strange and random happenstance

The great age of exploration when men went about the Earth planting flags in the most hostile of climates holds no interest for me. It doesn't just smack of colonialism, but of a severe superiority complex. Britain literally was trying to claim the South Pole to regain their manhood. And that isn't me projecting, they actually say that in The Last Place on Earth which is dark and bleak and boils down to two assholes doing something for no reason. Norway, led by Roald Amundsen, took the Pole because they were better prepared, but Britain, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, arriving at the Pole a mere thirty-four days late were the real "winners" because of their heroic deaths on the return trip. By heroic I mean they froze to death in their tent because Scott had no business running an Antarctic expedition. Or at least that's my take after watching this grueling miniseries. Which is why I'm now going to talk about the music. Yes, no Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and other famous celebs making some of their earliest film roles for me! For me it's all about Trevor Jones! His name is in the credits! It's really big! It's in the crossed flags that make a cross marking a grave. SO DRAMATIC! So mismatched. At the time Trevor Jones was contracted to do The Last Place on Earth he was smack dab in the middle of his "mystical" phase, having worked on Excalibur and The Dark Crystal with Labyrinth on the horizon. And that is exactly what this music sounds like. Which, given the subject matter, is a major disconnect. Because it sounds like he's written a third unreleased score for Legend to replace Tangerine Dream who replaced Jerry Goldsmith and not music for men toiling in the harshest of climes. I feel like there was an exec somewhere who spun a narrative about the South Pole and it's eternal winter being like a snow globe and Trevor Jones just ran with that concept. The glittering ice hovering in the air, the magical, unearthly environment, the eternal darkness, OK, I'm starting to talk about Legend again. But seriously, has someone edited this score to Legend because I think it would be slamming. Because the truth of the matter is I love this music. I want a soundtrack that I can listen to on a loop. My brother said it reminded him of the best in industrial library music from the seventies and he too thought it was slamming. But was, like me, perplexed by how this in any way connected with an expedition to the South Pole. At least it made the copious deaths and treks and eating of animals almost bearable. It's not an understatement to say it's the incongruous music that got me through this show. That and I really wanted to see Scott die. I particularly loved the Norwegians leaving him a fuck you tent at the pole. That was class. Because, fuck Scott! Long live Trevor Jones!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bill Nighy, Britain, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Excalibur, Exploration, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Hugh Grant, Labyrinth, Legend, Norway, Roald Amundsen, South Pole, The Dark Crystal, The Last Place on Earth, Trevor Jones

Cape Fever by Nadia Davids
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From award-winning South African author Nadia Davids comes a gothic psychological thriller set in the 1920s, where a young maid finds herself entangled with the spirits of a decaying manor and the secrets of its enigmatic owner.

I come highly recommended to Mrs. Hattingh through sentences I tell her I cannot read.

The year is 1920, in a small, unnamed city in a colonial empire. Soraya Matas believes she has found the ideal job as a personal maid to the eccentric Mrs. Hattingh, whose beautiful, decaying home is not far from The Muslim Quarter where Soraya lives with her parents. As Soraya settles into her new role, she discovers that the house is alive with spirits.

While Mrs. Hattingh eagerly awaits her son's visit from London, she offers to help Soraya stay in touch with her fiancé Nour by writing him letters on her behalf. So begins a strange weekly meeting where Soraya dictates and Mrs. Hattingh writes - a ritual that binds the two women to one another and eventually threatens the sanity of both.

Cape Fever is a masterful blend of gothic themes, folk-tales, and psychological suspense, reminiscent of works by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Daphne du Maurier, and Soraya Matas is an unforgettable narrator, whose story of love and grief, is also a chilling exploration of class and the long reach of history."

Daphne du Maurier you say?

Dark Sisters by Kristi DeMeester
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this fiercely captivating novel, horror meets historical fiction when a curse bridges generations, binding the fates of three women. Anne Bolton, a healer facing persecution for witchcraft, bargains with a dark entity for protection - but the fire she unleashes will reverberate for centuries. Mary Shephard, a picture-perfect wife in a suffocating community, falls for Sharon and begins a forbidden affair that could destroy them both. And Camilla Burson, the rebellious daughter of a preacher, defies conformist expectations to uncover an ancient power as her father’s flock spirals into crisis.

Three women. Three centuries. One legacy of fury, love, and a power that refuses to die."

Yes, women will burn it down!

Murder in Manhattan by Julie Mulhern
Published by: Forever
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Inspired by one of the first real-life female columnists at the New Yorker, this enticing historical mystery follows Freddie Archer as she solves crimes while reporting on the glamorous world of the rich and famous in 1920s Manhattan.

This writer just found her next scoop...and it's deadly.

New York, 1925 - Freddie Archer frequents speakeasies and wild parties with her friends Dorothy Parker and Tallulah Bankhead. And the best part is that it's all in a day's work. Freddie loves her job writing the nightlife column for Gotham Magazine.

But Freddie's latest piece just won her a bit more attention than she bargained for - from the police. A man mentioned in her column has been murdered. And Freddie is asked to keep an eye out for his fashionable female dinner companion. She's told in no uncertain terms to stay out of the case herself.

So naturally, Freddie throws herself into an investigation that takes her from the elegant stores that line Fifth Avenue to the tenements south of Houston Street. Now between sipping gin rickeys with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and casting Broadway shows with Groucho Marx, she's dodging bullets and dating a potentially dangerous bootlegger.

Freddie wanted adventure and excitement. But will she survive it?"

This fills the void left by the end of J.J. Murphy's Dorothy Parker mysteries! 

An Ambush of Tigers by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
Published by: Embla Books
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: eBook, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"At Finchmere, beneath the snow, an ambush lies in wait...

After a dazzling Indian wedding, Nell and Rav return to a frost-kissed Finchmere, eager to host their blessing in the woodland Nell loves best. But, as their nearest and dearest gather, someone is setting a deadly snare.

The country estate is in its winter finery, with new artisans creating crafts for the Festive Finchmere Christmas Market. Before the celebrations unfold, a shocking secret is revealed, which shows how their families were fatally intertwined, centuries before Nell and Rav said, 'I do.'

As their newlywed bliss unravels, some of their party are poisoned - and Rav is forced to face the risk of losing those he loves. While Nell wrestles with her own family history, the tragedies in Rav's sow seeds of doubt as she hunts down the murderer.

But Nell cannot expose the truth that will save Rav, his family, and their relationship without evidence.

Using all her ecological skills - and all her nerve - Nell must set a dangerous trap for the most cold-blooded killer she's encountered yet.

With the predator poised to pounce, can Nell lure them out of hiding before someone else she loves becomes their prey?"

Always here for any murder even in the vicinity of a "frost-kissed" estate.

How to Grieve Like a Victorian by Amy Carol Reeves
Published by: Canary Street Press
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"It's fine. She's fine. Really.

When life's turned you into a big hot mess, there's still love, laughs, and snark to be had...

Dr. Lizzie Wells, professor of British literature and bestselling author, is not okay. She wasn't consulted when her beloved husband died unexpectedly, so she's going to grieve however she damned well chooses. Keeping a lock of his hair in a choker around her neck and donning widow's weeds. You bet. Notifying colleagues and students that she will only accept paper letters instead of email. Why not? Very nearly kissing her late husband's best friend, Henry. Unfortunately, er...yes.

So when she's offered a trip to London, Lizzie grabs it. What better place to escape, heal, and be reborn than in the same city where Queen Victoria famously mourned her beloved Prince Albert? Encouraged by new friends to be bold, have champagne and oysters before noon, and celebrate the beauty and the messiness of life, Lizzie begins to embrace it all.

Still, there's that almost kiss with Henry she just can't forget. Their cross-Atlantic 'check-ins' turn into FaceTime hangouts and their friendship evolves into something more. When Henry shows up in London, Lizzie fears she's falling in love with him... Will she bravely embrace this second chance, too?"

Hell, go for it! It's not like Lizzie is the Queen and has an appearance to maintain. 

An Archive of Romance by Ava Reid
Published by: HarperCollins
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The enchanting world of A Study in Drowning comes to life through letters, poems, art, and more in this novella from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid. This full-color illustrated collector's edition is a jaw-dropping addition to the beloved dark academia series with stunning painterly endpapers, romantic rose gold foil flourishes, over 40 illustrations, and expanding and new text.

"I will love you to ruination," the Fairy King said, brushing a strand of golden hair from my cheek.

"Yours or mine?" I asked.

The Fairy King did not answer.

Effy and Preston have been torn apart by the wars of men, the power of words, and the specter of magic - but it was through stories that they found each other. Relive Effy and Preston's love story through their own pens in this immersive collection of mementos, illustrations, maps, blueprints, diary entries, and more. Read Angharad with Effy's annotations; sneak excerpts of Preston's diary; see the architectural sketches that brought Effy to Hiraeth; get your own ticket to Saltney; and experience, for the first time, the epilogue to Effy and Preston's romance. This deluxe package includes:

-Full color throughout with painterly endpapers
-Over 40 illustrations
-Romantic rose gold foil
-Expanded and new text from the world of A Study of Drowning
-An enchanting never-before-seen epilogue

A perfect gift for fans of A Study in Drowning and A Theory of Dreaming and anyone who wants to embark on their own dark academia journey, this gorgeously illustrated novella collects ephemera from Effy and Preston as they remember the romance and prepare for a new chapter in their lives - together."

Ephemera from literary worlds is my catnip!

Complete Labyrinth: Beyond the Goblin City by Various
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: December 9th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Celebrate the beloved Jim Henson fantasy film with this complete hardcover collection of stories from inside the magical walls of the labyrinth!

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Beyond the Goblin City spotlights the secret history of Sir Didymus and the untold story of one of Jareth's Masquerade guests, in addition to tales featuring fan-favorite characters like Ludo, Hoggle, Ambrosius, and the Goblin King himself.

This epic collection showcases imaginative tales from critically acclaimed writers and artists including Jonathan Case (The New Deal), Delilah S. Dawson (Star Wars: Phasma), Gustavo Duarte (Bizarro), Roger Langridge (Snarked), Katie Cook (Star Wars: ABC-3PO), Jeff Stokely (The Ludocrats), S.M. Vidaurri (Labyrinth: Under the Spell), Sina Grace (Superman: Kal-El Returns), Michael Dialynas (Wynd), Sarah Webb (The Storyteller: Sirens), Boya Sun (5 Worlds), Lara Elena Donnelly (The Amberlough Dossier), French Carlomagno (The Dead Lucky), Pius Bak (Eat The Rich), Samantha Dodge (Catwoman: Soulstealer), and many more!

Collects Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Shortcuts and Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Under the Spell."

It really is amazing how expansive the world of Labyrinth has become, especially in comics, over the last few years.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Study in Drowning, Amy Carol Reeves, Ava Reid, Daphne Du Maurier, Dark Academia, Dorothy Parker, Gothic, J.J. Murphy, Jim Henson, Julie Mulhern, Kristi DeMeester, Labyrinth, Nadia Davids, Queen Victoria, Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

Jim Henson by Brian Jay Jones
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: September 24th, 2013
Format: Kindle, 608 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Jim Henson was destined for greatness from the very beginning. When his parents bought a television set he was enraptured by the possibilities, and formed a strong affinity to Edgar Bergen, who would one day appear on The Muppet Show, as would his daughter Candice. Before he was even out of high school he was working as a puppeteer on morning shows. But it was during his freshman year at the University of Maryland, College Park, that his big break came with the creation of Sam and Friends with Jane Nebel, who would later become his wife. The show didn't just bring him to the attention of advertisers and television shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, it also brought about his most famous creation, Kermit the Frog. Those early years were about muppets killing each other in hilarious methods, from explosions to mastication, and also dancing and singing to popular songs. It was simple, but it was unique. The way Jim viewed the camera as the proscenium made it possible to expand the traditional framing device of puppetry. They were interactive, they were characters, they were people in their own right, Rowlf playing the piano as Jimmy Dean's sidekick. But the thing about Jim Henson is he was always thinking what innovation will be next? How can we move beyond the expected? How can we bring joy and education to children? You see where he was going? He was going to Sesame Street. To this very day Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird and the lot are teaching children about kindness. Because that's what Jim brought into the world, kindness. He had an irrepressible optimism. If one innovation or idea didn't work, then the next would. He dabbled in traditional filmmaking, earning himself an Oscar nomination in the process. But for all the creations and side projects, from Saturday Night Live to Fraggles to nightclubs, he will forever be remembered for The Muppets. While the movies were designed to showcase puppet ingenuity, from bike rides to air ballons, the zany antics of Kermit and the gang really shine brightest on The Muppet Show. Jim wanted the Muppets to forever be remembered, which is why he was working with Disney when he died. He wanted Kermit to be as recognized as Mickey Mouse. Little did he know he'd already achieved that.

If there's one celebrity who was omnipresent in my childhood it was Jim Henson. I learned to speak watching Sesame Street, which initially confused my parents to no end because I was asking for water in Spanish. Gobo, Wembley, Red, Mokey, and Boober were my daily companions thanks to friends who hooked us up with HBO. When The Muppet Show went into syndication when I was in high school I would come home every day after school and watch an episode. It didn't matter how many times I'd seen it I'd still watch it. I still view The Storyteller as one of the most innovative shows ever made. And as for Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas? I literally watch it every holiday season and am beyond thrilled that we finally have the version with Kermit restored. I should also mention Labyrinth. Because I'd be remiss to mention it. I do have a poster for it currently on my bedroom wall. And yes, I am serious. The worlds that Jim Henson created I inhabited. I had dreams and nightmares from his many creations. Don't get me started on how The Christmas Toy forever traumatized me. Likewise the entirety of The NeverEnding Story. Therefore you'd think I'd be the perfect audience for this book. You'd be wrong. I don't know who this book was written for. Perhaps people who were ignorant of Jim Henson's contributions to the world? Those who knew him but didn't know him? Because this book has no depth. Brian Jay Jones was obviously hired to write a puff piece, a comprehensive chronology of Jim Henson's life that doesn't look behind the curtain. It almost felt like a PR piece; look at this great man who died too young. And he was a great man who died too young. An innovator who, in my mind, had a midas touch which turned all his projects into gold, and when he finally encountered an insurmountable problem, the merger with Disney, his body turned on him and he didn't realize he was dying until it was too late. But as for insights? As to his charisma that made him a player? Well, his womanizing is swept under the carpet. That wouldn't align with what this book is about, a fairly sanitized view of Jim Henson. Yet the true failure of this book is that Brian Jay Jones is ill-equipped to write about a visual artist. The book begins with him trying and failing to recount the famous "Kermit and Joey Say the Alphabet" piece. Why am I reading about someone writing, not very well, a famous moment when I could just watch it? In fact, that's my advice to you. Just go watch some of Jim Henson's work. He was a visual artist, all of The Muppet Show minus that episode with the actor from The Thick of It who turned out to be a sex offender is available on Disney+, so you have no excuse to not watch it. All his work can be found if you just look for it. So go look, don't read.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brian Jay Jones, Disney, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, For the Love of Book Clubs, Jim Henson, Kermit the Frog, Labyrinth, Sam and Friends, Sesame Street, The Christmas Toy, The Muppet Show, The Storyteller

The Ghosts of Nothing by Cecily Walters
Published by: Cecily Walters
Publication Date: July 18th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 380 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

If your last name is Morrighan you're going to have a tough time of it in Nothing, a town typically topping "most haunted" lists. Nelly Morrighan knows this all too well. She has been bullied and ostracized her entire life because the town believes all their woes can be laid at the feet of the Morrighans. All her sixteen years have been spent holding in the pain, keeping her head down, not thinking about her missing mother and her institutionalized father. Because the one time she lashed out at her bullies a kid ended up in the hospital. Her one reprieve is school, far away from Nothing, even if she's saddled with a roommate from home. Until her strict grandmother changes her mind and Nelly ends up boarding at the local school which is run by the mother of the boy she hospitalized. But these changes are nothing compared to the bigger changes ahead when she uncovers a secret. A secret that has been kept from her her entire life and revealed by two otherworldly figures she encounters on the Morrighan Farm late one night, Jack and Fig. Who just happen to be fairies. And Nelly's a half-fairy. And unlike almost all offspring of these forbidden interspecies liaisons she has power. And for someone who has spent their entire life cowering, you know when you are given power you must wield it responsibly. Which is why Nelly's off to the land of fairies. It was her powers that hospitalized her bully, and it was Fig's powers that has done the same to Nelly's grandmother. They can put things right by travelling to the other realm. Which is dangerous for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is what Nelly is and the fact that Fig is a wanted criminal and that the government assumes that she is dead, which is what she will be if she is found back in fairy. But Nelly's eyes are opened there and she feels free for the first time ever, the food tastes different, she feels powerful, and no longer haunted by her name. Will she be able to hold onto this feeling when she returns to Nothing or will the past come back to haunt her?

As one of my friends said about The Ghosts of Nothing it's cinematic. He put into one word what I was struggling to say with way too many. This book reminds me of epic eighties fantasy movies, you know, cinematic. The Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Return to Oz, The Secret of Nimh, movies that are part of my DNA. These films showed us wonders as well as horrors. Sure, they might have traumatized an entire generation, but I wouldn't have had my childhood any other way. Because these films made me believe in magic. The Ghosts of Nothing connected me to memories I had long since forgotten. Growing up I had a huge sugar maple in my front yard and I would spend hours under it and near it, carefully prying open the propellers while watching a very specific section of sky which, thanks to the eighties Serendipity books series, I was convinced was the only place where a pegasus could come through to our world. I saw a unicorn at the circus, so surely a pegasus would visit me! I mean, I now know that that wasn't a unicorn I saw, but there was still the magic of nature under that maple. And reading about the maple keys, the distinct turn of phrase the inhabitants of Nothing use for maple propellers, brought all these memories flooding back. It also made me wonder how the inhabitants of this town use such a fairy turn of phrase. I'm wondering if there's a lot more cross-pollination between the worlds that we will learn about in the coming books. And that again feeds into the fairy tale origins of it all. The way stories are passed down through the generations and are used to teach us lessons and morals. And the thing is, these lessons can be terrifying, and those morals, they might just mean you life. This book doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of life. The politics in particular in the fairy realm will feel eerily prescient to anyone following today's news. Which is what fairy tales are all about, telling us a story but reflecting the world around us. Dark and light. I can't wait to see how Nelly embraces her powers, but I think the real lesson she needs to take to heart is to not be too hard on herself. The world is dark and full of monsters, be the light even if other people can't see it.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: 80s, Cecily Walters, Fairies, Fairy Tales, For the Love of Book Clubs, Labyrinth, Maple Keys, Nelly Morrighan, Return to Oz, Serendipity, The Ghosts of Nothing, The Neverending Story, The Secret of Nimh

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 16th, 2021
Format: Kindle, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Bitter Rock, a small island off the coast of Alaska, is known for two things, it's unique birds and the fact that large numbers of people have disappeared from it. Sometimes all at once. Sailors, GI's, and in 1973 the entire village of Landontown. All thirty-one inhabitants. But anyone stupid enough to build on Belaya Skala, Bitter Rock's headland, should have known better than to take up residence on that blighted bit of rock. The founder of Landontown's widow didn't know what to do with this island she owned and decided to form the Landon Avian Research Center, LARC for short, that studies the island's unique birds, the red-throated tern. Sophie has lied her way into an internship at the LARC because it was there that her mother was working when she disappeared in 2003. This is recent news to Sophie because she always thought her mother died when she was three which resulted in her going into care. But ever since Abbey Ryder called and asked about her mother's disappearance, not death, she knew she had to return to the place her mother was last seen. Turns out Sophie's whole life has been a lie and those nightmares about drowning might be more real than she ever thought, because the moment she arrives on Bitter Rock she feels as if she's not just been here before, but has lived here. She knows the land, she knows the people, and there are some people her brain is screaming at her to avoid. Why would she react so viscerally to William Hardcastle? He just runs the LARC with Dr. Kapor, who approved Sophie's internship. She never knew him before, did she? And then Abby shows up. She comes out of the mist, the same mist that Dr. Kapor's son Liam could have sworn he saw Sophie walking into. But the locals are weird about the mist. Sophie, Abby, and Liam decide to ban together to solve the mystery of Bitter Rock. Sophie has never had friends before, no one else to rely on, so it's strange having people to help. People who won't look at her like she's crazy, people who don't freak out that her reflection doesn't quite match, people who see there's something in the mist and are willing to find out what it is, people who will help her until the bitter end.

Kate Alice Marshall's Rules For Vanishing felt uninspired, disjointed, and unoriginal to me. So why would I read the "sequel" you ask? I could say that it was because the teaser at the end of Rules For Vanishing felt more inspired than the rest of the book, which would be true, but really it was just because it was there. I can never seem to leave well enough alone and end up in situations that I completely put myself in. And yet I would say, for half this book, it really was something special and then it fell apart and my interest went with it. Because Kate Alice Marshall fell into all the traps she laid for herself in Rules For Vanishing. This book became nothing more than a mashup of other stories better told. Here was some more Annihilation, here was some Labyrinth, here was a whole hell of a lot of Stranger Things, and then there's Twin Peaks. I admit that the Twin Peaks comparisons are probably heavily responsible for getting me to pick up Out Last Echoes. I've been an addict since day one when I was probably too young to watch but my parents didn't really believe in censorship, and they also really wanted to watch it themselves, so they let little eleven year old me watch with them. I don't know how many times I've watched the original series since then, but every time I introduced a friend to the series I'd rewatch the whole show with them. I also wrote a paper on the show for my forestry class, which involved me rewatching the whole show again but this time taking notes. And my obsessive preparations leading up to it's return? Yeah, you could say I'm a fan in the true fanatic sense. I wasn't sure how this book would tap into the Twin Peaks vibe. Could it be location, could it be thematic, or could it go all out like Psych did with their episode "Dual Spires?" Turns out it was with doppelgangers, black oil, and music always being in the air. So yeah, I can see why Our Last Echoes is mentioned as being "like" Twin Peaks. But I would also strongly argue against this assessment as well because Twin Peaks has a very fixed and well defined mythology and meticulous worldbuilding. I have now read two books by Kate Alice Marshall set within the same universe and I have no idea what her mythology or worldbuilding is about. So there are what, seven worlds with some Gods and they want to gain access to our world again? This is vague and well confusing and what!?! I mean really what!?! I've read some eight-hundred pages of her work and that is all I've got. Will I pick up the inevitable next book? Probably, I'm a masochist. But seriously, just some cohesive worldbuilding would go a long way to saving this series.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Abby Ryder, Alaska, Annihilation, Doppelgangers, Dual Spires, Fog, Going Gothic, Kate Alice Marshall, Labyrinth, Mythology, Our Last Echoes, Psych, Rules For Vanishing, Stranger Things, Twin Peaks, Worldbuilding

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: November 5th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 512 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When he was young Zachary Ezra Rawlins found a door. Graffitied on the side of his home. Appearing overnight and painted over by the end of the day. He did not go through it and did not tell anyone about it but over the years wondered what would have happened. Therefore it comes as a shock when perusing the stacks of his school's library during winter break that there is a book with his story in it. This impossibility leads him on a hunt that will forever change his life. A hunt for a bee, a key, and a sword. A hunt that leads him into the cross-hairs of warring parties. At a literary themed masquerade at the Algonquin Hotel in New York he meets the players who will lead him down his path. Mirabel, the painter, and Dorian, the storyteller. But this path doesn't come without dangers. Far beneath the Earth there are tunnels and rooms and each and every one of them is filled with books and stories and adventures to be had. But they are all in danger. This subterranean world was once alive and vibrant and here Zachary Ezra Rawlins has finally stepped through the door into a magical world in it's death throes. What would have happened if he had arrived earlier? What will happen now that he's here? Can he save the library with his new companions or is it all lost before his adventure has really begun?

The Starless Sea is an ode to books and book lovers and all forms of stories. The plot twists and turns and is a complex puzzle waiting to be solved. A quest for the reader and for Zachary Ezra Rawlins. When you reach the end it becomes a beginning and it almost feels necessary to turn back to the first page and relive all the adventure and heartache. There's something nostalgic about it, it harkens back to well loved movies and books and even video games. There's more than a dash of The Neverending Story, and Labyrinth, and The Magicians, and and and a million other books and adventures I loved as a kid and adult. Though I have noted the discontent in some readers who were expecting a new iteration of The Night Circus. At first I to was hoping for that and while The Starless Sea is definitely not that it's so unique, so it's own thing, that I love it for what it is and the work you put in to understand and follow what is happening is justly rewarded. Books shouldn't be easy. Books should make us think, challenge us in ways we didn't expect, take us on an epic adventure that makes us realize why we fell in love with stories in the first place. I fell into The Starless Sea and don't care to be rescued.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Erin Morgenstern, Labyrinth, Library, New York, Nostalgia, Storytelling, The Algonquin, The Magicians, The Neverending Story, The Night Circus, The Starless Sea, Zachary Ezra Rawlins

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A servant and former slave is accused of murdering her employer and his wife in this astonishing historical thriller that moves from a Jamaican sugar plantation to the fetid streets of Georgian London - a remarkable literary debut with echoes of Alias Grace, The Underground Railroad, and The Paying Guests.

All of London is abuzz with the scandalous case of Frannie Langton, accused of the brutal double murder of her employers, renowned scientist George Benham and his eccentric French wife, Marguerite. Crowds pack the courtroom, eagerly following every twist, while the newspapers print lurid theories about the killings and the mysterious woman being tried at the Old Bailey.

The testimonies against Frannie are damning. She is a seductress, a witch, a master manipulator, a whore.

But Frannie claims she cannot recall what happened that fateful evening, even if remembering could save her life. She doesn’t know how she came to be covered in the victims’ blood. But she does have a tale to tell: a story of her childhood on a Jamaican plantation, her apprenticeship under a debauched scientist who stretched all bounds of ethics, and the events that brought her into the Benhams’ London home - and into a passionate and forbidden relationship.

Though her testimony may seal her conviction, the truth will unmask the perpetrators of crimes far beyond murder and indict the whole of English society itself.

The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a breathtaking debut: a murder mystery that travels across the Atlantic and through the darkest channels of history. A brilliant, searing depiction of race, class, and oppression that penetrates the skin and sears the soul, it is the story of a woman of her own making in a world that would see her unmade."

A different, deeper kind of murder mystery. Sign me up! And not just because I'm a sucker for Georgian London.

The Ghost of Hollow House by Linda Stratmann
Published by: Sapere Books
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Kindle, 325 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Mina Scarletti returns in her most thrilling mystery yet! Perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie and Antonia Hodgson...

A peaceful country retreat has become the scene of relentless terror...

Sussex, 1872.

Mina Scarletti is invited to ancient Hollow House to investigate reports of ghostly occurrences.

The current occupants - newlyweds Mr Honeyacre and his wife, Kitty - have been plagued by unexplained noises and strange visions since moving into the property.

And now most of their servants refuse to stay at the house after dark for fear of encountering the ghostly presence of ‘the woman in white’.

A determined sceptic, Mina’s main concern is for Kitty, whose health appears to be dramatically sinking under the strain of all that is going on.

With the help of her trusted adviser, Dr Hamid, and her lively friend, Nell, Mina must get to the heart of the mystery.

Have the maids merely been frightening themselves with tales of the macabre? Is there a rational explanation for what is being reported?

Or will Mina be forced to admit to the presence of a ghost in Hollow House?"

A country house possibly plagued by the supernatural? This is my bread and butter people!

Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A captivating novel based on the story of the extraordinary real-life American woman who secretly worked for the French Resistance during World War II - while playing hostess to the invading Germans at the iconic Hôtel Ritz in Paris - from the New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator's Wife and The Swans of Fifth Avenue.

Nothing bad can happen at the Ritz; inside its gilded walls every woman looks beautiful, every man appears witty. Favored guests like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coco Chanel, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor walk through its famous doors to be welcomed and pampered by Blanche Auzello and her husband, Claude, the hotel’s director. The Auzellos are the mistress and master of the Ritz, allowing the glamour and glitz to take their minds off their troubled marriage, and off the secrets that they keep from their guests - and each other.

Until June 1940, when the German army sweeps into Paris, setting up headquarters at the Ritz. Suddenly, with the likes of Hermann Goëring moving into suites once occupied by royalty, Blanche and Claude must navigate a terrifying new reality. One that entails even more secrets and lies. One that may destroy the tempestuous marriage between this beautiful, reckless American and her very proper Frenchman. For in order to survive - and strike a blow against their Nazi “guests” - Blanche and Claude must spin a web of deceit that ensnares everything and everyone they cherish.

But one secret is shared between Blanche and Claude alone - the secret that, in the end, threatens to imperil both of their lives, and to bring down the legendary Ritz itself.

Based on true events, Mistress of the Ritz is a taut tale of suspense wrapped up in a love story for the ages, the inspiring story of a woman and a man who discover the best in each other amid the turbulence of war."

As I'm currently reading another WWII book that talks about the French occupation, is there a better time to read about it?

Starship Repo by Patrick S. Tomlinson
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Starship Repo is a fast-paced romp through the galaxy from Patrick S. Tomlinson.

Firstname Lastname is a no one with nowhere to go. With a name that is the result of an unfortunate clerical error and destined to be one of the only humans on an alien space station. That is until she sneaks aboard a ship and joins up with a crew of repomen (they are definitely not pirates).

Now she's traveling the galaxy "recovering" ships. What could go wrong?"

Because every now and then I'm desperate for a good space opera!

The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion by Matt Whyman
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A stunning full-color, illustrated, behind-the-scenes guide to the Good Omens television series, adapted for the screen by Neil Gaiman himself and starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.

Following the original novel’s chronological structure - from “the Beginning” to “End Times”—this official companion to the Good Omens television series, compiled by Matt Whyman, is a cornucopia of information about the show, its conception, and its creation. Offering deep and nuanced insight into Gaiman’s brilliantly reimagining of the Good Omens universe, The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion includes:

-A foreword from Neil Gaiman
-A profile of the director, Douglas McKinnon
-Neil’s take on the adaptation process, in which he explains his goals, approach, and diversions from the original text
-Interviews with the cast, including Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Nina Sosanya, Jon Hamm, Ned Dennehy, Josie Lawrence, Derek Jacobi, Nick Offerman, Frances McDormand, Miranda Richardson, Adria Arjona, and many others
-More than 200 color photographs
-And much more!

The must-have official companion guide to the Good Omens television series, Nice and Accurate TV Companion is a treasure trove of delights for fans of Good Omens, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett."

Anyone else SO excited for this series that they made their book club read Good Omens? OK, just me then...

Jim Henson's Labyrinth Coronation Volume Two by Simon Spurrier
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The untold origin of the Goblin King from Jim Henson’s cult-classic film, Labyrinth.

As the clock ticks ever closer to the thirteenth hour, Maria struggles through the canals of the Labyrinth alongside her peculiar band of companions, wishing desperately to be reunited with her son. While she may be no closer to the Owl King’s castle, Maria begins to uncover the secrets of the Labyrinth and her own power within the walls of this magical domain. But from deep in the shadows, the Owl King watches her every move, plotting and waiting to bring her demise by any means necessary. Written by Simon Spurrier (Jim Henson’s The Power of the Dark Crystal) and Ryan Ferrier (Kong on the Planet of the Apes) and illustrated by Daniel Bayliss (Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Dragons) and Irene Flores (Heavy Vinyl), Labyrinth: Coronation Volume Two continues the bestselling prequel to one of Jim Henson’s most iconic creations."

Yes, this is a very good prequel, but round about now it started to drag, I think they did too many issues... 

Hilda and the Nowhere Space by Stephen Davies
Published by: Flying Eye Books
Publication Date: May 21st, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 200 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Caught up on Hilda on Netflix? Craving more adventures with your favorite blue-haired Sparrow Scout? This is the book for you! More badges, more thrills, more friends in the newest Hilda illustrated chapter book!

Meet Hilda: explorer, adventurer, avid sketchbook-keeper and friend to every creature in the valley!

Newly initiated into the Sparrow Scouts, Hilda is ready to explore and document the wilderness, and perhaps even make some human friends. Yet as luck would have it, there is a dark, menacing creature afoot near Trolberg, and Hilda is whisked back home to safety. Even so, intrigue seems to follow our blue-haired heroine wherever she goes, and it seems we may finally discover why so many socks in Trolberg seem to lose their mates."

