This novel represents the latest installment of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. It follows the adventures of Moist von Lipwig who, having conquered the postal and banking systems of Ankh Morpork, is now tasked by the Patrician Lord Vetinari with seeing to the implementation of a railroad. Following in his father’s footsteps, Daniel Simnel, the man “wi’ t’ flat cap and sliding rule” who “ has the learning of the sine and cosine”, has built the Iron Girder, the Discworld’s first functional steam locomotive. Daniel […]
Warning: nerdy Ishiguro fangirling to follow.
If you’ve followed my CBR Reviews these past three CBRs, then you know of my affinity for literary fiction. Particularly Kazuo Ishiguro’s novels. I’m teaching Never Let Me Go this spring to my ENGL 1002 students (and they actually *like* it, hooray!), and I’ve read all the others. It’s been ten years since Ishiguro’s last novel, and his collection of novellas/short stories, while perfectly serviceable, were nowhere near good enough for his fans as they greedily awaited his next novel. Last year, he announced that […]
More of the same. Good, not great.
This is more like a really high three, but I’m rounding up because of sentiment. I still find myself wanting more from the Emelan books, and not getting it. They just take place in such a short period of time, and there isn’t much character interaction. There was even less in this one than usual, because the four main characters are split up, each character getting their own spotlight book while the others are off having adventures in other parts of the world. This one […]
Dragon Scales & Puppy Dog Tails
This is a little unfair, but indulge me: What if Ron Weasley had defeated Voldemort? And Hermoine didn’t come into the picture until they were adults? And Harry was gay and fell in love with Draco Malfoy? Oh, and instead of all white* main characters, there were characters of color? Instead of only confirming** Dumbledore’s sexuality after the fact, it was right there in the text? These are fundamentally fan-fiction-y questions, so if fan fiction*** is your bag, then you are probably going to love […]