Writing: April 2010

Where I stand on March's goals:

- Finish Dragon of the Moon chapter three: Not done. I'm about... midway through, at a rough estimate.
- Start Dragon of the Moon chapter four: Logically enough, also not done.
- Work on the anti-whump Zuko meme: Done. Added twenty responses over the course of the month.
- Finish the Jet Feng fic for suzukiblu: Not done. I did add some word count to it, though, and we are finally in spitting distance of the sex.
- Write the Ursa fic for raikomotomiya: Done. Needs revision before I post it.
- Write the Ozai fic for the winner of my help_haiti auction: Didn't even start it. -_-;; Luckily, the winner knows how to contact me and can be placated with Ozai AUs and Jeeko.
- Finish the JJ'n'Piandao fic: Done.
- Work on the Songzai fic: Done.
- Work on "Still Waters": Done.
- Write one Hak Foo fic for my over_look table: Done.
- Write chapter seven of "Bedrock": Done. Posted chapter six. (F'locked.)
- Figure out what the kriffin' sandbender does: Not done.
- Clean up and repost "Art History with Thanh" and "Cultural Protectors" as one fic: Still not done.
- Revise the Sokka'n'Haru fic: Done.
- Revise the Ozai'n'Kajizu fic: Done.

( Writing )

( Revision )

[Book Review] The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

Scalzi mentioned receiving this book in one of his bundles of "books what people have sent me to maybe blurb, read, and promote because I'm a published author and publishers do that" posts. He said he hadn't read it yet, but it looked like 'Inuit steampunk.'

"Huh," says I. "That actually sounds pretty cool." So, knowing nothing else about it, I marked down the title, author, and release date. When it finally came out, I went to a brick-and-mortar bookstore to buy it. (Buying from brick-and-mortar bookstores tend to have more clout with the publisher in terms of "more of this, buy it for us to sell" than, say, Amazon.)

( Backcover Copy )

Calling Captain Jarrett a 'reluctant' student is an understatement.

This book takes place in a 'verse that seems to be a Victorian-era America (kinda sorta) with the natives having some very interesting spirit magic that allows them to let out dog-spirits from within themselves. The novel hinges on one General Fawles' efforts to get Sjenn, our heroine, to teach his son how to use his dog-spirit, Keeley's (an aboriginal of another tribe from Sjenn) efforts to keep her alive and intact, and Captain Jarrett's efforts to pretend none of this is happening.

Keeley is pretty much the only one who really succeeds.

This book is... I have a hard time describing the feel of reading this book. Not gritty. Harsh, maybe. Suffocating. It grabs you by the throat and it will not let go, and then when it does-

Well, The Gaslight Dogs is not a stand-alone novel. The ending feels like the ending of The Fellowship of the Ring, in terms of story-closure. Fortunately, there's a sequel in progress. Unfortunately, I don't know when it's coming out. But, man, do I ever need it to come out.

I love the world here. Little things, from the Seven Deities to the use of 'abo' as the somewhat rude term of choice for the aboriginals. I love the characters' voices; the novel alternates from Sjenn and Jarrett's point-of-view. They both have very distinct, very different outlooks on the world. You can immediately tell which is which by reading any random page in the story.

It's very well done, and I need the next book.