Booknotes 4.33

Moonbound, by Robin Sloan, published 2024, science fiction, 363 pages. For some reason I went into this worried I wouldn’t like it — which was silly since I liked both of Sloan’s other books and have been following and enjoying his newsletter for ages — but I adored it from the first page. Delightfully imaginative.

On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill, published 1859, nonfiction, 205 pages. After reading Mill’s autobiography earlier this year, I figured I ought to try some of his political science writing. This was good, and I found myself agreeing with a fair amount of it — e.g., people generally ought to be free to do things if those things don’t hurt people, and yes, there’s a lot more nuance to it than that. (And yet even as I say this, I don’t think of myself as a libertarian. Probably because I haven’t audited my point of view thoroughly enough to be able to label it in any meaningful way. I should do that.) Appreciated the plug for diversity and the unexpected defense of the Church’s polygamy at the time. There was also an interesting bit about there being a natural convergence toward cultural homogeneity. Lots of food for thought.

The Lights Go Out in Lychford, by Paul Cornell, published 2019, fantasy, 120 pages. Fourth in the Lychford series, and I liked it as much as the others. Dark and dangerous. And that ending!

Ironclads, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, published 2017, science fiction, 137 pages. A compelling, quick read. Enjoyed it as usual, though maybe not quite as much as the other Tchaikovsky I’ve read.

Lolly Willowes, by Sylvia Townsend Warner, published 1926, fantasy, 197 pages. Good writing, particularly the descriptions of the natural world (of which there are many). The last part of the book did not at all go where I thought it might, and I’m glad it didn’t.

Where the Drowned Girls Go, by Seanan McGuire, published 2022, fantasy, 146 pages. Wayward Children book 7. Really liked it — dark, dangerous (I’m starting to sense a trend here), and slightly creepy, as usual, in a way I wish were more common in fantasy fiction. (You’d think horror might be what I’m looking for, by the way, but I find it’s usually over my threshold and I have to nope out. Dark fantasy is more my thing.)