Oct 29 2023
All three Rivers of London novellas that have been published to date — The Furthest Station, The October Man, and now What Abigail Did That Summer — have left me wanting more, which is a fine recommendation for books that are meant as light, if occasionally spooky, entertainment. The stories all take place in and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/29/what-abigail-did-that-summer-by-ben-aaronovitch/
Oct 28 2023
Reader, I was invested. Possibly even enthralled. At one point, I thought “Matt Ruff, if you XXXXX, I am throwing this book right out of the train window, and possibly Lovecraft Country too as soon as I get home and put my hands on my copy.” Not because the event would have been cheap or …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/28/the-destroyer-of-worlds-by-matt-ruff/
Oct 25 2023
Follow Along with―and Color―This All-New RPG Fantasy Adventure! (as the tagline goes) So this is something of a departure from your usual book of role-playing adventure. Most modules/campaign books are just stuffed with stats and info to help the Dungeon Master (or Dungeon Meister, in this case. We’ll just use the standard DM from here …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/25/the-dungeonmeister-goblin-quest-coloring-book-by-jef-aldrich-jon-taylor-zachary-bacus/
Oct 17 2023
What an utterly charming book about learning how to listen to others! The Mummy’s Curse is ostensibly the story of a stubborn young pharaoh doomed to remain trapped in her mummy form, possibly for all eternity. Anatiti, the mummy in question, is “celebrating” her 3000th Death Day with the other monsters of Deadbury’s Monster Support …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/17/monster-support-group-the-mummys-curse-by-laura-suarez/
Oct 12 2023
One of the problems with putting a long-running webtoon into graphic novel form is that it can be hard sometimes to figure out what makes a good stopping point. And that’s pretty much my only criticism of this (now complete) paranormal romance story, as two haunted people discover that they’re sharing an apartment with something …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/10/12/freaking-romance-volume-one-by-snailords/
Sep 26 2023
with colors by Mat Lopes, backup colors by Chris O’Halloran, and letters & design by Good Old Neon. This is easily one of the most intelligently artistic graphic novels I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. You don’t have to be an art history major to enjoy this book but a passing familiarity with the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/26/art-brut-vol-1-the-winking-woman-by-w-maxwell-prince-martin-morazzo/
Sep 25 2023
Vivian Van Tassel is an angry young teen. Part of this is justified: her mom recently died and she blames herself. But as we quickly learn, Vivian has had a temper for a while (and as a parent, I’m genuinely concerned that she’s never been in therapy for this, either before or after what happened …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/25/vivian-van-tassel-and-the-secret-of-midnight-lake-by-michael-witwer/
Sep 21 2023
What a vast and welcome improvement on the tepid first volume! In fairness, that compliment applies strictly to the story, as Pablo Tunica’s art has been excellent from the very beginning. His illustrations are as consistently kinetic and majestic and grotesque as the sea and its inhabitants, truly leaning in to the weird, hardscrabble nature …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/21/sea-serpents-heir-book-two-black-wave-by-mairghread-scott-pablo-tunica/
Sep 17 2023
Odd reports from the Metropolitan Line of the London Underground have come to the attention of Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit he’s a part of. They’ve come through as part of a project to deal with sexual assaults and offensive behavior on the transport system, and part of that was “improving reporting rates …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/09/17/the-furthest-station-by-ben-aaronovitch/
Aug 31 2023
The first volume of The Queen’s Favorite Witch turned out to be an unexpected surprise, combining historical fact with an empowering tale of believing in yourself, and ending with a shocking twist. I’m genuinely impressed with how Benjamin Dickson and Rachael Smith have continued this series with a book that, while not as big on …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2023/08/31/the-queens-favourite-witch-2-the-lost-king-by-benjamin-dickson-rachael-smith/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire