Author's posts
At 702 pages — nearly twice the length of its predecessor in the series — European Travel For The Monstrous Gentlewoman is an unfortunately ungainly novel. Whereas The Strange Case Of The Alchemist’s Daughter was a sprightly reimagining of classic monstrous tales especially as they pertained to the much abused daughters of horrible men, ETftMG …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/12/11/european-travel-for-the-monstrous-gentlewoman-the-extraordinary-adventures-of-the-athena-club-2-by-theodora-goss/
First, can I talk about just how beautiful this book is? Titan sent me a hardback copy which, as always, has an incredible cover. That dust jacket needs to be felt to be believed. And it comes with a ribbon bookmark! I don’t usually go gaga over the physical format of a book, but this …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/28/firefly-big-damn-hero-by-nancy-holder-and-james-lovegrove/
So I’d been avoiding this book for a while, despite owning another of Kendare Blake’s acclaimed novels (Anna Dressed In Blood, one of many on my To-Read pile) because, while the premise is interesting and the author’s reputation confidence-inspiring, I thought Queen Katharine’s power incredibly lame compared to the other two. She can ingest any …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/18/three-dark-crowns-three-dark-crowns-1-by-kendare-blake/
Q: Every book has its own story about how it came to be conceived and written as it did. How did The Arrival Of Missives evolve? A: It started with the voice of my main character, Shirley, and grew entirely from there. I loved her straight away; she’s a teenager who is both naïve and …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/08/an-interview-with-aliya-whiteley-author-of-the-arrival-of-missives/
Or, as I like to think of it, A Tale Of Two Sociopaths. In a world where people with superpowers are called ExtraOrdinaries (or EOs, for short) two brilliant college students decide that it isn’t enough to study them and try to figure out how they came to be. Eli Cardale and Victor Vale are …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/08/vicious-villains-1-by-v-e-schwab/
This is a volume that is dead set on subverting our expectations of science fiction, and succeeds at that goal brilliantly. Packaged together with the short story The Last Voyage Of The Smiling Henry, the title novel (I know that some might argue that its 133-page length renders it more of a novella, but I, …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/06/the-arrival-of-missives-by-aliya-whiteley/
I am so glad I decided to read this book! I had a bunch of misgivings after the overall good but uneven first in the series, Rebel Of The Sands, and had prepared myself for more of the same here, but Traitor To The Throne far surpassed my expectations. There were several annoying lapses in …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/03/traitor-to-the-throne-rebel-of-the-sands-2-by-alwyn-hamilton/
I kinda don’t remember why I placed this on my library hold list, but I finally got around to reading it and, hmm. It’s very readable. I tore through the last half really quickly, almost compulsively: it’s written in such a way that I just had to keep going to find out whodunnit. Unfortunately, it …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/11/01/in-a-dark-dark-wood-by-ruth-ware/
This book first came to my attention when work was doing coverage of the Edgars the year it was nominated for Best First Novel, but I deliberately chose another book on the slate because the blurb was equal parts attractive and repulsive to me. It sounded very much like rich white people problems, plus every …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/10/17/luckiest-girl-alive-by-jessica-knoll/
Hunh. So, okay. This book is super rich in ideas and philosophy and science, and posits a logical extrapolation of capitalism to its vilest ends. The question of autonomy vs indentured servitude, and the heartbreaking necessity in this future of individual (en)franchisement, plus the stranglehold of corporate patents on technology, are all discussed and examined …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2018/10/13/autonomous-by-annalee-newitz/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire