Day 11 of the Snowflake Challenge
Jan. 13th, 2013 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalakiryaIn your own space, share a favorite piece of original canon (a TV episode, a song, a favourite interview, a book) and explain why you love it so much. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.
from the post here
As with many other things I can't choose between favorites, so I'm going to gush about an author and a TV show. So I give you a Lois McMcaster Bujold and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Appreciation Post.
I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose…though not always what I pleased.
- Lois McMaster Bujold (A Civil Campaign)
A quick Bujold primer: Lois McMaster Bujold is the author of, among other things, the Miles Vorkosigan series and the Chalion series (also the Sharing Knife series, which while much better than most of the books it gets lumped with, isn't up to her standard. And I like the Vorkosigan and Chalion series better, so there).
What makes these books so awesome?
Let me start with the Miles Vorkosigan series, which is the sci-fi one of the pair (Chalion is more fantasy). The series is primarily focused on Miles Vorkosigan, a crippled teenager (and eventual adult) in a space-faring society that values physical prowess over most other things. So he breaks a lot of things - the rules, his own bones, a few people's brains, and your heart - in order to prove he's worth... something. Neither he - nor you - is ever quite sure what. But that's not a mystery to be solved, it's just... part of the character growing up. Because he's a teenager who has no idea what he's doing and wants to prove he's as good as his parents but doesn't want to do it their way but also desperately does and who hasn't been there and done that? And then he does and for a few books it's great, he's fine, he's doing his brilliant, funny, world-saving thing. And then my favorite book in the series comes along - Memory - and absolutely guts him, not because everything gets taken away from him, but because he gambles it and throws it all away. And it could be painful to read, and occasionally is (mental health issues ahoy!) but then he comes to the end of himself and rebuilds himself and it's... just really, really well done. I'm actually crying on my keyboard. This book gives me lots of feels, okay?
But now I want to talk about the Chalion series really quickly because in some ways it's a more straight fantasy series, plays more tropes straight, and there's this point where you're pretty worried for the main character but also sure Bujold pulled a classic-fantasy/sci-fi kinda mysogynist thing and you sigh because you thought better of her but it's still really well written so you keep going and then WHAM SHE WASN'T BEING MYSOGYNIST (yay!) BUT NOW YOU'RE REALLY REALLY WORRIED and then EVERYTHING TURNS OUT BEAUTIFULLY AND IT'S ALL LOVELY AND YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
also the second book is ALSO SO FUCKING AMAZING and has an TOTALLY AWESOME MAIN CHARACTER who's *gasp* over 40 and gets a romance and there are (important plot point) and ALL SORTS OF LOVELY THINGS!!!
just read them okay? just go. and read them. now.
Oh Deep Space Nine, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways....
So I love the original Star Trek, don't get me wrong - love it to pieces. But something that always drove me nuts about it (and Next Generation, and Voyager) was that they got to run away from their problems, by and large. Oh, the Borg were recurring villains, and there were some recurring plot points, but mostly they warped away and left their problems behind. But Deep Space Nine is a space station - they can't do that. There are occasional one-offs, but mostly you get to know the characters and cultures the others series threw away. The Ferengi are a great example - they were "funny" stereotypes in Next Generation, but you get to know several of them (Quark! Rom! Nog! The Grand Nagus! Quark's Moogie!) over the course of DS9, and they're not flat stereotypes, they're individuals with a different set of cultural norms/priorities/world views than Earth Humans. And then there are the Bajorans. And the Cardassians. Each gets several main and minor characters, along with a host of background characters and world-building, and the characters grow and change and nothing is black and white and there are heroes and villains everywhere but it's still got that Star Trek Optimism and when you're done you don't feel that everything is shades of gray and therefore there's no point in attempting to be Good, but that everything is shades of gray but you can still Do Good and That's Important and OMG HOW HAVE I GONE THIS FAR WITHOUT MENTIONING GARAK. Who is the best tailor or possibly spy and possibly Cardassian informant and possibly Federation ally... He's... what's the best way of putting this... He's like fanon Loki, kinda. The guy who pretends to be chaotic neutral and will definitely fuck with you given half a chance and you wouldn't want to turn your back on him if you were healthy but by god if someone (else) had already knifed you there's no one else you'd want covering your escape? That's Garak. Plain, simple, Garak.
(incidentally, Bujold and DS9 are kinda connected - the first Vorkosigan book (Shards of Honor) began as a Star Trek (next generation) fanfiction. I kid you not. She filed off the serial numbers and got it published. And named a character after Illya Kuryakin from Man from UNCLE. Because she's awesome)
from the post here
As with many other things I can't choose between favorites, so I'm going to gush about an author and a TV show. So I give you a Lois McMcaster Bujold and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Appreciation Post.
