Things i've enjoyed in the month of June:
Re-reading Cornelia Funke's, Reckless:
I needed a refresher on the Mirrorworld before i started on the next book in the series and i'm incredibly glad i took the time because...
For me this falls between children's literature and Young Adult and is all the better for it. Plenty of YA leaves me frustrated at characters making idiotic decisions and nauseated due to an overabundance of insta-love.
...
Reckless falls prey to neither of these things and this is perhaps why i have such a fondness for the story and its characters.
Jacob is a flawed hero and shitty brother but he'll do anything, anything to keep Will safe.
Fox is not some lovesick girl who moons over her best friend until he figures out he loves her back (okay, she kind of does but it's not sickening, it's really quite honest) but a shape-shifter with an immense amount of courage, loyalty and heart. Plus, she has one hell of a bite.
Clara's not the girl who comes between two brothers but a smart, daring woman who apart from being accidentally drugged into lusting after Jacob, is unwaveringly faithful to Will.
Will's possibly the least well-formed character but i still enjoy him being around.
Valiant's there for duplicitous and comedic effect but done well so i don't have the overriding urge to redact him from the story by my own damn hand.
The villains are not Bond villains who cackle and plot but just the other side to your typical, barbaric and senseless war.
The world-building is written in such a way that you can almost taste it but with enough subtlety that it feels possible. If i wanted to stroke a Unicorn's mane then Cornelia Funke makes it seem feasible. How she does this? I'm in no way sure but i'm glad of her skill... i always wanted a Unicorn.
The story isn't anything new but reading it reminds me of old fairytales and not just because it's composed of elements from said tales but because it feels old. It feels dusty and lovingly stained. It feels like opening the pages of a well-worn paperback and inhaling deeply.
Yes. A definite fondness.
Fearless, don't let me down.
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Losing my shit over Snowbaz getting a sequel:
Send help.
I won't survive this.
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Catching up on the illustrated word:
I don't know why Summer's my time for this but it is and i will not question it, especially when there's such wondrous things as Saga out there.
The Will is one of my favourite characters and my brain automatically goes to this when he wields his lance (yeah, yeah, insert dirty sniggering here):
The Will is one of my favourite characters and my brain automatically goes to this when he wields his lance (yeah, yeah, insert dirty sniggering here):
Recommendations from the above list (not in order of preference because... lazy):
1. Saga (because of course)
2. Monstress (gods, gore and short-tempered females)
3. Nailbiter (serial killers, disgraced cops and good old town curses)
4. The End of Summer (beautiful visuals, breathless storytelling and heartbreaking resolutions)
5. Giant Days (poison-tongued teenage girls, adolescent lethargy and so-poignant-it-hurts humour)
6. Nimona (shapeshifting, sorcery and heart so pure it'll swallow you whole)
7. SuperMutant Magic Academy (outcasts, unrequited love and a surprising amount of social commentary, philosophical pondering and existential dread)
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Kevin Hearne's Hounded:
This was a strange one for me.
I have so much love for Atticus and his putridly lovely wolfhound, Oberon but the dialogue was incredibly jarring.
But oddly... engrossing at the same time?
With most Urban Fantasy you're given a modern setting with either a new but seasoned supernatural badass, a chosen one who's just found out they're probably prophesied to die (If the apocalypse comes, beep me.), or an old god who's enjoying (or despairing of) modern comforts.
Atticus is the latter but he's just a bit awesome so fitting into contemporary life isn't a problem.
Apart from the way he talks.
I'm so used to the chosen ones abusing the english language (in a fantastic way, see: Kate Daniels) that being confronted with a brood of old gods, vampires, werewolves, witches etc. who have impeccable manners (when they're not tricking you into impaling yourself on your own sword) and speak with perfectly manicured old timey english is just... bizarre.
And if i wasn't so fond of the lead character then i think i wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as i did.
But when your hero says things like this:
What sealed the deal for me was that the cloak wouldn't come off without a generous donation of my tears. Those used to be almost impossible for me to summon, I admit, until I watched Field of Dreams.
When Kevin Costner asks his dad at the end if he'd like to have a catch, I just completely lose my shit.
Me too Atticus, me too!
And then there's Oberon.
Sweet, sausage-loving, poodle-harem desiring Oberon.