Because EVERYONE needs more Hilda to hold them off until the six book by Luke Pearson this fall!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Good Omens, Hilda, Labyrinth, Linda Stratmann, Luke Pearson, Melanie Benjamin, Neil Gaiman, Patrick S. Tomlinson, Sara Collins, Starship Repo, Terry Pratchett, The Confessions of Frannie Langton

Tales from Earthsea
Based on the book by Ursula K. Le Guin
Starring: Brian George, Susanne Blakeslee, Kat Cressida, Matt Levin, Timothy Dalton, Cheech Marin, Jess Harnell, Blaire Restaneo, Willem Dafoe, and Mariska Hargitay
Release Date: July 29th, 2006
Rating: ★★
To Buy

The balance of the world is out of order, even the majestic dragons are killing each other. Young Prince Arren, driven by some unknown force, kills his father the King. Taking his father's sword he flees. On his desperate journey he runs into the Archmage Sparrowhawk who is on his own journey. Sparrowhawk has felt the world going out of kilter and has gone in search of the source of this wrongness. Sparrowhawk invites young Arren to travel with him. They encounter village after village destroyed, farmhouses burned and crops gone to seed. In Hort Town they finally find some kind of life, people wasting theirs taking the drug Hazia and slavers scouring the town for merchandise. Arren rescues a young girl from the slavers, but he incurs their wrath and when they find him asleep on the shore they enslave him. After being rescued by Sparrowhawk the two journey to the farmstead of Tenar, an old friend of Sparrowhawk's. There Arren meets the girl he rescued, Therru is the ward of Tenar. On the farm Arren is given time to heal from his ordeal while helping Tenar with the chores. But Sparrowhawk's mission isn't completed and soon it becomes apparent that Arren's ordeals are connected to the chaos in the world which now has a name, thanks to the slavers who work for him. The wizard Cob is destabilizing Earthsea in his quest for eternal life. Will the young Prince be able to make amends for the wrongs he has committed by stopping Cob? Or is all Earthsea doomed?

From the title of this movie I assumed that the plot would be taken from Le Guin's fifth Earthsea book, Tales from Earthsea. Well, you know what they saying about assuming things... because I was very wrong. Instead this is a weird amalgamation of the third and forth books in the Earthsea cycle, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu, without really ever being either of those books or it's own story. It doesn't really have it's own identity, feeling so piecemealed that a cohesive whole is hoping for way more than this film has to offer. I seriously don't understand what it is about Le Guin's Earthsea cycle that leaves it so hard to adapt. Each of the two adaptations has gotten key elements wrong, mainly whitewashing all the characters, which seriously baffles me in this instance because this wasn't made by white males this time around. But at least the Sci-Fi channel's adaptation was able to stand on it's own, being so different as to embrace those differences and create it's own mythology. Here there's so much actual mythology from Earthsea jammed incoherently into the story that I just can't even. I mean sometimes the dialogue doesn't actually make any sense. And as for Disney releasing it... I was raised on early eighties "children's" films, so I know violence, but OMG, the violence in this is so random and brutal and I don't think they ever really addressed the whole "slavery is evil" issue. Apparently it's the first and only PG-13 animated film Disney has ever distributed. Tales from Earthsea, the film, is just wrong on almost too many levels to count.

But apparently this production was plagued from the beginning. My brother informed me that while this is a Studio Ghibli film it wasn't done by Hayao Miyazaki, but his son Gorō and thus did the drama begin. Hayao had for years and years been wanting to adapt Le Guin's Earthsea cycle and had always been denied. Only after winning an Oscar for Spirited Away did Le Guin give her permission. Permission given which I think she later regretted despite claiming to like the end product though admitting that it wasn't in the least like her book. I'm not surprised in her being disappointed. Hayao, being too busy working on Howl's Moving Castle, the studio decided to let his son Gorō direct this as his first film. A move which his father not only disapproved of but actively argued against. So whether it was this tension or his inexperience, Le Guin's world didn't get the treatment it deserved and instead we are left wondering what might have been. As for the American release... I never really envisioned Sparrowhawk as say Timothy Dalton, because, you know, whitewashing, and his voice is almost too regal, he doesn't sound like he's ever shepherded goats. As for Willem Dafoe, yes, he's the perfect voice actor for villains, but the lackluster feeling of the film seeped into his performance. It felt like he read the lines in one take and that's all she wrote. In fact by the end of the film it's like all people involved had given up any hope for it, what with the closing theme song not being redone in English or even subtitled. I don't think they expected anyone to make it to the end.

What I hoped would redeem any lack in plot would be visual splendor. Because there's one thing that is "usually" a given with Studio Ghibli films and that's impactful imagery that will be on shirts and dorm rooms for years to come. The problem is that it's just not. The imagery is never it's own, it always feels so referential to specific things that all I did was think over and over again about those specific references while realizing how much better they were. The look was literally Legend meets Labyrinth meets The Addams Family meets Gummi Bears. You might laugh a bit at the Gummi Bears one while admitting the validity of the others, but seriously, the entrance to the castle is completely the entrance to Castle Dunwyn. Especially as depicted in my Colorforms play set. And also I REALLY need to watch Legend again, it's been too long. Aside from these specific filmic references the overall look the film went for is Persian. Which baffles me. You whitewash the characters and strip any racial identity that is in the books and give them a new one? What!?! And the thing is, I'm a really harsh judge when it comes to this because of my love of Kaoru Mori's meticulous and magnificent Manga series A Bride's Story. So if you're looking for racial confusion and memories of better films, you can't go wrong with this here film.

Unless you like strong women. Because, this is seriously a deal breaker. The strong, independent, and frankly amazing characters of Tenar and Therru her become nothing more than characters that have one purpose, to serve in advancing the stories of the men. Because obviously the only purpose of having women be in a film or story is to prop up the male narratives. Can you hear that growling? Oh wait, that's me. And it's not my stomach. It might partially be my teeth grinding, but there are other reasons too. The women get captured and get endangered and need men to rescue them. Tenar didn't escape from the Tombs on her own, rescuing Sparrowhawk whom she help prisoner. Oh no, she was the prisoner rescued, who must AGAIN be rescued as she has become a lure for Cob to trap Sparrowhawk. Oh, poor women. The scene when Sparrowhawk and Arren do all the work at the farm because the poor womenfolk wouldn't have gotten along unless they showed up!?! WTF!?! How are they running this farm then without the help of these men the rest of the year? I'm surprised that at this point Le Guin didn't ask for all association with the film to be severed. First the whitewashing and now the sexism! If there's any sexism in her books it's to show the plight of these strong and independent women! Who can run farms on their own! But the scene that made me want to spit fire? When Therru finally turns into a dragon the moment of majestic beauty is take away from her as it's given to Arren who rides her. HE FREAKIN' RIDES HER!

And buried, somewhere within the film, they tried to comment on the duality of humans with Therru and Arren. But instead of focusing on the more obvious with Therru being a freakin' dragon as well as a little girl, they go this weird ambiguous route that I'm still not sure I grasp. Somehow Arren was split in half either by killing his father or by the evil that plagues Earthsea. He now has a "light" and a "dark" side. The dark is all, well, it's the Arren we see most of, broody and boring. The light side appears to be trying to kill Arren, which makes no sense because it's the light side. Good should be trying to help evil not kill it, right? Or you know, integrate it somehow? Bring the two halves into one whole? The sloppily handled duality is just there and baffling. I really don't get what it's point is, was, or will be. It's like they were searching for some higher meaning and instead of taking meaning from the books they made their own half-assed mythology about splitting a human into light and dark and seriously, if it's beyond me I'm thinking a kid wouldn't get it either. But then Tales from Earthsea is continually taking these little bits and pieces from the books that in the context of the books make sense, but here are just baffling. Why does Therru knowing Arren's real name supersede the power of Cob knowing it? Why do they just explain the whole people can be dragons as quick backstory to a mural? Why is Therru made into a whiny stomp your feet girl? I guess I'll forever be wondering why.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: A Bride's Story, Anime, Gummi Bears, Hayao Muyazaki, It's a Kind of Magic, Kaoru Mori, Labyrinth, Legend, Studio Ghibli, Tales from Earthsea, Tehanu, The Addams Family, The Farthest Shore, Ursula K. Le Guin

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: 1971
Format: Hardcover, 422 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Tenar doesn't remember her life before. A life filled with love and apple trees. She has even forgotten her name. She is the One Priestess of the Tombs reborn in the service of The Nameless Ones. She is now Arha, "the eaten one." Her life of abnegation began at six. Lonely and cold and devoid of friends her days are filled with worship and dark rituals to The Nameless Ones, who dwell beneath the hall of the throne in the place of the tombs. Each day is much the same, passing in routine and ritual in windowless rooms. When she is fifteen, a year after crossing into womanhood and coming into her full powers, she is finally permitted into the undertomb. What should be a wonderful experience, entering her true domain of the tombs and the labyrinth that follows becomes one of her worst memories as she was brought there to punish prisoners of the Godking. Prisoners she leaves to starve to death.

