A Study in Silks can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a mystery, a steampunk adventure, a comedy of manners, a drama, or a romance. The main character is Evelina Cooper, daughter of a circus performer and a lady from country gentry. From her father’s family she inherits magical abilities and on her mother’s side she is niece to Sherlock Holmes. In her world, magic is illegal in England, and while Victoria rules in name, London is really controlled by a group of […]
Will the real good guy please stand up? Or not.
Righteous Fury is a prequel to a series I have not read (a 4 book series Dwarves). In some ways this is classic fantasy. The cast includes a variety of magical beings, including some elves, dwarves, but mostly the alfar. Humans also come into the story, but are mostly slaves. This race is “cruel and surpassingly beautiful artist-warriors”. Two alfar in particular command the majority of the story: Calphalor and Sinthoras. At the beginning they hate each other and belong to opposing political parties. Calphalor […]
Premise Perfect: London Triple Threat
The premise of A Darker Shade of Magic is pretty perfect. There are parallel worlds with corresponding versions of London in which magic exists or existed to varying degrees, and they are aware of each other’s existence (or at least the rulers are). In this universe, a few people with special powers exist who can travel between dimensions. These people with particular magical ability are called ‘antari’, and Kell is one of the last known. Kell has named the various versions of London “Red” (his […]
Indiana Jones Meets the Babysitters Club
I’m not a huge consumer of graphic novels, but I enjoyed Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona, so I decided to check out her series Lumberjanes (a co-creation with several others). I also couldn’t pass up something in which volume 1 is titled “Beware the Kitten Holy”. I was simultaneously disappointed and relieved that in the end this turns out to be less than literal. In the opening sequence the heroines encounter some wolves; as they are getting their tails kicked, one of the wolves mutters “beware the kitten holy”. By […]
So what if you wish a genie to go **** itself?
Most people know that when you find a genie in a bottle, you’re supposed to get 3 wishes. This premise governs the finale of a book which apparently sparked video game series. I’m not a gamer; I do however read a fair bit of fantasy. The structure of this book is probably its most unique feature. It’s more like a series of interconnected short stories, where one story centers on something that gets revealed in the next story. The stories all feature Geralt of Rivia […]
How it’s possible for Double Fudge Brownies to Disappoint
I have enjoyed Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson series so far. She gave one of my favorite reading/author’s talks I’ve ever been to. Which is why I was surprised at how much Double Fudge Brownie Murder disappointed me. This 20th installment in the series opens where that last left off: Hannah is about to go on trial for a vehicular homicide that wasn’t really her fault. Before the trail starts, she and her sisters go to Vegas to attend their mother’s elopement (all planned by Doc, […]
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