I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose…though not always what I pleased.
- Lois McMaster Bujold (A Civil Campaign)
A quick Bujold primer: Lois McMaster Bujold is the author of, among other things, the Miles Vorkosigan series and the Chalion series (also the Sharing Knife series, which while much better than most of the books it gets lumped with, isn't up to her standard. And I like the Vorkosigan and Chalion series better, so there).
What makes these books so awesome?
Let me start with the Miles Vorkosigan series, which is the sci-fi one of the pair (Chalion is more fantasy). The series is primarily focused on Miles Vorkosigan, a crippled teenager (and eventual adult) in a space-faring society that values physical prowess over most other things. So he breaks a lot of things - the rules, his own bones, a few people's brains, and your heart - in order to prove he's worth... something. Neither he - nor you - is ever quite sure what. But that's not a mystery to be solved, it's just... part of the character growing up. Because he's a teenager who has no idea what he's doing and wants to prove he's as good as his parents but doesn't want to do it their way but also desperately does and who hasn't been there and done that? And then he does and for a few books it's great, he's fine, he's doing his brilliant, funny, world-saving thing. And then my favorite book in the series comes along - Memory - and absolutely guts him, not because everything gets taken away from him, but because he gambles it and throws it all away. And it could be painful to read, and occasionally is (mental health issues ahoy!) but then he comes to the end of himself and rebuilds himself and it's... just really, really well done. I'm actually crying on my keyboard. This book gives me lots of feels, okay?
But now I want to talk about the Chalion series really quickly because in some ways it's a more straight fantasy series, plays more tropes straight, and there's this point where you're pretty worried for the main character but also sure Bujold pulled a classic-fantasy/sci-fi kinda mysogynist thing and you sigh because you thought better of her but it's still really well written so you keep going and then WHAM SHE WASN'T BEING MYSOGYNIST (yay!) BUT NOW YOU'RE REALLY REALLY WORRIED and then EVERYTHING TURNS OUT BEAUTIFULLY AND IT'S ALL LOVELY AND YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
also the second book is ALSO SO FUCKING AMAZING and has an TOTALLY AWESOME MAIN CHARACTER who's *gasp* over 40 and gets a romance and there are (important plot point) and ALL SORTS OF LOVELY THINGS!!!
just read them okay? just go. and read them. now.
Oh Deep Space Nine, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways....
So I love the original Star Trek, don't get me wrong - love it to pieces. But something that always drove me nuts about it (and Next Generation, and Voyager) was that they got to run away from their problems, by and large. Oh, the Borg were recurring villains, and there were some recurring plot points, but mostly they warped away and left their problems behind. But Deep Space Nine is a space station - they can't do that. There are occasional one-offs, but mostly you get to know the characters and cultures the others series threw away. The Ferengi are a great example - they were "funny" stereotypes in Next Generation, but you get to know several of them (Quark! Rom! Nog! The Grand Nagus! Quark's Moogie!) over the course of DS9, and they're not flat stereotypes, they're individuals with a different set of cultural norms/priorities/world views than Earth Humans. And then there are the Bajorans. And the Cardassians. Each gets several main and minor characters, along with a host of background characters and world-building, and the characters grow and change and nothing is black and white and there are heroes and villains everywhere but it's still got that Star Trek Optimism and when you're done you don't feel that everything is shades of gray and therefore there's no point in attempting to be Good, but that everything is shades of gray but you can still Do Good and That's Important and OMG HOW HAVE I GONE THIS FAR WITHOUT MENTIONING GARAK. Who is the best tailor or possibly spy and possibly Cardassian informant and possibly Federation ally... He's... what's the best way of putting this... He's like fanon Loki, kinda. The guy who pretends to be chaotic neutral and will definitely fuck with you given half a chance and you wouldn't want to turn your back on him if you were healthy but by god if someone (else) had already knifed you there's no one else you'd want covering your escape? That's Garak. Plain, simple, Garak.
(incidentally, Bujold and DS9 are kinda connected - the first Vorkosigan book (Shards of Honor) began as a Star Trek (next generation) fanfiction. I kid you not. She filed off the serial numbers and got it published. And named a character after Illya Kuryakin from Man from UNCLE. Because she's awesome)
no subject
Date: 2013-01-14 10:01 am (UTC)OMG HOW HAVE I GONE THIS FAR WITHOUT MENTIONING GARAK
Oh, but he would be so pleased by it.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-04 05:09 am (UTC)and lol, he would XDDD