This memory is like ashes in her mouth and she withdraws from the world above of petty conflicts and power struggles seeking comfort in the tombs and in the labyrinth beyond. It is there that her endless days of monotony suddenly change. For it is there she sees a Wizard! She knows instantly what he is and that he is there to steal from her, seeking the long-lost half of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. The magical ring which, once whole, will bring peace to all of Earthsea. But for now he has brought light into the darkness, her darkness, and she traps him behind the iron door at the start of the labyrinth. Yes, the Ring is in the labyrinth but only Arha can navigate it. So the labyrinth shall be the wizard's tomb, if Arha decides to let him die. She is oddly fascinated with this man. She has lived all her life in seclusion with females all with only one point of view. Here is an outsider who has a different viewpoint and who might just open her eyes. But has Tenar lived in the dark for too long?

There are books that you struggle with initially but eventually pay off in such spectacular fashion that all that you went through was worth it. The Tombs of Atuan is just such a book. Reading the Earthsea series consecutively like I did The Tombs of Atuan is a drastic shift from A Wizard of Earthsea. It's far more formal with a dense backstory about Godkings and Nameless Ones and religion. Not to mention that Arha is hard to initially relate to. She's very standoffish. But you just have to get under her skin, get past all her training that stripped her personality away and watch as she struggles to become someone she can like. As many have pointed out, this is basically the companion story to Ged's journey to becoming a Wizard in A Wizard of Earthsea, what with shifting from a male to a female protagonist. But I think it's so much more. Yes, you could say it's because I'm a girl so that I could relate more, but I felt like Le Guin took Tenar on a greater journey than she did with Ged. Yes Ged traveled and ran from his mistake, but Tenar was there day after day facing her mistake and working out who she was. It was a far more satisfying journey. Sometimes it's about inner change more than anything that makes a story work.

What also helped was that while Ged was important, he was put on the back burner. He wasn't the focus at all just a conduit for Tenar's change. What I find fascinating with this decision of Le Guin's is that she takes a character that we know well after reading A Wizard of Earthsea and makes him mysterious again. Yes, some time has elapsed and he has aged, but he's still Sparrowhawk. Seeing him though Tenar's eyes makes you feel like you're seeing him for the first time all over again. While I do love series where I can follow the entire journey of the characters I love from beginning to end, this time lapse that Le Guin utilizes makes this second book so fresh that I actually heart it way more than the first volume. You could guess what Ged was up to down in the labyrinth and all his plans, but in the end, everything that happened to him hinged on what Tenar did. Seeing her fascinated with and then eventually coming to trust Ged makes you, as a reader, more fascinated with Ged than you ever have before. It's interesting that in stepping back you see more clearly. Personally, I didn't want this story to end. They could have stayed in that maze forever just talking.

Yet it wasn't just the change in perspective that made The Tombs of Atuan so compulsively readable, it was that the location changed and with it the style. Earthsea is basically a generic fantasy land that is predominately water. Yes, it's kind of an unfair generalization, because each island is so unique, but as a whole it's built from the blueprints of other fantasy stories. Here the basis is less fantasy and more adventure. More H. Rider Haggard and Elizabeth Peters. Dusty old cultures whose bloodthirsty customs are a danger to the more enlightened times we are now in. Once I realized and embraced this I came to adore this book. I think this was where I had problems initially connecting. This book is SO different from it's predecessor that it's kind of a culture shock. But what makes it amazing is all the ways it's different from A Wizard of Earthsea. I felt like I was reading some of my favorite Egyptian stories about gods and temples and a plucky heroine. Add to that an underground maze that is so awesome and has so many connotations from all different mythologies and made me think of everything from Labyrinth to Jim Henson's The Storyteller and this book appealed to both the child and the adult in me. I only wish I had read it sooner.

Though the reveal of the connection between Ged's and Tenar's stories is what just blew me away. I have to fully admit that I was reading these books while sick so I might have been a bit slow on the uptake, but when I realized who exactly were Tenar's Gods I was in awe. Yet again did Le Guin make the known mysterious. In A Wizard of Earthsea Ged is fighting an Unnamed force. Victory is achieved by naming it. Tenar is in service to The Nameless Ones. In other words, literally, another way of saying Unnamed. Please do not mock my inability to connect them immediately, as I said, I was sick, but also I think the way the story is written it's made to ingeniously hide something in plain sight. None of Tenar's beliefs seem evil or dangerous at first, so why would her Gods be dangerous? It's only as she grows and learns that it becomes obvious that her Gods might not be kind ones. To then learn they are the world destroying evil that Ged faced? Epic reveal. Plus, it's rather an indictment on religion. To learn that you are serving the forces of darkness? That could quite mess with your mind.

Which leads to the message of The Tombs of Atuan, the very heart of it's maze. This book is all about guilt and redemption. Tenar, in sentencing those prisoners to death set herself on a path. A path she didn't like. The way she takes care of and treats Ged, keeping her prisoner alive and eventually freeing him breaks her chains. She is able to redeem herself through doing an act of kindness, by doing good. While she didn't know that the forces she served were malign, she was able to search her own conscience and realized that what she did didn't make her feel good. Think of the power this book would have on a young reader. If you are trapped in a bad situation there is always hope. There is always a chance to make tomorrow better. I know it might be trite, but it's so true that reading opens your mind. Reading makes you more empathetic, more able to feel and understand and just get it. That's why I never trust people who say they don't like reading. They are shutting themselves off from feeling from becoming the best human being they can be. Read this book and I dare you not to be moved to be better to do better to question everything and to find the right path for yourself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Wizard of Earthsea, Earthsea, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, Empathy, Ged, Gods, H. Rider Haggard, It's a Kind of Magic, Jim Henson, Labyrinth, Tenar, The Storyteller, The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula Le Guin

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
Published by: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: 1971
Format: Hardcover, 422 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Tenar doesn't remember her life before. A life filled with love and apple trees. She has even forgotten her name. She is the One Priestess of the Tombs reborn in the service of The Nameless Ones. She is now Arha, "the eaten one." Her life of abnegation began at six. Lonely and cold and devoid of friends her days are filled with worship and dark rituals to The Nameless Ones, who dwell beneath the hall of the throne in the place of the tombs. Each day is much the same, passing in routine and ritual in windowless rooms. When she is fifteen, a year after crossing into womanhood and coming into her full powers, she is finally permitted into the undertomb. What should be a wonderful experience, entering her true domain of the tombs and the labyrinth that follows becomes one of her worst memories as she was brought there to punish prisoners of the Godking. Prisoners she leaves to starve to death.

This memory is like ashes in her mouth and she withdraws from the world above of petty conflicts and power struggles seeking comfort in the tombs and in the labyrinth beyond. It is there that her endless days of monotony suddenly change. For it is there she sees a Wizard! She knows instantly what he is and that he is there to steal from her, seeking the long-lost half of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. The magical ring which, once whole, will bring peace to all of Earthsea. But for now he has brought light into the darkness, her darkness, and she traps him behind the iron door at the start of the labyrinth. Yes, the Ring is in the labyrinth but only Arha can navigate it. So the labyrinth shall be the wizard's tomb, if Arha decides to let him die. She is oddly fascinated with this man. She has lived all her life in seclusion with females all with only one point of view. Here is an outsider who has a different viewpoint and who might just open her eyes. But has Tenar lived in the dark for too long?

There are books that you struggle with initially but eventually pay off in such spectacular fashion that all that you went through was worth it. The Tombs of Atuan is just such a book. Reading the Earthsea series consecutively like I did The Tombs of Atuan is a drastic shift from A Wizard of Earthsea. It's far more formal with a dense backstory about Godkings and Nameless Ones and religion. Not to mention that Arha is hard to initially relate to. She's very standoffish. But you just have to get under her skin, get past all her training that stripped her personality away and watch as she struggles to become someone she can like. As many have pointed out, this is basically the companion story to Ged's journey to becoming a Wizard in A Wizard of Earthsea, what with shifting from a male to a female protagonist. But I think it's so much more. Yes, you could say it's because I'm a girl so that I could relate more, but I felt like Le Guin took Tenar on a greater journey than she did with Ged. Yes Ged traveled and ran from his mistake, but Tenar was there day after day facing her mistake and working out who she was. It was a far more satisfying journey. Sometimes it's about inner change more than anything that makes a story work.

