The last time I reviewed a Brandon Sanderson book, I complained of Sanderson fatigue, the review got featured, and several more people complained about it with me. So it is a bit sheepishly that I confess I not only went back to him but that I read the entire second Mistborn series minus the one book that hasn’t been published yet. And I enjoyed them immensely. In fact, for someone like me who still had fond memories of earlier Cosmere experiences, The Alloy of Law, […]
You’ve really got a hold on me
As I have mentioned before, fairy tales were my jam when I was younger. I also love some good remixes — musical or cultural — and humor, so things like Texts from Jane Eyre were absolutely delightful to me. When I heard that Daniel Mallory Ortberg was putting out a book of retold fairy tails (as Mallory Ortberg), I immediately put in a pre-order. In my haste and my assumptions based on the humor of Ortberg’s other work, having missed the “Children’s Stories Made Horrific” […]
Ain’t she sweet
There was a post going around tumblr for a while referencing “the knowing eye contact women make when men are talking,” which someone else helpfully supplemented with this illustrative gif from Carol* (and if you’re looking at this opening excerpt from the CBR top page, you do have to click through to see it, I’m afraid): The Ladies of Grace Adieu, by Susanna Clarke, feels like the prose manifestation of that post. Set in the world of her popular novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. […]
I got to find my baby
Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my favorite books ever, and I was over the moon when I found out Diana Wynne Jones had written a lesser-known sequel (or at least companion book.) As much as I enjoyed the way things came together at the end of the first book, I wanted more of Sophie’s fierceness and ability to cut through society’s nonsense, and I wanted more of Howl’s vanity and snark and never quite succeeding at being a truly terrible person. Unfortunately, Castle in […]
Come and get it
When someone asks me about my hobbies, I usually start with the basics: drawing, reading, very amateur comedy…and it takes quite a bit of digging before someone I don’t know too well finds out I also follow developments in intellectual property law (mostly in the US.) It hardly qualifies as persecuted “nerd culture,” but disappointingly few people want to hear about the differences between copyrights, trademarks, and patents and why they shouldn’t be used interchangeably in conversation. (On the other hand, #cockygate has been more […]
We can work it out
The Elantris of the title was once a glorious city full of luminous beings with astounding powers that drew devotees and dependents alike. But the prologue tells us that Elantris abruptly fell, its power vanishing and its residents transforming from near gods to withered and powerless outcasts. The book picks up ten years after this disaster. The ensuing political upheaval and civil war has settled into a precarious peace and wobbly feudal system. The Shaod, the blight that struck Elantris, still occasionally and suddenly afflicts […]