The Bechdel test comes from a comic by Alice Bechdel, in which two characters discuss female characters and how shows revolve around men. In order to pass the test a book/film/etc must pass three simple rules:
It has to have at least two women in it
Who talk to each other
About something besides a man
It doesn’t mean that the things is good by default or anything, so a good film may not pass the test while a brutal book may. It’s just an indication of the role of women in the media.
21 April 2013
Call no: 800
Genre: sff
Setting: Dai Viet Empire, space, the future
9 Stars
0 comments
Ever since she arrived on Prosper Station Quyen has been welcomed by the Honoured Ancestress, the artificial intelligence that runs the station. Now that her husband has been called away to war Quyen is in charge, being guided by the … Continue reading
15 April 2013
Call no: 800
Genre: sff
Setting: Dhamsawaat
8 Stars
4 Comments
Book one of The Crescent Moon Kingdoms In the city of Dhamsawaat Doctor Abdullah Makhslood is the last real ghul hunter left. He and his assistant Raseed have destroyed many ghuls and the men who created them over the years. … Continue reading
16 December 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: sff
9 Stars
0 comments
Book three of The Wheel of Time spoiler warning in effect for this and *previous* titles in the series. At the end of book two Rand proclaimed himself the Dragon Reborn, but he is still in denial, and wants to … Continue reading
5 July 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: detective & mystery, psychological fiction
Setting: Berlin
7 Stars
2 Comments
translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside. Seeing a couple break-up in public Kris goes over to apologise to the woman. He tells her that her ex is sorry for what he has done, that he wishes he hadn’t, that … Continue reading
10 May 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: historical, Juv/YA
Setting: 1940s, France
9 Stars
7 Comments
Received free from NetGalley “Verity” has been captured by the Germans. Held in a converted hotel in France she is tortured and forced to give up all her secrets. But in her confession and her report on all her secrets … Continue reading
7 April 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: detective & mystery, sff
Setting: California, contemporary
9 Stars
5 Comments
An October Daye novel #2 Read for the Once Upon a Time VI challenge October Daye is a changeling. Her mother is Amandine of the Daoine Sidhe, and her father was a mortal man. She works as a private investigator … Continue reading
24 March 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: historical fiction, romance, sff
Setting: alternate world, Britain - Victorian, Egypt
9 Stars
Comments Off
An Alexia Tarabotti novel, The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fifth Seeing as this it the fifth, and final, book in this series, knowing anything about the plot probably counts as spoilers for the previous books. So consider yourself warned. It … Continue reading
19 March 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: historical fiction, sff
Setting: 1920s, Alaska
8 Stars
5 Comments
Mabel and Jack have left home and family behind and travelled to Alaska, to the edge of the world, trying to turn the wilderness into a farm that will support them. For Mabel it was an attempt to escape her … Continue reading
5 March 2012
Call no: 800
Genre: detective & mystery, thriller
Setting: contemporary, London
9 Stars
2 Comments
Joe Spork is mild mannered clockmaker. He wns and runs a shop fixing clockwork devices, from clocks to Victorian dirty toys. He doesn’t make a profit, in fact, he barely scrapes by. But he is determined to be sensible and … Continue reading
Book 3 in the Uglies series. Read for the Not just for Stormtroopers sci-fi challenge & the 2012Science Fiction Experience. At some point in the future a biological oil-eating weapon brings about the end of civilisation as we know it. … Continue reading
