SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

This is for anyone who'd like to join our discussion of N. K. Jemisin's Emergency Skin from Sept. 20 onwards.

Please use spoiler tags when quoting or commenting on anything specific.

loved it! but I am so biased since N.K. Jemisin is my fave and I think she can do no wrong. The choice of narrator was a great set up. Can't wait to see what others thought.

Ditto! :-D

I initially thought this was a discussion about writers and reviews. :)
Jemisin is brilliant!

I'm halfway through and loving it. I am cackling! The narrator is really wonderful.

I agree, Allison. I listened to it on audio and had the hell of a time.

This was so great! I loved the way the story was framed and told.

Yup, joining the praise squad.

Finished.

(view spoiler)[ While I of course agree this was wonderful, I'd like to talk a bit why I think it is. It could have been incredibly heavy-handed, with its very obvious allusion to the haves and the have nots, those with all the privilege and those with less. But there was so much humor, so much honest-to-goodness stuttering over the subverted expectations, that it goes from searing condemnation to ridicule, which is, I think, a tool she wields with aplomb.

Also, I like that it continued the theme of the whole story. Everyone is willing to give. Everyone is willing to forgive. Everyone wants to accept and progress. And we see how easy it is, once you silence that voice in your head that screams of scarcity, to join a world with better goals in mind.

I just thought that was brilliant. As usual her twists, revelations, and emotional beats hit me exactly as she intended. Stellar! (hide spoiler)]

Allison wrote: "Finished."

I agree with the (view spoiler)[ lightness of tone being the special characteristic of this story. The topic itself and the consequences/morale is nothing new and could have so easily slid into a preachery discourse. But the cheek-in-tounge way Jemisin got it across is masterfully. It lets the reader simultaneously nod and laugh.
And I like that she chooses such a simply solution. (hide spoiler)]

I just finished this and absolutely agree with everything Gabi and Allison said above. I eye read it, and the tone Jemisin intended was very present in the text.

Finally got back to this (today suddenly got a lot busier than I'd anticipated) and I really, really enjoyed this.

I agree with what Allison and Gabi have said.

I loved this story! For the precise reasons Allison and Gabi gave. I will definitely be reading the Fifth Season sooner rather than later!

A person of Earth says,
HA!

This story was lovely. Also, I’ve never seen second-person done so well!

Audio was available as part of Amazon Prime, so I took that too, and read when I was sitting and listened when I was walking. Switched back and forth two times. I have not done this before; is that what you guys who do audiobooks do a lot? Or pick one, eye-read or audio, and stick with it? It was weird because the voices in my own head are different from/than the narrator reading.

BTW, Jason Isaacs was the narrator and I looked him up: He played
-Hap/Dr. Percy in “The OA”
-Captain Lorca in “Star Trek: Discovery”
-Draco Malfoy’s dad in the Harry Potter movies.

Alex wrote: "This story was lovely. Also, I’ve never seen second-person done so well!"

Right? N. K. Jemisin is truly a master when it comes to second person narratives.

Bonnie wrote: "udio was available as part of Amazon Prime, so I took that too, and read when I was sitting and listened when I was walking. Switched back and forth two times. I have not done this before; is that what you guys who do audiobooks do a lot? Or pick one, eye-read or audio, and stick with it? ..."

I usually pick one and stick with it (partly cause I don't have Prime and only buy one or the other), but that sounds like an interesting way to go about it. But I would probably have the same issue you described.

Sometimes I go back and forth between audio and ebook. Usually I have 1 eye-book and 1 ear-book going for different times. If I don't like the audio, I switch. And if it's taking too long with my eyes, I listen.

I do find it hard to listen once I've established the voices in my head.

Bonnie wrote: "Audio was available as part of Amazon Prime, so I took that too, and read when I was sitting and listened when I was walking. Switched back and forth two times. I have not done this before; is that..."

I never switch between eye read and listening within the same book. If the narrator is good then I prefer listening (cause I can use my time more efficiently). Jason Isaacs here was great. My fifth star was because of his narration.

This was the first time I used the Audio/Kindle book switcheroo thingy. The story was so short I'm not sure it was really worth it, but it was fun. Like Gabi, I usually pick one or the other and don't have multiple copies of books in various formats. I have a monthly subscription to Audible and so I pick my audio books carefully. Usually for any new books I really want to read, because I'm trying to control my book buying. Ha!

Listening to this now and it’s absolutely brilliant. One of Jemisin’s best I think. I do think it would have lost some of the impact without the audio though.

