#WyrdAndWonder 2023: Payback’s a Witch(y cover)

I’ve only missed one week (last week) yet somehow I feel like it’s been forever since I last had time to sit down and blog. Already 19 days have gone by in May, and while I’ve been able to tweet here and there, I’ve managed basically nothing in terms of posts for #WyrdAndWonder2023. In general, #WyrdAndWonder is one of my favorite times of year for blogging (please also check out my posts for 2022, and 2021), so I’ll admit to feeling pretty out of sorts the last 19 days.

I have excuses of course (travel . . . work . . . traveling for work), but mainly it just comes down to the fact that May is always a very busy month for me, and this May had been particularly so.

Without dwelling too much on that, let’s get to the good stuff . . . My first #WyrdAndWonder post!

If you’re completely confused as to what #WyrdAndWonder is, There’s Always Room for One More usually does a pretty good explanation (so definitely read that), but I’ll just describe it as a celebration of all things Fantasy. Generally, that gets related to books, but I’m sure any medium of fantasy is appropriate if you’re excited enough to talk about it.

There are also some prompts cooked up by the team so that each day of the month we’re (again generally) talking about the same thing, even if it’s different aspects or iterations of it. I usually find out about a couple new things each day and weep (tears of both joy and sadness) as my TBR explodes.

However, today my TBR is actually one book smaller. I’m not sure how Payback’s a Witch got added to said pile in the first place as Romance is not typically what I reach for first, but however it snuck in there, I’m happy that it did.

And because today’s prompt is “Witchy Covers” it’s a little extra relevant.

How Was It?

Good! Very good! I’m struggling a bit for a perfect comparison, but to me, it had the feel of SYFY Channel’s The Magicians (which are based off Lev Grossman’s novels by the same title which I have not yet read), which was probably my favorite show during its run (2015-2020; bring it back!!).

Within Harper’s tale, you’ll find:

• Lots of pop culture references
• Everyone is hot
• Cozy does not necessarily mean low stakes

And honestly, a whole lot more, but somewhere along the line I was conditioned to write lists in threes.

Of course I enjoyed all of that, and if you like those things you will too. If you’re here for the steam, there’s plenty. I eventually quit taking this one to work because I didn’t want to keep worrying about what face I was making while reading in the lunch room.

Perhaps slightly more unique to my interests and tastes, one of the four major witch families is said to descend from Slavic folk legend: Baba Yaga. The book did not have as many allusions as say the Shadow and Bone series, The Witcher, or the Winternight trilogy, but it was still fun to note the influences and consider them as I read.

From what I could tell, the Avramovs are just ‘slavic’, hailing from no particular slavic country that I could distinguish. Indeed the family name, Avramov, is apparently a Bulgarian and Serbian name. Talia mentions Strigoi several times which appears to be a Romanian creature.

She toasts “Nazdravye!” to Emmy back in the guest cottage which I thought might have been a weird transliteration (or mispelling) of За Здоровье! a Russian toast (related: this consistent Hollywood mix up of На Здоровье!) but it might actually be Macedonian. And then finally, Talia greets her “sestra” (sister) with “Privyet” which I think is uniquely Russian.

I don’t think all of this confusion is somehow a mistake or bad writing. Talia is often teased by the other characters for even attempting such callbacks to her heritage because the Avramov family has lived in the US for so long as to render any connections to the past meaningless. However, the whole family persist in the delusion, and Talia, for all her swagger and confidence, seems to just want to belong with them.

Without going into spoilers, place (as in geography) and sense of belonging have huge thematic weight within the novel which — for a book that feels in many ways like it was written through the hyper-reality of an instagram filter — was refreshingly true to life.

Give it a read?

Yes! I’d give this one my recomendation. Come for some steam, spend entirely too much time googling slavic phrases, and then let the existential motifs hit . . .

That’s all I have for this time. Have any of y’all read this yet? How did it make you feel? Would you read it in the lunch room? Let me know in the comments!

See you next time!

#WyrdAndWonder 2022 Wrap-Up Post

Well today marks my second #WyrdAndWonder in the books, and this year was just as fun as last year (maybe more fun!).

This year FELT a little less prolific then in the past, but I still managed to hack out the following posts:

• 2022 Kick Off + Top 5 Fantasy Books Since Last #WyrdAndWonder (2021)
• WyrdAndWonder Day 6 – Mythic Fantasy: A Review of The Girl in the Tower
• 200th Post! And My Top 5 Forest Fantasy Recommendations #WyrdAndWonder
• WyrdAndWonder Day 13 – Celebrate an Epic Fantasy: Shadow and Bone
• Top 5 Stories Featuring #WyrdAndWonder Mascots!
• WyrdAndWonder Day 20 – Celebrate a Dark Fantasy: The Sword of Destiny
• WyrdAndWonder Day 27 – Celebrate a Portal Fantasy: Come Tumbling Down

Apparently that was the same amount as a year ago so . . . I guess I have nothing to worry about.

My fav posts that #WyrdAndWonder people shared

As I did last year, here are five posts by other #WyrdAndWonder bloggers that I really enjoyed (in no particular order). I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!

