Yeah, war-as-LARPing is a fair explanation for some of the more out-there war stuff—it didn't work for me personally for the Carlyle-saves-the-day stuff, but, that did work grandly elsewhere (e.g. the Blacklaws being able to claim and hold a hill with just some good ol-fashioned cavalry was really charming!)
Also, extremely pleased to find another Gordian enjoyer :) I have occassionally been a bit envious at just how dominant Utopia is in the cool-science-gadget category, so it was honestly kind of fun to see "very good at psychology" being so strong in this last book, and seeing someone outside Utopia doing very technically sophisticated things... and come to think of it, the Humanists got some excellent moments too; pretty fun how much room all the Hives had to shine here, haha.
re: gender: I may well reread these books in their entirety someday, and I definitely intend to pay more attention to the gender stuff when I do. My impression in book 1 was "okay, there's something the author's trying to say about gender here, but the execution feels kind of wobbly and it's kind of off-putting if I focus on it overmuch, so I'm just going to kinda breeze along and end up assuming whatever pronouns for whoever based on gut feel, and I just won't think on it too much!" Which I realize is not properly engaging with the books, but, eh, I had a fine time anyway :P But it'd definitely be interesting to go back and actually think through the project now, with the whole picture in mind & feelin a little less dodgy about it.
Eureka and another set-set nominated for office, but was there anything else?
Not anything else that I recall, unless we're counting JEDD's institue-for-the-study-of-gender thing, but that's only tangentially related in that you can argue that "being raised with specific gender ideas" is one end of a spectrum that goes all the way out to "being raised to do crazy fancy computer mathy stuff in very specific conditions." The only real Nurturist voice I recall, outside of Cookie, is Felix, right? and I don't think he mentions the topic at all in this volume.
You seem to spend a lot of time in San Fran!
Indeed! I went there several times a year before the pandemic started. Haven't been down lately but I'm long overdue for a trip sometime in 2022; I'll definitely send you a note when I do :D
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Date: 2021-12-14 08:58 pm (UTC)Also, extremely pleased to find another Gordian enjoyer :) I have occassionally been a bit envious at just how dominant Utopia is in the cool-science-gadget category, so it was honestly kind of fun to see "very good at psychology" being so strong in this last book, and seeing someone outside Utopia doing very technically sophisticated things... and come to think of it, the Humanists got some excellent moments too; pretty fun how much room all the Hives had to shine here, haha.
re: gender: I may well reread these books in their entirety someday, and I definitely intend to pay more attention to the gender stuff when I do. My impression in book 1 was "okay, there's something the author's trying to say about gender here, but the execution feels kind of wobbly and it's kind of off-putting if I focus on it overmuch, so I'm just going to kinda breeze along and end up assuming whatever pronouns for whoever based on gut feel, and I just won't think on it too much!" Which I realize is not properly engaging with the books, but, eh, I had a fine time anyway :P But it'd definitely be interesting to go back and actually think through the project now, with the whole picture in mind & feelin a little less dodgy about it.
Eureka and another set-set nominated for office, but was there anything else?
Not anything else that I recall, unless we're counting JEDD's institue-for-the-study-of-gender thing, but that's only tangentially related in that you can argue that "being raised with specific gender ideas" is one end of a spectrum that goes all the way out to "being raised to do crazy fancy computer mathy stuff in very specific conditions." The only real Nurturist voice I recall, outside of Cookie, is Felix, right? and I don't think he mentions the topic at all in this volume.
You seem to spend a lot of time in San Fran!
Indeed! I went there several times a year before the pandemic started. Haven't been down lately but I'm long overdue for a trip sometime in 2022; I'll definitely send you a note when I do :D