strange and random happenstance

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 9th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Being a beloved ruler is all well and good, but sometimes it can get a little staid what with the daily balcony appearances for the common folk and the governing. Which is why the High Kings and Queens of Fillory, Eliot, Janet, Quentin, and Julia are hunting for one of Fillory's prophetic Unique Beasts, the Seeing Hare. Things don't exactly go to plan, the Master of the Hunt, Jollyby, catches the Hare and it predicts horrors and then Jollyby drops dead. Poor Jollyby. He had some memorable assets. But it's Fillory, it's a magical world, weird shit is bound to happen. Plus, how exactly do you follow through with investigating an omen? When trying to figure this out the rulers discover that the Outer Islands haven't paid their taxes in years and Quentin decides that sailing the Eastern Ocean and collecting some back taxes could be an interesting quest. Quentin resurrects and refurbishes the Muntjac and he and Julia and a few fellow compatriots head east. Which is how they meet Elaine and learn about the magic key that winds the world. Or, as Quentin realizes, the quest he should be on. They journey further east, to After Island, where he and Julia find a key and are sent straight home. Not to Castle Whitespire. To Earth. Which means they have to find a way back to Fillory. Logic dictates that they could return via the method that got them there in the first place, but Josh was the last one seen with the button and who knows what quest he's currently on. The first place to look therefore is Brakebills. But they are unable to get through the school's defenses and therefore Quentin is about to have a steep learning curve into what Julia has been up to the past few years. Because Brakebills rejected her and she had to learn her magic in other ways, through magic safe houses. Rough and crude magic that Quentin is baffled even works. Hedge Witches know the real cost of power and Julia gets a lead on someone who can help them. That someone turns out to be Josh. Who has sold the button. Because palazzos in Venice aren't cheap. But thankfully Venice has its own dragon who breaks it all down for Quentin. The magic that Julia summoned before ascending the throne in Fillory has gotten the attention of the Gods. All of them. And they don't like humans using their magic. So, not only do Quentin and Julia have to get back to Fillory, they have to save it and magic. Or else be beyond deity screwed.

Because of the tonal shift it's kind of hard to believe that The Magician King was written by the same author as The Magicians. Especially in regard to Quentin Coldwater. It's kind of like he's had a personality transplant. Whereas The Magicians was riddled with his angst and how he kept trying to find something to magically "fix" his life, which ironically couldn't be fixed with magic, here he's hopeful. He's full of the spirit of adventure and his love of Fillory. The angst is out the window and he's somehow grown into accepting what life throws at him and rolling with the punches instead of bemoaning his fate. And while this is fascinating, and something that should be dwelled on as part of the "hero's journey" he embarks on over the course of this book, it's Julia and the "heroine's journey" that is important here. Because this is Julia's book. The Magician King is like a mirror of The Magicians. Whereas Quentin viewed his life was ruined by Brakebills, Julia's actually was ruined by Brakebills, but because they didn't let her in. So she finds magic the only way she can, on the mean streets. OK, technically in magical safe houses, but still, it's not the hallowed halls of Brakebills. Which I find ironic because everyone who disliked the staid poncey pedagogy of The Magicians would embrace Julia's journey but they probably wouldn't give this series a second chance. Which is a shame. And also makes me glad that I was willing to stick with this series. Because I love this weird mirrorworld that Lev Grossman has created. And there are parts of me that are geeking out over things that are just little Easter Eggs for uber book dorks like me. For example, The Magicians pays homage to Brideshead Revisited. But it pays homage to the main characters of the novel, Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte, Quentin Coldwater and Eliot Waugh by another name. In Brideshead Revisited Sebastian Flyte's father, Lord Marchmain, is the outcast of his family, abandoning his wife and his home for Venice where he is in residence with his mistress. He is the black sheep, the other side of the coin, he is the opposite of Quentin, he is Julia. So what do they do in The Magician King that makes me so giddy? Quentin and Julia go to Venice. The sanctuary of the outcasts. Heck, that's where Josh has been hanging out all this time. They could have literally gone anywhere and yet Lev Grossman writes that they went to Venice to find Josh and talk to a dragon. Perfection. Now if I could just get past my squick at Julia's "rebel nerve endings [that] attempted to send pleasure signals to her brain, whereupon her brain burned them out... never to feel again" when she's being raped this would be a perfect book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brideshead Revisited, Charles Ryder, Eliot Waugh, Fillory, Hedge Witch, Julia Wicker, Lev Grossman, Lord Marchmain, Quentin Coldwater, Sebastian Flyte, Summer School, The Magician King, The Magicians, Venice

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 402 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Quentin Coldwater is special. He has a GPA higher than most people realize they go. But every time he reaches a goal he no longer wants it. He is dissatisfied and disillusioned with his life at seventeen. Then something happens to him that feels like it could be lifted straight from his favorite book series by Christopher Plover, Fillory and Further. On a cold bleak fall day in Brooklyn after discovering a dead body and having an odd interaction with an attractive paramedic, Q walks through a community garden and ends up on a sea of freshly cut summer lawn. There's someone waiting for him. His exam is about to start. Never mind that Quentin knows nothing about this mysterious place or this exam, something in him tells him that the fictional Chatwins would rise to the challenge and so will he. After a series of honestly baffling tests he is told what he has started to suspect since he walked onto that lawn; magic is real. Not only that but he has been accepted to the prestigious Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy. Here, after five years of matriculation, he will graduate a magician. His former life will be left behind and a new world will be opened to him. Quentin leaps into his new life but is distressed that his dissatisfaction seems to have followed him. His new life is nothing like his old life and yet the depression is seeping in. He has a new group of friends, the Physical Kids, Eliot, Janet, Josh, and Alice. Especially Alice. They are a prestigious clique, hanging out in their cottage and just drinking in their youth and their powers. But this grows stale. Eliot, Janet, and Josh graduate a year before Quentin and Alice and by the end of their final year at Brakebills Quentin seriously doesn't care about anything, not even his relationship with Alice, which he spectacularly destroys by sleeping with Janet and Eliot. And just when the entropy of his life is almost too much to bear in walks what might save him, what has to save him... The knowledge that Fillory is real and that they can go there. These books saved Q's life again and again. Who knows, maybe they will save him again? Or perhaps he's doomed to a life of despair and disillusionment.

I have now read this book three times in order to write a review that will do The Magicians justice. The problem is that each time I have read it my opinion has been so vastly different I don't know how to take in all these variables. I mean, how much of my opinion was shaped by my love of the television series? Well, the second time I read it, a lot. I was even changing Janet to Margo in my head. But four years after the show has ended so much has changed that I feel like I'm seeing the book with new eyes. There's such a jaded quality to Q. Nothing will ever bring him satisfaction or contentment. This is postmodernist Brideshead Revisited, or, as my friend Flavia said, nothing more than a "wall of pure nihilistic snobbery." And yes, that is true. But given the way of the world and all that we've been through over the past few years, I'm feeling in a very jaded and nihilistic mood. What really connected to me this time though was the fallibility of authors. Christopher Plover's Fillory and Further series is like Narnia or Harry Potter. That comfort read that so many children retreat to even as they age. Because the more adult you are the more you need that comfort blanket. Though much like real authors of that era, J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Plover had a dirty secret. A secret that changed Fillory forever. But time and time again these older authors aren't mentioned, it's J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter that is entwined with The Magicians. And J.K. Rowling is such a problematic author I don't even know where to start. There were rumors for years that she wasn't the beacon of light many people took her to be. It was only in 2013 when she started writing under a pseudonym chosen because Robert Galbraith Hall created conversion therapy that the mask started to slip. Though not many people picked up on the significance of her nom de plume. By Troubled Blood, the fifth book published as Galbraith in 2020, the mask was fully off. She's a full on TERF. The hate she spews is almost incomprehensible, unless you look at the world around us. Make America Hate Again! That disillusionment with her means this hit just right. Throw in the horrors of what Amazon and Netflix are frantically trying to cover up about Neil Gaiman, and well, this book reads less postmodernist, less open to interpretation, and more, the world sucks, magic isn't going to help, everyone is horrible. And somehow that was very cathartic. Unvarnished truth.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brakebills, Brideshead Revisited, Christopher Plover, Fillory, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, J.M. Barrie, Lev Grossman, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Neil Gaiman, Nihilism, Quentin Coldwater, Summer School, The Magicians