He's the fucking sweetest, i'll fight anyone who says otherwise, just watch:
"Genghis Khan would never put up with so much attitude," he said.
Finally watching The Witch:
I'm not actually as in awe as i thought i'd be but still... the atmosphere was, well, bewitching.
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It's taken me days to get my head around this and i still don't think i'm quite there yet. I don't even know what you would classify this as? Horror? Mythological? Time travel? Odyssey? Parallel universe? Philosophical? All of the above?! I don't know! I just don't knowwww.
I do know i enjoyed the hell out of it and it surprised me constantly. Not a damned thing did i see coming and even for the most gifted of writers, that's an almost impossible feat.
In many ways it reminded me of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood cycle but with a generous dose of Ray Bradbury's flare for the unnerving, Alan Garner's innate sense of the other and Tim Lebbon's skill for descriptive supernatural bloodshed.
I do love a villain who enjoys the fuck out of its parade of misery and throat-munching. Nothing worse than a brooding monster with parental issues.
What's surprising though is that the afaugh does have a sad backstory and said story is actually the plot of the main story, making what's fated to happen a self-fulfilling prophecy. A prophecy i'm still befuddled and hounded by.
This is extremely clever writing. Writing i want more of. Luckily Brogden has more. Watch me devour it like the afaugh devours long pig.
In many ways it reminded me of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood cycle but with a generous dose of Ray Bradbury's flare for the unnerving, Alan Garner's innate sense of the other and Tim Lebbon's skill for descriptive supernatural bloodshed.
What's surprising though is that the afaugh does have a sad backstory and said story is actually the plot of the main story, making what's fated to happen a self-fulfilling prophecy. A prophecy i'm still befuddled and hounded by.
This is extremely clever writing. Writing i want more of. Luckily Brogden has more. Watch me devour it like the afaugh devours long pig.
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Merriam Webster hitting me up with one of very favourite words:
The fact that there's a word specifically for being thrown out of a window is too fucking fantastic in my opinion.
I don't get to use it enough.
Is it time to start pushing people out of windows just so i proclaim i defenestrated them as they plummet to the ground?
...
Maybe...
The fact that there's a word specifically for being thrown out of a window is too fucking fantastic in my opinion.
I don't get to use it enough.
Is it time to start pushing people out of windows just so i proclaim i defenestrated them as they plummet to the ground?
...
Maybe...
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Kevin Hearne's Hounded:
This was a strange one for me.
I have so much love for Atticus and his putridly lovely wolfhound, Oberon but the dialogue was incredibly jarring.
But oddly... engrossing at the same time?
With most Urban Fantasy you're given a modern setting with either a new but seasoned supernatural badass, a chosen one who's just found out they're probably prophesied to die (If the apocalypse comes, beep me.), or an old god who's enjoying (or despairing of) modern comforts.
Atticus is the latter but he's just a bit awesome so fitting into contemporary life isn't a problem.
Apart from the way he talks.
I'm so used to the chosen ones abusing the english language (in a fantastic way, see: Kate Daniels) that being confronted with a brood of old gods, vampires, werewolves, witches etc. who have impeccable manners (when they're not tricking you into impaling yourself on your own sword) and speak with perfectly manicured old timey english is just... bizarre.
And if i wasn't so fond of the lead character then i think i wouldn't have enjoyed this as much as i did.
But when your hero says things like this:
What sealed the deal for me was that the cloak wouldn't come off without a generous donation of my tears. Those used to be almost impossible for me to summon, I admit, until I watched Field of Dreams.
When Kevin Costner asks his dad at the end if he'd like to have a catch, I just completely lose my shit.
Me too Atticus, me too!
And then there's Oberon.
Sweet, sausage-loving, poodle-harem desiring Oberon.
He's the fucking sweetest, i'll fight anyone who says otherwise, just watch:
"Genghis Khan would never put up with so much attitude," he said.
You speak the truth, my friend. But I'm as guilty as she is. We are not being very nice to each other.
"So I gathered. But why not? Isn't she the sort of female you normally find attractive?"
If that was really what she looked like, sure, I said. But in reality she's probably pushing ninety to so, and besides, I don't trust witches.
"You think she's going to try something? Should i move behind her?"
No, she knows you're here. She can see through the camouflage. But I think she's hiding something from me, and I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"When did she drop the first shoe? I missed it."
