#the first fifteen lives of harry august

[doyouknowthischaracter]

DO YOU KNOW THIS CHARACTER?

#dyktc polls #polls #harry august #the first fifteen lives of harry august #claire north #category: books

[ttobi-aakira]

There ain't nothing quite like two men intrinsically linked across space and time involved in grand, mysterious, and complicated plots that will in some way end the 'world'

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #mother of learning #weirdest tags i think ive ever put together

[occasional-owl]

#claire north #Susanna Clarke #neil gaiman #the first fifteen lives of harry august #the pursuit of william abbey #american gods #neverwhere #piranesi #js&mn #jonathan strange & mr norrell #jonathan strange and mr norrell

[lavaramen]

had to draw this scene (also as au to my otp)

#The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August #ramen-art

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #claire north #science fiction #book poll #have you read this book poll #polls

[thinkanamelater]

Love me some cursed* boys

*technically only two of them are cursed but shh

Close-ups:

#jonathan strange and mr norrell #the first fifteen lives of harry august #the pursuit of william abbey #neverwhere #jonathan strange #harry august #william abbey #richard mayhew #claire north's pathetic wet men deserve more recognition

[excavatinglizard]

Lizard’s Queer Space Opera Collection

What time is it? It’s ✨ lizard talks about queer sci-fi ✨ time

My family don’t understand how much joy I get from queer stories, and none of my close friend really read space operas (at least not with the same voracity that I do), so I’m appearing here to pass my knowledge on to you, the void that is my blog.

I read a lot of space operas, and I’ve had the incredible luck that the last handful I’ve picked up have been joyfully queer (or maybe we’re just seeing a shift in the sci-fi publishing world. I love it.). This isn’t a comprehensive list or anything, and this isn’t limited to pure space operas, but they are some of my favorites. Hope I can convince some of you to read a couple (and if you do or have read any, please come and shout at me! I want to talk about them! Always!)

I originally wrote these out for my Instagram, and I can’t really be bothered to retype it all so below the cut are my quick descriptions/thoughts on each of the books, but I’ll chuck the list here too

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin

Machine, Elizabeth Bear

Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie

Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

A Matter Of Oaths, Helen S. Wright

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi

These are just books that I’ve read in the last year or so, and if you have any more recs please tell me!

A couple additions that didn't make it to Instagram:

If you like graphic novels, please give On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden a shot, it's really lovely and quiet and feels like a big warm space hug.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado is a collection of horror short stories, some of which border on scifi, which is why it didn't make it into the main list, but I highly recommend it. My copy was given to me by the lovely @markcampbells

I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter has a bit of a history due to its presentation of gender, and the author actually asked for it to be removed from the Clarkesworld magazine due to the hate comments she was receiving. Still, if you can find it I highly recommend it, as it is genuinely very good.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer is. Wow it sure is a book that emotionally damaged me. It's about two boys (men? they're 17 but it doesn't feel like a YA book, except int he good ways) who are on a spaceship heading out to Titan to attempt a rescue mission on Earth's first extraterrestrial colony. There are a lot of feels and ouch.

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, by Claire North. This book isn't a space opera, but it is somewhat sci-fi? anyway, Harry August is one of my favourite books of all time, and it explores a man trapped in what is almost a timeloop, except that time-loop is his whole life. each time he dies he's reborn right back where he started, and it's only through his and the other people like him's actions that the world is ever changed in each repeat.

The Culture series, Iain M Banks. I put this one on the list with a good bit of trepidation and the warning of: these books were written by a (supposedly) cishet white man, and almost all of his protagonists are…nearly cishet white men (with a couple women thrown in in later books). The same can not be said for literally every other character, who are almost entirely trans and bisexual. These books really gave me my love for space operas and if you're a fan of the genre I recommend. Also, the AIs here are amazing. Let us not forget the Ship "Mistake Not My Current State Of Joshing Gentle Peevishness For The Awesome And Terrible Majesty Of The Towering Seas Of Ire That Are Themselves The Mere Milquetoast Shallows Fringing My Vast Oceans Of Wrath". They're great.

(I’m also going to add, I would not recommend his normal fiction. I’ve read two, The Wasp Factory which kind of scarred and disturbed me, and Transitions which was just plain bad. Maybe I picked a bad selection, but I can only in good conscience recommend his sci-fi.)

