(no subject)

[sam_t]

We keep getting these playschool dawns. This morning, someone had scribbled over the green-blue sky in pink crayon.

Farah Mendlesohn (about whom I now know slightly more), is asking for SF readers to fill in this questionnaire on SF reading habits, specifically SF read when under 18. I was reading through the questions when I realised that I can't actually remember whether or not I read any SF at all as a child or a teenager. This surprised me, as I definitely read fantasy, I liked science and was fascinated by space exploration and astronomy. I can't imagine what would have stopped me reading it, but I really can't remember any if I did read it. Perhaps I just wasn't adventurous enough to try a whole genre that no-one had recommended to me. I'm going to be wondering all day whether I've forgotten any books, now.

My new office is crowded, as expected, but I've ended up with the desk at the back of the room by the window, which is a bonus. The corridors seem to be designed to thwart any sense of direction: they've got large bright coloured panels that look from a distance like doorways, and they twist in odd ways. I'm having to navigate by Picasso prints, which feels decidedly peculiar.

ETA: OK, so far I've got 4 or 5 Star Trek novels, 1984, The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. Still not very many.

Comments

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

I know exactly what you mean: one of the first fantasy trilogies that I read featured: a heroine who was intelligent and good with children; male and female characters who were good at fighting and some who weren't especially good at fighting but were still valued in the defence of the country; male and female characters in power; prejudice portrayed as present but both wrong and bad for the country; at least one homosexual relationship among main characters and some in 'history'; characters who loved sex, (young, admirable) characters who would rather have an academic position than a serious romance, teenage fumblings, and the aftermath of rape and sexual abuse by a father figure. That was a bit of a revelation at the age of twelve: the issues weren't treated in much depth, but it was a far cry from both 'standard' teenage fiction and the (mostly male) quest sort of fantasy. The friend from whom I borrowed the books still has a set: they're extremely well read and dogeared - and they're the replacement volumes.

Oh, and I forgot to say yesterday, assorted debates on fantasy and female heroines are linked to on whileaway, which is an interesting community in itself.

[forthwritten.livejournal.com]

This may just be me being dense, but what one was this?

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

The 'Arrows' trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. It's not the best work of fiction ever, and a lot of the appeal was admittedly the "shy girl fits in and helps to save the kingdom" aspect, but it was good to read something with a good variety of roles for women.