Resolution Project 2019

Welcome to the very end of 2018! For the past few years, we have challenged our contributors to come up with a goal for the coming year. Those goals have varied from “read a certain book” to “consume ALL of the Game of Thrones content currently available.” You’d be surprised and perhaps a little amused that those of us who set the former goal have not always succeeded, while rock star Sherry Peters cheerfully left us in the dust with her successful completion of her Year of Thrones project this year. Way to go, Sherry!

In any case, it’s that time again! What challenges will we set for ourselves this year? Will we make it? Let’s find out!

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Nancy O’Toole Meservier: For last year’s resolution project, I tackled two of my shortcomings as a reader: my commitment issues when it came to finishing book series, and my fear of really, really long books. This year, I thought I’d do something similar, but as I don’t have a 1,200-page door stopper like Oathbringer burning a hole in my Kindle, I’d thought I’d take on three slightly less enormous, but still rather intimidating books.

First up is European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss. This, the sequel to The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, tells the story of the daughters of prominent characters from classic Gothic horror/Victorian mystery novels. When I first picked this up in 2018, I enjoyed it so much that I had every intention of picking up the book two right away. And then I saw that it was 720 pages long and chickened out.

Second up is The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty  This book is a follow up to The City of Brass, which I fell in love with and reviewed here on Speculative Chic at the end of 2018. This Arabian Nights-inspired fantasy featured rich worldbuilding and a plot with plenty of exciting twists and turns. The sequel, which at 611 pages, is almost 100 pages longer.

And the final one is Fonda Lee’s Jade War, the sequel to Jade City which mixes Godfather style gang-loyalty, and kung fu action. I found this unique fantasy, with its morally complicated cast of character, to be really worth my time. I can’t wait to see what book two, the 600-page long Jade War, brings when it’s released in May.

And there you go, three rather large sequels that I want to tackle (and review!) this year. Let’s see what I can manage.

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Nicole Taft: It took me some time to come up with a project for the new year. There are plenty of things I could do regarding books or movies – such as finally reading all the books I’ve bought but have yet to pick up off my shelf again – but it didn’t feel right. Like a rehash of what so many of us have already done in the past. I needed something different. Then finally it hit me.

Video games.

A few years ago I bought a PC strictly for the purpose of gaming. It wasn’t super fancy, but it wasn’t cheap either. I loaded Steam onto it and bought several games right away. Then I bought more when I got Steam gift cards for birthdays and holidays. Then I cracked and bought more when I discovered annual Steam sales. I played several, but I still own far more than I’ve delved into. As for this moment, I own a staggering 43 games. Maybe that’s not staggering to some people, but it is for me. Out of that number I have only played 26. And out of those 26 I have only completed 17 (as in, I beat the game, but didn’t necessarily 100% the whole thing). Clearly I’m lagging behind. I’ve since stopped buying games even if I want them, even if they’re on sale, because if I don’t even play the ones I have, who’s to say I’ll play the ones I buy next? Especially since I’ve been saying, “I want to play that!” for years – looking at you, BioShock Infinite – and then buying it and letting it sit on my computer ever since.

So what’s a good goal for me regarding games? I definitely know that I won’t finish a game per month. Heck, it’s not likely that I’ll finish a game every two months. So I settled on a number I deemed safe, since some of the games I choose might be on the longer side – again, looking at you, BioShock Infinite. My goal is to play and complete 3 games in 2019. Since I have so many to choose from, I’m not sure which ones they will be yet, though I do have several that aren’t exactly speculative and more based in reality (such as Sleeping Dogs), so I’ll choose from the games that are. If I end up finishing more than 3 games, then I guess I can give myself a pat on the back and call it a job well done.

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J.L. Gribble: Last year, I resolved to read one book and see one movie. That turned into five books and one movie. This year, I also resolve to read one book. But really, it’s twelve books.

Wait, how does that work?

It all started back in 2007. I was wandering through the SF/F section of a bookstore, as one does, and a familiar name caught my eye. Not because I knew of the author already, but because the author shared my mother’s unusual first name. The back copy intrigued me, and the rest is history – because I’ve been completely enamored of this author’s work ever since.

I now know that Ilona Andrews is actually a co-writing husband and wife team, but their particular style of urban fantasy has greatly influenced my own writing. And 11 years later, the series that started with the first book I picked up, Magic Bites, has finally come to a close with the publication of Magic Triumphs.