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: March 1st, 2022
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The Alexandrian Society hoards the knowledge of the ages. The elite magicians who earn a place within the library's hallowed walls are destined for a life of privilege and wealth. It is more than an honor to be one of the six candidates selected every ten years. It is a passport to the life of your dreams. This year's candidates have been handpicked by the library's caretaker, Atlas Blakely. They have precisely one year to prove their worth and at the end of that time five of them will be initiated. The candidates are Libby Rhodes and Nico de Varona, two people who have been circling and competing with each other their whole lives and whose physical powers compliment each other making them symbiotic, much to their mutual disdain. Reina Mori is a naturalist, meaning plants like to talk to her and view her as their mother. Parisa Kamali has never met a mind she couldn't read until she met Atlas Blakely. Callum Nova is similar to Parisa, only that he doesn't just read minds, he influences them. He can get inside you and damage and change you in ways you could never even imagine. And finally there's Tristan Caine. He sees the world as it is. As it really is. Illusions don't phase him and he's used his powers for years to remake himself to be the man he imagines he wants to be. They all have their reasons for accepting Atlas Blakely's invitation. Some of them want to escape the world, some of them want to learn more about the world, and some of them want to protect those they love out in the world. Not one of them has the same reasons for being there and yet they must coexist in the Alexandrian's Society's house until their first year is up and one of them loses the keys to the kingdom while the others move beyond mere initiates. The problem with holding the keys to all the knowledge is that someone else will want what you have. And the Society has it's enemies. The Forum being key among them. The Forum believes that knowledge should be made public. That it is wrong to let only the elite have access. On the six's first night in the house the Forum attempts an incursion. They attack the library. The six must defend it. Which they do. They work together despite already forming cliques. They are a team. They don't know that they are puppets. They were had picked by Atlas for a very specific reason. He's had a plan that has taken years to put into action. A plan that started to be formed back when he was an initiate. The question is, what will the six due to their puppeteer when they find out his plans?

I just learned that this book was originally self-published and that answers a lot of my questions about it. Like why is it so clunky? Why are sentences badly structured with poor and often repetitive word choices? Why are the philosophical issues and lectures so bad and confusing that if I was in the class I'd drop the course? Were the blurbs supposed to give away the big twist that one of them will be killed? Did an editor ever actually look at this? Am I reading the revised edition? Because if so, it still needed heavy editing. But even with those problems, you can see that this could be something and hopefully the subsequent two volumes will take it there. I'm really fascinated by the idea of the library being sentient or having control. Mainly because this then starts to tip away from dark academia and into haunted house territory... Which might be my favorite genre. Though that all depends on if Olivie Blake can find her voice. Because this book feels too much like the juvenalia of an eventually great writer. She's on her way. She's just not there yet. She's still stuck in writing fanfic about The Magicians, but hopefully that's a phase she will move on from. And one thing that is a rookie mistake that just kept getting under my skin is in the name she gave one of her characters. Let's talk Libby Rhodes. And I'm not talking about the fact she's Alice Quinn 2.0. I'm literally talking about her given name. When Libby first appears it's onstage at her graduation sparing with Nico. It's very New York academia with sexual tension. In other words, magical Gossip Girl. So, if you wanted to, I don't know, distance yourself from this whole Gossip Girl vibe you're sending out, perhaps don't name the character a nearly indistinguishable name from one of that series's characters. Serena van der Woodsen's mother Lily's maiden name is Rhodes. Serena's mother's name is Lily Rhodes. And while yes, Libby physically resembles Lily's sister Carol more... I mean, Carol was played by Krysten Ritter in the failed backdoor pilot, if you are even a Gossip Girl dilettante, you can't keep from grinding your teeth at the Libby/Lily Rhodes of it all. The only thing that kept me from going completely over the edge is that at least Libby is an approved diminutive of Elizabeth. Yes. I have approved diminutives of my name. The hard and fast rule is if one of the main letters isn't in the name Elizabeth it isn't a diminutive it's an entirely different name. Like Betsy. Betsy can not be a diminutive because of the "s." Likewise, if you're spelling of Elizabeth is Elisabeth, you can not have the diminutive of Liza. So. Libby is approved. But this particular Libby? She should have had more thoughtful nomenclature.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandrian Society, Atlas Blakely, Callum Nova, Dark Academia, Gossip Girl, Libby Rhodes, Lily Rhodes, Nico de Varona, Olivie Blake, Parisa Kamali, Reina Mori, Summer School, The Atlas Six, The Magicians, Tristan Caine

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 9th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Being a beloved ruler is all well and good, but sometimes it can get a little staid what with the daily balcony appearances for the common folk and the governing. Which is why the High Kings and Queens of Fillory, Eliot, Janet, Quentin, and Julia are hunting for one of Fillory's prophetic Unique Beasts, the Seeing Hare. Things don't exactly go to plan, the Master of the Hunt, Jollyby, catches the Hare and it predicts horrors and then Jollyby drops dead. Poor Jollyby. He had some memorable assets. But it's Fillory, it's a magical world, weird shit is bound to happen. Plus, how exactly do you follow through with investigating an omen? When trying to figure this out the rulers discover that the Outer Islands haven't paid their taxes in years and Quentin decides that sailing the Eastern Ocean and collecting some back taxes could be an interesting quest. Quentin resurrects and refurbishes the Muntjac and he and Julia and a few fellow compatriots head east. Which is how they meet Elaine and learn about the magic key that winds the world. Or, as Quentin realizes, the quest he should be on. They journey further east, to After Island, where he and Julia find a key and are sent straight home. Not to Castle Whitespire. To Earth. Which means they have to find a way back to Fillory. Logic dictates that they could return via the method that got them there in the first place, but Josh was the last one seen with the button and who knows what quest he's currently on. The first place to look therefore is Brakebills. But they are unable to get through the school's defenses and therefore Quentin is about to have a steep learning curve into what Julia has been up to the past few years. Because Brakebills rejected her and she had to learn her magic in other ways, through magic safe houses. Rough and crude magic that Quentin is baffled even works. Hedge Witches know the real cost of power and Julia gets a lead on someone who can help them. That someone turns out to be Josh. Who has sold the button. Because palazzos in Venice aren't cheap. But thankfully Venice has its own dragon who breaks it all down for Quentin. The magic that Julia summoned before ascending the throne in Fillory has gotten the attention of the Gods. All of them. And they don't like humans using their magic. So, not only do Quentin and Julia have to get back to Fillory, they have to save it and magic. Or else be beyond deity screwed.

Because of the tonal shift it's kind of hard to believe that The Magician King was written by the same author as The Magicians. Especially in regard to Quentin Coldwater. It's kind of like he's had a personality transplant. Whereas The Magicians was riddled with his angst and how he kept trying to find something to magically "fix" his life, which ironically couldn't be fixed with magic, here he's hopeful. He's full of the spirit of adventure and his love of Fillory. The angst is out the window and he's somehow grown into accepting what life throws at him and rolling with the punches instead of bemoaning his fate. And while this is fascinating, and something that should be dwelled on as part of the "hero's journey" he embarks on over the course of this book, it's Julia and the "heroine's journey" that is important here. Because this is Julia's book. The Magician King is like a mirror of The Magicians. Whereas Quentin viewed his life was ruined by Brakebills, Julia's actually was ruined by Brakebills, but because they didn't let her in. So she finds magic the only way she can, on the mean streets. OK, technically in magical safe houses, but still, it's not the hallowed halls of Brakebills. Which I find ironic because everyone who disliked the staid poncey pedagogy of The Magicians would embrace Julia's journey but they probably wouldn't give this series a second chance. Which is a shame. And also makes me glad that I was willing to stick with this series. Because I love this weird mirrorworld that Lev Grossman has created. And there are parts of me that are geeking out over things that are just little Easter Eggs for uber book dorks like me. For example, The Magicians pays homage to Brideshead Revisited. But it pays homage to the main characters of the novel, Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte, Quentin Coldwater and Eliot Waugh by another name. In Brideshead Revisited Sebastian Flyte's father, Lord Marchmain, is the outcast of his family, abandoning his wife and his home for Venice where he is in residence with his mistress. He is the black sheep, the other side of the coin, he is the opposite of Quentin, he is Julia. So what do they do in The Magician King that makes me so giddy? Quentin and Julia go to Venice. The sanctuary of the outcasts. Heck, that's where Josh has been hanging out all this time. They could have literally gone anywhere and yet Lev Grossman writes that they went to Venice to find Josh and talk to a dragon. Perfection. Now if I could just get past my squick at Julia's "rebel nerve endings [that] attempted to send pleasure signals to her brain, whereupon her brain burned them out... never to feel again" when she's being raped this would be a perfect book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brideshead Revisited, Charles Ryder, Eliot Waugh, Fillory, Hedge Witch, Heroine's Journey, Julia Wicker, Lev Grossman, Lord Marchmain, Quentin Coldwater, Sebastian Flyte, The Magician King, The Magicians, Venice

