In the last part of His Majesty’s Dragon, Temeraire and Laurence realize that Temeraire is a not only a Chinese dragon as they already knew but a Celestial, a breed reserved for the Imperial family. After Temeraire discovers his special power, divine wind, in a battle with the French, the rest of the world knows it, too, and the second novel begins after the Chinese delegation’s arrival to determine what is to be done about Laurence and Temeraire. The group even includes the emperor’s brother, […]
Here There Be Dragons
Last December, I ended up checking out Uprooted by Naomi Novik which had an adult fairy tale vibe (I think TyburnBlossom shared a link to it on Facebook?). Curious to see what else she had written, I was surprised to see she had a nine book series about dragons during the Napoleonic Wars. Alternate historical fiction fantasy definitely was not what I was expecting to find in her back catalog, but when I needed a break from the large non fiction tomb I am reading […]
Not the emotional wreckage I was told to expect
I was good. I really was. I didn’t peek at any reviews or sneak a look at the last page or two. I really enjoyed the first two books of the series and I didn’t want to ruin this last one. I did see some comments on social media from people who had read the book before me, and all of them were pretty similar. Everyone I’ve seen who posted about A Conjuring of Light on Twitter, Goodreads, etc. said something along the lines of […]
Disabled, despised, and brilliant heroine makes for great reading
Curtis Craddock has created an interesting world setting. It contains a blend of 1600s court life and intrigues (complete with musketeers and powdered wigs!), steampunk, a mystical religious order, and bloodline magics. Humanity lives on giant floating land masses referred to as cratons. Air ships traverse the skies of the aerosphere between cratons. KIngdoms are ruled by specific saintborn bloodlines, direct descendants of the Risen Saints. The book has a great cover that evokes the contents within. In An Alchemy of Masques and Shadows we follow the […]
Some cool bits in here, and Very Silly, but not great.
I like the Wizards books, I do. The scenes involving them are always a good time in making fun of bureaucracy and tradition and old white men. They are also usually very silly. But I have yet to love one of the Wizard books. It’s just so hard for them to have an emotional through line like so many of Pratchett’s other books do. Like, this book wasn’t really about anything. Sure, on the surface it’s the Wizards flouncing off accidentally to Not Australia (aka […]
Just as good as you remember
I think it’s been twenty years or more since I last read this book. I remember this book being an absolutely pivotal one in my childhood, opening wide the doors of fantasy to a little girl who had never seen herself in the hero’s role before. This was still a few years before Hermione Granger would forever change my world, but Meg Murray, Mrs Which, Mrs Who, and Mrs Whatsit (and even Aunt Beast!) were pivotal in my development as a reader. It was also […]