will participate in the following panels.

Saturday. October 11, 10:00 AM, Salon A
“Doctor Who at 50 and Beyond”
Doc Coleman, Victoria Janssen (Moderator), L. Jagi Lamplighter, Sherin Nicole, Jon Skovron
Name of the Doctor, Night of the Doctor, Day of the Doctor, Time of the Doctor, An Adventure in Space and Time – Did the 50th Anniversary live up to the hoopla? And going forward what are our expectations for Peter Capaldi? Will there be an episode simply entitled “Of The Doctor?” Is it time for Steven Moffat to step down as show runner?

Sunday, October 12, 11:00 AM, Bethesda
“Romance and SF/F”
Catherine Asaro, Victoria Janssen (Moderator), Pamela K. Kinney, Natalie Luhrs, Sunny Moraine
A significant number of science fiction and fantasy books are reviewed in romance-focused publications such as RT Reviews and nominated for awards in the romance genre. Were the genre line distinctions always artificial? What are romance readers’ expectations with respect to the plot and its resolution, such as Happily Ever After vs. the tragic romance? Is romance handled better or worse in YA SF/F? Are certain types of romance plots (such as first love) more likely to show up in YA?

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