Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

Nov 24th.

Spot!

Spot :D

Starting Binti in audio!


The book is so short, I'm hoping to finish it today :)

I thought we are doing this on Monday *hides face*

I will start today! I will not keep ditching you anymore *makes a jug of coffee*

Hehe, no worries. I was quite optimistic: I'm not even half way through :p

Where are your comments and observations?
I'm still watching a movie with my parents.

Up until 39% (no chapter announcement in my audiobook, but I think I read Chapter 1 & 2?) (view spoiler)[
I was a bit confused at the beginning, more due to the fact I'm listening instead of reading; had trouble remembering the terms.

I really liked Binti's culture, the tribe Himba; the moment she boards the ship and people comment on her appearance, her use of otjize made me so angry and sad all at once. The author really nailed that feeling of being ostracized because you don't just look different, but refuse to abandon your heritage to please others.

(I'm half-khmer living in region of France where there's a LOT of racism; while I'm not treated as badly as people coming from maghreban countries, I still had my share of hurtful comments.)

I really liked Binti as a character, her love for math/science/innovation and her willingness to leave behind everything she knows for her dreams.

The SF setting is pretty cool. From what I understood, there's live ships, interstellar universities and a jellyfish-like alien species of terrorists ('meduse' literally means jellyfish in French).

Can't wait to learn more about Binti's edan, how it killed a meduse and seems to allow her to communicate with the others. Also, what the heck is the meduses' plan? Getting shot at upon arrival at the university? :O (hide spoiler)]

Started.

Did you notice that the blurb is by Ursula LeGuin!

I can't wait to read that beautiful collection of hers next year!

Heh! I have the audiobook loaded on my phone so sadly, no blurb, dedication nor acknowledgment (yeah, I'm one of those people that actually read the opening pages ^_^)

You can see it on the cover photo in Goodreads.

Also,
Dedicated to the little blue jellyfish I saw swimming the Khalid Lagoon that sunny day in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

I really don't like it when books don't have chapters. It's very difficult to discuss them.

I hope the next ones do because they are longer.

Otjize is a mixture of butterfat and ochre pigment used by the Himba people of Namibia to protect themselves from the harsh desert climate. The paste is often perfumed with the aromatic resin of Commiphora multijuga. The mixture lends the skin a deep orange or reddish tinge.

"I swiped otjize from my forehead with my index finger and knelt down. "

But here she mentions later that it is also red clay.

I know traditions etc - but I would hate it if a fellow passenger's mud smeared hair was smacking me in my face.

As I moved past seated passengers far too aware of the bushy ends of my plaited hair softly slapping people in the face.

Not that I supported the passengers behaving as judgily as they did that was very very wrong. But I also believe she should have been a bit more careful with that. But then again like she said her people rarely left their homeland so maybe she did not know what to expect!

Her father has an astrolabe shop

An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers and navigators to measure the inclined position in the sky of a celestial body, day or night. The word astrolabe means "the one that catches the heavenly bodies"

The Khoush are written as Arabs.

Edit: They are terrible with how they are treating her! Ugh!

The travel security officer scanned my astrolabe, a full deep scan. Dizzy with shock, I shut my eyes and breathed through my mouth to steady myself. Just to leave the planet, I had to give them access to my entire life—me, my family, and all forecasts of my future.

Interesting that the astrolabes contain details of their entire life as well as forecasts for their future(?)

Government security guards were only educated up to age ten

How intelligent of the government to do that!

Also - welcome to buddy reading with me - if you don't like this many comments then tell me and I will reduce to very limited ones!

I'm half-khmer living in region of France where there's a LOT of racism; while I'm not treated as badly as people coming from maghreban countries, I still had my share of hurtful comments.

What does Khmer and Maghreban mean?
Also, that is terrible 😨

Yay, plenty of comments to read! I'm not reading at all today so no progress on my part.

Karishma wrote: "I really don't like it when books don't have chapters. It's very difficult to discuss them. "

Yup! It's especially tiresome with audiobook, 'cause rewinding and finding the one thing you wanted to comment about is quite difficult.

Or maybe I'm too spoiled by my Kindle and the highlighting feature :p

Karishma wrote: "But here she mentions later that it is also red clay."

I assumed the ochre pigment comes from actual clay/dirt/soil. I think she said at some point that Himba people literally wrap themselves in their land; isn't it what she meant? That they work soil, a piece of their land, in their protective otjize?

Karishma wrote: "I know traditions etc - but I would hate it if a fellow passenger's mud smeared hair was smacking me in my face.

As I moved past seated passengers far too aware of the bushy ends of my plaited hai..."

Yeah, I was a little annoyed at her behaviour but she's also very naive; she never laft her homeland after all.

I was expecting judgment/curiosity from the people since her tribe almost never interact with the outside world but not something that bad...

The overall feeling I got from the passengers is 'I don't know this culture but it must be inferior to mine. She's different and that means she's some kind of barbarian'.

Karishma wrote: "Also - welcome to buddy reading with me - if you don't like this many comments then tell me and I will reduce to very limited ones!"

