JJ Litke

the neural pathways less traveled

Irregular Reviews: Midnight at the Houdini

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Delilah S. Dawson brought us this little hidden gem in late 2023, and I managed to miss it entirely when it came out. Lucky for me, I snagged a copy in a book giveaway.

Midnight at the Houdini tells the story of Anna, a young woman who ends up trapped in a magical hotel (called the Houdini, get it, GET IT?), and if she can’t escape by midnight, she’ll become another permanent, ghostly guest. The whole adventure is surreal, loaded with beautifully detailed descriptions of a setting from a bygone era. But the point I kept wondering while reading was: is the hotel sentient?

Dawson has written a lot of fantasy, including Kill the Farm Boy (co-written with Kevin Hearne), which probably deserves its own review. She’s also written a number of Star Wars novels as well as other science fiction. So it’s no surprise that she can bring over some sci-fi concepts into fantasy, like the classic sentient ship trope. Because that’s effectively what we’ve got going on with the Houdini—it’s a sentient ship, isolated from the outside world, its inhabitants every bit as unable to leave as if they were in space.

Okay, so it’s not really an idea that’s completely brand new to fantasy. Sentient/living buildings exist in fantasies like Howl’s Moving Castle, and the Innkeeper series by Ilona Andrews. But I had to stop and think to recall those, whereas I can come up with a number of sentient ships off the top of my head—2001: A Space Odyssey, Ancillary Justice, ART in the Murderbot Diaries, and Lovey from the Wayfarers series, just for starters. In those stories, the ship or AI is a major character, and in fantasy, it’s mostly treated as part of the setting. A really cool part of it, maybe, but it seems like this theme is just bigger and more common in sci-fi, is what I’m saying.

In this book, though, the Houdini is a major element. I stop short of calling it a character, but it’s definitely vital to the story. It often feels like a character, as if it’s manipulating its occupants in a thoughtful, intelligent way. I mean, it’s sometimes also a little terrifying, but being sweet or kind has never been a requirement for proving intelligence (unfortunately). The Houdini itself, combined with the early 20th century trappings, creates a unique and fresh adventure.

I noticed some other reviews for Midnight at the Houdini weren’t quite as positive, and after reading through several trying to identify what they felt the problems were, I suspect it’s really more about subverted tropes than any real issues with the story itself. Of course people have the right to like what they want. And if you’re looking for something a little different, Midnight at the Houdini might be worth a look.

Irregular Reviews are reviews I write at random, not on a schedule, whenever I’m inspired to write about a book. These are strictly my thoughts and opinions. Feel free to disagree.

Irregular Reviews: Everything Sad is Untrue

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I recently met Arthur A. Levine—founder of the independent publisher Levine Querido—at ArmadilloCon. Levine is probably best known as the editor that brought the Harry Potter series to the US. Levine also published Darcie Little Badger’s debut Elatsoe (tip: when saying this out loud, pronounce the ‘e’ at the end like an ‘a’ sound; I managed to impress Levine by knowing this). The point of all this backstory is this is how I came across Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, during a panel where Levine discussed a variety of books from his imprint. It’s a little outside of my usual genres, but it was so intriging I couldn’t resist.

I want to strongly, wholeheartedly endorse this book. It’s beautiful. The writing is fluid, at times lyrical. The characters well developed. It’s so real. And therein lies the problem. It’s like a slice of real life—more like a lot of slices, a cake cut into pieces and served in random ways with odd utensils. The cake is still delicious but it’s definitely not how you’re used to eating cake.

The book is essentially a monologue by Daniel, as he stands up in front of his class talking about his life. This premise isn’t introduced as a scene, it’s just hinted at throughout. I read that description in advance and thought, well it can’t really be this long and only be that. Turns out it can be. Daniel draws an analogy to Scheherazade multiple times. It’s an apt comparison, right down to the way the stories he weaves together don’t feel complete as you wade along through.

I have to admit—I skimmed a big chunk of it. Something about this compelled me to want to read it, immediately. But I wasn’t in the right headspace for it. The reviews for the audiobook version are really high, and I’m a bit sorry I didn’t get that instead of print (well, e-book, my current preferred format). But I own it now, and I fully expect to revisit it. In fact, I think it might be a prime candidate for nonlinear reading. An occasional slice of cake, served on a saucepan lid, eaten with a shrimp fork. Delicious.

