Category: Doreen

Castle Swimmer Vol 1 by Wendy Martin

Y’all, I did not expect to tear up at this sweet and surprisingly substantial look at star-crossed mermen fated by prophecy to lose one another. Kappa is born to be the Beacon. Almost immediately after he hatches from his egg, the God of the Surface informs him that his task is to swim around the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/21/castle-swimmer-vol-1-by-wendy-martin/

One-Shot Wonders by Sam Bartlett, Beth Davies & Destiny Howell

With the caveat that I’m reviewing the sample set handed out for Free RPG Day 2024, which I must say feels fairly representative of how the book must be as a whole! I’m actually finally coming around to writing a review of this because I got a chance to use a sample for one my …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/20/one-shot-wonders-by-sam-bartlett-beth-davies-destiny-howell/

Cold Snap by Lindy Ryan

I can see what Lindy Ryan was trying to do here, given my steeping in world mythology, but I think it needed a little more explaining so that the average reader can figure out what’s actually going on in this horror novella of guilt and grief. Just a few weeks ago, Derek Sinclaire died, falling …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/19/cold-snap-by-lindy-ryan/

The Weirn Books, Vol 1 and 2 by Svetlana Chmakova

I was so chuffed to receive a delightful box with the first two books in Svetlana Chmakova’s Weirn series just before Halloween! Deeply grateful to JY, an imprint of Yen Press, for sending not only the two volumes but also a cute selection of pens, bookmarks and posters, some of which found their ways into …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/18/the-weirn-books-vol-1-and-2-by-svetlana-chmakova/

Tantalizing Tales — November 2024 — Part Two

It has been one of those fortnights where time ceases to have meaning, dear readers. I can scarcely believe that it’s the middle of November already. And even at the rate of covering one book almost every work day, I’m still working my way through October, woof. It’s actually an October title that leads this …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/15/tantalizing-tales-november-2024-part-two/

Vintage Birds: A Guidebook And Matching Game by Roger J. Lederer

For someone who’s not terribly outdoorsy, I really enjoy birds. I love bird art and have somehow, over the years, amassed a shocking amount of knowledge for someone who’s never really studied birds outside of appreciating their artistic depictions. I mean, I recently made it to the Championships of the latest Birds Mini League on …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/14/vintage-birds-a-guidebook-and-matching-game-by-roger-j-lederer/

Sticky Notes by Matthew Eicheldinger

subtitled Memorable Lessons from Ordinary Moments. I’ve been kind of a mess these past few weeks, even before the dismal US election results and definitely after, so this book was a wonderful antidote for despair. It isn’t entirely perfect — the vignette about Hiking Boots made me go “yeah, sure, he wound up going back …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/12/sticky-notes-by-matthew-eicheldinger/

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman

I don’t know if this is the perfect complement or counterprogramming to my eldest child and I watching and really enjoying Agatha All Along together. Probably a little of both — tho my kid will likely have little interest in this book, alas. That might be for the best tho, as it’s A Chilling Tale …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/08/a-christmas-ghost-story-by-kim-newman/

The Department of Truth: Wild Fictions by James Tynion IV & Martin Simmonds

with a host of incredibly talented guest artists! So I went into this book assuming it was a graphic novel, like the rest of the series. Readers, it is not! While it is 100% based on The Department Of Truth comic book series — and there are two issues from the main series at the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/07/the-department-of-truth-wild-fictions-by-james-tynion-iv-martin-simmonds/

Esma Farouk, Lost in the Souk by Lisa Boersen, Hasna Elbaamrani & Annelies Vandenbosch

As a third culture kid, this book really hit home, perfectly depicting not only fairly commonplace events (travelling to see family, getting separated from a parent while shopping) but also the existential angst of feeling lost and disoriented in a place of wonders that, one feels at one’s core, should feel more intimately familiar. Plenty …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/11/05/esma-farouk-lost-in-the-souk-by-lisa-boersen-hasna-elbaamrani-annelies-vandenbosch/