djonn: Self-portrait, May 2025 (Default)

As at least some of my readership is aware, I have been a theater junkie -- if a somewhat undernourished one -- ever since junior high school (which is to say, for a scarily long time now).  I have, of course, also been an avid reader of fantasy for even longer than that.  And it's been my experience that there just isn't much modern genre fiction that makes effective use of theatrical settings.  There are a very few exceptions, and mystery has done somewhat better than fantasy in this regard, but even good theatrical mysteries are a trifle thin on the ground.

You may therefore imagine my cautiously optimistic delight some weeks back, when I ran across a new(ish) book at my local library promising just this: a fantasy yarn set against the backdrop of a small musical theatre company in rural Vermont.  The ingredients seemed perfect -- but would they be well blended and skillfully served up?

They would indeed )

djonn: Self-portrait, May 2025 (Default)
A week or two ago I finally got hold of a copy of Patricia Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, the release of which served as the catalyst for major pyrotechnics around the blogosphere some months back.  The following is not a discussion of the pyrotechnics; rather, it’s a review of and commentary on the book as written.

And it's long, so we'll put it behind a cut-tag.... )
djonn: Self-portrait, May 2025 (She Who Watches)
A week or two ago I finally got hold of a copy of Patricia Wrede’s Thirteenth Child, the release of which served as the catalyst for major pyrotechnics around the blogosphere some months back.  The following is not a discussion of the pyrotechnics; rather, it’s a review of and commentary on the book as written.

And it's long, so we'll put it behind a cut-tag.... )
djonn: Self-portrait, May 2025 (Default)

Ever since she announced she'd sold the series, I've been waiting for the chance to read Seanan McGuire's first novel, Rosemary and Rue (DAW Books, $7.99, due out Sept. 1st).  As luck would have it, I got my hands on an advance copy Tuesday evening, and it promptly jumped the seventeen other things on my to-be-read list.

Herewith the recommendation: go forth and pre-order.  (Or find Seanan at ComicCon and see if you too can score an ARCface the zombie apcalypse".)

Now let me tell you why.... )

djonn: Self-portrait, May 2025 (Default)

Ever since she announced she'd sold the series, I've been waiting for the chance to read Seanan McGuire's first novel, Rosemary and Rue (DAW Books, $7.99, due out Sept. 1st).  As luck would have it, I got my hands on an advance copy Tuesday evening, and it promptly jumped the seventeen other things on my to-be-read list.

Herewith the recommendation: go forth and pre-order.  (Or find Seanan at ComicCon and see if you too can score an ARCface the zombie apcalypse".)

Now let me tell you why.... )

Page generated May. 8th, 2026 03:19 pm

Heard In Passing....

"Four hundred angry girls with knitting needles are more dangerous than you might think."

May 2026

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