Short story roundup, July 2018

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I’m focused on short stories for next year’s Hugos. So I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could start sharing the stories I’m reading in a highly organized way? Well sure, that would be lovely, but let’s just start with the sharing. Then we’ll move on to organized, and later on see if we can eventually attach a highly in there as well. So here are some stories I read this past month that were not necessarily freshly published this month.

Untimely Frost, Unlikely Bloom, by Hayley Stone, in Flash Fiction Online, July 2018
Lovely, creepy, and sad, this is sort of a dark fairy tale of a poisonous person who kills any creature she comes in contact. It did bring up quite a few logistical questions as I read it—how did she survive to adulthood, and how is she managing to survive now—but you really just need to accept that it’s a fairy tale.

A Most Elegant Solution, by M. Darusha Wehm, in Terraform, April 27, 2018
People are always proud of their own creations, aren’t they? Even when those creations wind up devouring everyone. It was nice of them to kill everyone else first and leave mom for last, at least. That’s the scenario as the story begins, then goes into flashback to show how we got to that point. I think the story would be a bit stronger with the last couple of paragraphs (don’t think we needed the extra explanation), but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A Song of Home, the Organ Grinds, by James Beamon, in Lightspeed, July 2018
Holy shit, this piece. Monkeys as weapons of war, controlled by an organ grinder… you know what, describing it isn’t going to do it justice, just go read it.

Waterbirds, by G.V. Anderson, in Lightspeed, July 2018
Celia is an A.I. Companion whose employer is missing. Celia’s memory about what exactly happened seems a bit hazy on a few details, and the more pieces are filled in, the more tense it gets. What’s going to become of poor Celia now that her benefactor is gone? G.V. Anderson won the World Fantasy Award Best Short Fiction for Das Steingeschöpf in 2017, and this story is a likely candidate to be brought up in award conversations next year.

 

Read more, enjoy it more

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A father reading a novel with an affecting plot to family. Wellcome L0040392
Dude, you are scaring the crap out of your family.
I need to read more books. I mean, really really need to read more. I used to read tons of books, and when I ran out of books I reread the ones I had. And I’m still reading a whole lot. But last year I was still focused on short stories (which I read virtually every day). I logged an embarrassingly low six novels in Goodreads. To be fair, I did read more than that, so now I’m also embarrassed that I didn’t even fully track the small number I read. It doesn’t help that my to-be-read list is so freaking long that sometimes just looking at it makes me go do something else, like clean the shower or dig out an old tree stump in the backyard. At least those things were achievable, with a decided end point. The TBR list has no end in sight. It is infinite. Eternal. Someday, after the world ends, the electrons of people’s TBR lists from Goodreads will be all that remain. So put some good stuff on yours, okay?

Now I’m going to consciously focus on getting in more novels, instead of books’ worth of shorts. I saw a good blog post about this from Roni Loren, who is going for five pages a day. Of course it’s a trick—she’ll get herself hooked and read more than that! See? I don’t think that five-page trick is going to work so well on me, though. Not that I’m too clever for it, not at all. It’s just that my brain can be weirdly literal. Five pages means FIVE PAGES WE’RE STOPPING AFTER FIVE.

So my goal is twenty pages—something achievable, yet I could still make progress. And strangely, I find my brain is more flexible about that number. Why? I don’t know, by twenty pages it just gives up or something. Anyway, I think I can make that work.

The best tip for me in Roni’s post is the bit about trying to decide what to read next and trying out the first five pages of a couple of books. I think this will help me get rid of the “what I should read” monster that takes some of the fun out of reading.

And that’s a pretty important part of all this—have fun with it. Find what works for you, then keep doing that.

Though there’s a lot to be said for short fiction, too.