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 11th, 2009
Format: Paperback, 402 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Quentin Coldwater is special. He has a GPA higher than most people realize they go. But every time he reaches a goal he no longer wants it. He is dissatisfied and disillusioned with his life at seventeen. Then something happens to him that feels like it could be lifted straight from his favorite book series by Christopher Plover, Fillory and Further. On a cold bleak fall day in Brooklyn after discovering a dead body and having an odd interaction with an attractive paramedic, Q walks through a community garden and ends up on a sea of freshly cut summer lawn. There's someone waiting for him. His exam is about to start. Never mind that Quentin knows nothing about this mysterious place or this exam, something in him tells him that the fictional Chatwins would rise to the challenge and so will he. After a series of honestly baffling tests he is told what he has started to suspect since he walked onto that lawn; magic is real. Not only that but he has been accepted to the prestigious Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy. Here, after five years of matriculation, he will graduate a magician. His former life will be left behind and a new world will be opened to him. Quentin leaps into his new life but is distressed that his dissatisfaction seems to have followed him. His new life is nothing like his old life and yet the depression is seeping in. He has a new group of friends, the Physical Kids, Eliot, Janet, Josh, and Alice. Especially Alice. They are a prestigious clique, hanging out in their cottage and just drinking in their youth and their powers. But this grows stale. Eliot, Janet, and Josh graduate a year before Quentin and Alice and by the end of their final year at Brakebills Quentin seriously doesn't care about anything, not even his relationship with Alice, which he spectacularly destroys by sleeping with Janet and Eliot. And just when the entropy of his life is almost too much to bear in walks what might save him, what has to save him... The knowledge that Fillory is real and that they can go there. These books saved Q's life again and again. Who knows, maybe they will save him again? Or perhaps he's doomed to a life of despair and disillusionment.

I have now read this book three times in order to write a review that will do The Magicians justice. The problem is that each time I have read it my opinion has been so vastly different I don't know how to take in all these variables. I mean, how much of my opinion was shaped by my love of the television series? Well, the second time I read it, a lot. I was even changing Janet to Margo in my head. But four years after the show has ended so much has changed that I feel like I'm seeing the book with new eyes. There's such a jaded quality to Q. Nothing will ever bring him satisfaction or contentment. This is postmodernist Brideshead Revisited, or, as my friend Flavia said, nothing more than a "wall of pure nihilistic snobbery." And yes, that is true. But given the way of the world and all that we've been through over the past few years, I'm feeling in a very jaded and nihilistic mood. What really connected to me this time though was the fallibility of authors. Christopher Plover's Fillory and Further series is like Narnia or Harry Potter. That comfort read that so many children retreat to even as they age. Because the more adult you are the more you need that comfort blanket. Though much like real authors of that era, J.M. Barrie, Lewis Carroll, Plover had a dirty secret. A secret that changed Fillory forever. But time and time again these older authors aren't mentioned, it's J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter that is entwined with The Magicians. And J.K. Rowling is such a problematic author I don't even know where to start. There were rumors for years that she wasn't the beacon of light many people took her to be. It was only in 2013 when she started writing under a pseudonym chosen because Robert Galbraith Hall created conversion therapy that the mask started to slip. Though not many people picked up on the significance of her nom de plume. By Troubled Blood, the fifth book published as Galbraith in 2020, the mask was fully off. She's a full on TERF. The hate she spews is almost incomprehensible, unless you look at the world around us. Make America Hate Again! That disillusionment with her means this hit just right. Throw in the horrors of what Amazon and Netflix are frantically trying to cover up about Neil Gaiman, and well, this book reads less postmodernist, less open to interpretation, and more, the world sucks, magic isn't going to help, everyone is horrible. And somehow that was very cathartic. Unvarnished truth.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brakebills, Brideshead Revisited, Christopher Plover, Fillory, For the Love of Book Clubs, J.K. Rowling, J.M. Barrie, Lev Grossman, Lewis Carroll, Magic, Neil Gaiman, Nihilism, Quentin Coldwater, The Magicians

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Published by: Tordotcom
Publication Date: November 2nd, 2021
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Robin Blyth's life changes in an instant because of a bureaucratic error. Despite being of the landed gentry the baronet has to take a job because of his recently deceased impecunious parents. He has an estate to oversee, a sister to shepherd through the world, and all of it needs money. Therefore he takes a job in the civil service. And that's where the error happens. He is mistakenly appointed to the Office of Special Domestic Affairs and Complaints. The mistake is that Robin, unlike his predecessor who mysteriously disappeared, doesn't know that magic exists. Therefore it is left up to his new colleague, Edwin Courcey, the liaison to the Chief Minister of the Magical Assembly, to "unbushell" him. Edwin figures it's the safest course for the time being to let Robin see a bit of this secret world, after the administrative error is corrected Edwin will administer Robin Lethe-mint and Robin won't remember a thing. But there's a time limit to Lethe-mint and the longer it is not administered the more likely it won't work. On his way home from his eye opening first day of work Robin is attacked. The thugs are magicians and curse Robin agreeing to remove the curse only if he hands over a powerful magical object that his predecessor has hidden. Seeing as Robin didn't even know of magic twenty-four hours previously it's unlikely he would know where the magical object is secreted, so he turns to Edwin. They scour the office but find nothing. What's more the curse is violently attacking Robin. He has severe attacks of pain accompanied by visions of the future. And it's spreading. This is serious. Which makes Edwin take a course of action he usually avoids. He goes home to his family estate. There the family has a massive library that might contain a clue as to how to help Robin. But there there is also family. A family that treats him as their whipping boy. While the little bit of magic Edwin has performed for Robin is amazing in his eyes, Edwin knows the truth. He barely has any magic. A fact his family likes to remind him of. And he's walking into the belly of the beast for a stranger. But their battle against curses, thugs, and family brings them closer than either of them could have thought of in their most detailed fantasies.

Touted as "Red White and Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell...featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies"A Marvellous Light was my most anticipated read in November of 2021. After reading it I have to say it's blasphemy that they invoked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to try to sell this dreck that everyone else seems to love. I just don't get it. What is so great about this book? Yes we get copious amounts of gay sex, but that needs to be balanced by the narrative, for example actually bothering to define the magical system in the world this book is set in instead of having people say it's similar to The Magicians. No. Bad Freya. You need to have your own unique magical system that is well defined. I repeat, WELL DEFINED! I should not know more about Robin's cock than I do about how the magical system works! A BALANCED NARRATIVE. That shouldn't be too much to ask for in this day and age now should it? Apparently it is as everyone just loves this book. OK, how about I attack the writing style, would that help? Well, it would help me, because I'm still pissed this book didn't deliver. The writing style is not polished, confusing, and at times so elliptical that I would have to re-read whole sections to try to get the gist of what the author was attempting to say. Also while the book is seen through both Robin and Edwin's eyes sometimes the transition from one to the other is fumbled and it's really confusing for awhile until you realize whose POV you're reading. In other words, this book is in dire need of an editor. I find it hard to believe that Tor actually published a book that is more fanfic than it is literary endeavor and really pushed out the boat to promote it too. And I want to make it clear, it's not the explicit gay sex that is what I object to, it's that the book needs to have an explicit magical system to balance it and overall it just needs to be better written. I don't even buy Robin and Edwin as a couple. They are two gay men who a thrown together in a life and death situation who learn each other's secret and therefore decide to have lots of steamy sex. And I'm not buying the whole "opposites attract" theory either. In the normal course of things neither would have considered the other as a romantic partner, and what they've been through doesn't make them bound together, it just makes them need an outlet. And that's not really romantic at all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Marvellous Light, Baronet, Curse, Editor, Edwin Courcery, Fanfiction, Freya Marske, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Magic, Pride, Red White and Royal Blue, Robin Blyth, Sex, The Magicians, Worldbuilding

