Akiva Reads

by Scott Westerfeld, Keith Thompson

I don't use the word "heteronormative" lightly, but.....

(Ugh.)

Apart from the increasingly annoying Certified 100% Heterosexual Relationship that Westerfeld made central to the story, this was pretty good. It really didn't need the romance driving it; "romance" mostly just tosses a hat over gaping ridiculous plot developments like Alek literally throwing away his royalty (very punny; I'm still wincing), and Alek having an actual consistent political position (if that's too much to expect from a teenager, then how does Dylan have such freedom of action in her relatively low-on-the-totem-pole military rank?). Story itself was a little disjointed and strung-together, but it worked, and overall I really like Westerfeld's warping of history. I am still confused about Dylan's rank; the first two books make it seem like she was more of a cabin boy, but she always had a lot more latitude than I expected, even accounting for the "bell captain" effect (where the people who carry out the orders have a kind of power that the people giving the orders do not).

I liked the characterization of Tesla, although maybe it helps that I find his adoring present-day fan club annoying.

The social barriers Dylan ran up against, even with Dr. Barlow, were really painful to read. Maybe I took it too personally. I kept having flashes to [b:Monstrous Regiment|386371|Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31)|Terry Pratchett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347894977s/386371.jpg|25787074]; I would have loved to see how Dylan was going to keep living her dream, or how other women were dealing with things-as-they-were. Which begs the question, is Dylan going to keep living as a man? Some hints are certainly dropped in that direction. Isn't that going to create some sticky social issues if she and Alek pursue their romantic relationship?

If so, Westerfeld isn't going to be the one to tell us about it. I've liked his work for a long time, his books are generally thoughtful and don't talk down to his young readers, but right now I am incredibly disappointed in him. Either he knew what he was doing with his queer subtext and was too cowardly to make it text/caved to the editors, or it was all just a joke to him.