It would be pretty hard to not have heard of T Kingfisher. With her March release of Wolf Worm, she has been everywhere lately, including a wonderful interview in the NY Times. She is a prolific writer, in recent years releasing three adult titles a year. Kingfisher is an alias for the multitalented Ursula Vernon, who pens middle grade graphic novels. She claims somebody told her when looking for a penname always choice a bird, thus T Kingfisher was born. Let me start by talking […]
Review #5: Ursula Vernon does it again
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
“The trees were full of crows and the woods were full of madmen. The pit was full of bones and her hands were full of wires. Her fingers bled where the wire ends cut her. The earliest cuts were no longer bleeding, but the edges had gone red and hot, with angry streaks running backward over her skin. The tips of her fingers were becoming puffy and less nimble. Marra was aware that this was not a good thing, but the odds of living long […]
I Have Never Been so Happy in My Entire Life
Dragonbreath #1 by Ursula Vernon
CBR Bingo: Monster Dragonbreath #1 by Ursula Vernon has cured all my ills. This story about an irrepressible dragon named Danny who can’t breathe fire (but has no fear) is so delightful, and the illustrations so insanely adorable, that it’s changed my entire day, which until this point has been as fun as a case of scurvy. Dragonbreath #1 follows Danny around as he goes about his day, starting at the Herpitax-Phibbias School for Reptiles and Amphibians, where he is the only semi-mythical […]
Falling in Love with the Spirit in the Sword
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
I have sung the praises of T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon many times here on Cannonball. Her books are autobuys for me, and I have never been disappointed with them. They are funny, clever, sensible fantasy romps and I love them to pieces. I love her world building and they way that so many of her novels are reactions to other stories. For example, in this book Kingfisher was annoyed by Elric (Michael Moorcock’s Elric? I haven’t read them, I’m not familar) and claimed the real victim […]
“I am afraid for your priorities, son”
Jackalope Wives and Other Stories is another short story collection by T. Kingfisher and I loved it. I’ve read a couple of these stories previously, when they were first published, but I love that they’re all collected in one place. I especially that that because while the collection only contains two completely new stories, most of them were new to me. Kingfisher brings her usual sensibility and love of practical characters and talking animal companions to this collection. If you like her work then this […]
Summer, Baba Yaga, and a were-house
I love portal fantasies. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember, from Narnia to Oz to Wonderland to Amber and even for a brief moment Xanth, I have loved stories of someone from this mundane world transported to a world full of magic and wonder. Summer in Orcus is an offering in this category from T. Kingfisher, aka Ursula Vernon, and it is marvelous. The best I can describe it is a middlegrade fantasy for adults, and much like Catherynne Valente’s The […]