I stumbled upon C.C. Aune quite literally at a Wizard World Convention in December of 2018. I had been going to Wizard World Conventions since I first heard about them in 2004 though they had been around my entire life. I could interact with all my favorite geeky celebs! Alan Tudyk, Felicia Day, David Tennant, so many stars! In fact I was star stalking at the Madison convention in 2018. I was stalking Quentin Coldwater, real name Jason Ralph, from The Magicians. But it was a twist of fate that I was there at all. As anyone who has attended a convention knows they are wicked pricey. I was only able to attend because I got a free one day pass. And while yes, getting to meet and talk to Jason Ralph, who is far shorter than I imagined, was fun, the highlight was actually picking up C.C. Aune's The Ill-Kept Oath. The best kept secret about the Wizard World conventions that I hope continue in their new iteration as Fan Expo, is the Artists Alley. Here you get authors, makers, illustrators, any and all people who create selling their wares. You can pick up amazing things for reasonable prices and actually contribute to an artist's livelihood instead of just helping Funko head towards world domination. I have met many amazing people through the years in Artists Alley, one highlight being meeting Peter S. Beagle, another watching one of my friends have a fun time running their own booth. Oddly I think that might have been the same year down in Chicago. Well there I was strolling through Artists Alley and I see this book, this book that looks magical. And I start to talk to the author and I blurt out "YOUR BOOK IS REGENCY MAGIC!?!" She says yes, and the next moment I'm asking her to sign a copy to me, who cares if I can't buy anything else I HAD to buy this. Being at the event, finding this book, it all felt magical. And then I read it and instantly started hounding, very politely, on Facebook for the sequel. And all that has led to this, she was willing to answer a few questions. So I hope you all make C.C. Aune, author of The Ill-Kept Oath, welcome. And also BUY HER BOOK!

Question: When did you first discover Jane Austen?

Answer: Hmm. Shockingly late, considering my work.

I have always been obsessed with historical fiction, nonfiction, and biographies. Also, I'm an Anglophile (not a rabid royal worshiper type, just a history buff), especially because I also do genealogy, and most of my family history is English. The family lines go way back, most of them to the 1400s, and some even further. I've been to Britain several times, once just to do research.

So when the concept for Oath fell into my lap (around 2001), I was predisposed to want to write something super detail-oriented. (That's a whole other topic for discussion.) I was utterly uninformed about regency literature. A writing friend told me about Georgette Heyer. Jane Austen came along sometime after that. (Not to mention Fanny Burney and other authors of that era.) I had missed seeing the famous BBC 1995 P and P, so I had to rent it in bits at the video store!

In short, I'm not exactly sure when I first read P and P, but my Borders Books copy says 2004, so it looks like I must've been writing my series for 2-3 years before I ever read Jane's work! Really shocking! I believe I was channeling Heyer, Dorothy Dunnett (her Lymond series), and Diana Gabaldon as I first embarked on my own writing. And then Jane Austen came along to add the refinement.

I remember quite clearly thinking that I wanted to use the device of writing letters and the delay in communication in 1820 to create the suspense, the drama, and the miscues of the story. I was sitting on my computer thinking how the average reader of 2001 might no longer appreciate how deeply "snail mail" affected lives 200 years earlier. My original drafts were actually epistolary, just Josephine and Prudence writing letters to each other in first person. Sadly, the premise became forced by the second and third books when they can no longer communicate by mail, so I rewrote it using third person structure. I should add that Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White was my real foundation in terms of the first person, epistolary, and document-driven structure.

Question: What do you think Jane Austen would think of her impact with so many literary offshoots, from parody to pastiche?

Answer: For the most part, I think Jane would be delighted. For one thing, she could not have imagined a world where women could write with their own name openly credited, and on any subject of their choosing. I suspect she would've verbally pooh poohed the idea that she led the way, yet would secretly have felt proud of the knowledge that she had.

And what validation! Not only was she a pioneer in a new genre and as a female making her career as an author, but her work has remained relevant in a world where many of the key plot points no longer affect most modern women. Why is this? Because her characters' feelings and behaviors are still universal. Because her humor and dry observations of humanity are still universal.

When it comes to the knockoffs, which range from serious to silly, Jane might rightly feel flattered in all cases, though I'm certain her sensibilities would be shocked by many versions. Could she even wrap her head around any book with adult themes that employed her characters? Surely that would give her the vapors! She might not mind the murder mystery and vampire tale homages, though they'd probably puzzle her to no end. Her purpose was completely different from theirs, which use her beloved characters as pre-fleshed-out props for stories that discard her social commentary. But I like to think that she'd be pleased with the agency given to females in these homages. That has always been my objective, to offer women in Jane's time period the opportunity to have more power in their lives, and to look at how that society, men in particular, would react when women try to assert those strengths. Hint: there are always plenty of obstacles, even when a gentlewoman possesses unique powers.

Question: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Answer: The initial concept itself came from a brief writing project with another writer, who ended up bowing out. I came to it with no knowledge of the historical period, the language and writing style, nor the literature, and no particular affinity for magical fantasy. My learning curve was huge. I had been reading Wilkie Collins and liked the idea of unfolding a story about women through letters, testimony, and legal documents. I had just devoured all four (at that time) Diana Gabaldon Outlander books and loved her attention to historical detail. I started reading Georgette Heyer, which is where I began to pick up the manner of speech of that time (yes I now realize she is not regarded as the finest scholar, among other things.) Oh, and Dorothy Dunnett's truly phenomenal Lymond Chronicles.

At some point, likely after the series was well under way, Jane Austen finally came into my life. All the popular Austen knockoffs like PP and Zombies, Death Comes to Pemberley, and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell were published well after my project had gotten under way. I had probably written four or five novels worth of text before they hit the bookstores, so none of those works are influences on my writing.

Question: What makes the early 19th century mesh so well with magic?

Answer: One main theme of my series is that perhaps magic has actually become obsolete. It is the Age of Enlightenment and also the Industrial Age. The Regency sits right on the cusp between the old world and the new world, politically, scientifically, mechanically, and socially. I address the idea that rational people do not and cannot believe in magic. It's considered irrelevant, a relic of the feudal past, when kings and lords had less physical power to maintain their dominions. So when the book opens, magic has been banned for about 15-16 years. Very few people remain alive who've inherited magic, many of them orphaned young adults, but some of the original ones want very much to restore their so-called birthright.

I like to emphasize the "scientific realism" aspect of magic, so I talk about genetic inheritance (yes, the period is 40 years before Mendel, but hey), and in the second book I address layers of consciousness, the "ether" that surrounds us, through which magic moves, and what it feels like to create magic.

I like to think of magic as a thing that must be studied, learned, and honed, and that some people might actually be much better at it than others. This early 19th century time period feels perfect for this clash of rational thought and scholarliness with irrational, inexplicable forces.

Question: The world building and system of magic varies greatly in the Regency fantasy genre, how did you go about creating yours?

Answer: As I said in the previous answer, I started with the idea that this was a world that was transitioning into a more rational, scientific view of inexplicable phenomonena. Magic needs to be experiential and also challenging to its user, not just a "Bewitched" nose wiggle. Also, magic is rare in humans, so a nonbelieving witness will not even stop to consider that they've seen magic as opposed to some odd, inexplicable event.

Certainly, some magical skills do come naturally, and can even be deployed without much aforethought. It will become clearer in the second book that there are two types of Talisman Keepers, Mages and Protectors. Protectors like William MacNeal and Josephine have intuitive defensive physical skills that they are driven to hone without knowing why. They will always be better at fighting, shooting, and leadership than the average person. MacNeal has another enhancement: he has visions that warn him of impending disasters. Mages like Prudence can do minor magical tasks, even unconsciously. But their strength lies in studying the art of magic, knowing specific spells and charms, and knowing which ones to choose and how to deploy them properly (in book 2, Prudence frequently deploys magic incorrectly). Both groups receive additional boosts from their Talismans. The Talismans do not themselves impart powers, they magnify them. Josephine and Prudence don't quite grasp this detail in book one, but by the opening sequence of book 2 it is clear to them.

There is an additional layer to the magic in my world: it is tied to ancient Celtic roots and the language of magic is Gaelic. There is yet more to it, but not everything is revealed, even in the second book. But you will get a further look into the magical system, its history, and the intentions of the antagonist rebel faction.

Question: If you had to choose between writing only period literature or only fantasy literature, which would win?

Answer: That's tough to answer, particularly since I'm researching a new historical fiction series that's period literature but has absolutely no magic. The period aspect to literature is my main jam. The fantasy aspect to my first series came about by chance, though I have really enjoyed creating this intricate alternate universe. I have enough material to explore the Talisman Keepers for a long time yet to come, and would likely be able to create a prequel series using the same world and rules. So, the answer is, I quite love my cast and will not be retiring them any time soon. But I also have non-fantasy ideas to explore.

Question: Be honest, have you ever dressed up in Regency clothes just to pretend for a moment you are in the past?

Answer: Indeed! I was somewhat in costume when you and I met at the Con in Madison in 2018. I had a silly hat that sort of approximated a bonnet, a velvet coat that is cut much like a pelisse, and some granny boots. In 2021, I acquired a handmade period bonnet from a real hatmaker and wore it to a local book fair last year (a super dorky picture is in my posts*). The book fair is coming up again later this month, and I've been contemplating buying a cheap costume dress to go all in.

In the back of my mind, I would love to get the full kit for appearances. And then there's the annual Austen event in Bath....attending that would be a hoot! I'm one of those people who's both an introvert and an extrovert. I rather like the attention I get from cosplaying, moreso than the effort of selling my books in person. I think: aw, just buy my book and let my writing speak for itself! Don't make me talk about it. I'm a writer, hahaha.

*Which I have reposted here! Evil laugh evil laugh!

Biography:
C.C. Aune's ramblings have led her through 49 states - nine of which she has called home - plus a fair number of countries. She has been a journalist and a contributor for the companion book to PBS's 2000 series In Search of Our Ancestors. Currently, she directs the blog One Year of Letters, which explores the internal landscape of writers. The Ill-Kept Oath is her debut novel.

C.C.'s Social Media:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Artists Alley, C.C. Aune, Cosplay, Diana Gabaldon, Dorothy Dunnett, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Jason Ralph, Regency Magic, Talisman Keepers, The Magicians, The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins, Wizard World

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 Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Six months have passed since Lady Helen and Lord Carlston were united to form the Grand Reclaimer. Six months in Bath believing the final words of a Deceiver, the Comte d'Antraigues. Six months in which they are no closer to accessing their new powers; powers given to them in order to defeat the Grand Deceiver. What's more, Lady Helen absorbed the vile pages and power of the Ligatus when she and Lord Carlston formed their bond and she is barely holding back the darkness. The Ligatus could provide all their answers if only she could access it. Drastic actions must be taken as Lady Helen's marriage to the Duke of Selburn approaches and therefore the decision is made to hypnotize Helen to access the power wherein she promptly decimates Lady Margaret's house. Relocating to her fiance's nearby country estate, Chenwith, has it's advantages and disadvantages. Helen and Lord Carlston can work on wresting control over their power in seclusion but they are also surrounded by many people unaware of the Dark Days Club who expect Helen to act her part of the dutiful bride-to-be. And Helen's Aunt and brother are about to arrive! They can not know of her secret shadow life! Or more importantly, that which she can barely admit to herself, that she loves Lord Carlston.

Even if Helen can't admit her true feelings her Aunt sees the lay of the land and does everything in her power to keep the two halves of the Grand Reclaimer apart without knowing what damage she is doing. But whisking Helen back to the spa town has it's advantages. Helen can continue her search for the Bath Deceiver, the Deceiver who has the answers she and Lord Carlston need according to the Comte d'Antraigues. But danger is circling nearer and nearer as Helen attends to her nuptial and supernatural duties. Certain dangerous Deceivers are spotted and soon the unthinkable happens, one of their own is cut down. Poor Delia Cransdon, who has suffered much at the hands of the Deceivers, is murdered in broad daylight. Helen shoulders all the blame. Delia was an innocent who Helen had lately rebuked and it's something she can never take back and must live with forever. If any good could be said to come of a death it's that the Bath Deceiver is flushed out by this heinous act and Helen finally gets the answers she's needed on how to harness her powers. With reinforcements provided by the Dark Days Club they hole up at Chenwith and wait for the Grand Deceiver to make their move, because just as the Grand Reclaimer is a dyad, so is the Grand Deceiver. Only one needs to be cut down in order to succeed. But will the battle be won before Helen has to walk down the aisle? And who will win the batter for her heart?

The Dark Days Deceit is the perfect end to Alison Goodman's trilogy in that it combines the best aspects of the first and second books to create this wonderful melding of all that I loved in those installments for a last hurrah. We return more to the Georgian society of The Dark Days Club with Bath society and balls and the upcoming nuptials, yet we still have the more explicit darkness from The Dark Days Pact that doesn't flinch from cutting down favorite characters. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can ever forgive Alison for killing the Reclaimer Stokes in The Dark Days Pact, my Regency Hiddles. Yet what I loved most about this book was Bath! As Alison says in her "Author's Note" it's a town forever entwined with Austen and the Regency period. If you were to visit during the Jane Austen Festival, which is a dream of mine, it's the best alternative to time travel available to us at the moment. Though for me as soon as Lady Helen stepped out onto the streets of Bath and into a steamy little cafe I was instantly transported right into Jane Austen's Persuasion. There is something about this city, more than anywhere in England, that makes it Jane Austen's city, aforementioned festival or no. All the feelings I have about poor Anne Elliot's heart were brought to the fore as I read about Helen and Selburn getting married. Propriety be damned, marry for love! Be it Lord Carlston or Captain Wentworth!

Hearts aren't the only thing in jeopardy. There are so many series, from books to television shows to movies, that shy away from putting their characters in actual jeopardy. It's like, no matter how bad things get, no matter what goes wrong, you know that there's still this thin bubble protecting them from actually dying. Because they would never go there. Yet time and again I will say that unless the writers in whatever media are willing to go there than what is the point? There has to be real risk. Joss Whedon knows this, of course I think his was more a perverse glee to harm his fanbase, but you knew that your heart could be broken and that somehow made his shows more precious. Just look at what they did last season on The Magicians, the ONE character everyone thought was safe died. And not died like several characters on The Magicians have in the past, they died and left the show! That shock to the system, besides leaving me in a puddle of tears, made me realize why I love that show so much, because of my connection to the characters. Here Alison Goodman has done the same. Each and every character is at risk, and many of them meet an untimely end, and that gut punch I kept repeatedly feeling, that made me realize how invested I'd become in this series and these characters. This isn't a series that I'll read and forget, this is a series I'll go back to again and again.

What I found endearing and at times exasperating was Helen's attempts to compartmentalize her feelings for Lord Carlston. Their two characters are destined to be together and yet it's not just his not-quite-dead wife or her betrothal that are getting in the way, the idea of fate is. Helen isn't sure if her feelings are real because the two of them were destined to be two halves of the Grand Reclaimer and therefore have a bond that is beyond attraction, it is supernatural. Helen thinks that her heart beats for Lord Carlston because she can literally feel his own heartbeat once they are joined into the dyad. She thinks it's not real, it's all just alchemical. That power and fate have drawn them together instead of a connection based on who they really are and what's in their hearts. And you know what? If I were in Helen's shoes I'd be thinking the same thing! She's not spurning Lord Carlston because of his reputation or gruff personality, she's spurning him because she wants to know it's real. She literally has to know it's real. And isn't that what we all want? A love that is real. Of course we don't have the supernatural elements in our love lives, but that's why I love fantasy books, that's why I love shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Magicians, they make our ordinary every day struggles resonate through otherworldly stories. Life through another lens.

And a life that I have always wanted is one in which I have a partner to whom I could carry on complete conversations with without ever actually saying a word. In the rather uneven 2005 Casanova miniseries by Russell T. Davies of Doctor Who fame starring the Tenth Doctor David Tennant there is one scene that I just adore. Tennant, as Casanova, is star-crossed in love with the character Henriette played by Laura Fraser, who happens to be engaged to Rupert Penry-Jones's Grimani. In one scene they are at a party on other sides of the room and they are having a complete conversation with their looks, a conversation that enrages Grimani. But the first time I saw that scene I thought to myself, now that is true love. That, right there, that is what I want. Therefore having Helen and Lord Carlston have so many of their conversations without once saying a word made me know, alchemy or no, they were fated to be together. Also, the way Alison Goodman writes it is perfect. Instead of inferences or going on about looks and eyebrows, she just writes out their dialogue in italics as the full conversation it is. That's why I was pulling for these two kids to work everything out, even if it ruined Helen. If you have this kind of connection it's worth everything isn't it?

But that's the problem isn't it? A woman during the Regency period could be ruined just by misconceptions, never mind actually running off and having a full blown affair. In fact, one thing that will really stick with you after reading this book is that throughout history it has really sucked being a woman. All the duty and deference and literally being someones property? I'm sorry, but as much as there are people trying to strip away my rights in the world right now at least I have the rights that so many others, especially Helen, didn't have. Then I started thinking about how Deceivers live. They don't breed, there can be no more Deceivers in the world unless a rift is opened onto their world, so there's a set number unless they are winnowed by final deaths. So the way they continue is by body hoping to their offspring and only their offspring. This is all well and good for male Deceivers, they can knock up tons of women and have all these options of how to stay alive, whereas female Deceivers have to actually give birth to the next body they will inhabit. Excuse me? If being a female didn't suck enough, being a female Deceiver must really suck! With having to deal with the possibility of death in childbirth, despite supernatural powers, it's still dangerous, then infant mortality... well, doesn't that just suck for them? I know I should feel bad for the enemy, but they're women too and they are stuck with the same short end of the stick! Yes, it really does suck being a woman a lot of the time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alison Goodman, Bath, Buffy, Casanova, David Tennant, Deceivers, Jane Austen, Joss Whedon, Lady Helen, Lord Carlston, Persuasion, Reclaimers, Regency Magic, Russell T. Davies, The Dark Days Deceit, The Magicians

The Magicians: Alice's Story by Lev Grossman
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The Magicians: Alice's Story is an all new chapter set in the world of The Magicians trilogy of novels by New York Times bestselling author Lev Grossman that retells the events of the first novel through fan-favorite character Alice Quinn.

Alice Quinn is manifestly brilliant, and she’s always known that magic is real. During her years at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, she rises to the top of her class, falls in love with Quentin Coldwater, and witnesses a horrifically magical creature invade their dimension.

It’s not soon after graduation when Alice, Quentin, and their friends set their sights on the idyllic setting of Fillory - a place thought to only live in the pages of their favorite children’s books - where magic flows like rivers...But in this magical realm nothing is what it seems and something darker lies behind the spellbinding facade. It is in the darkness where Alice will discover her true calling and her life, and those friends, forever changed.

Acclaimed novelist Lev Grossman joins New York Times bestselling writer Lilah Sturges (Jack of Fables), and breakout artist Pius Bak for a new chapter in the smash hit trilogy The Magicians."

Thank Ember and Umber for this book because how else would I survive until the new season of The Magicians? 

Bram Stoker's Dracula by Mike Mignola
Published by: IDW Publishing
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 136 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The comics adaptation based on the film from Columbia Pictures (Sony) and Zoetrope Studios returns with all-new colors.

Mike Mignola is one of the most popular comic book artists of the past thirty years, known for such important works as Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Cosmic Odyssey, and, of course, Hellboy. Considered to be among Mignola's greatest works, Bram Stoker's Dracula was his last project before Hellboy launched and was originally released as a full-color four issue adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 movie. It is now presented with all-new colors for this updated edition."

It's graphic novel week and I want to make clear that firstly, I love how tacky Francis Ford Coppola's movie is, and secondly I adore Mike Mignola. It's a perfect combination!

Hellboy: 25 Years of Covers by Mike Mignola
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first issue of Hellboy, this deluxe art collection includes more than 150 full-page cover pieces from Mike Mignola, Richard Corben, Duncan Fegredo, and more!

This oversized 8x12" hardcover is sure to appeal to Mignola fans and comics enthusiasts alike, featuring an introduction by colorist Dave Stewart and a foreword by Mignola himself."

And speaking of my love of Mike Mignola... this is a must buy... 

Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"L. Penelope's Song of Blood and Stone is a treacherous, thrilling, epic fantasy about an outcast drawn into a war between two powerful rulers.

The kingdoms of Elsira and Lagrimar have been separated for centuries by the Mantle, a magical veil that has enforced a tremulous peace between the two lands. But now, the Mantle is cracking and the True Father, ruler of Lagrimar and the most powerful Earthsinger in the world, finally sees a way into Elsira to seize power.

All Jasminda ever wanted was to live quietly on her farm, away from the prying eyes of those in the nearby town. Branded an outcast by the color of her skin and her gift of Earthsong, she’s been shunned all her life and has learned to steer clear from the townsfolk…until a group of Lagrimari soldiers wander into her valley with an Elsiran spy, believing they are still in Lagrimar.

Through Jack, the spy, Jasminda learns that the Mantle is weakening, allowing people to slip through without notice. And even more troubling: Lagrimar is mobilizing, and if no one finds a way to restore the Mantle, it might be too late for Elsira. Their only hope lies in uncovering the secrets of the Queen Who Sleeps and Jasminda’s Earthsong is the key to unravel them.

Thrust into a hostile society and a world she doesn’t know, Jasminda and Jack race to unveil an ancient mystery that might offer salvation."

How much difference a good cover makes! This book wasn't even on my radar last year, this year, damn skippy it is!

The Darkest Summer by Ella Drummond
Published by: Hera
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Kindle
To Buy

The official patter:
"One hot summer, Dee disappeared. Now she’s back...but she’s not the girl you knew.

Sera and Dee were the best of friends.

Until the day that Dee and her brother Leo vanished from Sera’s life, during a long hot summer fifteen years ago.

Now Sera is an adult, with her own child, five-year-old Katie, and has returned to her childhood home after her husband’s death.

While she grieves, the past haunts Sera at every turn...and then Dee and Leo return to their small Hampshire village, along with Dee’s young daughter.

But Dee is silent and haunted by her demons; no longer the fun-loving girl that Sera loved. And when Sera uncovers the shocking secret that Dee is hiding, it’s clear that the girl she knew is long gone - and that the adult she has grown into might put all of them in danger..."

I'm in the middle of one hot summer... so this book is obviously meant to be read right now. 

A Murder on Jane Street by Cathy Cash Spellman
Published by: The Wild Harp and Company
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Kindle, 410 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A brutal murder.
A heinous secret.
A deadly conspiracy.

The brutal murder of the little old lady next door puts FitzHugh Donovan on the case. A retired New York City Police Chief, he knows a cover-up when he sees one and his Irish Cop conscience can't let that happen.

Now, Fitz, his family and his quirky band of Bleecker Street Irregulars are ensnared in the bizarre secret the woman died to protect.

Is this a cold case turned hot again, or an unspeakable conspiracy that could alter the course of history?

Fitz doesn't yet know how high the stakes are, that failure isn't an option, and that the little old lady was so much more than she appeared. But he's trying to keep everyone alive long enough to find out.

Characters you’ll care about, dark shocking secrets, and disturbing similarities to today’s political scene, will keep you turning pages to an ending you won’t see coming."

Anyone else get a chuckle out of Bleecker Street Irregulars? 

The Second-Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Archaia
Publication Date: July 16th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In this delightful sequel to the best-selling comedic novel My Italian Bulldozer, Paul Stuart's travels take him to a French village, where the local restaurant's haute cuisine leaves a lot to be desired.

Renowned Scottish cookbook writer Paul Stuart is hard at work on his new book, The Philosophy of Food, but complicated domestic circumstances, and two clingy cats, are making that difficult.

So when Paul's eccentric cousin Chloe suggests that he join her at the house she's rented in the French countryside, he jumps at the chance. The two quickly befriend the locals, including their twin-sister landladies, who also own the infamous local restaurant known to be the second-worst eatery in all of France. During their stay, the restaurant's sole waitress gives birth mid-dinner service and the maître d' storms off after fighting with the head chef. Paul is soon drafted to improve the gastronomy of the village, while Chloe, ever on the hunt for her next romance, busies herself with distracting the handsome but incompetent chef. Could he be husband number six?

