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[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 6 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I'm about 2/3 of the way through All Systems Red by Martha Wells, the first Murderbot story. I can see why it's so well-liked.

Finished:

Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi (historical fiction with elements of myth) | bingo: minority author, based on folklore, steppin' up, political

A lowly blacksmith adjusts to her new life as the future bride of a powerful ruler.

According to the blurb, this is based on the myth of Persephone, but even clarifying that as "loosely" is generous. That said, outside of a couple of minor quibbles, I enjoyed this, and now I feel like I know a tiny bit about traditional West African culture. There is a brief glossary in the back, but I spent some time on Wikipedia, too.

Dead Cert by Dick Francis (mystery thriller) | bingo: different continent, motion picture, saddle up, game

A jockey investigates the death of his friend.

First in a series. Lots of horse racing, has that 1960s-era writing feel. This was decent, although the romance wasn't great, and it hasn't aged well in a couple of places (an understatement in one case).

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I just did a relisten to the murderbot diaries recently. It's funny, I know murderbot is explicitly not gendered, but I always pictured a female murderbot because I thought the front cover depicted a robot shaped coif that looked like a 50s typically female style. After they cast a male person for the TV show I was surprised and loked again, and I guess it's just robot neck armor, not robot hair, lol.

I'm going to stick with my head cannon on this one though. Disillusioned asexual 50s housewife protector and professional ass kicker.

[–] misericordiae@literature.cafe 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

My headcanon Murderbot also leans toward the feminine, so you're not alone. It would've been cool if the show had cast someone super androgynous (although I'm not surprised they didn't).

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 2 points 3 days ago

For sure, androgynous would have been closer to what I think the text says.

When I did my second listen to Murderbot, it was after I read the Imperial Radch series. It's interesting to compare Breq and Murderbot.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

I adored the Murderbot diaries. You're in for a treat :D