Listened to this on audio this morning and loved every minute of it. Agreeing with the general consensus that she nailed the tone for it. The snark and humor kept it from veering into the preachy category. Definitely moving The Fifth Season up on by tbr list.

I liked it because Jemisin is such a good writer, but found it too idealistic. It works on the level of “gee, wouldn’t it be nice if we all got along and took care of each other”, but I have trouble seeing that actually happening.

James P. Hogan’s Voyage from Yesteryear is a similar story, where travelers from a selfishly capitalistic Earth visit a colony planet where people live in a society completely without money, a set-up which completely baffles the warlike, rigidly hierarchical Earthers.

It seems to me our problems are deeper than just the greedy 1%, but I do like the wish-fulfillment aspect of the notion that most of our problems would be solved if we could just be rid of them.

Allison wrote: "Sometimes I go back and forth between audio and ebook. Usually I have 1 eye-book and 1 ear-book going for different times. If I don't like the audio, I switch. And if it's taking too long with my e..."

I read/listened to all 6 of the Forward series and this one was my 2nd favorite. Although this was very good and liked The Fifth Season, rate the Blake Crouch Summer Frost over this book.

I do like the going between listening and eyeballs depending on what I am doing and have been doing that long enuff to not have the mental picture/voice discordance.

Found this series thru this thread; any other recommendations on short fiction?

John, let's keep this thread dedicated to Emergency Skin! Check out What short stories most affected you?, and if you still want more, you can start a new thread in the Recommendations folder and ask for specific types of stories.

I came across Emergency Skin on my feed a month ago - a friend had just read it - and I decided to give it a try. I had always wanted to read something by Jemisin but got waylaid, you know how it is. I found it refreshing, smart, and sharp. I started reading the Broken Earth trilogy right after, and just finished the last book the day before yesterday. I’m still recovering - it was that good - and I owe it all to Emergency Skin :)

Reading all 4 works consecutively also made for an interesting perspective into what Jemisin put into writing a novella like Emergency Skin, and what I could make of her style etc writing the longer works. She’s a wonderful storyteller and writer.

She is, isn't she?
The Broken Earth trilogy was my first exposure to her work and it blew my entire mind.

Mareike wrote: "She is, isn't she?
The Broken Earth trilogy was my first exposure to her work and it blew my entire mind."

She blew my mind too! :) I’m giving myself a short break before I start another series by her. I’m so glad she’s a living author. Octavia Butler is one of my favourite authors and its maddening and just downright sad to know that there won’t be anything more.

Oh, agreed on Octavia Butler. The same goes for Audre Lorde for me. When I think about either of them and how early they died I get really upset. We could need their voices right now.

When I first discovered Ursula K. LeGuin about 25 years ago, I binged quite a lot of her work, but then I realized that she was already getting up there in years, so I started hoarding. Did the same thing with Octavia Butler, so I still have new to me work by both of these favorite authors to read! It’ll be a sad day when I’ve read everything, but then I’ll just reread.

I haven’t read anything else by Jemisin, but I loved Emergency Skin, and have The Fifth Season, so thats defo moved up the list.

Diane wrote: "When I first discovered Ursula K. LeGuin about 25 years ago, I binged quite a lot of her work, but then I realized that she was already getting up there in years, so I started hoarding. Did the sam..."

I will always be here to encourage you to read The Fifth Season as soon as possible. It's such an excellent book. It's been a little over two years since I read it and I'm already contemplating a re-read.

Mareike wrote: "Oh, agreed on Octavia Butler. The same goes for Audre Lorde for me. When I think about either of them and how early they died I get really upset. We could need their voices right now."

I haven’t read anything by Audre Lorde yet. But speaking as a reader of Butler’s work, gosh yes, and hopefully she’d be getting more attention now than she did back then, and we’d have more interviews of hers to watch etc.

Diane wrote: "When I first discovered Ursula K. LeGuin about 25 years ago, I binged quite a lot of her work, but then I realized that she was already getting up there in years, so I started hoarding. Did the same thing with Octavia Butler, so I still have new to me work by both of these favorite authors to read! It’ll be a sad day when I’ve read everything, but then I’ll just reread.

I haven’t read anything else by Jemisin, but I loved Emergency Skin, and have The Fifth Season, so thats defo moved up the list."

I’ve only read two (maybe 3) of Le Guin’s works so I’m excited because there’s more to get to :) I did the same thing with Butler’s work.

I love re-reading a book I love, its like coming home.