• I’ll start with PYRAMIDS BY SIR TERRY PRATCHETT over on Peat Long’s Blog. I actually started this book a while ago, but had to put it down because it began competing with time I needed tor read books for book clubs and other blogging events. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to pick it back up for a while and after reading Peat’s post, I think I’m finally inspired to do so again!
• Zezee over at Zezee With Books did this awesome Tolkien inspired book tag. I can’t wait to give this one a shot myself as it seems really fun!
• I must be in the mood doing some book tags as my third pick the Fantasy Trope book tag over at I Love a Good Book. Tropes are fun, and this tag has a lot of great tropes to consider. We’ll see what I come up with when I give this one a try myself!
• Next is Wyrd & Wonder: Most Anticipated Fantasy Video Games over at Realms of My Mind. I can’t remember if I’ve ever done any blogging about video games. It’s definitely something I would like to get into as I’ve been playing enough of them recently. Anyway, this post looks towards the future to see what is coming out (or supposedly coming out). I had been aware of God of War because I’m a pretty big fan of that franchise, but most of these others were new (and exciting) to me. Especially Cult of the Lamb. What a trip hahah.
• Finally, I’ll end with Fatal Families: Bound by Blood and Oath over at There’s Always Room for One More. The concept of family seems to run deep within the veins of the Fantasy Genre. I’m sure a lot of this stems from the fact that succession for the throne was determined in most monarchies through family bloodlines, and many fantasies take place in faux medieval settings in which a King or Queen needs succeeding. Some more modern fantasies like The Green Bone Saga seem to interrogate and test the limits of family, and “Found Family” has become a subgenre in and of itself (to the chagrin of some) with books like The Wayward Children series, or The Vanished Birds (ok technically Sci-Fi but who’s keeping track).
  Saint Death’s Daughter seems to take on a bit of a different approach, getting away from lineage, and heredity, and brining to the fore a seemingly more common and familiar type of family, even as its members are anything but. Looks to be a fun and funny-wild ride. I’m here for it.

Farewell and Thank You!

Finally, I’d like to close out #WyrdAndWonder with a fond farewell and a thank you to all of our wonderful hosts:

Imyril at onemore.org
Lisa at Dear Geek Place
Jorie at Jorie Loves A Story
Annemieke at A Dance With Books,
Ariana from Book Nook.

Thanks for all that you do, and for making this another amazing month of May!

#WyrdAndWonder Day 20 – Celebrate a Dark Fantasy: The Sword of Destiny

And we’re back with day TWENTY of #WyrdAndWonder (if you have no idea what I’m talking about, please checkout this year’s #WyrdAndWonder Kick off post).

Wow I feel like May is going by entirely too quickly. Anyway, today’s prompt is to celebrate a Dark Fantasy.

I’ll be honest I wasn’t really sure what made something a “Dark Fantasy” as opposed to Grimdark or any of the other more brutal fantasies I’ve read recently (I’m thinking of books like Shadow of the Gods, any of the Green Bone books, and even Ring Shout).

Good reads defined Dark Fantasy, as having a few core elements such as “pronounced horror elements” (often of a supernatural nature), and “often anti-heroic or morally ambiguous protagonists”.

I immediately was reminded of the Netflix’s The Witcher, which I feel embodies all of these criteria pretty much to the T. But what about the books? I decided to read one and find out.

Start here . . . Or maybe here?

I think I may have goofed this bit up. When I looked up where to start the Witcher Saga, it seemed there were many different reading orders. The one I chose was the publishing order from Tim Hawkin’s The Witcher Books in Order – Two Ways to Read Them. Which turns out to be the order they were published in the US, which maybe isn’t the order they were published in Poland, and definitely isn’t chronological within the universe. So . . . I’ll be reading The Last Wish next, which I think will satisfy either order, and then make my decision what to do from there.

Anyway, all of that to say, the one I chose to start with was The Sword of Destiny.

Was it Dark Fantasy?

Sure. Of the criteria listed in the definition above, the anti-heroic behavior and the moral ambiguity of the protagonist seem to be the lynch pin of each of the stories in this collection. The question they each ask, is whether or not the protagonist — the famed Geralt of Rivia — is a hero or just another monster which everyone seems to believe Witchers to be.

Personally, from the stories I’ve seen in this collection, Geralt is almost at Eddard Stark levels on the morality scale. Good to a fault. But I think Sapkowski’s trick here, is that the world in which the Witcher takes place is filled with so many other morally ambiguous (and often morally bankrupt) characters that the book still reads like a Dark Fantasy. Of course Geralt always has some excuse for why his actions are neutral or self-centered, and so he believes himself to be just another monster, but I don’t think the reader ever really buys into that. Even the sad endings are kind of happy (opposite from the show in which even the happy endings leave you feeling sad).

I wouldn’t say horror is a huge focus of the book, except for the fact that when you come down to it, Witchers fight MONSTERS. Perhaps it’s the translation, but I never really felt afraid or scared in the ways I have reading pure horror books, but the text does give the monsters a sort of disgusting quality in many instances which I definitely would associate with horror so . . . perhaps it adds up there too.

Get your ink ready, we’ve managed to check off the two criteria. We’re stamping this one Dark Fantasy.

Read this one?

Oh I’d say so. There were quite a few things which caused me to roll my eyes, but it was never enough to make me put the book down, and I genuinely enjoyed most parts of it.

