Summer Reading: The Quantum Thief (English)

May 28th, 2017

Raffles. Bandette. Ana DuPre. Jean le Flambeur.

What do all these names have in common? They are members of the privileged class who, for one reason or another, make their living as thieves.

In The Quantum Thief by Finnish author Hannu Rajaniemi, we meet the last of these – Jean le Flambeur – in prison. Sentenced to die repeatedly in a series of video game-like scenarios until he can convince his warlike and violent partner to work together. So far, he’s not having any luck, but then a sentient ship, the Perhonen, and her pilot Mieli break him out of prison at the bidding of Miele’ goddess. And we are catapulted into an adventure that was so complicated and so damn interesting, I can barely describe it.

Jean is competing with his other self – the self that locked him into the body he currently has – his ex-lover, and the arch-detective who his following his trail after the death of a chocolatier.

Rajaniemi writes at a blazing pace and he presumes you can keep up. From the Oubliette, a shtetl filled with Qabalistic references, to the gaming Zoku of space and the Vir, the virtual realities of a dozen different simultaneous layers of existence and society, you are expected to grasp the obscure and the created knowledge with equal fluency and speed. 

I loved this book.

Which is all well and fine, Erica, you say, a hint of impatience in your voice, but why are you reviewing it?  

Because of Mieli. Mieli is an Oortian, a tribe of people who are portrayed as rather…Finnish…in a mythological manner of speaking. Mieli’s former lover was Sydan, another woman with whom she had a complicated and involved history. Mieli is currently seeking Sydan, who disappeared when Earth was destroyed. Mieli now serves the Founder, pelligrini. Along with her sentient ship, the Perhonen, Mieli is as critical to the plot as Jean is…although I might put Perhonen slightly higher on the cast listing.

If you’re confused about now, no worries, this was just the vaguest, most superficial taste of the high-density information dump that is The Quantum Thief.

Did I mention that I loved it? 

Mieli is another cool, competent lesbian, with a nicely melancholy backstory. She’d fit nicely enough with all the cool lesbian detectives of the 1990s. Kate Delafield, meet Mieli. You’ll get along swimmingly.  

Ratings:

Story – 10
Characters – 9 all the way around
Lesbian – 3, but it’s there

Overall – 10

I adore writers who assume I can keep up with them, and Rajaniemi is the best I’ve ever read in this regard.This book relies on obscura and slang from Japanese, Russian, Yiddish and a few other languages, but if you’re a patient reader, everything is given context in an Escher kind of way. Just hang on for the ride.

Thanks to bestie Daniel H for the recommendation – you are now among the very few who can recommend things to me. ^_^

Posted in Novel, Queer Fiction | 6 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – May 27, 2017

May 27th, 2017

Yuri Manga

Big news on the next volume for the Kase-san series! July will see the fourth volume of the manga, Apron to Kase-san. (エプロンと加瀬さん。) and a special edition will be bundled with a Blu-Ray with the animation clip and booklet. Yeah, I know which one I’m getting. ^_^

It looks cute, and the description says it’s a “Yuri Love Comedy,” but don’t let Black Lily to Shiroyurichan (ブラックリリィと白百合ちゃん ) fool you, it’s a Young King Comics series. I expect it won’t be as bad as a Champion Red series, but call me skeptical. ^_^;

Via YNN Senior Correspondent,, this cute comic First Date by Trianglart.

Web Comic Ryu (the online edition of manga magazine Comic Ryu) has launched a Yuri furry comic, Mofu Kano no Pot-pourri, which looks kind of cute. 

ANN has a revolutionary report – Revolutionary Girl Utena is getting a new manga chapter in the September issue of Flowers magazine!! The new chapter will drawn by original artist Saitou Chiho. Be-papas isn’t dead yet, apparently, because Crunchyroll News reports that Utena musical score-writer, J.A. Seazer, has a new album coming out with bonus Utena tracks played by Seazer himself. A friend of mine once described Utena duel songs as “a magical cookbook on acid.” ^_^

 

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Louis P (via Matthew P) this fabulous and fascinating Guardian article on Wu Tsang, the trans artist retelling history with lesbian kung fu.

 And another from Erin S., Autostraddle has this amazing article – Drawn to Comics: 15-Year-Old Maggie Thrash Interviews Herself in This Brand New Exclusive “Honor Girl” Excerpt.

Both Comics and Resistance news – Hazel Newlevant is spearheading a worthy Kickstarter – Comics for Choice: Anthology for Abortion Rights.

 

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


Yuri Manga: Hoshikawa Ginza 4-chome, Complete Edition Volume 1 (星川銀座四丁目)

May 25th, 2017

Some things wear well over time. Some things don’t. I am inclined to think that Hoshikawa Ginza 4-chome, Complete Edition Volume 1 (星川銀座四丁目) is among the former.  

