Reading Wednesday

Just finished: Wild Seed by Octavia Butler. I continued to really love this one. It's a complex, fraught work that explores the moral complexities of its characters and world without passing judgment, which is something that is so rare in Serious Sociopolitical Fiction that I didn't notice how absent it was until I read this. (She'd be dragged on Twitter if she published it now.) It was compelling, epic in its scope but personal in its stakes. I really appreciated how Butler invokes real-world themes without making her story a one-to-one allegory for these concepts.

Anyway, a true classic, read it if you're able.

The ebook I got has a lengthy excerpt from the sequel, but I kind of noped out. Anyone read it? Is it worth reading?

Currently reading: Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand. The sequel to Generation Loss, which blew me away, and so far this is every bit as excellent. This one brings Cass, now known as that weird photographer who knows a lot about photographing dead people, to Finland and Iceland, ostensibly to authenticate more dead people photos. Instead, she's drawn into more murder, a search for a lover from her teenage years, and the Scandinavian black metal scene, against the backdrop of the polar nights. It's bleak, with sharp-edged prose, and I continue to adore Cass and her terrible decision-making skills and the hint of cosmic horror that follows her whenever she goes.