Never mind. Just listen. Once she drinks the tea, she will try to surprise me with something. She is waiting for the contract to be fully in effect before she says anything.
"Well, then, give her back the check* and send her packing! We don't need to play her witch's games. They always want to get you and your little dog, too."
I knew I never should have let you watch The Wizard of Oz.
"Toto didn't deserve that kind of trauma. He was so tiny."
I made the most horrific "he's so cute, i'm gonna die" face when i read that the first time.
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Integrating more of ye olde flora into my indoor life:
I will not kill them.
I will not!
...
I will totally kill them...
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It's been two years since the first volume of Wytches and finally, finally there's news of more to come:
I shouldn't be excited.
It creeps me the fuck out.
I couldn't sleep for a few days after finishing the first volume without visions of witchy talons sinisterly caressing my hair as i slept but hey... that's the price of being a wimp who loves the weird and the downright fucked up.
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Rewatching Stranger Things season 2 and being envious of every damn person Hopper hugs:
So. Damn. Lucky.
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Yet more Hell-based wordy goodness:
Ugh.
The English language just slays me.
And i slay right back with my relentless abuse.
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Laura Thalassa giving her hungry minions a glimpse of the final book in The Bargainer series:
Endings are difficult for me.
Probably for everyone.
When i'm fully invested in a story and its characters, i don't want it to ever end but i also don't want it to become a shadow of itself.
But saying goodbye is so fucking difficult.
Double-edged bloody sword is what this is.
And to that i say:
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This:
Why am i crying?
Why can't i stop crying?
Oh god, send help.
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Nico Muhly being heartbreaking:
I've yet to see any version of Howards End and don't actually intend to.
It sounds fucking depressing.
...
Okay, that's just me being shitty.
I might watch it one day.
Probably when i've come down with some terrible lurgy and need Period Drama to soothe my achey bones.
But until then i'm just gonna mentally float in the heart-wrenching beauty that is Nico Muhly's genius.
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The second in the Mirrorworld series and a nudge closer to me losing my mind all over my new found ship.
"What's the greatest treasure you ever found?" Chanute had asked him not too long ago. Jacob had shrugged and named a few objects. "You're an even greater fool that I," Chanute had growled. "I just hope you won't have lost it by the time the answer dawns on you."
Stop playing with me, Funke.
It's cruel...
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Ben Rector's Old Friends video:
Em showed me this.
She couldn't stop watching/listening to it.
And now i can't either.
Bloody sisters.
But honestly, this kills me.
From the video, to the concept, to the song itself.
Throw in the fact that (to me) Ben Rector sounds like a young James Taylor and i'm practically purring.
It does make me a little achey in the heart region though.
For all kinds of reasons.
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not yet.
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Re-reading Expecting Someone Taller for the 4th? time:
I recommend this to anyone who asks for a book suggestion.
And i've not heard a complaint yet.
That's how fucking majestic it is.
And i should read it more often.
Perfection shouldn't be ignored
Also:
Flosssshiiilllllldeeeee
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Things i have NOT enjoyed in the month of June:
(this probably won't become a thing, i'm just a cranky hellbeast)
1. Suburbia in the Summer.
Once upon a time there was a field at the end of my garden. A hilled expanse of grass, scurrying creatures and more often than not, me falling down it on my bike.
Then one day the council came along and built more suburbia over the top of it.
...
I am now surrounded by dumbfucks with zero awareness of noise pollution and quite possibly the worst taste in music.
(excluding the kid the next street over who plays the Star Wars theme on his trumpet - he's a gift to the neighbourhood, if not the world)
...
I just want to read my stories in peace, goddamnit!
2. I'd say that my reading habits are 98% fantasy these days and with that comes a fair whack of fated OTPs.
I love a good ship.
Collect them in fact.
But i'm noticing a trope with fantasy writing that's starting to fuck me off.
...
Just because you're a couple does not mean you need to have a baby within the first five minutes of your relationship or even at fucking all.
It's boring and predictable and insulting to those who just aren't into the idea of spawning.
Please stop it.
Or just don't do it all the damn time.
Or give birth to a goddamn chimera or something, shake shit up for once!
I can't read about any more pink balls of beloved gurgling squish.
I just can't.
*As a Scot, this spelling aggravates me... but accurate quoting wins every time.
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