Probably the most distracting issues in the stories were Sapkowski’s overbearingly male gaze. In one story, we make it exactly one sentence before mentioning a mermaid’s uncovered and ample breasts. They do not stop getting mentioned in that story, and it seems like every other story has a buxom woman just waiting to heave her chest as a signal of almost any emotion.

Looking past that however, I was surprised to find quite a bit of humor within the stories, and twists on common fantasy tropes. One of my favorite images comes from Yennefer who, bound at the wrists, swings and kicks her legs to cast a spell. The magic seems to cause a good deal of havoc among her enemies, turning whole troops of people into frogs or something equally ludicrous.

I laughed quite hard at that one, but given the “dark” and serious nature of the rest of the events, I was unsure if that humor was intentional. These stories seem very aware of fantasy tropes, and make an effort to skewer them whenever possible. Could all those heaving bosoms also be satire?

I never really landed on a yes.

Despite all of this, there’s just something fun about a man who roams the kingdom slaying stuff (Geralt is very adamant that he is NOT a Knight Errant although he totally is. The very first story, Bounds of Reason, makes fun of the Knight Errant by showing them as absurd, and literally wrecking one . . . and yet).

I also really enjoyed — as has been my theme recently — the glimpses of slavic folklore and fairytales in general. One story, A Little Sacrifice, has very obvious associations with The Little Mermaid which was also interesting as I associate that story as a pretty western fairy tale. Perhaps some more research is needed.

Anyway, all of that to say, definitely give this book a read. I’m interested to see what you all pick up on that I missed.

And since we’re at the end of the post, please let me know what your thoughts and comments are. Has anyone read this book yet? The series? I’d love to hear from you!

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Still here? Awesome. I’m glad you enjoyed my review of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Sword of Destiny. I was so inspired by this book, and others like it, as well as some Russian history, fairy tales and folk traditions, that I decided to write my own short story in a similar setting. It is called Farewell to Rusalka, and I released it to newsletter subscribers back in April. However, if you’re still interested in reading it, please sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll send you a copy as a thank you.

Thanks for your time, and I hope to see you around here more!

Top 5 Stories Featuring #WyrdAndWonder Mascots!

Welp, two days late, and probably more than a few pennies short, but I’ve (tried to) put together a list of books which feature each of the #WyrdAndWonder mascots. Here we go!

Here there be Dragons . . .

Admittedly, this should be the easiest one. Most classic fantasy is imbued with a dragon of some sort. I’ve even written about a few myself in my own fiction for #Smaugust (HYBRID probably has the most to actually do with a dragon, though RESCUE is probably my fav).

So when picking a favorite dragon story, I was honestly faced with too much choice, as opposed to not enough (the same thing that causes you to scroll through netflix for an hour but never actually pick anything even though everything looks pretty good).

But I couldn’t bring myself to recommend the classic (if wonderful) uses of the trope because anyone reading this has probably already read those works and doesn’t need my help to remember them or enjoy them (though shared reading history is kinda the point of this whole thing in some ways)

Anyway, if you haven’t already, please check out The Flight of Dragons by Peter Dickinson. Essentially, this book takes all the myth and legend which surrounds these fabled creatures, and tries to sort the facts from the fiction. Only Dickinson doesn’t try to tear down our hopes of dragons ever being real, but instead tries to figure out how the could be real and what strange accidents of science and ecology would have to align in order for them to exist at all. It’s quite a bit of fun. Plus it has beautiful pictures!

Fiery Feathers . . .

Of course, next on our list, is the Phoenix! These fiery birds are most well known from Ancient Greek folklore and myth, although the Greek’s themselves seem to think the bird’s origin came from Ancient Egypt. Legend says that these birds live long and prosperous lives in paradise before eventually traveling to the mortal realm to perish. But do not weep at this majestic creature’s passing for it will be back with us shortly, resurrecting itself with fire and flame before returning home to paradise.

My own history with these creatures seems even harder to pin down than the origins of this fascinating myth. Probably the representation I’m most familiar with comes from Harry Potter (although which book I’m not quite sure). I’ve seen some other posts, mentioning a Phoenix sighting in R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War. While the phoenix does have a pretty critical role in that story, it’s somehow the thing I remember least about the book.

Other than that? It’s just fiery birds which are often Phoenix-like, but never the genuine article. For instance, Russian fairy tales and folklore tell of жар-птица, or The Firebird, which was used to excellent effect in Katherine Arden’s The Girl in the Tower, or the Persian Simorgh, which we see in S.A Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy.

Right now, I seem to be more interested in analogues of the Phoenix myth, but I’m sure I’ll swing around back to genuine phoenixes again soon (especially now that I know they possibly have Egyptian origin).

Fly like the wind Shadowfax . . .

Ugh. If only Gandalf’s horse had just sprouted wings right then and there . . .

Anyway, I am even less prepared to recommend books featuring Pegasus or any flying horses for that matter because, believe it or not, I don’t believe I’ve ever actually read a book with Pegasus, or a flying horse character (friend’s WIPs don’t count here until they’re published! Chop chop hahah).

I’m assuming these awesome creatures will play a big roll in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series? I have not read these yet but I seem to be finding more and more reasons to everyday. Sorry this category is kinda a bust.

(Side note, this doesn’t mean I’ve consumed zero media that’s contained a flying horse. Favs off the movie list are baby Pegasus from Disney’s Hercules, and Swift Wing from the Netflix reboot of She-Ra. Also I want to apologize for the absolute brutality wreaked on Pegasus during God of War 2. Griffins are real bastards)

From my books surcease of sorrow . . .

Crows be a dime a dozen these days in fantasy, and with their prevalence come a host of different meanings and interpretations, but Ravens . . . Ravens usually only mean one thing. Bad times ahead.

It’s no different in Ann Leckie’s The Raven Tower only, this raven is so much more than an obnoxious birb squawk squawk squawking on heaven’s door (think I’m starting to mix up my references a bit). This raven is a literal god. I won’t spoil much more because I hope you’ll check this one out. I absolutely LOVED Leckie’s Ancillary Justice (and the other Ancillary books), and this foray into fantasy, while admittedly not on that level, is still one of my fav raven stories of all time. Please go check it out and lets talk in the comments. K thanks!

“We come, brother.”

Wolves are always such an interesting addition to fantasy stories because there’s so much that we take into our interpretations of them. They’re dangerous, intelligent, wild, but also seemingly tamable and loyal. Worthy of our respect. Man has had a history with wolves longer than any can remember and it seems a bond as well.

Perhaps my favorite depictions are those in which wolves are somehow partnered with humans, but not dominated by or viscous towards them. The Wolfbrothers from Wheel of Time (which I quoted above) are a great example of this.

Also, though it’s been years since I read it so my mind is a little fuzzy, I believe so are the wolves in the book An Apprentice to Elves by Elizabeth Bear. After all, looks like the first book in that series is called Companion to Wolves. I think I may have to go back and take another look at these!

We did it!

Thanks all for coming on this ride with me. What’d you think of this list? Please let me know in the comments!

Until next time!

#WyrdAndWonder Day 13 – Celebrate an Epic Fantasy: Shadow and Bone

Welcome to another glorious day in the month of May. Spring is in the air . . . #WyrdAndWonder is on the blogs . . .

And apparently I keep coming back to winter forests whenever I try to post anything. It’s only medium on purpose.

Anyway, today’s prompt is to celebrate an EPIC fantasy. I picked the first offering in Leigh Bardugo’s formidable Grishaverse, none other than Shadow and Bone!

Now, I did receive a little pushback from some of my friends regarding the “Epic-ness” of this book and whether or not I should go with something else. I believe the complaint was something about it’s close POV limiting its scope (too much to be considered epic), and that it is targeted towards a YA audience.

And I considered going with something from Brandon Sanderson, or maybe Robert Jordan. I recently read John Gwynne’s Shadow of the Gods which I believe probably fits this designation as well.

But I felt Shadow and Bone to be every bit as “epic” as these other stories, though perhaps it doesn’t quite seem to be at first.

So I made a little chart:

Epic Fantasy	Shadow and Bone
Setting: A world other than ours. But vaguely medieval Europe	✓ Definitely not set on earth — Not really medieval or Europe though (a feature not a bug!)
Magic: Fantastical elements play a major role in the story	✓ Yup! Tons of magic. Fire magic, healing magic, tailoring magic, Sun/Shadow Summoning. Just tons! Also, a whole subplot about how tech is becoming as powerful as magic
Scale: Power politics, wars death of nations, gods walking the earth	✓ The main thrust of the plot effects a few nations and kingdoms (Ravka, Fjerda, Shu Han etc).
Morality: Good guys are good bad guys are evil	✓ — The characters are not quite as black and white as most (early) epic fantasies I’ve read. There is some grey. (Another feature not a bug)
Great Evil: An enemy which is near enough Evil incarnate	✓ There’s a character called The Darkling. Again he’s not as black and white on the morality scale as some villains but . . . DARKLING!!
Methods: Victory is achieved through the efforts of a small number of characters acting against great odds	✓ In the end, despite all the kingdoms, ships, monsters, wars etc. It really comes down to Mal, Alina, and the Darkling.
[my addition] —> Length: Doorstopper page length or a ton of sequels, prequels and spin offs	✓ ✓ ✓ Shadow and Bone isn’t that long, but it’s just the first in a something-verse . . . of like 7 books. It def counts.

***(left side definitions are from High/Epic Fantasy on TV Tropes.)***

Targeted towards YA Audience?

Don’t let your hackles raise, “Epic” fantasy is NOT only written for adults. There are plenty of YA titles which fit that bill (Harry Potter, The Hobbit, and The Chronicles of Narnia being the first of many to come to mind).

So . . . Read Shadow and Bone?

If that big list things Shadow and Bone contains within its pages wasn’t enough of a reason for you, then let my recommendation do the rest. Yes! Read Shadow and Bone. Again, awesome list up above aside, I really did fall in love with this book’s setting. I’ve mentioned in my reviews of The Bear in the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower how much I enjoy seeing elements of Russian history, religion and folklore represented in works of fiction.

It’s obvious that Bardugo searched through many historical sources (I think she includes a bibliography in the afterward) and used what she found to create a rich and intriguing world. Half the fun (for me) of reading this book was just mining it for little scraps of history and myth which I didn’t already know, or seeing the parts I recognized come to life.

Now I’ll admit, there appears to have been a bit of a controversy about when Bardugo chose to take liberties with Russian culture. So much so that Bardugo put out a statement explaining a lot of her choices. From her point of view, it seems pretty well thought out and purposeful, and from what I’ve read I don’t think many were hurt by the way she molded Ravka into its own place, reminiscent of Russia, but not the same. I’ll admit I was often confused during parts of the book when I was looking for connections and not finding them, but I don’t think it ever took away from my enjoyment of the story at all.

Just an interesting bit to know.

Anyway, has anyone read this book? This series? I’m only finished book one so no spoilers, but what did you think of Shadow and Bone! Would love to chat about this one so please leave your thoughts in the comments.

See you next time!!

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Still here? Awesome. I’m glad you enjoyed my review of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. I was so inspired by this book, and others like it, as well as real Russian history, fairy tales and folk traditions, that I decided to write my own short story in a similar setting. It is called Farewell to Rusalka, and I released it to newsletter subscribers back in April. However, if you’re still interested in reading it, please sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll send you a copy as a thank you.

Thanks for your time, and I hope to see you around here more!

200th Post! And My Top 5 Forest Fantasy Recommendations #WyrdAndWonder

Wow. I can’t believe I’ve posted two hundred times already on this blog. While this feels like an important milestone, I am relatively unprepared for it. I didn’t plan anything special. No giveaways or special features. No discounts (lolz this blog is free anyway).

However, I have been participating in the month long celebration of all things Fantasy known as Wyrd and Wonder. For that, I’ve gathered a list of my Top 5 favorite Fantasy reads which are somehow related to the theme of FOREST. Anyway, here it is:

My Top 5 Forest Fantasy Books

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

This is probably the most recent thing I’ve read with a prominent forest in it (excluding Bear and the Nightingale, and The Girl in the Tower cause I’m trying not to make this whole month about those two books). I finished it for last year’s #WyrdAndWonder (2021), and wondered whether or not Emily Tesh should win the 2021 Astounding award (ultimately I said no). Even though I didn’t pick it for the award, I still thought it was an excellent read! I loved the language Tesh employed, and the mythical creatures revealed throughout the novella (primarily The Green Man, and Dryads).

Overall, I highly recommend.

The Runelords by David Farland

RIP David Wolverton (aka David Farland). I haven’t read much of Farland’s writing, but I recognized the name as an often acclaimed friend and mentor to Brandon Sanderson. I believe many in the writing community were upset to hear of his passing.

His most well known series, The Runelords, presents a pseudo-medieval world in which people can transfer attributes (like grace, or strength) through a process called endowments. Individuals with many endowments become super-human and are known as Runelords.

I only read book one of the series, but it was and interesting premise (and not hard to see the influence it had upon Sanderson) which quickly revealed itself to be quite profound. During the first book, which gives the series its name, the main character must find his way through a magical forest which is haunted by wights. I won’t give away too much about what happens, but suffice to say, this forest is the kind of forest we think of when we think about forests in a fantasy setting. Not quite the trope codifier (which I assume is Tolkien), but just a really great example of its use.

Highly recommend.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

I’m sure this book will come up in a lot of posts this #WyrdAndWonder, so I won’t spend a ton of time talking about Naomi Novik’s great fairy tale inspired novel. What I enjoyed about the forest in this book was just how ALIVE it felt and how menacing.

Definitely a great read!

Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor

Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor, admittedly has many different kinds of stories within its pages, and most of them (if I remember correctly) do not have much to do with a forest. However, a few stories do, and what I liked so much about their representation here, is that they are so much different than the typical wooded settings we’re used to in a western fantasy setting.

There are all kinds of forests (like say . . . a palm forest) all over the world, and we really get reminded of that throughout this book.

Plus Okorafor is just an amazing author. I really need to do a re-read of her works for the blog sometime. Anyway, definitely read this one!

Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson

I’m sure nobody is surprised to see Brandon Sanderson on this list. Despite the fact that his worlds span continents, oceans, and even outer space, not a lot of forest settings immediately jumped to my mind when considering his work. However, Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell is good enough to fill in any supposed lack of forestry within the Cosmere. This forest is insane.

Essentially, the forest is haunted by “cognitive shadows” (called Shades) or ghosts which will effectively kill anything they touch, therefore creating a new Shade. This forest is so dangerous to the world’s inhabitants that people living near it have developed a set of rules for traveling through them which might keep them alive. There are three:

1. Do not kindle a flame
2. Do not shed the blood of another
3. Do not run during the night

I think you can probably guess what ends up happening during the story hahah. Anyway, I like this one because it’s a nice little glimpse into other parts of the Cosmere, and (IMHO) is generally not like any of the other stories we’ve read in that universe. Perhaps some might consider it a random one-off, but for me, it just makes things more interesting. If you’re a fan of Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, I’d say this is a must read, and if not, probably still check it out anyway. It’s a lot of fun.

That’s it!

That’s the list. My top five favorite fantasy stories featuring forests in them. Also, if you haven’t already, please check out a little original piece of fiction I started for #Smaugust last year called Failmor Woods, which was written around a FOREST theme.

