![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Marc Scott Zicree & Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Magic Time: Angelfire:I read the first book in this series many years ago; it’s interesting enough worldbuilding that I remembered enough to continue. Magic has taken over from tech and mutated lots of formerly human people; our heroes are wandering across the country trying to rescue the leader’s sister, who’s become a “flare” who is captured by something big and evil living in the heartland. It was enjoyable if you like this kind of thing.
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In: Shesheshen is a monster who eats people. When monster hunters nearly kill her, she falls into the lap of a woman that she first wants to lay eggs in, then wants to keep alive (though she’s still fine with eating other people). Lots of squishy body parts are involved; the monster’s eye view of human society is funny (as the object of Shesheshen’s affections keeps saying). But they both have to survive the legacy of past abuses. Good if you are ok with body horror and unrepentant murder, at least of the deserving.
Frances Hardinge, Island of Whispers: For younger readers who are ok with creepy things—the story of a young boy forced into his father’s job of ferrying the dead’s shoes to an island, so they won’t become dangerous ghosts. It’s got Hardinge’s endless imagination (the headless birds are quite something) and gentle illustrations.
Ann Leckie, Lake of Souls: Story collection, beginning with a few about deeply alien aliens, then a couple of Radch stories, then—indicating where her imagination is focused these days, perhaps—a larger number set in the world of The Raven Tower, but far away or far away in time, focused mainly on river gods and their dealings with humans. They were all imaginative and deeply interested in what constitutes right behavior under various circumstances, but I’m looking forward to a return to novels.
Seanan McGuire, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known: This entry in Wayward Children had very little of the repetition that bothers me and moved the story forward. Antsy, the girl who can find lost things, including Doors, narrowly escapes being enslaved by another resident at the school. To escape, she and other usual suspects go through a different door, catch up with old acquaintances, and take some steps to make things better for future children.
Chuck Wendig, Black River Orchard: A mysterious apple tastes like heaven, and seems to bring those who eat it great health as well as other strengths. Except for the few who spit it out because of the things squirming in it …. This might be my favorite of Wendig’s yet, with a Stephen King-like feel for place and time (a teenage would-be influencer is one of the main characters) and for the way that real horror is always about what humans choose to do when evil appears.
Caroline B. Cooney, Goddess of Yesterday: A Tale of Troy: YA fantasy (minimal but seemingly real involvement of the gods) with a heroine who ends up pretending to be two different princesses in the course of surviving the violence of the Greek peninsula. Helen is a monster here: beautiful but careless of others at best, terrifying and fascinating. I found it very enjoyable.
Sacha Lamb, When the Angels Left the Old Country: For fans of kind fantasy. The angel and demon of Shtetl—too small to have a name—go to America to check on the welfare of an emigrant young woman. They find far more than they were expecting, including the angel’s experimentations with human form. It’s just wonderful, steeped in Judaism and full of energy and kindness, even though exploitative relations and danger are also present.
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In: Shesheshen is a monster who eats people. When monster hunters nearly kill her, she falls into the lap of a woman that she first wants to lay eggs in, then wants to keep alive (though she’s still fine with eating other people). Lots of squishy body parts are involved; the monster’s eye view of human society is funny (as the object of Shesheshen’s affections keeps saying). But they both have to survive the legacy of past abuses. Good if you are ok with body horror and unrepentant murder, at least of the deserving.
Frances Hardinge, Island of Whispers: For younger readers who are ok with creepy things—the story of a young boy forced into his father’s job of ferrying the dead’s shoes to an island, so they won’t become dangerous ghosts. It’s got Hardinge’s endless imagination (the headless birds are quite something) and gentle illustrations.
Ann Leckie, Lake of Souls: Story collection, beginning with a few about deeply alien aliens, then a couple of Radch stories, then—indicating where her imagination is focused these days, perhaps—a larger number set in the world of The Raven Tower, but far away or far away in time, focused mainly on river gods and their dealings with humans. They were all imaginative and deeply interested in what constitutes right behavior under various circumstances, but I’m looking forward to a return to novels.
Seanan McGuire, Mislaid in Parts Half-Known: This entry in Wayward Children had very little of the repetition that bothers me and moved the story forward. Antsy, the girl who can find lost things, including Doors, narrowly escapes being enslaved by another resident at the school. To escape, she and other usual suspects go through a different door, catch up with old acquaintances, and take some steps to make things better for future children.
Chuck Wendig, Black River Orchard: A mysterious apple tastes like heaven, and seems to bring those who eat it great health as well as other strengths. Except for the few who spit it out because of the things squirming in it …. This might be my favorite of Wendig’s yet, with a Stephen King-like feel for place and time (a teenage would-be influencer is one of the main characters) and for the way that real horror is always about what humans choose to do when evil appears.
Caroline B. Cooney, Goddess of Yesterday: A Tale of Troy: YA fantasy (minimal but seemingly real involvement of the gods) with a heroine who ends up pretending to be two different princesses in the course of surviving the violence of the Greek peninsula. Helen is a monster here: beautiful but careless of others at best, terrifying and fascinating. I found it very enjoyable.
Sacha Lamb, When the Angels Left the Old Country: For fans of kind fantasy. The angel and demon of Shtetl—too small to have a name—go to America to check on the welfare of an emigrant young woman. They find far more than they were expecting, including the angel’s experimentations with human form. It’s just wonderful, steeped in Judaism and full of energy and kindness, even though exploitative relations and danger are also present.
From:
no subject