In order to thoroughly appreciate the complete arc that this series has taken, I’ll be re-reading all of the books in the Kate Daniels series and finally closing out with my first read of the series finale. This includes the ten books of the main series and two full-length interludes, Gunmetal Magic and Iron and Magic.

But you know me by now. I’m sure I’ll sneak in a bunch of the short stories set in that universe while I’m at it.

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Erin S. Bales: Given how my resolution for 2018 shook out, do I dare make a resolution for 2019? Yeah, why the hell not?! [Editor’s note: to be fair, she didn’t join in until May, and it was a noble effort!]

Last time I checked, there were a few games in my Steam library that I’ve been meaning to play through to their ends since I bought them. Actually, there might be more than a few. Okay, more than thirty. Which is stupid, I know. But, hey, this resolution gives me a super-solid excuse to play videogames, so maybe I’m stupid like a fox.

Anyway, that’s my resolution for 2019, to play through my backlog of Steam games (as well, perhaps, as some new games) and to share the good—or mediocre…or bad—word with you all.

As an FYI, I’m primarily a PC gamer, but a PlayStation 4 game might sneak in here or there.

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Kelly McCarty: The majority of my New Year’s resolutions involve reading in some way—I’ve done the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge for the past three years and I always aim to read 50 books so I can have an easy win. I’m especially proud that I resolved to read the entire Bible and did it, although it took me longer than one year.

My 2019 Speculative Chic resolution was made for me by the serendipitous coincidence of my local library’s book sale having almost the entire line of Jacqueline Carey’s book series set in the land of Terre d’Ange. The books weren’t all together, so I felt lucky each time I discovered one. I have already read Kushiel’s Dart, the first book in Phèdre’s Trilogy, and I devoured all 900 pages of it. Sexuality is intertwined with religion in Terre d’Ange and courtesans perform a sacred service in the name of the angel Naamah. Phèdre nó Delaunay, the main character of the first series, is rejected by the Thirteen Houses of courtesans for her imperfection, a scarlet speck in her eye. Little did the madams realize that the scarlet mote is the sign of the angel Kushiel, marking Phèdre as an anguissette (someone who feels pleasure with pain). Phèdre is a fascinating, sympathetic character and the book is action-packed. Most of the reviews of Kushiel’s Dart focus on the erotic aspect but the tale of political intrigue set in a medieval-inspired world has more in common with Game of Thrones than your stereotypical romance novel. Phèdre’s sexual relationships are secondary to her friendships and work as a spy.

I’m certain that I want to finish Phèdre’s Trilogy (Kushiel’s Dart, Kushiel’s Chosen, and Kushiel’s Avatar) since I’m already invested in that story. Imriel’s Trilogy (Kushiel’s Scion, Kushiel’s Justice, and Kushiel’s Mercy) deals with the second generation of characters introduced in Phèdre’s Trilogy. The Naamah Trilogy (Naamah’s Kiss, Naamah’s Curse, and Naamah’s Blessing) takes place in the same world hundreds of years later. Although I am bound to regret this at some point (all these books are over 600 pages), my resolution is to read and review all nine books.

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Merrin: Back in 2010, Chris Columbus made a movie of the first of Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson books and I made the mistake of watching it in theaters. In a tweet he has since deleted, Riordan has urged the teachers of America to never ever show his movies in their classrooms, because they are just so terribly bad.

One of the games I like to play is reading the book especially bad movies are made out of to see if the book or the movie is at fault. (It is always, always the movie.) And that’s what I did here. If you aren’t familiar with the storyline of either book or movie here, imagine Chris Columbus (yes, that same Chris Columbus) making the first Harry Potter movie without introducing Voldemort as a character.

My resolution doesn’t involve picking apart movies versus books. When I was trying to figure out what I should do last year, several friends suggested reading the rest Riordan’s books about the Greek and Roman gods, as I’ve only read the original Percy Jackson series. I’ve heard some good things about representation in later books, which I’m excited to get to.

This resolution will include reading:

• The Heroes of Olympus series
• The Trials of Olympus trilogy
• The Kane Chronicles trilogy
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy

My plan is to post about them by series as I finish them.

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Let’s wish these intrepid souls a lot of luck! Plus, keep an eye out for future contributors who may join in on the fun! Several are still considering ideas for the coming year, and a few are thinking of carrying over last year’s resolution into 2019. It is, after all, almost never too late to start a new project.