The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley was good because it started off with a lot of stuff I can relate to, but in a kind of neat Time Travel storyline set in the near future which is also great because I really only like Time Travel stories. Stuff like Khmer Rouge and refugee child growing up in the west and all that kind of stuff, all wrapped up in a strong female lead character. And then halfway through, the dude unzips his pants and it turns into a shitty Oxford Study romance where the strong protagonist is completely undone and turns into a colonizer worshipping story. Bullshit. I stopped reading and I’m still angry about it two months later. Fuck that story.
Also, Stations of the Tide was dry and I never finished it. I’ve tried 2-3 times. Swanwick is my favorite sorta-contemporary author but I don’t know how that won so many awards. Am I missing something? It seems like everyone wants to herald that novel as great because they don’t want to look dumb, but it’s just all over the place compared to his later novels, much like Killing is My Business has a bunch of good riffs but is all over the place with no structure and nothing ever repeats so therefore it isn’t as refined and memorable as Rust in Peace.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley was good because it started off with a lot of stuff I can relate to, but in a kind of neat Time Travel storyline set in the near future which is also great because I really only like Time Travel stories. Stuff like Khmer Rouge and refugee child growing up in the west and all that kind of stuff, all wrapped up in a strong female lead character. And then halfway through, the dude unzips his pants and it turns into a shitty Oxford Study romance where the strong protagonist is completely undone and turns into a colonizer worshipping story. Bullshit. I stopped reading and I’m still angry about it two months later. Fuck that story.
Also, Stations of the Tide was dry and I never finished it. I’ve tried 2-3 times. Swanwick is my favorite sorta-contemporary author but I don’t know how that won so many awards. Am I missing something? It seems like everyone wants to herald that novel as great because they don’t want to look dumb, but it’s just all over the place compared to his later novels, much like Killing is My Business has a bunch of good riffs but is all over the place with no structure and nothing ever repeats so therefore it isn’t as refined and memorable as Rust in Peace.