This series just gets better with each book! The depth and complexity of Ben Aaronovitch’s mystical London really comes into its own here, as we delve deeper into the overarching plot with the reveal of The Faceless Man’s true identity (whom I figured out perhaps half a beat before Mr Aaronovitch intended for the reader …
Category: Doreen
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/03/12/the-hanging-tree-peter-grantrivers-of-london-6-by-ben-aaronovitch/
Feb 20 2017
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The sci-fi in this book was complex and thought-provoking but holy shit, everything else about this book was, at best, only marginally irritating, and at worst, deeply disturbing in its casually condescending, constantly self-pitying worldview. So one night the stars go out, and three adolescents who essentially grew up together and never really grow apart …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/02/20/spin-by-robert-charles-wilson/
Feb 11 2017
Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1) by Vic James
So I was trying to explain to a friend why I think this book is important for the generation of YA readers who may encounter it, thinking, much like Gilded Cage’s Abi does (and I did, tbh, when I first picked it up,) that it’ll be a romantic Upstairs/Downstairs sort of novel with magical powers, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/02/11/gilded-cage-dark-gifts-1-by-vic-james/
Jan 31 2017
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
Ugh, I’m so fucking tired of “literary” writers slumming it in genre fiction. Authors, if you’re going to attempt dystopian fiction or science fiction or fantasy, understand: the most important thing is the world-building. You HAVE to build a convincing setting that makes sense and works according to a) rules of internal logic, and b) …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/01/31/station-eleven-by-emily-st-john-mandel/
Jan 27 2017
Fairest: In All The Land (Fairest Vol 6) by Bill Willingham
Cinderella is easily my favorite character in the Fables universe, so I’m always thrilled to read the stories that place her front and center in the action. In this stand-alone story, someone is going around killing the women who’ve been proclaimed The Fairest In All The Land, and it’s up to Cindy to prevent more …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/01/27/fairest-in-all-the-land-fairest-vol-6-by-bill-willingham/
Jan 27 2017
Fairest Vols I and II by Various
Fairest Vol 1: Wide Awake by Bill Willingham and Phil Jimenez I have loved Phil Jimenez since his work on Wonder Woman, so it was delightful to see him turning his pencil to the world of Fables. Interestingly, this volume is less an origin story of Sleeping Beauty than it is a redemption tale of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/01/27/fairest-vols-i-and-ii-by-various/
Jan 02 2017
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice (The Austen Project #4) by Curtis Sittenfeld
Quite charming, and for the most part a note-perfect retelling of the classic for modern times. There were really only two false notes for me: the first was the laughable idea that, as a writer-at-large, Lizzy Bennett earns $105k a year, and the second was the last marriage proposal of the book, which I thought …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2017/01/02/eligible-a-modern-retelling-of-pride-and-prejudice-the-austen-project-4-by-curtis-sittenfeld/
Dec 31 2016
Fables: The Deluxe Edition Vol 10 by Bill Willingham et. al.
While I’m going to review the rest of the series as a whole, I thought this book merited its own review, as it contains the entirety of the crossover with Jack Of Fables and has a distinctly different tone from the preceding books, being very much more a metaphysical caper and thus closer in theme …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/12/31/fables-the-deluxe-edition-vol-10-by-bill-willingham-et-al/
Dec 28 2016
Death’s End (Remembrance Of Earth’s Past #3) by Liu Cixin
To give you a good idea of how enraging this book was, about 75% of the way through, my nerve broke and I started ranting about it in Bookclub chat, because I just couldn’t take it any more. I could overlook the utterly contemptible “she’s a woman, not a warrior” misogyny that permeates the book, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/12/28/deaths-end-remembrance-of-earths-past-3-by-liu-cixin/
Dec 24 2016
Fables: Werewolves Of The Heartland (Fables #17) by Bill Willingham et al
Not a great jumping on point for new readers, no matter what the press may say. I enjoyed it as a bit of filler story for Bigby on the road, and it answers a few questions raised by his time fighting in WWII, but I didn’t feel it was an essential part of the Fables …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2016/12/24/fables-werewolves-of-the-heartland-fables-17-by-bill-willingham-et-al/