Unlike the previous anthology I read, this is a book with a certain thematic idea by different authors, rather than a collection of work by one author. So if you like (or don’t like) the author of one story, just move on to the next and see where it takes you. The book is separated in two parts with three sections each. Trafficking in Magic involves Distribution, Services, and Point of Sale, while Magicking in Traffic is divided into Directing Traffic, Bad Roads, and Changing […]
When in doubt, assume it’s about politics
Have you ever wondered where some of our nursery rhymes came from, or what they really mean? Some of them seem to be about pure nonsense, but there is more to them than meets the eye. After all, “nursery rhymes are full of sex, death, and cruelty” (xv). The author makes a point that this is “not meant to be a scholarly exercise” (187), it’s more like a “Hey, did you know that…?” Like any good conspiracy artist, Roberts can find meaning anywhere, and sometimes […]
What does it say about a book when the Intro is the best part?
I… don’t know what to say about this. It’s an anthology of short stories by Sarah Totton. While I don’t love them, they’re… good? I can’t tell. They’re kind of weird. I said this to faintingviolet, and her response was: “You were expecting not weird?” I was expecting weird, considering where I bought the book, but I suppose I was expecting a different kind of weird. I think my favorite part of the whole book is the Introduction by Forrest Aguirre. His prose is […]
A nice predictable ride
And now starts my Cannonball goal of reading books that I already have in my house! And I happen to have a bunch of Pride and Prejudice “sequels.” For those of you who don’t know, Pride and Prejudice “sequels” are all just fanfictions that happened to get published. (Thanks, expired copyright and fair use!) This was a nice light read. I blew through it in about 3 hours. There were no big surprises (especially for a reader of fanfiction), but there were also no big […]