And that's it my dudes! go forth! read queer space operas!

#book recommendations #scifi #space opera #queer scifi #queer books #lizard reads a lot #A LOT #(when I have the time) #the left hand of darkness #elizabeth bear #ancillary justice #winter's orbit #a matter of oaths #the long way to a small angry planet #a memory called empire #the collapsing empire #on a sunbeam #her body and other parties #the darkness outside us #the first fifteen lives of harry august #iain m banks

[system-of-cells-interlinked]

Honestly I wish more people would read The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It's so fucking unhinged and the exact kind of story Tumblr people would like. It has it all: mind wiping attempts, friends-to-enemies-to-almost-lovers-to-allies-to-enemies, homoerotic subtext, obsession, the protagonist and his friend/enemy are foils to each other, kind of dark academia vibes, etc

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #harry august #vincent rankis

[therefugeofbooks]

The first book of the year was The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. And I wonder what made me go back to this story again. I think there's some melancholy in the shared sense among the characters that they can't and shouldn't change. They have to relive their lives, and even though they pursue different things, they continue the same, and the world keeps the same. And this is one of the main conflicts in the love-hate relationship between the main characters. And I have to confess that I'm a bit obsessed with whatever Harry and Vincent have for each other.

It was a great reread to start the year!

#booklr #books #book photography #the first fifteen lives of harry august #as primeiras quinze vidas de harry august #claire north #books and coffee #fantasy #rereading is reliving #read in 2023 #the refuge of books

[evilphrog]

I think we may have upwards of 10 Harry August people, actually

Hot damn!!!

I am eternally baffled as to why there isn’t a huge fandom for it. It has all the things that make a huge fandom. Interesting and unique world dynamics, unresolved sexual tension between two male leads, a compelling storyline, large unanswered philosophical/moral questions that van be discussed for days, an ambiguous ending, etc.

I am very glad to scream with more than ten of you on here!

#the first fifteen lives of harry august

[simuran]

This Is How You Lose The Time War and The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August feel like two sides of the same coin

What if you were my enemy in countless lives, travelling through time, and the only way to escape the endless war would be to love you and kiss you

What if you were my friend, and my enemy, and still my friend in countless lives, travelling through time, and the only way to stop the end of the world would be to love you and kill you

#this is how you lose the time war #the first fifteen lives of harry august #And Harry DID love Vincent even at the end don't @ me! #You can't spend a century pretending to be someone's best friend and confidant without still feeling at least some ofthe affection you show #But ohhhhh the contrast between the requited love of Red and Blue that was enough to see each other as equals. each other's POV as valid #And Vincent's need for control above all. To undone Harry even when he 'confessed' to be living his 'third' life. #To turn him into a harmless pet hnghngnhngnhnh #Also the letters Red and Blue write to each other vs Harry writing the whole BOOK to Vincent??? Oh The Parallels #Posts by me

[uovoc]

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #Claire North

[fiction-quotes]

"You are alive today. That is all that matters. You must remember, because it is who you are, but as it is who you are, you must never, ever regret. To regret your past is to regret your soul.”

  —  The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (Claire North)

#book quotes #science fiction #thriller fiction #claire north #the first fifteen lives of harry august #philosophy #survival #remembering #regret #experience #life #character development

[danieandflars]

Just remembered that Vincent Rankis "erased" Harry's memory then employed him in another life and then literally married his wife. What the fuck. Vincent that's so deranged. What level of enemies to lovers is this?

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #also remembered the line where harry is like 'everyone thinks we're fucking. i've decided if he wants to fuck me i'll do it #but i'll make him fucking work for it.' that's so funny harry why would you ever think of that?

[occasional-owl]

Claire North 🤝 Susanna Clarke

British women who wrote speculative fiction that punches you in the soul and unlocks unspeakable emotions

#claire north #Susanna Clarke #the first fifteen lives of harry august #the pursuit of william abbey #notes from the burning age #piranesi #jonathan strange & mr norrell #jonathan strange and mr norrell #js&mn

[thinkanamelater]

His shirt reads "I WAS AT THE (cronos) CLUB AND ALL I'VE GOT WAS PUNCHED IN THE FACE". Based in that one Ben Affleck meme because that's such a Harry mood

#the first fifteen lives of harry august #harry august #drawing