With all this local drama to deal with, Paul finds it next to impossible to focus on his writing, and that's before he learns that Chloe's past is far more complicated than he'd ever imagined. Paul will have to call upon all his experience - with food and with people - to bring order back to the village. And he may just learn something about family - and about himself - along the way."

I wonder if there's a bit of truth in the title, like how the previous book was inspired by Alexander McCall Smith getting to use a bulldozer in Italy...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander McCall Smith, Alice Quinn, Cathy Cash Spellman, Dracula, Ella Drummond, Hellboy, L. Penelope, Lev Grossman, Mike Mignola, Song of Blood and Stone, The Darkest Summer, The Magicians

The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 20th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Six months have passed since Lady Helen and Lord Carlston were united to form the Grand Reclaimer. Six months in Bath believing the final words of a Deceiver, the Comte d'Antraigues. Six months in which they are no closer to accessing their new powers; powers given to them in order to defeat the Grand Deceiver. What's more, Lady Helen absorbed the vile pages and power of the Ligatus when she and Lord Carlston formed their bond and she is barely holding back the darkness. The Ligatus could provide all their answers if only she could access it. Drastic actions must be taken as Lady Helen's marriage to the Duke of Selburn approaches and therefore the decision is made to hypnotize Helen to access the power wherein she promptly decimates Lady Margaret's house. Relocating to her fiance's nearby country estate, Chenwith, has it's advantages and disadvantages. Helen and Lord Carlston can work on wresting control over their power in seclusion but they are also surrounded by many people unaware of the Dark Days Club who expect Helen to act her part of the dutiful bride-to-be. And Helen's Aunt and brother are about to arrive! They can not know of her secret shadow life! Or more importantly, that which she can barely admit to herself, that she loves Lord Carlston.

Even if Helen can't admit her true feelings her Aunt sees the lay of the land and does everything in her power to keep the two halves of the Grand Reclaimer apart without knowing what damage she is doing. But whisking Helen back to the spa town has it's advantages. Helen can continue her search for the Bath Deceiver, the Deceiver who has the answers she and Lord Carlston need according to the Comte d'Antraigues. But danger is circling nearer and nearer as Helen attends to her nuptial and supernatural duties. Certain dangerous Deceivers are spotted and soon the unthinkable happens, one of their own is cut down. Poor Delia Cransdon, who has suffered much at the hands of the Deceivers, is murdered in broad daylight. Helen shoulders all the blame. Delia was an innocent who Helen had lately rebuked and it's something she can never take back and must live with forever. If any good could be said to come of a death it's that the Bath Deceiver is flushed out by this heinous act and Helen finally gets the answers she's needed on how to harness her powers. With reinforcements provided by the Dark Days Club they hole up at Chenwith and wait for the Grand Deceiver to make their move, because just as the Grand Reclaimer is a dyad, so is the Grand Deceiver. Only one needs to be cut down in order to succeed. But will the battle be won before Helen has to walk down the aisle? And who will win the batter for her heart?

The Dark Days Deceit is the perfect end to Alison Goodman's trilogy in that it combines the best aspects of the first and second books to create this wonderful melding of all that I loved in those installments for a last hurrah. We return more to the Georgian society of The Dark Days Club with Bath society and balls and the upcoming nuptials, yet we still have the more explicit darkness from The Dark Days Pact that doesn't flinch from cutting down favorite characters. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can ever forgive Alison for killing the Reclaimer Stokes in The Dark Days Pact, my Regency Hiddles. Yet what I loved most about this book was Bath! As Alison says in her "Author's Note" it's a town forever entwined with Austen and the Regency period. If you were to visit during the Jane Austen Festival, which is a dream of mine, it's the best alternative to time travel available to us at the moment. Though for me as soon as Lady Helen stepped out onto the streets of Bath and into a steamy little cafe I was instantly transported right into Jane Austen's Persuasion. There is something about this city, more than anywhere in England, that makes it Jane Austen's city, aforementioned festival or no. All the feelings I have about poor Anne Elliot's heart were brought to the fore as I read about Helen and Selburn getting married. Propriety be damned, marry for love! Be it Lord Carlston or Captain Wentworth!

Hearts aren't the only thing in jeopardy. There are so many series, from books to television shows to movies, that shy away from putting their characters in actual jeopardy. It's like, no matter how bad things get, no matter what goes wrong, you know that there's still this thin bubble protecting them from actually dying. Because they would never go there. Yet time and again I will say that unless the writers in whatever media are willing to go there than what is the point? There has to be real risk. Joss Whedon knows this, of course I think his was more a perverse glee to harm his fanbase, but you knew that your heart could be broken and that somehow made his shows more precious. Just look at what they did literally last week on The Magicians, the ONE character everyone thought was safe died. And not died like several characters on The Magicians have in the past, they died and left the show! That shock to the system, besides leaving me in a puddle of tears, made me realize why I love that show so much, because of my connection to the characters. Here Alison Goodman has done the same. Each and every character is at risk, and many of them meet an untimely end, and that gut punch I kept repeatedly feeling, that made me realize how invested I'd become in this series and these characters. This isn't a series that I'll read and forget, this is a series I'll go back to again and again.

What I found endearing and at times exasperating was Helen's attempts to compartmentalize her feelings for Lord Carlston. Their two characters are destined to be together and yet it's not just his not-quite-dead wife or her betrothal that are getting in the way, the idea of fate is. Helen isn't sure if her feelings are real because the two of them were destined to be two halves of the Grand Reclaimer and therefore have a bond that is beyond attraction, it is supernatural. Helen thinks that her heart beats for Lord Carlston because she can literally feel his own heartbeat once they are joined into the dyad. She thinks it's not real, it's all just alchemical. That power and fate have drawn them together instead of a connection based on who they really are and what's in their hearts. And you know what? If I were in Helen's shoes I'd be thinking the same thing! She's not spurning Lord Carlston because of his reputation or gruff personality, she's spurning him because she wants to know it's real. She literally has to know it's real. And isn't that what we all want? A love that is real. Of course we don't have the supernatural elements in our love lives, but that's why I love fantasy books, that's why I love shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Magicians, they make our ordinary every day struggles resonate through otherworldly stories. Life through another lens.

And a life that I have always wanted is one in which I have a partner to whom I could carry on complete conversations with without ever actually saying a word. In the rather uneven 2005 Casanova miniseries by Russell T. Davies of Doctor Who fame starring the Tenth Doctor David Tennant there is one scene that I just adore. Tennant, as Casanova, is star-crossed in love with the character Henriette played by Laura Fraser, who happens to be engaged to Rupert Penry-Jones's Grimani. In one scene they are at a party on other sides of the room and they are having a complete conversation with their looks, a conversation that enrages Grimani. But the first time I saw that scene I thought to myself, now that is true love. That, right there, that is what I want. Therefore having Helen and Lord Carlston have so many of their conversations without once saying a word made me know, alchemy or no, they were fated to be together. Also, the way Alison Goodman writes it is perfect. Instead of inferences or going on about looks and eyebrows, she just writes out their dialogue in italics as the full conversation it is. That's why I was pulling for these two kids to work everything out, even if it ruined Helen. If you have this kind of connection, it's worth everything isn't it?

