My life in books

“The Secret Life of Bots,” Suzanne Palmer; Clarkesworld, September 2017
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_09_17/

Palmer’s suspenseful yet very funny novellette takes place on a nearly derelict space ship on a suicide mission to stop an enemy worldkiller from reaching Earth. So much of the ship is falling apart, all the available standard bots are working nonstop to keep the ship going just long enough to deliver its payload. When there are reports of an infestation, the Ship AI pulls an outdated bot with dangerous instabilities out of storage to deal with the problems. It turns out, the dangerous instability is creative thinking, and the ship needs some of that badly if it’s going to fulfil its mission.

“Cake Baby,” Charlie Jane Anders; Lightspeed Magazine, November 2017
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/cake-baby-kango-sharon-adventure/

“Cake Baby” may not be the funniest science fiction romp I’ve ever read, but it comes awfully close. Sharon and Kango are two surreal characters with a real talent for fucking things up royally, which is why they may not be the best pair of interstellar adventurers to hire for your dirty work. But they manage to survive, thanks to their far more practical crewmate, ex-cultist stowaway Jara, and their ship’s computer Noreen. Very funny stuff. Really. Read it.


“The Dark Birds,” Ursula Vernon; Apex Magazine, January 9, 2017
https://www.apex-magazine.com/the-dark-birds/

Vernon often tells dark tales. This is one of them. In the forest lives a family. There’s a Father, of curse. And there is always a Mother, a Ruth , a Susan, and a Baby. When Mother has a new daughter, Ruth disappears, Susan becomes Ruth, Baby becomes Susan. That’s how it always is. Until it isn’t.


“The Fall of the Mundaneum,” Rebecca Campbell; Beneath Ceaseless Skies, September 28, 2017
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-fall-of-the-mundaneum/

In 1914, in a building in Belgium that houses a vast collection of books and artefacts, a man is waiting for the German army to arrive. He imagines that this great building, an establishment of knowledge and history, will be handed over honourably, to those who, while conquerors, will respect its importance. Right up to the end, he answers letters sent in by those seeking answers from the great collection, cataloguing the strange contents of a valise sent from his colleagues in Köhn, with a hasty message he understands only too late.


“Queen of Dirt,” Nisi Shawl; Apex Magazine, February 7, 2017
https://www.apex-magazine.com/queen-of-dirt/

A young martial arts instruction with the gift of seeing things most people don’t must find a way to save herself from a hive of otherworldly things seeking a new queen, and her students from the potentially dangerous consequences of contact.


“Remnant,” Jordan L. Hawk and K. J. Charles; Smashwords
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/404000

Historical m/m romance, of the explicit sort, about two pairs of occult detectives. Apparently each of the authors is known for writing a series based on one of the pairs in this story, which is well-written, and lots of fun, both in terms of adventure and eroticism. The setting is London. A long dead Egyptian spirit is killing people, and ghost hunter Simon Feximal, with his companion Robert Caldwell, is investigating. Arriving from America just in time to lend assistance is American philologist Percival Endicott Whyborne and his companion, Griffin Flaherty. A nice blend of mystery, adventure and erotica.


“These Deathless Bones,” Cassandra Khaw; Tor.com, July 26, 2017
https://www.tor.com/2017/07/26/these-deathless-bones/

Khaw has excellently inverted the trope of the evil stepmother here, with a story of a queen married to provide a new mother for a prince whose own mother has died. But in this dark fantasy, the queen is a just avenger, and the young prince a cruel budding psychopath whose years of torturing small animals and throwing tantrums to punish the servants have led step by step to the unforgivable.

The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure, is a collection of essays about the making, enjoying and understanding of feminist porn edited by Tristan Taormino, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Constance Penley, and Mireille Miller-Young.

Anyone familiar with the history of the "sex wars" knows that pornography is one of several divisive issues in the area of sexuality that has been, and continues to be, hotly debated among feminists. (Personal disclosure: my own positions during the wars were, and continue to be, primarily what has been labeled as "sex-positive.)

