What Makes This Book So Great: Re-Reading the Classics of Science Fiction and Fantasy | 
I‘ve finally caught up with Jo Walton on Dragaera, so the other night I went back and reread all her relevant essays (which‘re the reason I read the series to begin with). Now I‘m all happy about Vlad, and kinda vindicated because Walton also disliked TECKLA at first, and eager to get to TIASSA good and soon. Maybe in July?
Anyways, I highly recommend reading Jo Walton‘s perspective on a series you‘ve enjoyed, if she‘s also read it.
pickI'm not a big SFF reader but I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jo Walton's thoughts on the books she was re-reading, and her thoughts on reading practices and habits in general. May have to check out some of the books she discussed!
On Heinlein's The Door Into Summer, published in 1957 and set in 1970 and 2000: "Cloth diapers put on a baby by a robot worked by vacuum tubes and transistors is an image that sums up the kind of ways SF gets things wrong even better than a flying car." ?
Yay, someone else has read In the Wet! It was certainly an interesting concept, but wow does the main character have the worst nickname ever.
pickJo Walton discusses the joy of rereading books and why she rereads so many books. The books she mentioned were interesting, and it was nice to read her thoughts on the ones I‘d read myself. Added new books to my TBR list and was inspired to reread old favorites. #reread #rereading #rereadbooks #scifi #fantasy
pickAfter reading this book I went back and read series that I‘d always avoided as too long, or old, or not my thing. So well worth it.
Jo Walton dislikes reading nonlinear series in publication order (as opposed to chronological order) for the exact reason I LOVE reading them in publication order. Brains are funny.
Alas, I couldn't read the JHEREG essay after all because it contains spoilers for the other books, too. I'll come back to all her Vlad Taltos pieces once I'm further into the series (in publication order, of course).
Now I've finally read JHEREG, I can go back and properly read Jo Walton's essay on it. Hurray!
Walton and I differ in our approach to nonlinear series, though. I love to tackle them in publication order because I get a real kick out of seeing familiar characters from another angle and watching for clues to plot points that've been lurking in the corner for ages, influential but unspoken. She's into internal chronological.
"There's a definition of tragedy as a story where you know the end".
A fun diversion between novels - 130 bite-sized reflections on SFF books, literary criticism and the reading life by the ever-insightful Jo Walton.
There's a disadvantage of rereading as much as I do in that there are series where the books I don't like become, in time, the ones I like best because they're the ones that retain freshness after I have the ones I like memorised.
pickI love dipping into this collection of short pieces from Jo Walton who writes about the SF/fantasy books she's reading (originally posted at Tor.com). I always come away from it wanting to read more. It's great for reading slumps!
Happy Pi Day from page 314 of this great book