Now let’s see some comments. Have you read any of the stories I posted about? What were your thoughts. Any not on my list which should be? I’d love to here about them.

See you next time!

2022 Kick Off + Top 5 Fantasy Books Since Last #WyrdAndWonder (2021)

ARTWORK by chic2view from 123RF.com

Hi all, welcome to another #WyrdAndWonder celebration of all things fantasy books. If you’re unsure what I’m talking about, head on over to imyril’s blog (There’s Always Room For One More) and read all about this Wyrd and Wonderful blogging event.

If you don’t want to do that, then just know that it’s an event in which bloggers, youtubers, tweeters, grammers, and Tokkers celebrate the genre of Fantasy by reading books together, discussing daily prompts, participating in bingo challenges, and generally just geeking out about Fantasy books. There’s plenty to do.

This will be my second year participating (please check out year one posts in my 2021 #WyrdAndWonder Wrap up), and it’s the Fifth birthday of the event which is put on by the following fabulous hosts: (the aforementioned) Imyril at onemore.org, Lisa at Dear Geek Place, and Jorie at Jorie Loves A Story, Annemieke at A Dance With Books, and Ariana from Book Nook.

Thank you for all that you do!!

I’ll probably pin this posts to the top of my blog, and keep a running list of any posts that I do. Right now I’m thinking of trying to write book reviews on Fridays, answer prompts on Wednesdays and create ‘Top 5’ lists on Sundays. We’ll see how it goes.

So, for my first Wyrd and Wonder post of 2022, here’s a list of:

My favorite fantasy novels which I’ve read since last year . . .

Bear in the Nightingale

It seems like I’ve been waiting to read a book like Bear in the Nightingale for my whole life. A book which mythologizes Russia and it’s people into something other than evil communists, or Soviet spies. Set in medieval Russia, the book mixes history and folk tradition in an magical and inspiring way. Within its pages you’ll find plenty of familiar faces from Russian Fairy tales (or сказки), like the Domovoy and Bannik. Most interesting to me was Morozko who seems to be related to Ded Moroz, which I recognized from my family’s celebrations of Russian Christmas, and Russian New Year.

Anyway, nostalgia aside, Bear and the Nightingale, is simply an enchanting read.

Jade Legacy

Of course I loved Jade City, and also loved Jade War (and as of yesterday, Jade Setter of Janloon), but Jade Legacy really brought this series to the pinnacle of its art. In a story which feels like Kung Fu meets The Godfather, the city of Janloon is controlled by clans who use jade powered magic abilities to further legitimate and illegitimate business, personal, and family agendas. The complexity of such a setting is staggering on its own, but we’re able to navigate it through our connection to the characters who are probably some of the most fully realized people I’ve ever read in a book. And of course, once we’re completely invested in their successes or failures, the twists keep coming.

I have no doubt this series will be Fonda Lee’s legacy in SFF, and what (Jade) Legacy it will be.

Raybearer

This book is definitely one of the most exciting books I’ve read in recent memory. To me, its strengths lie in its consistent pacing, unique setting and the sheer power of this book’s main character. Tarisai is quite literally a sympathy magnet. From page one, it is impossible not to connect with this lonely girl who’s been completely isolated from people her own age and a traditional family.

That conflict is built right into the most basic aspect of her identity, her Hollow (unique magical power), which allows her to see other’s memories. This should allow Tarisai to build even closer connections with those around her since she can literally share their experience. Instead, it means that she cannot even be held when she’s sad, for her servants believe that she might accidently steal their memories.

Ooof right? Every struggle Tarisai faces stacks up against her in a similarly complex and meaningful way. It’s this level of craft and a whole lot more, which made me feel that Raybearer should have won the Lodestar Award in 2021. Definitely a must-read

A Deadly Education

This book is so much more than just ‘a darker Harry Potter’. The main character, El (short for Galadriel), has an engaging voice, and is fun in her extreme antisocial outlook and behavior. There is plenty of snark, but somehow it never made me bristle like most snarky characters I’ve read.

After other books I’d read by Naomi Novik (Spinning Silver, and Uprooted) I wasn’t expecting nearly as many pop culture references (see aforementioned main character name), which also lent to this book’s readability and fun-factor. Finally, the concept of the Scholomance in general reminded me of an evil take on the Eudaimonia Machine.

However, this title is not without some controversy. I go into all of that in my review of A Deadly Education but in general, the book was one of my favorite Fantasies of the year.

Empire of Gold

Don’t let the fact that I said Silver Medal for Empire of Gold in my review dissuade you from reading this one, because it’s still an amazing book. I just love being in Daevabad and I’ll take any excuse I can get to go back (looking at you The River of Silver). Chakraborty has imagined such an intricate and thoroughly magical world. It feels new and astonishing, and is equal parts mysterious and delightful. I’ll never tire of reading about magical djinn, shedu, karkadann, and peri (and it’s been dually interesting to see how they’re done in other stories like the A Dead Djinn universe by P. Djeli Clark).

So, if you’re on the fence about this one, get off it, and go give Empire of Gold a read.

Stay tuned!