But that's the problem isn't it? A woman during the Regency period could be ruined just by misconceptions, never mind actually running off and having a full blown affair. In fact, one thing that will really stick with you after reading this book is that throughout history it has really sucked being a woman. All the duty and deference and literally being someones property? I'm sorry, but as much as there are people trying to strip away my rights in the world right now at least I have the rights that so many others, especially Helen, didn't have. Then I started thinking about how Deceivers live. They don't breed, there can be no more Deceivers in the world unless a rift is opened onto their world, so there's a set number unless they are winnowed by final deaths. So the way they continue is by body hoping to their offspring and only their offspring. This is all well and good for male Deceivers, they can knock up tons of women and have all these options of how to stay alive, whereas female Deceivers have to actually give birth to the next body they will inhabit. Excuse me? If being a female didn't suck enough, being a female Deceiver must really suck! With having to deal with the possibility of death in childbirth, despite supernatural powers, it's still dangerous, then infant mortality... well, doesn't that just suck for them? I know I should feel bad for the enemy, but they're women too and they are stuck with the same short end of the stick! Yes, it really does suck being a woman a lot of the time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alison Goodman, Bath, Buffy, Casanova, David Tennant, Deceivers, Jane Austen, Joss Whedon, Lady Helen, Lord Carlston, Persuasion, Reclaimers, Regency Magic, Russell T. Davies, The Dark Days Deceit, The Magicians

The True Queen by Zen Cho
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 12th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Two connected souls wash up on the magical shores of Janda Baik. Sakti speaks Muna's name and Muna knows that it is hers, just as she knows Sakti is her sister. But that is all. Neither girl knows any more. The powerful witch Mak Grenggang takes the girls in unperturbed by the amnesia but willing to help them with their memory when she has free time, which is rare. Sakti shows magical abilities and therefore becomes Mak Grenggang's pupil. Muna doesn't have a bit of magic in her body and therefore helps take care of Mak Grenggang's large household of supernatural beings. It is a simple and quiet life but Sakti is unsettled and mistrustful of Mak Grenggang. She wants to know who she is and why she has forgotten. Everything becomes more urgent when Sakti discovers that she literally has a hole through her body. Parts of her are fading away and she thinks this strongly indicates that she and her sister have been cursed, though Muna isn't convinced the kindly Mak Grenggang is behind it as her sister keeps insisting. They need answers and have heard that the English Raja is hoarding books on magic and therefore sneak to the British Resident's house on the settlement of Malacca where they are soon caught in the act.

Their trespass has severe political ramifications. The British in Malaysia have been waiting for any excuse to go after Mak Grenggang and take control of Janda Baik and Sakti and Muna have given them an excuse. Therefore Sakti and Muna have to be whisked away from the island through the realms of Fairy and into the protection of Mak Grenggang's friend, the Sorceress Royal of England. By Sakti being sponsored as an honored guest and pupil at the Sorceress Royal's school, The Lady Maria Wythe Academy for the Instruction of Females in Practical Thaumaturgy, the English can't justifiably seize Janda Baik. Only as they take the shortcut Mak Grenggang has laid for them through Fairy something horrible happens, Sakti is taken. Only Muna makes it to England and she has to convince the Sorceress Royal and her friend Henrietta Stapleton that she is the magical one and that their first goal is to find her sister. Things can never be that simple though. Fairy can not be accessed from England due to many ongoing issues, the most recent being the Threlfall family losing the Fairy Queen's Virtu, and an all out war with Fairy could come to pass. What is Muna to do when all she wants is her sister? The answer is whatever it takes.

In the first book in this series, Sorcerer to the Crown, we alternated between two characters, the Sorceress Royal, Prunella Gentleman, and her predecessor and now husband (sqweee) Zacharias Wythe. While The True Queen does continue their story they aren't the focus of this book and while at first I was like, I'm not sure I want the story continued in a book that isn't a direct up sequel, I've been completely won over with how Zen Cho has been able to expand her universe while remaining true to it's origins, which has that same snark I love so much from The Magicians. It's not just that we have more locations, from spending time in Janda Baik to seeing other parts of Fairy besides the quick glimpse Zacharias had previously of the court, it's that we see the story through the eyes of so many different characters. The number of POVs in this book has expanded exponentially, so Muna, Sakti, Prunella, Henrietta, Rollo, even a Midsomer, have a little slice of the story! And each character builds the narrative and it's themes, not one of them, even Clarissa Midsomer, taking away from the plot. The constant struggle between desire and duty is explored through more lives and more facets showcasing the importance of family and what sacrifice really means. I couldn't think of a better sequel.

While the character roster is expanding so is our understanding of how magic works in the world Zen Cho has created. I've always liked the idea that magic is science we don't yet understand, and while what we learn here isn't science, it does finally give us an understanding of how magic works in this world. In Sorcerer to the Crown it's clear that magic comes from the Fairy realm as they've put a block on it. Here though we see magic through the eyes of Muna who, while not magical, was taught an entirely different approach to magic in Malaysia. In fact she has many different terms and abilities that the English magicians don't have. She even calls the Queen of the Fairies the Queen of the Djinns. So it makes sense that she would see all magic differently and what she sees is that all magic is actually accomplished by invisible creatures in the air that do the magician's bidding. So all the spells and incantations are just words strung together, sometimes rather rudely, to get these invisible creatures to enact the wishes of the magician. Muna can not believe that this is how magic works! It's wonderful to think that through kindness and flattery anyone can achieve magical feats. The male English magicians who were all rather bombastic in my mind would never deign to believe that being nice can lead to magic and therefore it makes me extremely happy that this is the case.

In fact this whole book is about seeing everything differently. It's about opening up your eyes to the magic that is literally all around us. That love can come in many shapes and sizes and might not be expected or understood, but it is always welcome. This inclusivity prevalent throughout the book made me feel as if the ending was a little flat. Now I'm not going to go and spoil anything for you here, but I will explain a bit around the relationship in question in order to hopefully get my point across, but if you want to be completely ignorant feel free to skip ahead to me talking about dragons, and yes, I talk about dragons! So we have two characters of the same sex who fall desperately in love. You will be shipping them the entire book. Therefore when they don't technically end up together at the end of the book it's kind of heartbreaking. I mean, yes, it's historically accurate, being openly gay during this time in history wasn't exactly the done thing, but at the same time, this is a book about magic and dragons and actual fairies and I kind of was hoping for something more. Not a compromise, not something that will look fine to the outside world, but complete and total happily ever after. Of course seeing as this actually annoyed me so much just goes to show how much I love the characters...

Dragons! See, I told you I'd talk about them. So here's the thing, I never really thought of myself as a big dragon fan. I liked them and all, but then I started noticing things, like how I have a fair amount of stuffed animal dragons and dragon statuary and more than a few books about dragons and Falkor was easily my favorite character in The Neverending Story and then I thought on it and realized, yes, I think I'm a little obsessed with dragons. I mean, I'm not Dragonriders of Porn level obsessed, and thank you forever to whomever wrote the "Home Improvement" episode of The Magicians this season for that joke. But still, it all comes down to the fact that I love me some dragons. Which means I LOVE ME some Rollo Threlfall the familiar of Paget Damerell. The big reveal at the end of Sorcerer to the Crown is that Rollo isn't just a typical Regency buck but is actually a dragon. And therefore his Aunt Georgiana who kind of started the whole narrative going back in book one by asking Rollo to give a speech to some gentlewitches is also actually a dragon. But what I love most is that while they are dragons that doesn't change their underlying characters. Rollo is a Regency buck trapped in a dragon and Aunt Georgiana is the dragon of an aunt you always fear at the local assembly. Regency dragons, is there anything better!?! The answer is no if you were wondering.

But oddly enough it was a small plot point that was the icing on top of the cake for me and that was a hall of talking paintings. Talking paintings are pretty common in books with magic or magical schools, just look to how ubiquitous they are in Harry Potter. Though interestingly enough it's never mentioned how they came to be in Harry Potter, unless it's somewhere on Pottermore and I can't be bothered to slog through that site. I mean Dumbeldore's painting is up like minutes after he's dead, how did they swing that!?! I mean, seriously, how, I NEED to know. Therefore I was more than a little pleased that Zen Cho instead of just having talking paintings that are rude to the students of The Lady Maria Wythe Academy for the Instruction of Females in Practical Thaumaturgy she explains how they are made and why they might be a little rude. Because it's not the personality of the subject that is captured but the personality of the subject as viewed through the eyes of the artist. Oh, as an artist how I loved this. It's like instant revenge for generations on someone who is rude to you! As Mr. Wythe explained: "the paintings have little of their subjects in them - the life that animates them springs from the artist, and the artist's opinions of his subject cannot be taken as a wholly reliable guide to who they were. I am sure the real George Midsomer was much pleasanter than his likeness." Ahem, sure... a "nice" Midsomer. I'll believe it when I see it, maybe in the next book?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Dragonriders of Porn, Dragons, Falkor, Harry Potter, LGBTQ, Magical Paintings, Malaysia, POV, Regency Magic, Sorcerer to the Crown, Sorceress Royal, The Magicians, The Neverending Story, The True Queen, Zen Cho