Book report

I was IM-ing with Jae, and found myself excitedly recommending this Raphael Carter story from Starlight 2. I mean, no surprise, it's fucking awesome. But I read it, like, months ago, and it was clearly still on my mind. Anyway, I decided I should go ahead and write an Amazon review for the anthology it came in, just to stay in practice. The book costs like $25 and isn't all that big, but it rules, so go get it at the library or something.

Aggressively great [five/five stars]

If I'm remembering right, I grabbed Starlight 2 at the library out of a desire to see what Susanna Clarke was up to pre-Jonathan Strange. (And also because I read the editor's blog. I can't remember which of those two was the main motivator, but they're probably both solid reasons to snag a book.)

Clarke's piece, surprisingly, ended up being one of the least fascinating bits in the bunch. (I mean, it was good, but Clarke really shines brightest when she has time to build up a cumulative metatextual effect, and I suspect her skill at characterization is similarly reliant on long forms. The price of a novelistic mode, I suppose. This story ("Mrs Mabb") is basically an outtake footnote from JS&MN, and I was left waiting in vain for the wry zoom-back effect that would make some witty point about the pitiable state of 18th century magical scholarship. Anyway, don't mind me; judging a 1998 short story by the standards of a 2004 masterwork is probably some massive breach of etiquette.) Nearly everything in the book drips with mind-bending ideas, energetic plot, fascinating and sympathetic characters, sparkling prose, or some or another unholy combination of the above. This is smart, heartfelt, brilliantly-executed SF.

Of special note are:

Raphael Carter's "Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation," which is less "science fiction" and more "peer-reviewed journal-published neurological genderfuck mystery story." Carter combines the muscular, dense, wry, and in-jokey writing of a really good scholarly article with a genuinely gripping medical/forensic/scientific mystery, and cleverly raises the stakes by turning the phenomenon his characters are chasing into a threat to the reader's own self-knowledge.

Ursula K. Le Guin's translation of Angélica Gorodischer's "The End of a Dynasty," which, comically hostile narrator aside, is simply a damned good yarn.

Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life," after which I couldn't decide whether to boggle at the linguistic, philosophical, and temporal ramifications of the described alien contact, or just shut the hell up and cry.

The compo isn't totally free of duds--Jonathan Lethem's "Access Fantasy" and Martha Soukup's "The House of Expectations" both failed to grab me--but it DOES contain a really shocking amount of awesome. Check it out.

EDIT: Also, iTunes, via completely random Party Shuffling, just played a recording of Going to Kirby Sexton in which John hollers, "Uh... Going to Bridlington!" at the end, and chose to immediately follow it with--you got it--Going to Bridlington. My life is complete.

Lentil Rice Cakes

Hot damn, I’m loving these lentil + brown rice cakes. Time to share:

Lentil Rice Cakes

Simple Foods for the Pack, by Vikki Kinmont and Claudia Axcell. (First edition, 1976.)

Makes about a dozen.

• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup lentils [ed: I’ve only made these correctly with the red kind.]
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon parsley, minced [ed: I don’t think we’ve EVER had parsley around for these.]
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. tamari soy sauce

Season with one of the following:
* 1 tsp. cumin, ground
* 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, ground
* 1/8 teaspoon cloves, ground

[I overspice these with cumin, cayenne, and garam masala, because that’s how I roll. You can also add some shredded ginger, and some other veggies, but don’t go overboard, because cohesion is important.]

Cook the rice and lentils in water with salt, for about 45 minutes (all water should be absorbed), and allow to cool. [You want it thick. The last little while, you’ll have to take the lid off and stir constantly. You’re done when there are big, goop-flinging explosions bubbling up, even on low heat.]

Mash well with hands, then add rest of ingredients and mix well. Form into patties, place on cookie sheet, and bake at 300° for 30-45 minutes. Turn once to allow underside to cook. [The flipping process is always really tetchy. Wait until they’re at least 2/3 done before trying, and if the patties break apart, put ‘em back in for a while before trying again. There will still probably be some really goopy stuff on the bottom that sticks to your spatula, but there’s nothing for it; just scrape it off and put it back.]

Ideally, serve with hummus or lemon-tahini dressing.