what should I read after Kalpa Imperial?

[kate_nepveu]

So I've just finished Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer (translated by Ursula Le Guin), and now I'm stuck for what to read next.

Here's the problem, the way Kalpa Imperial starts:

The storyteller said: Now that the good winds are blowing, now that we’re done with days of anxiety and nights of terror, now that there are no more denunciations, persecutions, secret executions and whim and madness have departed from the heart of the Empire and we and our children aren’t playthings of blind power; now that a just man sits on the Golden Throne and people look peacefully out of their doors to see if the weather’s fine and plan their vacations and kids go to school and actors put their hearts into their lines and girls fall in love and old men die in their beds and poets sing and jewelers weigh gold behind their little windows and gardeners rake the parks and young people argue and innkeepers water the wine and teachers teach what they know and we storytellers tell old stories and archivists archive and fishermen fish and all of us can decide according to our talents and lack of talents what to do with our life -- now anyone can enter the emperor’s palace out of need or curiosity; anybody can visit that great house which was for so many years forbidden, prohibited, defended by armed guards, locked and as dark as the souls of the Warrior Emperors of the dynasty of the Ellydrovides.

(Nicked from papersky's review.)

That is, as you can see, kind of a hard act to follow. I'm thinking maybe I want something with a very strong first-person voice? Or something elegantly minimalist? Any suggestions?

(Hmm. Maybe Octavian Nothing, but that might be kind of harsh. I'd go for some nonfiction, but I want strong narrative too.)

ETA: I have just remembered that what I need to do next is review source for a Yuletide beta that I said I'd do, but further recs are welcome all the same.

Comments

[scifantasy]

Strong first-person voice, not so elaborate...Brust springs to mind.

[kate_nepveu]

Hmm . . . possible, certainly, though I was kind of hoping for something new.

[scifantasy]

Well, that.

[kass]

How about something by Cat Valente? I've recently read and enjoyed the first Prester John book, Habitation of the Blessed, and also (and especially) Deathless, which I thought was stunning.

[scifantasy]

I have to admit that Cat would not be my first choice for minimalist, non-elaborate prose.

[kate_nepveu]

Yeah, _Habitation_ is on my list but what scifantasy said.

[kass]

Fair enough. She's definitely not minimalist or non-elaborate -- though very strong first-person voice, she has in spades. :-)

[kate_nepveu]

Oh, is _Habitation_ first-person? I don't think I realized that.

[kass]

...actually, no, now that I'm pondering it, I think it's all third person. It's a variety of different third-person narrators, and I thought some of them were first-person, but now that I'm trying to remember it more clearly, I think the whole thing may be third-person. Oh well. Sorry about that. :-)

[scifantasy]

I'm pretty sure there are first-person sections, actually.

[pameladean]

All of the major framing narratives are first-person. The only third-person bits I could find just rummaging through briefly are some of the stories told by Our Butterfly to the children in the Scarlet Nursery. But those are mostly pretty short.

P.

[mkozlows]

I say, go for something that's totally different, so that you won't be comparing the prose or whatever, and are going in knowing you're reading a fluffy thriller (or whatever) with expectations set.

I actually read some superhero comic books after finishing up the Baroque Cycle for that very reason.

[kate_nepveu]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm trying for, except I don't quite want to go to fluff.

[rhymeswithtruculent.blogspot.com]

Have you read Ursula Vernon's Digger? That fits my definition of both spare language, and rich story.

[kate_nepveu]

No, but perhaps I shall add it to my 'net reading while up with the Pip!

[kgbooklog]

While Digger is one of my favorite webcomics, there's a part that needs a bit of warning (TMI about hyena reproductive organs).

[lnhammer]

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner?

---L.

[kate_nepveu]

Stalled out a few chapters in a while ago for no apparent reason, do intend to go back sometime.

[kgbooklog]

That quoted passage sounds exactly like the sort of thing I don't like, so A) our tastes differ and B) anything I recommend is certain to be very different. (Links lead to sample chapters.)

Have you read Hardinge's Fly by Night yet? Several of us mentioned it a previous time you asked for our help.

Amanda Downum, The Drowning City
A woman tries to foment rebellion in a foreign city, and things get complicated.

Michelle Sagara, Cast in Shadow
A cop has to return to the lawless neighborhood she's from to investigate an evil ritual somehow linked to her.

Martha Wells, The Cloud Roads
A young man (more or less) has trouble fitting in, even after he discovers others of his race.

[kate_nepveu]

I didn't love _Fly By Night_ and I can't figure out why. I'm debating a re-read.

I have _The Cloud Roads_ but I don't quite think the prose will scratch the current itch.

The other two are vaguely on my list. Thanks for the reminders.

[qian]

Have you read any other of Hardinge's books? I wasn't that enthused about Fly By Night but absolutely loved Verdigris Deep (I think this is called Well Witched in America) -- like, seriously do not think any number of superlatives would be too much to describe it. It's also very different from Kalpa Imperial so might be good for not bringing comparisons to mind.

[kate_nepveu]

I have not, thanks for the information.

[badgerbag]

How about Sea, Swallow Me?

[kate_nepveu]

Never heard of it!

*googles*

Hmm, I am pretty hit-or-miss on short fiction, but I have dl'ed a Kindle sample. Thanks.

[rachelmanija]

Have you read Redemption in Indigo?

[kate_nepveu]

That might well work, after I finish reviewing source for a Yuletide beta (which I forgot until just now is what I really should be doing, oops). Thanks!