Nah, I like it, it gets the discussion going! I tend to comment little so it's nice like that :)

Hunh, terrible tragedy strikes so soon😓

I understand now why the author dedicated the book to the jellyfishes!

I'm stopping at 45% and waiting for you but damn it is all so interesting with the Edan and the Meduse.

Plus, with their "Humans only understand violence.”" and "Humans must be killed before they kill us,” - Maybe there is a hidden history and the Khoush haven't been entirely truthful.

Virginie wrote: "Karishma wrote: "But here she mentions later that it is also red clay."

I assumed the ochre pigment comes from actual clay/dirt/soil. I think she said at some point that Himba people literally wra..."

That makes sense - I didn't think that the pigment could come from clay.

Karishma wrote: "What does Khmer and Maghreban mean?"

Khmer = etnic group from Cambodia; my mom fled the country when she was 23 after living in labor camps for 5 years. Look up "Khmer rouges genocide" if you want to know more about this.

Anyway, I'm half asian and look the part. The region where I grew up is one of the richest in France (plenty of xenophobic, super-rich pensionner) but is also has lots of immigrants because of its location (border with Italy + Mediterranean sea) so there's always a gap between those two groups :/
It got better (for me, at least) since Asian people have somewhat of a reputation for being respectful and hardworking now, and the focus shifted to Islamic immigrants. Or maybe I just got used to gratuitous racism. Probably both ^_^"

Maghreb = Northen African countries (Maroc, Algeria, Tunisia, Lybia)

Virginie wrote: "Yay, plenty of comments to read! I'm not reading at all today so no progress on my part."

Oh no - how do I keep patience and wait😋

Virginie wrote: "Karishma wrote: "What does Khmer and Maghreban mean?"

Khmer = etnic group from Cambodia; my mom fled the country when she was 23 after living in labor camps for 5 years. Look up "Khmer rouges geno..."

That is excessively stupid for a region named nice - I will research what you said tomorrow and then respond.

Karishma wrote: "Virginie wrote: "Yay, plenty of comments to read! I'm not reading at all today so no progress on my part."

Oh no - how do I keep patience and wait😋"

Haha! Read on and I'll catch up ;)
You don't have to wait for me (but do wait before starting the next book though lol)

Virginie wrote: "Karishma wrote: "Virginie wrote: "Yay, plenty of comments to read! I'm not reading at all today so no progress on my part."

Oh no - how do I keep patience and wait😋"

Haha! Read on and I'll catch ..."

No no I will wait esp because typing spoiler tags is a chore on the mobile.

Karishma wrote: "That is excessively stupid for a region named nice - I will research what you said tomorrow and then respond."

My mom always said that "Nizza la Bella" (Nice the Beautiful in italian - 'cause the town was originally Italian, France 'won' it during a war, I think) was quite ugly in the inside.

Ok, time to admit that I can't stand the narration; it's ruining the book for me. Thankfully, my library also has ebooks :D
I got the first one, and am on hold for #2 and 3. I should get them in a few days at most.

I'm glad your library has the ebook then, do you plan to continue with this today or tomorrow?

I'm planning on finishing #1 tonight, then continue as soon as I get the rest of the series. Sorry about the delay :/

Virginie wrote: "I'm planning on finishing #1 tonight, then continue as soon as I get the rest of the series. Sorry about the delay :/"

Nothing to say sorry about. I'm really really enjoying reading the Fever series!

Finished! I rated it 3 stars; I understand why the novella won a Nebula award but didn't enjoy it as much as I expected to.

One thing that really annoyed me was the lack of chapters; it sounds somewhat ridiculous to be hung up on this, but I think it made the book 'clunky'. Even dividing the narrative in 3 chapters would have greatly improved the flow: (view spoiler)[
1. The beginning of the trip, right until the Meduse attack
2. The part where Binti is confined in her cabin + negociation with the Meduse chief
3. Arrival on Oozma Uni (hide spoiler)]

I'm rating it 3 stars too. The ending fizzled out. I still don't understand how her hair change happened, that was extremely weird.

And yes, chapters would have been so good.

When will you get the next book?

Probably Saturday :D

Karishma wrote: "I'm rating it 3 stars too. The ending fizzled out. I still don't understand how her hair change happened, that was extremely weird.

And yes, chapters would have been so good."

What bothered me was not so much her hair changing but the fact the Meduse were able to do that. I mean... If they can modify her that way (probably at a molecular level), shouldn't they have invented something with similar healing properties as Binti's otjize. The Meduse civilisation seems really advanced and yet, they act like it's some sort of magic (and Binti by association).

Second thing that really bothered me... The Meduse killed everyone on board the spaceship except Binti & the pilot. And yet, a mini negotiation later, Oozma Uni give back the chief's stinger and welcome a member of the Meduse species as a student. Did they seriously swiped the murder of more than 200 persons under the carpet, along with years of fear and prejudice?

"Oh, yeah, sorry about mutilating your chief. Here's his stinger. Thanks for not killing us. Well, apart for all the inhabitants of a spaceship. And probably countless other people. Want us to show you around?"

Starting Home


Looks like this one has chapters! Yay :D