Bookmark bits and pieces

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I finally bought a bookmark. I’m not sure I’ve ever paid actual money for one. But this hardcover I’m reading right now (The Emperor’s Blades) really seemed to warrant something nicer than just a scrap of paper. It turned out to be more difficult to find a nice bookmark than I would have thought. I ended up with this dragon one, just because it’s what I could get quickly. Hey, it has nice graphics. And it cost a whopping 49¢.

here there be dragons
Because tassel!

Since I’m a knitter, I could make a lovely bookmark. But I hate thick bookmarks that might press into the pages, and fine lace is too fussy and flimsy for the job. The same issue rules out the metal variety of bookmarks. It can’t be uncoated colored paper that might stain the pages. And all these picky criteria are why I end up using the folded receipt for the book itself. Besides, it’s a cool reminder of when I bought the book.

But there’s one better. The very best bookmark of all is an airline boarding pass.

boarding pass as a bookmark
Trip to Dallas. Okay, so that particular flight wasn’t to an exotic locale.

It didn’t take long of flipping through books to find one. Once I (or my husband) read a book on a flight, that boarding pass will probably live on in that book forever. Boarding passes are the ultimate bookmarks. They meet all the above rules, plus they add a sentimental interest. Any time I open that book again, I’ll remember that trip. Which, come to think of it, isn’t always a fun thing, but then it’s just a different kind of memory.

Still, I’m going to start keeping an eye out for fancy bookmarks that are actually functional. Or else I’ll have to start flying a lot more often.

Immortal characters and the people they know

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If someone lived long enough, they must have met some interesting historical figures, right? Famous names that anyone now would recognize. It just makes sense that it works that way, and it’s big fun to read those bits of alternative history in fiction. It’s even more fun to write them. Which is the only good reason to do it, because it’s definitely not realistic.

It really only makes sense if you don’t look too close or think too much about it. It turns out that many names we recognize as famous now were pretty far from that when they lived. In the novel Hounded, the first of the Iron Druid Chronicles, the main character–who has been around for 21 centuries–mentions knowing Van Gogh. But Van Gogh was virtually unknown during his life. He sold exactly one painting. Only later was his work noticed, and even later to become the widely-known name that he is. But okay, let’s say that his work became famous later because this long-lived character (strictly, he isn’t a true immortal) knew him, and somehow contrived that postmortem fame. So, there we go, still plausible. Though to be honest, I’m not sure that’s really how the author meant it (Kevin Hearne, if you’d like to correct me on this, I’d appreciate it).

So some examples could be explained away. Some others, not so much. The very worst demonstration of this I can think of is from the movie Hancock. Criticizing Hancock is like shooting fish in a barrel, there’s just so much to vilify there. But I’m talking about the bit right at the very end, when Jason Bateman quizzes Charlize Theron about various historical figures: Attila the Hun, Queen Elizabeth (without specifying which Queen Elizabeth, I’m assuming the dead one), and JFK. She personally knows EVERY PERSON WHO EVER EXISTED and she has opinions on all of them.

Now I know what you’re thinking: with everything that went wrong with Hancock, THAT is the thing you chose to pick at? Well, yeah, odds are good you didn’t even notice that particular flaw after the more glaring stuff that came before it, and the lame heart-moon thing after. Besides, it fits today’s subject.

I admit, that pieces of alternate history like this are really enjoyable when done well. In my own writing, I decided to go the other direction. My characters (like Hearne’s, they are not truly immortal) have spent centuries trying to remain hidden. While they’ve interacted and even interfered plenty, they aren’t given to hanging out at the top with big names. That, logically, would ruin anonymity. My fave depiction of this is a young man meeting someone who is more than seven centuries old (I know, that’s a little on the young side). He could ask about anything he wants. Coming back to their conversation later, they’re talking about football. It’s unfortunately realistic; I imagine that, on the spot, you’d quickly run out of questions, especially if you got a number of responses like, “No, I never met him,” or “I wasn’t there, I don’t know any more than a history text would.” Then the conversation would naturally turn to the sorts of things that any two people might talk about. (Though actually, I think someone who’s been in as high a number of wars and conflicts as that character might have a fascinating view of football, and I would totally jump at the chance to find out.)

All that said, I’d like to get some more historical figure references as I continue through the Iron Druid Chronicles. I’m holding out hope that Hearne will fall into the doing-it-right category.