It was two years ago that I first heard about the Judge Minty fan movie, based on an obscure Dredd story and now it’s finally done. Enjoy.
Gabriel’s Ghost — Linnea Sinclair
Gabriel’s Ghost
Linnea Sinclair
447 pages
published in 2005
I’d never heard of Linnea Sinclair before I picked Gabriel’s Ghost up in a secondhand bookstore, but the cover and plot looked interesting. Also, I’m still trying to read more female authors. Googling Sinclair made clear she’s a science fiction romance writer and indeed Gabriel’s Ghost won the 2006 Romance Writers of America’s RITA award for Best Paranormal Romance. Neither this nor the title however means there’s anything paranormal about this novel. Rather, it’s a science fiction adventure story with a somewhat greater emphasis on the romance between the two main characters than usual, which does have some consequences for the rest of the plot.
Gabriel’s Ghost starts imperial fleet captain Chasidah Bergren banished to the prison planet Moabar for crime she didn’t commit. Barely arrived, she had to kill a guard who tried to rape her and only then the real danger began, as the next person she met turned out to be somebody from her past, somebody she thought long dead. Gabriel Sullivan is a rogue and a smuggler she had clashed with repeatedly when she was still a frigate captain, until he died a few years ago. Now he’s back and offering her escape, if she helps him with one little job…
It’s only sexism when it happens to you
Science fiction writer Patty Jansen ran into a spot of sexism the other day when she tried to sell a hard sf novel to an unnamed publisher, only to be told that women writers don’t sell. She blogged about and something about she introduced it struck me as wrong:
I also get weary of people blaming their lack of success too easily on external factors. Having success is a matter of luck and talent–but mostly luck, and persistence–before being a function of anything else. I believe that quietly chipping away and engaging with the community is more valuable than agitating out loud, because I don’t believe there is anything to be gained by being accusatory to people you should try to engage in discussion instead.
In short, I really dislike playing the gender card, but when someone chucks a whole packet of cards in my face, it becomes harder to ignore.
It’s annoying that she felt the need to distance herself from those other women who use sexism as an excuse for their own failings. It shouldn’t be necessary and it comes across as if sexism is only real now it happened to her. You hope now that she has had this experience, Jansen will be a bit more charitable when hearing other women’s experiences.
Books read April
Another month, another disappointingly small pile of books read. Nobody to blame but myself.
Invented Knowledge — Ronald H. Fritze
A slightly disappointing overview of pseudohistory, looking at Atlantis, ancient discoverers of America, racist pseudohistory and Black Athena. All a bit of a mismatch with nothing to tie it all together.
Calcio — John Foot
A nicely chatty history of Italian football.
Valor’s Trial — Tanya Huff
Another Mil-sf adventure for gunnery sergeant Torin Kerr, who has to escape a prisoner of war camp.
The Truth of Valor — Tanya Huff
Now civilian, Kerr has to stop a band of pirates who have kidnapped her lover.
Gabriel’s Ghost — Linnea Sinclair
A science fiction romance adventure, which has some consent issues but is better than it needed to be.
Last ever Queensday (for now)
No, I refused to take part in the whole abdication/crowning spectacle. I didn’t go out to witness it, avoided the telly and only went out to the local freemarket to do some traditional Queensday shopping. You never know what you might find after all. In this case there wasn’t that much, but I couldn’t be bothered to get into town proper. Still managed to score 11 DVDs and some classic Dutch comic strip Kapitein Rob compilations.
Apart from this annual ritual of cleaning out our attics and selling them to our neighbours for them to store it in their attics, I’d rather have a republic.