My Piece of the Internet

I'm going to start out my series by introducing a few works that contain angst that "works" for me and then a set of works that contain similar elements or themes but that didn't tickle my id (see my intro post for a long discussion of what that means).

This is the first part of my "Angst that Worked" set of books. Next time I'll do three more. I want to briefly consider some overall themes that each book contains that I think contributed to the angst and why I felt it was emotionally effective.

The Rifter by Ginn Hale
Self-sacrificing characters who are struggling to do the right thing and maintain their own morals in a crapsack world full of violence and oppression. Both POV main characters are very self-reflective without being maudlin. Ginn is very good at highlighting the vulnerability hidden beneath each character's veneer of strength. For example, Ravishan is incredibly strong and talented as a fighter but through John's eyes we see him when he is tired, when he's emotionally wrought, or when he's injured. Same goes with Kahlil observing Jath'ibaye, seeing through the leader-god and knowing him well enough to know that he's also human and suffers. The angst is very subtle but definitely suffuses the narrative, conveyed by body language and references moreso than anything shown outright.

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek
The characters in The God Eaters aren't self-sacrificing or morally upstanding persay. They are, however, resilient. I'd say most of my angst-related enjoyment in this story is focused on Kieran. Kieran, especially through the eyes of Ash, is incredibly strong and confident but has a lot of emotional baggage weighing him down. There are a lot of themes in this novel of restricted freedom: right off the bat the two main characters meet in prison and even aside from that there is oppression within the fantasy society (which is kind of a magical Wild West).

Halfway Human by Carolyn Ives Gilman
The way that Tedla is written is pretty much perfect angst in my opinion. Tedla is a beautiful, intelligent, thoughtful, kind person who is reflecting throughout the book on the horrors that they've been put through by systematic oppression within their society. There are themes of restricted freedom, dehumanization, and class dynamics. Tedla is traumatized in many ways throughout the story but their affect is very flat when they talk about what happened to them, which I tend to read as a coping mechanism. I appreciated the way Gilman wrote from three different points of view but all filtered through one narrator; in this way we get to see Tedla through their own eyes via their recounting, through Magister Galele's eyes as Val reads his field reports, and through Val's eyes as she observes Tedla directly. It sets up a lot of opportunities to see the ways that Tedla has suffered and been changed by what they've gone through.

Keep reading - Part 3

Something that I like to do for fun and personal gratification is record audio of myself reading books that I love.

I'm not sure if there's any kind of organized community around this activity, but there are a lot of people doing it and posting their recordings to youtube. (If you know of the clubhouse where these folk gather, please give me the secret password!)

Here are some youtube playlists that I've particularly enjoyed:

Mark Reads Ella Enchanted
Probably many of you know of the blog Mark Reads, but his video series of Ella Enchanted is so completely perfect. He reads the entire book, unabridged, and has the most wonderful reactions and commentary. I actually wish there were more book reaction videos, because each time I watch this series I feel like I'm experiencing the excitement and tension of reading the book for the first time again.

Dealing with Dragons - read by K. Jans
This is a wonderful reading of a childhood favorite of mine. The audio quality isn't the best, but the narrator is so charming and has a great voice.

Magic's Pawn read by Kitalia Logan
I'm recommending this list, even though it's incomplete. I love the style of the narrator; they put so much effort into their character voices and have a ton of personality injected into the reading. Plus, the audio quality has improved drastically in their most recent video (Chapter 8).

A Game of Thrones read by Tokybook/Melisa
The originally narrator of the Game of Thrones audiobook irritated me, so I vastly prefer this lightly-accented woman's voice. I'm not sure how long this one will last on Youtube (seems like a prime candidate for a C&D), so watch it while you can. They have also recorded the second book, A Clash of Kings!

Taran Wanderer read by Papa Bear
I love Lloyd Alexander, and this recording is very nice. I think this youtuber is doing the entire Prydain Chronicles, and they've already got the first 4 books up. This is technically the fourth book, but it's always been my favorite and the narrator added awesome sound effects to this book!

The Shattered Gates (Book 1 of The Rifter) read by florianschild
And then, if you're interested, you can check out my reading of The Shattered Gates, which is book one of The Rifter series by Ginn Hale. I'm hoping to record more of the series eventually, and if anyone out there is interested in collaborating on it I'd be more than willing to do that!