Dandelyon's Worlds

I bought the first book in this series, Rough Passages, after hearing the author, KM Herkes, read a bit of it at a convention. I was intrigued, and the short stories in Rough Passages hooked me thoroughly. So I jumped at the chance to get an early copy of The Sharp Edge of Yesterday, the first full novel set in this world. And what a novel it is!

Some of the characters were favorites from the earlier book, now moving forward with attempts to make the world a better place for people whose R-factor goes active. I was particularly happy to see Jack and Elena again, working together, employed by a very new program that will allow people undergoing their rollovers with support at home, instead of being ripped away from their families and held in government camps.

There are new characters too, primarily Grace, a middle-aged mother who grew up believing that the R-taint in many people's blood is the work of the Devil. Her husband rolled over, causing trauma for her and her two daughters, and she left the religious compound she was raised on and is now living in the bigger world. She has prayed and prayed, yet now the government is sending her notices that her bloodwork shows she will rollover soon. And she is convinced, at a deep and totally illogical level, that she will die if she goes to one of the camps. She is the girl's one remaining parent. She can't abandon them like that.

So when Elena, now a young woman, shows up with a pamphlet about this new program, she agrees to sign on. And then suddenly things start moving very quickly, The very first energy surge Grace puts out is so strong that Elena's co-workers teleport her away, because she is defenseless--her blood is free of the R-factor that causes some people to rollover into strange new shapes, gain super (and not-so-super) powers, or both. Suddenly Grace is surrounded by people who aren't so vulnerable to, well, anything, mostly T-series Marines and former Marines, nine or ten feet tall and covered in armor that they grew when they rolled over.

From that power surge and other indications, it is certain that Grace will be powerful, but not what kind of power--or powers--she will have. Will she be able to control fire or water or weather? Will she grow wings or armor or a tail or keep on looking human? Or will she develop mind powers, like her former husband? And how will she reconcile whatever it is and her relationship with God?

For Jack, Elena, and her other keepers, the biggest question is whether they will need to take action to keep her from killing anyone as her powers roll in "hot" and strong, with her having no better control over them than a baby has over its fingers and toes. Can they protect her daughters, the neighborhood, and the city from whatever is coming, and keep her alive too? If they can't, they not only face immediate tragedy, but also the likelihood that their very new program will be labeled a failure, dashing their hopes for more humane treatment of people undergoing rollover.

I very much enjoyed The Sharp Edge of Yesterday. Things started out with high stakes and got more complicated, and I found both that and the ending very satisfactory. I hope the author keeps writing in this universe. I have no idea what she's working on, but I want to read the next book!

It's hot out tonight, and the new kitten is delighted that a moth has found its way in through the window that lets the cats play on the second floor porch. While it's leaping around, trying to catch the moth, I'm sitting here pondering memory, fandom, the nature of proof and the various qualities of internet bullies.

Back in High School, I had a best friend. We talked about everything, even the classes we didn’t share and the books we didn’t both read. Maybe especially those things. We certainly read and loved most of the same stories, each of us lending books to the other. While we shared a similar taste in fiction, it wasn’t identical. There were certain books that were very popular at the time that she enjoyed, but I didn't. After talking with her, I felt blessed that I could properly understand fannish conversations about those books without devoting my limited free time to finishing them. (You don't, after all, have to read an entire book to be certain it's not to your taste.)

It being High School, there were also opportunities to do things like compete for scholarships. One of these competitions was a SAT-like test that included a lot of questions about topics not well-covered in the average high school class, and one of this college's concentrations was philosophy. I scored very high on that test and was offered a small partial scholarship to the sponsoring college. The thing is, I didn’t take even one philosophy course in high school. I didn’t read any of the texts. But because my friend did, and because she enthusiastically talked about how foolish this or that dude was and why, I knew the answers to the philosophy questions on that test.

Now, you say, that’s all very well and good, but what does it matter? Why am I blogging about a long-ago test for a scholarship that I didn't accept because it wouldn’t have covered travel costs to and from the distant college?

Well, you see, there’s these trolls on Twitter who have claimed that I am a liar etc. etc. etc. They assume that I must not have read read certain Hugo nominees because, when asked to name a character in a Castalia Press-published story, I interrupted my work on my WIP to say that I didn't want to play trivia games.

I could simply laugh off the trolls. I'm female and my partner is transgender, so there's no way I could avoid being lumped with the SJWs, after all. But I also heard someone at Worldcon suggesting giving a simple “test” to see if a person had actually read all the nominees as a requirement for voting.

Now, having entertained myself at many convention parties by quietly listening to fans argue passionately about what really happened in one or another book or TV show, I have to say that any such test is inherently flawed. I have heard people argue about the names of characters, the sequence of events, who said what, and even how stories ended. People’s brains work very differently. Some remember names well, others can describe every detail of how the characters dressed, others analyze the plot and ridicule plot holes, others can recount dialogue in detail, and so on.

Forgetting an author’s or character’s name is not proof a person didn’t read something. And the offer of that scholarship (or if you discount my personal experience, the existence of Cliffs Notes) shows that knowledge about a writer's work isn't proof that a person did read it.

As to the bullies--nah. I have better things to do than write about them.

I'll just say that having gotten to sample so much of the output of Castalia House this year in the Hugo voter packet, based on the qualities of the content, I am not the least bit tempted to send any of my money that way in the future. (And no, I am not going to review or discuss those stories. While I enjoy writing reviews of stories I loved when time and energy allows, I have no interest in putting down other writers by publicly panning their work just because I didn't like it.)

Your tastes may differ from mine. That's all right. I never thought that I had to agree with all of my friends about whether a book is worth reading, much less whether it is worthy of an award.

I meant to post something substantial, but fell asleep on the couch.  Now my eyes are open, but I'm yawning and I have work tomorrow.  I guess I should go sleep behind my face-hugger and get some real rest.

Now I guess I should just point you over here: My brand-new under-construction Amazon Page!  Or at least, it's a page of books (and a magazine) that I have stories in, conveniently collected so people I've never met can, theoretically at least, buy right now.  Even in my current half-asleep state, that's exciting.

So, what else should I add to my presence on Amazon--besides more publications?  (I'm working on that, a little at a time.)  I know I should put in some kind of bio, at the very least. 

Oh, well, off to bed.  Sleep well, everyone.  Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow.

Win some books from my overstocked library!  Details here:  http://wyld-dandelyon.livejournal.com/190392.html 

Here's a picture of part of the library.  I have a big old Victorian house, of the vintage that has two parlours. My Angel and I turned the gentleman's parlour into a library, with as many bookshelves as we could stuff into it and still have a couple of places to sit. Almost all of it is speculative fiction--and I have no room left for new books.

I bet I have some treasures in there that you'd love.



As you can see, I've already filled up the tops of all the bookshelves, occasionally with more shelving!  

(No, the dragon sculpture is not available as a prize!)