In their introduction, the editors state that

The Feminist Porn Book offers arguments, facts, and histories that cannot be summarily rejected, by providing on-the-ground and well-researched accounts of the politics of producing pleasure. Our agenda is twofold: to explore the emergence and significance of a thriving feminist porn movement, and to gather some of the best new feminist scholarship on pornography. By putting our voices into conversation, this book sparks new thinking about the richness and complexity of porn as a genre and an industry in a way that helps us to appreciate the work that feminists in the porn industry are doing, both in the mainstream and on its countercultural edges.

The introduction goes on to discuss the concept of feminist porn and the editors' framework for examining it.

Feminist porn is a genre and a political vision. And like other genres of film and media, feminist porn shares common themes, aesthetics, and goals even though its parameters are not clearly demarcated. Because it is born out of a feminism that is not one thing but a living, breathing, moving creation, it is necessarily contested—an argument, a polemic, and a debate. Because it is both genre and practice, we must engage it as both: by reading and analyzing its cultural texts and examining the ideals, intentions, and experiences of its producers. In doing so, we offer an alternative to unsubstantiated oversimplifications and patronizing rhetoric. We acknowledge the complexities of watching, creating, and analyzing pornographies. And we believe in the radical potential of feminist porn to transform sexual representation and the way we live our sexualities.

Contributors to the collection include such stalwart defenders of women's right to experience sexual pleasure as Betty Dodson and Suzie Bright, and pioneering creators of women-identified pornography such as Nina Hartley and Candida Royalle, as well as a range of other pornographers, academics and feminist thinkers. The politics of porn as it exists in the mainstream porn industry and the ways in which feminist porn aims at creating new power dynamics in the production and distribution of porn, and a new feminist aesthetic in the product itself, are examined from various standpoints. The authors of these essays and personal narratives look at such issues as gender expectations, race, means of production and distribution, body image politics, authenticity in representation of sexuality, queer, genderqueer and trangender images and representations, and more.

While problematic aspects of porn, even feminist porn, are acknowledged and discussed, the focus here is on porn as a medium and a message of positive sexual pleasure in which sexuality of all kinds, not just the male and heteronormative, is celebrated. As Nina Hartley points out in her essay, "Unlike Hollywood tropes, in which the “transgressive” woman must meet a horrible fate for crossing some invisible line, at the end of a porn movie the woman has had orgasms and lives to tell the tale. There are no Anna Kareninas or Emma Bovarys in porn."

With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn, Amber Dawn and Trish Kelly, eds.

As I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m rather selective about the porn I read. The most boring sort for me is the standard male/female porn – especially if it’s aimed primarily at a male audience.

I find reading about sex – vanilla or kinky – between two (or more) women, or two (or more) men much more interesting. I could theorise that this is because same-sex sex is by definition without the inherent implications of the male/female power imbalance, so that any power dynamics and gender roles in the exchange are deliberately chosen by the participants.

Which brings me to With a Rough Tongue: Femmes Write Porn. I find the butch/femme dynamic interesting, both in fiction and in cultural studies, at least in part because I don’t identify as either – though my partner, despite being male, identifies as femme. Being femme (or butch, but we're talking about femmes here) is more than a gender identity, it's a sexual identity.

This volume presents a range of interpretations of being femme in sexual situations. And it’s hot reading, too. If stories about femmes at their peak of sexual presentation are your thing, you’ll find at least something in this collection to enjoy.

Boy in the Middle – Patrick Califia

I’m very picky about my porn. I prefer stories to pictures, but they have to be well-written, with interesting characters and scenarios. I like my porn kinky, and I don’t much care what genders are involved, as long as the story draws me in rather than leaves me outside looking.

Patrick Califia’s work does all that for me. Califia’s own sexual journey has given him a broad perspective on genders, orientations, kink, leather, all the delicious flavours and smells, touches, sights and sounds of desire, and you’ll find all of them in the stories collected in Boy in the Middle. As Califia says in the introduction to this feast of pansexuality:

So here is a book that celebrates several forms of passion. It is diverse, perverse, and bold. Not all of the sex within these pages is same-sex, but it is all queer.

If this sounds like your cup of tea, then I can promise you hours of reading pleasure.