What also helped was that while Ged was important, he was put on the back burner. He wasn't the focus at all just a conduit for Tenar's change. What I find fascinating with this decision of Le Guin's is that she takes a character that we know well after reading A Wizard of Earthsea and makes him mysterious again. Yes, some time has elapsed and he has aged, but he's still Sparrowhawk. Seeing him though Tenar's eyes makes you feel like you're seeing him for the first time all over again. While I do love series where I can follow the entire journey of the characters I love from beginning to end, this time lapse that Le Guin utilizes makes this second book so fresh that I actually heart it way more than the first volume. You could guess what Ged was up to down in the labyrinth and all his plans, but in the end, everything that happened to him hinged on what Tenar did. Seeing her fascinated with and then eventually coming to trust Ged makes you, as a reader, more fascinated with Ged than you ever have before. It's interesting that in stepping back you see more clearly. Personally, I didn't want this story to end. They could have stayed in that maze forever just talking.

Yet it wasn't just the change in perspective that made The Tombs of Atuan so compulsively readable, it was that the location changed and with it the style. Earthsea is basically a generic fantasy land that is predominately water. Yes, it's kind of an unfair generalization, because each island is so unique, but as a whole it's built from the blueprints of other fantasy stories. Here the basis is less fantasy and more adventure. More H. Rider Haggard and Elizabeth Peters. Dusty old cultures whose bloodthirsty customs are a danger to the more enlightened times we are now in. Once I realized and embraced this I came to adore this book. I think this was where I had problems initially connecting. This book is SO different from it's predecessor that it's kind of a culture shock. But what makes it amazing is all the ways it's different from A Wizard of Earthsea. I felt like I was reading some of my favorite Egyptian stories about gods and temples and a plucky heroine. Add to that an underground maze that is so awesome and has so many connotations from all different mythologies and made me think of everything from Labyrinth to Jim Henson's The Storyteller and this book appealed to both the child and the adult in me. I only wish I had read it sooner.

Though the reveal of the connection between Ged's and Tenar's stories is what just blew me away. I have to fully admit that I was reading these books while sick so I might have been a bit slow on the uptake, but when I realized who exactly were Tenar's Gods I was in awe. Yet again did Le Guin make the known mysterious. In A Wizard of Earthsea Ged is fighting an Unnamed force. Victory is achieved by naming it. Tenar is in service to The Nameless Ones. In other words, literally, another way of saying Unnamed. Please do not mock my inability to connect them immediately, as I said, I was sick, but also I think the way the story is written it's made to ingeniously hide something in plain sight. None of Tenar's beliefs seem evil or dangerous at first, so why would her Gods be dangerous? It's only as she grows and learns that it becomes obvious that her Gods might not be kind ones. To then learn they are the world destroying evil that Ged faced? Epic reveal. Plus, it's rather an indictment on religion. To learn that you are serving the forces of darkness? That could quite mess with your mind.

Which leads to the message of The Tombs of Atuan, the very heart of it's maze. This book is all about guilt and redemption. Tenar, in sentencing those prisoners to death set herself on a path. A path she didn't like. The way she takes care of and treats Ged, keeping her prisoner alive and eventually freeing him breaks her chains. She is able to redeem herself through doing an act of kindness, by doing good. While she didn't know that the forces she served were malign, she was able to search her own conscience and realized that what she did didn't make her feel good. Think of the power this book would have on a young reader. If you are trapped in a bad situation there is always hope. There is always a chance to make tomorrow better. I know it might be trite, but it's so true that reading opens your mind. Reading makes you more empathetic, more able to feel and understand and just get it. That's why I never trust people who say they don't like reading. They are shutting themselves off from feeling from becoming the best human being they can be. Read this book and I dare you not to be moved to be better to do better to question everything and to find the right path for yourself.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: A Wizard of Earthsea, Earthsea, Egypt, Elizabeth Peters, Empathy, Ged, Gods, H. Rider Haggard, Jim Henson, Labyrinth, Personal Journeys, Tenar, The Storyteller, The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula Le Guin

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 8th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Long before she was the terror of Wonderland―the infamous Queen of Hearts―she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

For me, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is sacred and not to be messed with. However, Marissa Meyer has shown time and again that if there's someone who can create a new twist on an old tale and succeed it's her. Therefore this is THE MOST anticipated YA book of the fall.

The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello
Published by: 47North
Publication Date: November 8th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 492 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A spellbinding thriller from the bestselling author of The Einstein Prophecy.

A chilling curse is transported from 1880s London to present-day California, awakening a long-dormant fiend.

While on routine patrol in the tinder-dry Topanga Canyon, environmental scientist Rafael Salazar expects to find animal poachers, not a dilapidated antique steamer trunk. Inside the peculiar case, he discovers a journal, written by the renowned Robert Louis Stevenson, which divulges ominous particulars about his creation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It also promises to reveal a terrible secret—the identity of Jack the Ripper.

Unfortunately, the journal—whose macabre tale unfolds in an alternating narrative with Rafe’s—isn’t the only relic in the trunk, and Rafe isn’t the only one to purloin a souvenir. A mysterious flask containing the last drops of the grisly potion that inspired Jekyll and Hyde and spawned London’s most infamous killer has gone missing. And it has definitely fallen into the wrong hands."

Yes, it sounds a little cheesy, but seriously, to combine literary icon Robert Louis Stevenson with Jack the Ripper it's a no-brainer that I'm going to read it. 

Rhythm and Clues by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Published by: Midnight Ink
Publication Date: November 8th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 312 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amateur sleuth Odelia Grey tries to get a band back together―and get her mother off the hook―in book eleven of the award-winning series.

It’s a rockin’ flashback for Odelia Grey when her mother asks her to look into the disappearance of her neighbor Bo Shank, the former lead singer for a band Odelia idolized in her youth. But when a body is found in Bo Shank’s house, everything quickly gets thrown out of tune."

Just looking at that cover I want to hang out with this sleuth!

The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation by Shannon and Dean Hale
Published by: Candlewick
Publication Date: November 8th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 96 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Even monster-battling princesses get tired sometimes! But a peaceful time away is hard to find as the humorous New York Times best-selling series continues.

After battling monsters all night, a sleepy Princess in Black decides that she needs a vacation. After all, the Goat Avenger, a new hero who looks oddly familiar, has offered to protect the goats while she takes a much needed break. The very next day Princess Magnolia rides her bicycle to the seaside, where the air is salty, the sun is shiny, and the sea is as blue as monster fur. But just as Princess Magnolia is about to take a nap on her hammock, she hears a "ROAR!" Seriously? A monster? On the perfect beach? Impossible! Could a sea monster really ruin this vacation for the Princess in Black?"

New Shannon Hale book, it's a mandatory purchase. 

Jim Henson's Labyrinth Artist Tribute by Various
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: November 8th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Get Lost in the Labyrinth as You’ve Never Seen it Before!

In the thirty years since its original release in 1986, Jim Henson’s timeless fantasy film Labyrinth has captured the minds and imaginations of authors, artists, filmmakers, and fans across the world. In honor of the film’s 30th anniversary, return to the world of Labyrinth and see the beloved characters, imaginative locations, and unforgettable moments as realized by a collection of uniquely original artistic voices in an unprecedented celebration of the cult classic thirty years in the making.

Labyrinth: Artist Gallery features illustrations and testimonials from comics luminaries and newcomers alike, including: Mike Allred, Joëlle Jones, David Mack, Rebekah Isaacs, Eric Powell, Gustavo Duarte, Jill Thompson, Mark Buckingham, Tula Lotay, Faith Erin Hicks, Ramón Perez, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Huddleston, Jeff Stokely, and many more of your favorite artists!"

Seriously, I pre-ordered this book as soon as I could. That cover alone people!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alice in Wonderland, David Bowie, Dean Hale, Heartless, Jack the Ripper, Jim Henson, Labyrinth, Marissa Meyer, Robert Masello, Shannon Hale, Sue Ann Jaffarian, The Jekyll Revelation, The Princess in Black

Stardust was the second book by Neil Gaiman that I read. It's probably not his most well known piece, people tending to favor his more popular works from American Gods to The Sandman. Stardust is kind of somewhere inbetween with fairies and stars fallen to earth. And the truth is, I can see why people just aren't as engaged with it because I spent the entire afternoon one dark and dreary December 31st trying to finish it so that I could start the new year with a fresh new book, something miles away from Stardust. I couldn't bear the thought of having this book hanging over me at the start of another year. Yet I'm not here to talk about my dissatisfaction with the book, I'm here to talk about the movie that came out over two years later in the summer of 2007. Because I had disliked the book so thoroughly I oddly had no expectations of the movie. I literally was just excited to see so many British actors I loved from television on the big screen, from Henry Cavill to Nathaniel Parker, Jason Flemyng to Mark Heap, and especially Julian Rhind-Tutt to Mark Williams! Also, never forget Ricky Gervais is in this movie fresh off the success of Extras.

My friends thought I might have been a little too excited, I got lots of the "yes yes of course we'll see it" responses with the underlying message being "will you be quiet about it if we agree to go?" It came out the weekend before my birthday and it really was an early gift, despite the grumbling company.  

Stardust is literally one of my favorite movies. A stellar cast, a wonderful love story, magic, humor, a flying ship, oh, and the realization that I actually like Mark Strong. The movie captures that same ephemeral quality that is in The Princess Bride that you can't quite capture if you set out to replicate it. Just look to Neil's own flop MirrorMask which was deliberately meant to be Labyrinth for a new generation. MirrorMask is best forgotten, unlike Stardust. Stardust showed me that you really never can tell about books and their adaptations. They just might surprise you. Just as a great book can make a horrible movie, so can a mediocre book make a fabulous movie. Preconceptions get us nowhere and if we leave them at the door we might be surprised. Though I do think it's time for me to give the book another chance. I've only journeyed back to Wall in the delightful short story that Susanna Clarke set in Gaiman's universe, but you never know, Stardust might end up like The Princess Bride for me, the book and the movie being equally good for entirely different reasons.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: American Gods, Birthday, Gaiman Gala, Gaiman Reminiscence, Labyrinth, MirrorMask, Nathaniel Parker, Neil Gaiman, Ricky Gervais, Sandman, Stardust, Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu, The Princess Bride, Wall

The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The highly anticipated new standalone novel from Martin Cruz Smith, whom The Washington Post has declared “that uncommon phenomenon: a popular and well-regarded crime novelist who is also a writer of real distinction,” The Girl from Venice is a suspenseful World War II love story set against the beauty, mystery, and danger of occupied Venice.

Venice, 1945. The war may be waning, but the city known as La Serenissima is still occupied and the people of Italy fear the power of the Third Reich. One night, under a canopy of stars, a fisherman named Cenzo comes across a young woman’s body floating in the lagoon and soon discovers that she is still alive and in trouble.

Born to a wealthy Jewish family, Giulia is on the run from the Wehrmacht SS. Cenzo chooses to protect Giulia rather than hand her over to the Nazis. This act of kindness leads them into the world of Partisans, random executions, the arts of forgery and high explosives, Mussolini’s broken promises, the black market and gold, and, everywhere, the enigmatic maze of the Venice Lagoon.

The Girl from Venice is a thriller, a mystery, and a retelling of Italian history that will take your breath away. Most of all it is a love story."

Oh, yes please! And era that I love and a city that I adore!

Notwithstanding by Louis de Bernières
Published by: Vintage
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"As the world around it marches forward, the bucolic English village of Notwithstanding remains unchanged. It is, as it always has been, a place of pubs and cricket pitches, where local eccentrics—a retired colonel who has eschewed clothes, a spiritualist living with the ghost of her husband, and a dog named Archibald Scott-Moncrieff—almost fit in. In this delightfully evocative collection of stories, in which a young couple falls in and out of love by letter alone, an eleven-year-old boy battles a monstrous fish, and a man of the cloth has a premonition of death, Louis de Bernières conjures up a rural idyll long since forgotten. Funny, bittersweet, and deeply felt, Notwithstanding is the bestselling author of Corelli’s Mandolin at his most enchanting."

This book just sounds enchanting. Also, look at that adorable cover!

BUFFERING: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded by Hannah Hart
Published by: Dey Street Books
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The wildly popular YouTube personality and author of the New York Times bestseller My Drunk Kitchen is back! This time, she’s stirring up memories and tales from her past.

By combing through the journals that Hannah has kept for much of her life, this collection of narrative essays deliver a fuller picture of her life, her experiences, and the things she’s figured out about family, faith, love, sexuality, self-worth, friendship and fame.

Revealing what makes Hannah tick, this sometimes cringe-worthy, poignant collection of stories is sure to deliver plenty of Hannah’s wit and wisdom, and hopefully encourage you to try your hand at her patented brand of reckless optimism.

Personal note:

Hello, my darlings! I am incredibly pleased to present BUFFERING: Unshared Tales of a Life Fully Loaded! As a big fan of memoirs, I wanted to try my hand at writing about the events of my life that deserve a little more consideration than can be accomplished in 140-characters or a 6-minute vlog. Now on the cusp of turning 30, I'm ready to expose some parts of my life that I haven't shared before. Before, it was all about privacy, process and time. And now the time has come! I’m ready to put myself out there, for you.

I'm a little nervous about all these vulnerable words going into the world, these tales about my love life, the wrestling I’ve done with faith, how I feel about sex and my family and myself. I’ve had a lot of trials, a lot of errors, but also a lot of passion. Here’s the thing--I've always found comfort in the stories shared by others, so I hope my stories, now that I feel ready to tell them, will bring you some comfort too.

And when you read this book please remember: Buffering is just the time it takes to process.

Enjoy!

Love,

Hannah "

I love Hannah, but I feel like her forays beyond My Drunk Kitchen have been a little iffy. That Doctor Who hosting being the worst. Here's hoping this hits it's mark!

Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History 
Published by: Insight Editions
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History is the definitive thirtieth-anniversary exploration of the beloved Jim Henson classic, featuring rare artwork, interviews, and on-set photos.

Journey back to Jim Henson's Labyrinth in this visually stunning celebration of the enchanting fantasy classic.

Three decades after its release, Labyrinth, starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly, continues to enthrall audiences with its winning mixture of fairy-tale magic, fantastical creatures, and unforgettable music. Filled with a wealth of rare and unseen behind-the-scenes imagery, this book explores the creation of the film as seen through the eyes of the artists, costume designers, and creature creators who gave Labyrinth its distinctive look. Featuring in-depth commentary from the talented crew and cast—including exclusive new interviews with Jennifer Connelly, Brian Henson, Brian Froud, and George Lucas—this deluxe book brings together a wealth of rare sketches, concept art, and candid set photography to form and incredible treasure trove for Labyrinth fans. With stunning visuals and unparalleled insight into the creation of a true modern classic, Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History is the perfect companion piece to one of the best-loved fantasy films of all time. "

Yes... I might have already preordered this the second it was announced... so?

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Published by: Image Comics
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The most ambitious project yet from the award-winning team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, with acclaimed color artist Elizabeth Breitweiser -- Finally available in the gorgeous Deluxe edition their fans have come to expect!

An epic graphic novel of Hollywood in the early days of the Blacklist, THE FADE OUT tracks the murder of an up-and-coming starlet from studio backlots to the gutters of downtown Los Angeles, as shell-shocked front man Charlie Parish is caught between his own dying sense of morality and his best friend's righteous sense of justice.

A picture-perfect recreation of a lost era, THE FADE OUT is an instant classic from one of comics most acclaimed teams.

This beautiful oversized hardback edition collects the entirety of Brubaker and Phillips serialized graphic novel, as well as many behind-the-scenes art and stories, sketches and layouts, illustrations, and several historical essays. "

I just discovered The Fade Out this summer, it was so good! Of course I own the paperback editions, but seriously, I NEED this deluxe edition too!

Black Dog by Dave McKean
Published by: Dark Horse Originals
Publication Date: October 18th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 120 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, McKean defied expectations with his stunning debut as writer and artist in Cages, winner of multiple awards for Best Graphic Album. Dark Horse proudly presents a new original graphic novel by the legendary artist based on the life of Paul Nash, a surrealist painter during World War 1. The Dreams of Paul Nash deals with real soldier's memoirs, and all the stories will add up to be a moving piece about how war and extreme situations change us, how we deal with that pain, and, in Nash's case, by turning his landscapes into powerful and fantastical psycho-scapes."

Sometimes I find McKean's artwork a little too disturbing... which means it's totally perfect for this project! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Black Dog, Dave McKean, David Bowie, Ed Brubaker, Hannah Hart, Jim Henson, Labyrinth, Louis de Bernières, Martin Cruz Smith, My Drunk Kitchen, Paul Nash, Sean Phillips, The Fade Out, The Girl from Venice, WWII