Book Thoughts: To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
After I read a book, I generally email my thoughts or notes to a friend. I'm now copying these original impression emails to this blog since it's easier to revisit.
Original Sent Date: Jan 9, 2024
I'm about halfway through this book right now.
To be honest, this material doesn't speak to me. It's written fine and definitely important for representation on multiple fronts, but it's overall just some Book to me rather than inspiring anything in particular. I feel as though I may be missing something. Or maybe I just don't appreciate the elements enough.
I finished it since I didnt have much else to do.
Parts I Appreciated:
dances being a different kind of skiltas. obv referencing how indigenous science is different but just as valid as current hegemonic science. i think this was the real part of the book i enjoyed.
sander's rep with autism, though i hope in the future the author will include a character that IS "simple" and not have it be a bad thing
queer / polyamory, or the concept of it. i didnt actually feel the romance at all between the characters and felt like i was just being told they were attracted to each other for whatever reason but eh. who am i to object. the fact that all parties in this relationship are either black or indigenous is also a meaningful choice, i'm sure.
though tedious to read through i did overall appreciate the explanations of culture. both the anglish stuff and the that must have been obvious to indigenous readers of wampanoag. it was pretty hand-holdy about all of this but thats for the benefit of readers like me, i suppose.
including the creation stories of multiple cultures seems very deliberate, if not to compare and contrast them. i think that is to the book's benefit but it's also wasted on me because i don't really find it interesting to read about. but i acknowledge it's good to have.
Other Thoughts:
the stuff with the politics felt too convenient esp with how stuff turned out at the end. but eh. i guess if you dont want a tragedy that's one way to do it.
was bored a lot of the way through the book on account of anglish society is fucking boring. im aware that an indigenous standpoint, which is more connected with their families and the importance of traditional ceremonies (that actually have meaning versus the anglish ones which have half lost theirs), means giving detail and space to this is very important and a different frame from which to view things, esp since imperial cultures tend to just look at things from the macro and who can conquer who yada yada. but man. it was boring to me personally even though i fully understood why it was there.
i feel a bit bad for not capital Liking this book because i can see what it does. but it wasn't for me. i dont think i necessarily wasted my time on this esp since it's very important to give space to the underrepresented instead of reading to mine for things as the settler mindset often has us do (as we've discussed), but i also cannot say it brought me much joy.
Also random quibble: i think mentioning that dragons are like cats 3 times was kind of boring and unimaginative. there were so many cat behaviors coded in the dragons and occasionally some dog. i wish people would be more adventurous with letting dragons be less obviously domestically comprehensible.
i do appreciate the attitude the protagonist has but i also found her a little too reliable and she really doesn't seem to do much wrong. like all of her actions make complete sense from her point of view and she can't be faulted for anything. which is fine for having her as an exemplary character esp when having to deal with the fact that characters like her are underrepresented, but also makes her boring to me. i dont think she has any real faults. she's right about everything; even when she blurts stuff out it just works for her 90% of the time. again, i see why, but fundamentally boring to me.
also i just want to qualify that a big part of my ambivalence also comes from the fact that i somewhat loathe fictional reading as a medium because it takes a lot of energy from me. had this been a comic for instance i probably would be more behind everything including the endless virtues of our protagonist. so i'm not being entirely fair here but reading is also hard for me so thats just how it be