This volume covers the original Volume 1 and first half of Volume 2.  It follows the story of Otome, a young woman living in a neglectful household after her teacher literally pulls her away from uncaring parents in order to give her a fresh start. Otome and Minato become very comfortable with one another, but instead of settling into a mother-foster daughter relationship, they clearly feel more akin to wife and wife. This is problematic for Minato on several levels, not least because she is perfectly aware that she will be held responsible as the adult in the relationship and she is not all right with being cast as a criminal.

When I was reviewing this originally in  2010, I felt that, given the deeply problematic set-up of a student and teacher living together, it was handled reasonably well. Now, distance has given me a fresh perspective and among several other issues I have with the narrative I can see that the beginning of this story is a complete wreck. Clearly this was meant to be a few chapters long at best, but Kurogane Kenn’s audiences particular interests means that it became more popular, so he circled back and developed a longer narrative.

The main relationship is not comfortable for two reasons.In this story Minato is indeed portrayed as immature and hopelessly childish and Otome as the party that is pushing the relationship and I am really not okay with that at all. However, as I pointed out originally, “while I can’t say I enjoy this book, I have to at least give it credit for being really honest, sometimes brutally so, about the problematic nature of the main relationship.”

Perhaps breaking up the original series into three volumes worked to desensitize me, but with the distinctive time frame of Otome returning to school and her joining cram school in this 2-volume set, it just feels ickier than ever. 

Ratings:

Art – It’s still Kurogane Kenn, so for me 4, but for others 8
Story – 6
Characters- 6
Yuri – ? It’s Yuri, but….
Service- 10

Overall – 4

The entire same story could have been written with Otome at an older age. But it wasn’t. I blame Kurogane Kenn and his readers. 

 

Posted in Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Fujyourina Atashi-tachi ( 不条理なあたし達)

May 24th, 2017

One of the qualities of a maturing genre is inclusion of non-trope material. For Yuri, that means relationships involving adult women, especially women not in a school/college situation, and relationships that aren’t all rosy cheeks and “We’ll be together forever.”

In Fujyourina Atashi-tachi ( 不条理なあたし達) by Takemiya Jin, we get both these things at the same time. In the first short story, a woman has terrible taste in men and complains to her kouhai constantly until they kind of realize they might want to be together. In the second story, a woman is necessarily cruel to a coworker who likes her, because she likes her, which gives her a measure of power over the other woman.

The bulk of the book is a convoluted and, in many ways, dysfunctional relationship between Yamanaka and Taneda, colleagues in an office. Yamanaka is a selfish person, uninterested in other people. When she starts feeling a little attracted to Taneda, on the assumption that Taneda’s straight, she basically is barely civil. When Taneda invites her out to a local lesbian bar, their relationship becomes a lot more mean-spirited and fascinatingly (rather than destructively) manipulative. Yamanaka starts off thinking she’s manipulating Taneda but…she’s not right. Where Taneda appears at first to be the baby seal waiting to be clubbed, in the end she’s the one who manges to train Yamanaka into being a human.

It’s a story about two crappy people who end up with a happy ending that they actually deserve. It was such a decent story, I read it twice through.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Her ability to capture complex expressions is still her strong point
Characters – 8 Not one of these people who be invited over for lunch. They are all kind of assholes. ^_^
Story – 8 Complex, adult, bitter and deep
Lesbian – 10

Overall – 8

This is Takemiya-sensei at her best, drawing short, pithy stories of lesbian life. Even when you don’t like the characters, she pulls a good story out of them. And this, while no “happily-ever-after,” is a good story.

Posted in LGBTQ, Takemiya Jin, Yuri Manga | 5 Comments »


Yuri Manga: MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 2 (English)

May 23rd, 2017

In Volume 1 of MURCIÉLAGO, we were introduced to serial killer Koumori Kuroko, who now subcontracts for the police, “closing” cases they can’t deal with. 

MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 2 begins with the final piece of the “Murder Party” arc, in which we can see that Kuroko is in fact, a pervert, as well preternaturally good at her work.

The phrase “Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhydrosis” is less funny here if only because it was originally presented in English. However, killer maid Yukari’s response is still a hoot. 

“Murder Party” wraps up with several key points – a glimpse of sniper Reiko and a hope that we will see her again, and a detailed exposition of Yukari’s situation and, ultimately some discussion of how Kuroko found herself in this position. Speaking of positions, Kuroko gets a little sex in (yes, I went there and did that) and Hinako gives us our first glimpse of the not-really-rightness that is her. It’s just a brief hint so far. We’ll get more later. 

The book wraps up with a lead-in to a new arc that is, I must warn you, really quite horrible on at least two levels. If you were waffling about the violence in Volumes 1-2, wait ’til Volume 3. “Domestic Killer” ramps it up considerably. And it’s also creepy and lolicon fetishy. That may work for you if that’s works for you. It was not my favorite arc. 

Ratings:

Art – 6 Still very ugly
Story – 7 Still  horrible violence and sex
Characters – 8 Double the amount of psychotic women means it was twice as good.
Service – 10 Creative, awful and pervasive
Yuri – 9 

Overall – 9

I am biding my time waiting for the Virginal Rose arc. ^_^

Posted in English Manga, MURCIÉLAGO, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »