Tag Archives: fantasy

2012: The Books we Got for Christmas

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Marion

Between actual books –brightly wrapped packages tied up with string (well, ribbon) – and gift card books, we did all right this year. Above is the pictorial representation of our haul. They include: Hide me Among the Graves, by Tim … Continue reading →

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Day One

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Marion

This is what Heaven looks like. All the time I worked at the county, I had a mantra I repeated when days were bad. This happened most frequently when I was dealing with a problem employee (and I dealt with … Continue reading →

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8 Reasons Why the Handcar Regatta Rocks

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Marion

  8. Shiny things!  Shiny things!  Steampunk is filled with brass, copper, silver, glass, leather, silks, feathers; chrome, bubbling liquids in glowing colors;  gears and rivets and studs and bosses, and . . . oh, my!   7. It’s hard … Continue reading →

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Green, by Jay Lake

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Marion

Green,the eponymous main character of JayLake’s fantasy novel, chooses her name as an act of defiance.  Her captors want to call her Emerald, but she rejects it. As a young child, three or four years old, Green is sold to … Continue reading →

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Copperfield’s Turns 30

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Marion

The local independent booksellers, Copperfield’s, turned 30 last weekend.  On Saturday all of their stores had 30% off all day, and at noon they had cake.  Copperfield’s is not my favorite independent bookseller—that would be the Four-Eyed Frog, followed closely … Continue reading →

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Chasing Beauty: She, by H Rider Haggard, Part II

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Marion

Whiter Shade of Pale Haggard’s book is full of both careless bigotry and acerbic comments about women and beauty. This might have been the tradition of the time, but some seems almost sly, as if Haggard is commenting on his … Continue reading →

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Magical Alaska

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Marion

Though Not Dead/ Dana Stabenow Minotaur Books, 2011  Kate Shugak, five-foot-nothing, but extraordinarily strong, with lightning reflexes and amazing endurance, is the heir to a tiny kingdom called Niniltna.  Her talking wolf Mutt is her closest friend.  Kate was trained … Continue reading →

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Shakespeare in Venice, Update: Hey, That’s Me!

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Marion

Jon Courtenay Grimwood has this blog posting on the Orbit publishing site, with lots of glorious photos of Venice, and some discussion of what he was trying to accomplish with The Fallen Blade. Here’s a quote: “My favourite mention of The Fallen … Continue reading →

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Shakespeare in Venice

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Marion

The Fallen Blade Jon Courtenay Grimwood Orbit, 2010  The Fallen Blade is Act One of the Assassini Trilogy. You can enjoy this intricate historical and political fantasy with its nuanced, layered characters on its own, or you can follow the … Continue reading →

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This Isn’t Narnia

Posted on July 4, 2010 by Marion

The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly; Washington Square Press, 2007 A vulnerable boy makes his way into an alternate world filled with magic and danger.  To return to his own world he must find a talisman held by the … Continue reading →

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