Well, that’s more or less all I have for this first post in this year’s #WyrdAndWonder extravaganza. I hope you’re able to follow along and I can’t wait to see what other people are posting for this event.

In the mean time, how did you feel about my list? Love it? Hate it? Have you read any of these in the past? What were your thoughts? Leave em in the comments.

See you next time!

#WyrdAndWonder Wrap Up Post

Feels like the last day #WyrdAndWonder is an appropriate time to post something about what I was able to accomplish during this month long Fantasy Blog Party.

Here’s what I wrote (and didn’t write):

May 3rd – #MapMonday: Using Emerging Tech for Fictional Maps
May 5th – Should ‘Black Sun’ get a Hugo?
May 9th – Spine Poetry for Mother’s Day
May 10th – Mixed feelings: The Truth About Dinosaur Lords
May 12th – Review: Song of Achilles
May 17th – Can’t Wait to read! (twitter post) and Desert Island Reads (catching up from last Wednesday)
May 19th – Review: Silver in the Wood
May 24th – TBR: 11 Fantasy Books I should have read by now
May 26th – Review: Empire of Gold

My fav posts that #WyrdAndWonder people shared:

There were tons of great posts from all kinds of places during this event, but these are a couple and what I liked about them:

• Nine Dragons and Fantasy Artists on Instagram over at A Dance With Books – Because let’s face it, who isn’t looking for nine more places to find dragon art hahah.
• Book Covers Featuring Libraries over at Redd’s Reads – I work at a library, obvi this post was made just for me haha. Always looking for cool libraries in fiction, but never actually wanting to write about one in my own work. Now I’ve got a bunch more reasons to stall hahah.
• The Green Man is Calling over at There is Always Room For One More – I’m sort of interested in “The Green Man” since he was the subject of Silver in the Wood and I realized I don’t really know that much about this legend. This post came soon after and really just kept the interest going . . . I suspect I might fall down a hole in the internet on this topic soon. Perhaps I’ll write about.
• Ten (More) Ridiculously Cool Magic Systems! over at Every Book a Doorway – I’m like REALLY interested in magic systems as eventually I’d like to come up with a cool one that is unique and awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t think people have much to say about em beyond “Look how cool Brandon Sanderson’s magic system is.” or “Look how great Patrick Rothfuss’s system was.” . . . This post went beyond that and now I’ve got twenty (ten more at the original Ten Ridiculously Cool Magic Systems. Also a great read) new magic systems to study and learn from. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m excited to dive in!
  Also I see there’s a Coolest Magical Abilities post and a (more of the) Coolest Magical Abilities post so I’ve got my afternoon reading booked up 🙂
• Literary Dinner Party Tag (fantasy edition) over at First Line Reader – This was just a really fun book tag, and I can’t wait to give it a shot sometime soon.

If I didn’t include your post here, that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. I did! It’s just that I’m too lazy to hunt down more than five of these things, and “Top Five” kinda has a nice ring to it.

Farewell and Thank You:

Since it’s the end of the event, it also feels appropriate to say ‘farewell’. I’m not going anywhere, but I might not try to post as often (maybe back to twice a week, or even once since I don’t have a lot of fiction ready at the moment).

And of course, Thank you! to all the #WyrdAndWonder people who visited me, and inspired me to keep writing these posts. Thank you to Imyril, Lisa and Jorie for hosting this event. It’s badass.

And thanks to everyone who came by and interacted with my posts, it was great to hear from you!

That’s all for now folks. Hopefully I’ll still be doing this bloggo thing next year and can participate in a second year (5th! for the event! wow. Awesome).

Feel free to tell me your fav part of #WyrdAndWonder in the comments!

Should ‘Silver In the Wood’ win Emily Tesh an Astounding Award? (aka best debut) #WyrdAndWonder

A hard question to answer. Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh is a great novella for many reasons.

The first reason, is its up close-and-personal interpretation of the ‘Green man’ myth. Unfortunately, I’m not very familiar with the folklore surrounding this figure, so I can’t really comment on Tesh’s interpretation.

The impression I have though, using really only this story as a reference point, is that The Green Man is a kind of tree spirit, similar to a Dryad from classical mythology (indeed there is a dryad that follows our main character around and is very protective of him), which protects the forest and keeps out all the bad stuff that wants to come in. However, a few things set our main character apart:

• he is male and most dryads are female in the book
• he lives near a big oak tree which might make him something like a Hamadryad but I’m not sure

This sort of mythic existence puts him in a sort of tenuous relationship with the rest of the wood’s inhabitants. At first, humans see him as wild and scary, but ultimately get over it as the story progresses.

Whatever the folklore textbooks have to say, the interpretation written here feels simultaneously personal, and mythic in a way which is really engaging and is probably the first thing I noticed about the book.

I feel this mythic quality is accomplished by the second awesome part about this novella: Tesh’s prose. They’re lovely, and seem to rely on some seemingly impossible phrases (how exactly does time pass “slow and green”) which don’t hang up the reader, but give us our own freedom to imagine their implications. Throughout the entire work, we’re in a place where things don’t quite make sense but are nevertheless mystical and fantastic.

This novella’s final and perhaps most endearing quality is its romance arc. It seems to try and hide itself behind the thickets of legend and worldbuilding, but the reality is that this story does not start until Tobias meets Harry Silver, and can’t end until . . . well I won’t spoil it. Needless to say, it is the thread that pulls us through.

