Posted by Sari
Category 8, An science fiction book written by a woman: Anna Butler: Day of Wrath, Catherynne M Valente: Space Opera
Now this is a category where I could have chosen a number of books, and even after slotting the candidates in other places in challenge I was still left with two very different science fiction novels. Which is great!
Anna Butler's Day of Wrath is the fifth book in her Taking the Shield military scifi series. I buy these as soon as they come out. Butler self-publishes as e-books, which is pretty much a norm when we are talking about gay romance novels, especially those aimed at least partly for straight women. For the longest time commercial publishers were wary of publishing the stuff so writers and readers found each other in self-publishing world. Taking the Shield is definitely more mil-sci than it its romance, though the bi/gay (he identifies as gay but has sex/relationships also with women) hero does fall in love and pine and have sex in between fighting an overwhelming alien space menace. In this fifth novel the story takes a hard turn left and I am not quite sure I liked it but I am still willing to give book six a chance when it comes out.
Cat Valente's Space of Opera is a whole different animal. It is a delightful romp where Earth can only be saved by not coming last in the intergalactic Eurovision song contest, and the artist standing between Earth and its doom is the glam rock band Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros. I usually find Valente's intensely figurative language and her habit of describing sensations a chore, but here her unquestionable talent with words is here happily married with her paying hilarious tribute to Douglas Adams.
Gunpowder Tea
Again, I have thrown away the label, so I have no recollection where I got this from, but it is a very nice green gunpowder tea - which gets its name from the fact that the tea-leaves are rolled into little pearls which are apparently reminiscent of gunpowder. It is a very old way of serving tea, known already during the Tang-dynasty. 70-80 degree water, infusion time about a minute. I am going to go now to get another cup.
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