The kid and I took a little break from the Star Wars books for a bit, but we’re back now. At least we’re into the good movies portion of the series. Like all the other books, this one takes most of the dialogue from the movie verbatim, and also fills in some of the subtext gaps. Interestingly, this particular book adds subtext that is clearly trying to retcon episodes 1 through 3. It was a valiant effort, and my son didn’t notice (he doesn’t know […]
Supernatural high school drama isn’t all that different from regular teen drama
Sophie Mercer is a witch and because of the various bad incidents her magic has gotten her mixed up in, she and her mum have moved a lot during her lifetime. After Sophie seriously misjudges the oomph of a love spell at her current high school’s prom, and there is a huge scene, Sophie’s normally absentee father, a European warlock of some kind, gets involved. Sophie is sent off to a boarding school. On a remote island, where she will stay until she graduates at […]
This fantasy heist novel is delicious.
So, I don’t believe in hype. Bear with me here, because what I mean by that isn’t what you probably think I mean. Obviously, I’m not in the habit of denying that things exist. Like, NO, GRAVITY IS NOT REAL AND KOALAS ARE A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION or whatever. “Hype” is a real enough concept that somebody once upon a time had to invent a word to describe it. For me, when I’ve used it as a word, hype is buzz. It’s something that […]
So much yes.
There is so much in this book I don’t even know what to do with myself. I’d forgotten how FULL it is. It’s easily double the size of the other volumes up until now. Maybe even triple. And it’s clearly the lynchpin that the whole series turns on. The first and most surface thing is that Tom is ready to go to war with the cabal. He believes he has to strike now because he has access to power, and because the cabal hasn’t had […]
In Honor of Krampusnacht
Today is December 5th which makes tonight Krampusnacht and tomorrow St Nicholas Day. These holidays are mostly German and Eastern European, but I started celebrating St Nicholas with a Polish aunt about eight years ago. Some time ago I saw this book on the shelf of a favorite independent bookstore and almost bought it. Then 2 months ago I saw it again, and I bought it on a whim. I am very glad I did. Krampus is frequently a figure in horror movies and fiction, […]
500 pages of fan fiction
Ok, this is a controversial opinion to have in these parts of the Internet… but I did not like Rainbow Rowell’s Carry On but I would like to explain myself. 1. The Simon and Baz interludes were the worst parts of the, otherwise amazing, Fangirl. I skipped over half of them. 2. Despite skipping over half the Simon and Baz parts I’m 99% sure the gay thing was an invention of Cath’s fan-fic. So (spoiler?) the romance in Carry On felt like bad fan fiction. […]