With accompanying illustrations by Keith Thompson, Leviathan is a young adult’s Steampunk mechanics vs. Biopunk Darwinists tale set within an alternate history of the initiation of World War I. And at the end of it I was thinking, “that’s it? That’s where you leave me?” only to be pleasantly surprised to discover that Leviathan is only the first in a series of novels (how I wasn’t aware of this before, I’m not sure) that I definitely plan on continuing with when I am able to. […]
“I’m a bullet that thinks for itself, and I want to know what I’m being shot at.”
War for the Oaks is widely considered to be the establishing foundation of the urban fantasy genre. Setting a war between the Seelie and Unseelie (or, Light and Dark) Courts of the Fae in modern-day Minneapolis (or, at least, modern in 1987, when this was written,) Emma Bull established a paradigm. One: in contemporary times, in recognizable places, there are intersecting magical realms and accompanying magical beings that are invisible to most humans. Two: certain humans have an aptitude for magic, even if they haven’t […]
Because the Disreputable Dog, that’s why.
So there’s this girl, and she lives in a Glacier. Yes, a real glacier. It’s in a tall mountain at the very tip-top of her country, and she lives there with thousands of cousins, who are collectively called ‘The Clayr,’ most of whom are female and have the pale blonde hair and tanned skin that marks them as one of their own. They are entitled to this sobriquet because every single one of them can see the future. Every single one of them, except Lirael, that […]
Great young adult fantasy before young adult fantasy was cool.
Before the internet, the way I found new books to read was very different, if more simple. I would go to the library (or, on the occasion I actually had spending money, the bookstore), pick every book up that looked even remotely interesting, and take it home. Then I would read it. I was in no way discerning about which books I would read. This method had its downsides, the biggest of which was that I frequently ended up reading books I didn’t care for […]