"Characters, Complicity, and Caring" with a major reference to one of my favorite characters

[huinare]

At Jo Walton's LJ:
"Characters, Complicity and Caring: My Wiscon Speech"

With thanks to bunn for the heads up.

1. People have rec'd Walton's books to me before.  I need to get on that.

2. I quite enjoyed the whole thing, especially the part about actions scenes/jeopardy in a non-character-driven piece.
(You know when I usually go to the bathroom during a movie?  Long action scene.  Best time to go.  You won't miss a thing.  Whereas if I miss three minutes of intense, quiet dialogue and someone tells me I "didn't miss much," I know that person and I have irreconcilable views of the world.)

3. I liked the GRRM reference.  That's one of the things I find admirable in his work.

4. Estraven, okay?  Only fictional character I've ever wept buckets over.  I will never get over how intriguing and awesome and sad Estraven is.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I've only read 'Among Others' but I thought that was excellent (although I had not read all the books referenced). I don't know if it would appeal to you or not though - it's set in 70's Wales, which is where I grew up, so had an immediate appeal to me, but from its popularity it seems to be able to connect with people who don't have that association with the setting too.

[huinare.livejournal.com]

Among Others sounds really interesting to me. And while familiarity with the time/place probably gives the book an extra layer of relevance, as it did for you, I don't think that would prevent others from enjoying it. A book I enjoyed very much as an early teen comes to mind, Adams' The Plague Dogs, which probably would have been even more effective to a person familiar with the Lake District, but I still loved it.