My only gripe, is that I felt like I was left wondering in a few too many places. The story seems to have complex character relationships based on a complex and long history, but I felt like we never got enough of that history to understand why the action we were taking would bring about the end we desired. Even in a scant 100 pages, there was at least two moments in which I wondered why we where seeing something and ultimately felt the scene could have been pruned away.

Astounding Award?

I suppose the answer to this question will ultimately come down to how it stacks up against the competition.

This title is a great read, and there is much to love within this bite-sized package. There is a clever mythology at play here, a genuinely enjoyable romance, and beautiful prose, but I also felt that some key information was missing, while other sections seemed to provide things which weren’t relevant.

Looking back at my review of The Vanished Birds, I seemed to have similar complaints, although I feel it’s longer page count might give it some more leniency than Silver in the Wood. Short works don’t have as much time for extra material. Every word counts.

Micaiah Johnson’s debut is probably still the story I’ve enjoyed most in my Hugo Contender read-through (though I’m not going to look back through all the posts to make sure I didn’t contradict myself). My review of The Space Between Worlds cites strong characters, and a well-developed setting as it’s strong points, and I believe that in these categories, it simply out-performs Silver in the Wood.

No Astounding Award for Tesh this year (in my rankings at least), though I’m sure she’ll contend for other awards in the future. If you’ve made it this far in the post, I’m hoping you’ll still go read Silver in the Wood as it is a great book!

If you have questions comments or gripes, leave em in the comments. Thanks all!

#WyrdAndWonder Desert Island Reads

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

It would seem today’s #WyrdAndWonder challenge is Books I Can’t Wait to Read, and another photo challenge. I can’t wait to read Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, but that doesn’t really make for a very long blog post, so I’m going to throw back to last Wednesday’s Desert Island reads challenge now that I have the time. You can read all about the criteria on Desert Island Reads by There is Always Room For One More, but essentially, I choose:

• 8 books (or audiobooks) to take with me on a desert island. They be anything, but if they’re part of a series, each one will count as one of my eight unless they are bound together. No e-readers . . .
• 1 TV, Movie or Podcast
• One luxury item that can be anything I want.
• **It’s supposed to be based around Fantasy titles and things, and I’m realizing that I didn’t quite follow that. Sorry. I still like the list I came up with though so I hope you can forgive me

I’m imagining all these things will get thrown into a kind of trunk which will washup next to me on the beach, a yellow glow leaking from its seams. You know, typical treasure chest stuff. Let’s take a look inside . . .

My 8 books:

So for this, I’d probably want to take a mix of things. Some stuff I’ve been meaning to read, as well as some stuff that is just comforting to me. I’m kinda thinking I would split this up into some research type reading, and then just-for-fun type books. Of course some will be new to me and some will be well read. Here they are:

• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson – Simply put, this is my favorite book. I’ve read it a whole bunch of times, and I’m sure I’ll read it a whole bunch more. It goes in the trunk
• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie – Same idea as above, I just love this book. It’s going in the trunk.
• A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – As mentioned for today’s challenge, I can’t wait to read this book! Better bring it along. (update 6/16/21 – Review of A Deadly Education posted!)
• His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik – Since it seems we’re on a Novik kick, I figure might as well.
• David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa – I just really want to read this one too. I had a preorder for it, but then Amazon just gave up on trying to distribute it to me and so I’m not even sure how to get a physical copy, but it looks really good and so in this fantasy scenario we’ve concocted, it’s also in the trunk.
• The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson – As long as I’m stranded, might as well skill up. I’ve always wanted to invent a conlang so perhaps this might be a good time to get started.
• Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians Volumes 1-3 by John Gardiner Wilkinson – I’m pretty much fascinated by ancient Egypt. I’ve been meaning to take a crack at this set for a while, but I never seem to have time. Seems like a good use of some forced reading time.
• Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners by Bill Manely – I’ve made it about half way through this book in the past, but bounced off of it. If I’ve got some free time I’d definitely like to try it again
• Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland – I’d like to think I’ll have some time for writing on this crazy adventure. Every time I sit down to write something new, whether a short story or a long novel, I always seem to crack this book open as a reference in the beginning. I think I’ll need it along the journey.
• Why Dinosaurs Matter by Kenneth Lacovara – My understanding of this book is that it’s basically a TED talk . . . About DINOSAURS!! Obviously I’m bringing it!

TV/Movie/Podcast:

Nothing too special here. I’d choose the Imaginary Worlds Podcast. It’s a great podcast which bills itself as a Sci-Fi podcast although they cover lots of Fantasy, and other genres. It’s written (produced?) by Eric Molinsky, and I just love his approach. He always seems to find some new angle on whatever topic he’s casting about, and it has a very journalistic feel which complements his passion for all things SFF really well. Highly recommend.

Luxury Item:

Baltimore BBQ Company Original sauce – The rules post said that food would be taken care of, but I’m still kinda imagining that it will not be food that I would normally eat. I’ll put bbq sauce on pretty much anything so I figure having a bottle of the good stuff along will help ease whatever interesting food choices I’ll have to endure. Even coconuts . . .