Welcome to Litsy!

Sunshine and rainbows this is not—on more levels than one.

This author also wrote The Devil in America, which also made me despair of unnecessary, fun-stealing framing devices. Although it's interesting on the conceptual level, with some nice worldbuilding throughout and exciting action near the end—that‘s why I‘m judging it so-so—this fails at pretty much everything else.

Would‘ve been better as a neater short story.

3/5

Felt the burning need to cry my eyes out over something that isn‘t my own life, so back we go!

Beautiful and emotionally devastating. The use of language is masterful.

This was my first book of 2021 and my January #BookSpin! @TheAromaofBooks

I'm going to be honest and say my lack of enjoyment with this novella is due to my lack of reading comprehension chops. unfortunately I can't really appreciate Wilson's take on language and code switching and combined with his penchant for abrupt scene changes, I had a hard time following the events of this book. I think a taste of honey was a lot more approachable, and his first work is simply not in my wheelhouse.

To celebrate the release of TorDotCom‘s first eBook on September 1st, 2015 you can download that very same book until Sept. 4th. Today. Now. And it‘s free. I have to say I love these eBooks. I‘ve read so many interesting titles. Can‘t wait to dive into this one!

It‘s Tor‘s 5th birthday and they are giving us a present. Download your copy soon.

https://ebookclub.tor.com/?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=eblast&utm_term=tor...

SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS is old school SFF; ie, it‘s one of those short, sharp books set in an SF world that‘s twisted itself around until it‘s fantasy. Wilson plays various layers off one another: the world the characters inhabit vs the one their SFnal ancestors built; the things the characters feel vs what they can openly express; the language readers expect vs what‘s on the page. It‘s rich, complex, masterful, and a bit difficult. I adored it.

Supper: sausage & tofu scramble, my second-to-last Queer Beer, and the final chapter of this novella.

Lunch was pretty great. The goop between the olives and the crackers is this amazing vegan tzatziki I bought because Superstore had it on for $0.94. Watch; its regular price will be $5 or something and I‘ll never have it again.

I‘m still all OMG THIS BOOK over here, but I‘ve also been reflecting on its low Litsy rating. I get it. *I* love it, but Wilson‘s prose doesn‘t scan well. You‘ve gotta work at it, and that reading style ain‘t for everyone.

I read another chunk of this excellent novella while I ate a plate of eggs that I hoped would fortify me for my run. No such luck. Today‘s effort was marginally better than Sunday‘s, but my body still refuses to perform the way it should after weeks of training. I‘m frustrated, to understate things. My right leg‘s also got me a bit worried I might have shin splints. I‘m gonna have to do some research.

1. I‘m 30% into this book and I‘m RIDICULOUSLY EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!!! I don‘t think I‘ve loved a writer‘s syntax so much since I discovered Ysabeau S. Wilce a decade ago. Plus, the whole thing‘s structured like the SFF of yore, except it‘s way more Black and queer than the mainstream old timey stuff. Cue the 😍.

2. If I finish this delicious leftover anniversary cake, I WILL be sick.

3. My phone‘s camera identified a FACE in the icing. CREEPY.

The world building was amazing, but I had. Hard time getting into the story.

Also, I‘ve officially read 50 books this year with a few months to spare! 🎉

I generally enjoyed this but the complex mythology & worldbuilding was so poorly explained that it was almost completely obscure and unintelligible.

Last year I deliberately included a diverse number of books when I chose what to read—looking back through my reads this year, I‘ve failed the diversity factor quite a bit. I was in the mood for fantasy so here‘s a diverse fantasy book I haven‘t read just yet by an author I found through an Afrofuturism class✨

Holy. Shit. #ReadingBlackout

I enjoyed this short but dense novella. Great use of slang and language to set it apart from more traditional fantasy fare, and a believable same sex love story at the core of an adventure tale. My one complaint is that the flashbacks to the protagonist's youth could have come earlier in the book. This isn't an easy read (I had to stop reading before bed when I was too tired to really concentrate) but it's a worthwhile one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally starting this novella.

This is probably the last one I will finish, but I think I'll read a bit more before I tap out of this #readathon.

I have to say I had very mixed feelings about this one, which I listened to while cleaning up around the house. I liked the start, I liked the end, but Wilson lost me in the middle and I felt like I was waiting for something interesting to happen. No bueno. 😕😴

Ehhh this book felt long even though it wasn't. I liked the writing style and would've probably liked a book about the main character's back story.

I'm pretty bad about making a TBR and sticking to it - I prefer to narrow down a stack of options. These are just the ebooks that are on the menu for the month (in addition to the 5 graphic novels I checked out of Hoopla last night before the time limit reset!). Physical TBR forthcoming! #TBR #marchintoreading

I could not get into the story. The strange slang was a bit much, and the male bonding, which felt forced, did not work for me. the reader was excellent but could not fix the problems with the story for me. The annoying thing is that the writing is excellent so I will definitely try something else by Kay Wilson because I feel sad I missed out in enjoying good writing

Loved this novella!! Kai Ashante Wilson writes so beautifully and has such a unique voice. I can't wait until he writes a full length novel set in the same world.

Aw started this yesterday & finished it today. So so so good I with there were a million more pages 😢📚

Checking out Santa Cruz, California's newest coffee roaster, Cat & Cloud Coffee, with Kai Ashante Wilson's beautiful novella on this rainy Sunday afternoon. The prose in this story is *gorgeous*.

I am wrecked after finishing this. *sniffles*

I'm really getting in to it (despite complete lack of female characters)! #novella #sff #demigods #lgbtqqia

Rich and dark and strange - possibly the most unusual epic fantasy I've read in a long time. Wilson has done some really interesting things with language and how it defines the characters - the plot isn't the main driver, which works in the novella format.

Is A Taste of Honey the prequel that will explain everything?
Here's hoping.

I wish there was a rating between like and so-so. I loved parts of this book, but other parts not so much. I think it might be because I listened to it on audio instead of reading it and found it hard to follow (not a usual problem for me). Perhaps I should go back and read this one...