Jul 06 2021
The world-building of this Nusantara-set novel is exemplary, seamlessly incorporating elements of all the cultures that meld and mingle in Malaysia and its neighbors to present a truly fascinating fantasy world. The main nation is Terang, a collection of three city-states, each with its own mystical focus. Suci, the holy city, is known for a …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/07/06/amok-by-anna-tan/
Jul 01 2021
Oh gosh, for Mother’s Day, my husband got me the first of John Allison’s new series Wicked Things, featuring a 19 year-old Charlotte Grote. Since I’m still working my way through my backlog of the Bad Machinery comics where she and her friends originally appear, I’ve been keeping that as a reward for when I …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/07/01/the-case-of-the-lonely-one-bad-machinery-4-by-john-allison/
Jun 29 2021
This brilliant novel is as if you took the best parts of Blade Runner and Gorky Park and Vertigo and mashed them all together with the most tender empathy and an eye to not only singularity but also the meaning of godhood. My only complaint with this book is that I’d freaking love it if …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/29/when-the-sparrow-falls-by-neil-sharpson/
Jun 25 2021
This slim volume of short stories punches far above its weight class as it examines the lives of loosely connected characters in and around the turn of 21st century America. The opening story Dinner Conversation is one of the strongest, revolving around three couples out to dinner and the weight of expectations felt by the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/25/life-and-other-shortcomings-by-corie-adjmi/
Jun 24 2021
This book feels like a metaphor in search of a meaning. There’s a lot of gorgeous, elaborate, haunting imagery, but it’s ultimately not put in service to anything besides a ho-hum quest story. I almost wrote down “coming-of-age” there for quest but the protagonist is ostensibly twenty-two years old, even though she acts much younger. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/24/star-eater-by-kerstin-hall/
Jun 22 2021
Hey, Doug, I’m reading a novel translated from the German! Ably translated into English by Tess Lewis, who’s done a really good job, in particular, of getting the song lyrics from the 1980s not quite right when the characters are explaining them to one another. What You Can See From Here is an interesting sort …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/22/what-you-can-see-from-here-by-mariana-leky/
Jun 21 2021
Oh, man, I remember being middle school-aged and what an absolute mess my friends and I could be, falling out with each other over things that seemed insurmountable back then but are such trifles in retrospect, and preferring to jump to (usually depressing, dramatic) conclusions instead of actually communicating with one another. I do not …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/21/kyles-little-sister-by-bonhyung-jeong/
Jun 18 2021
Oh, man, this is one of those books I just want to muppet flail over. I greatly enjoyed Casey McQuiston’s debut romance, Red, White & Royal Blue but even in the closing paragraphs of my review for that novel, I was already wistfully looking ahead to this one. Which is thematically fitting, because this lightly …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/18/one-last-stop-by-casey-mcquiston/
Jun 17 2021
I’ve read F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby twice, and each time I’ve been baffled by the acclaim*. Much like the critics of its time, I think the book is fine, but not much more than that. The trouble is that Gatsby is an idiot, Nick not much better, and Tom and Daisy are just …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/17/the-chosen-and-the-beautiful-by-nghi-vo/
Jun 15 2021
Sophie Roseingrave’s family lost nearly everything to a swindler who managed to steal not only their fortune but also cast a pall over their good name. Branding is everything when you’re in the business of making and selling fine musical instruments, and while no one can gainsay the quality of their pianos, no one wants …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/15/the-hellions-waltz-feminine-pursuits-3-by-olivia-waite/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire