The witches from Equal Rites return in Wyrd Sisters, and it is clear that by this stage of the Discworld series, Pratchett has really begun to hit his stride. From the title page, where he says that Wyrd Sisters is “Starring Three Witches, also kings, daggers, crowns, storms, dwarfs, cats, ghosts, spectres, apes, bandits, demons, …
Tag: Fantasy
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/04/20/wyrd-sisters-by-terry-pratchett/
Mar 20 2015
Inside Job by Connie Willis
I had almost forgotten how charming Connie Willis’ writing can be. I started reading her in the mid-1990s with Bellwether, which is another one of those books I have to be careful about picking up because I will have a very difficult time putting it down again, no matter what else I am supposed to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/20/inside-job-by-connie-willis/
Mar 17 2015
Sourcery by Terry Pratchett
The beginning of Sourcery is very good, and the end is very good, and I am trying to think of why the middle didn’t work for me as well as Equal Rites and Mort, the two Discworld books that immediately precede it in order of publication. Equal Rites showed some of the magical power that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/17/sourcery-by-terry-pratchett/
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/15/bridge-of-birds-by-barry-hughart/
Mar 09 2015
Valour & Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal
Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal is the fourth of her Glamourist Histories series, following Shades of Milk & Honey, Glamour in Glass, and Without a Summer. The series crosses Regency romances with alternate (but not terribly alternate) history and a dash of domestic magic that may yet admit of industrial applications. The teaser …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/09/valour-vanity-by-mary-robinette-kowal/
Mar 07 2015
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Equal Rites, the third Discworld novel, makes a big leap in quality from the second. Terry Pratchett leaves the characters who were at the hub of the first two novels and sets off to tell a completely independent tale. Having spent the second book concocting a tale of danger to the whole Disc and then …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/07/equal-rites-by-terry-pratchett/
Mar 05 2015
Render by Elizabeth C Mock
Not as good as the first in the series, but still above average. Once again, the magic theory was compelling, and I love Ms Mock’s overall plotting and world-building. The characters are flawed and believable, but… as with the first book, the overall writing is horrendous. Grammar and spelling are secondary, and what is it …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/05/render-by-elizabeth-c-mock/
Mar 04 2015
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
Wasn’t this great fun? The front flap of The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison, summarizes the set-up: “A half-goblin, the youngest son of the emperor, has lived his entire life in exile, far form the imperial court and the deadly intrigue that surrounds it. But when his father and three half-brothers, who are heirs to …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/03/04/the-goblin-emperor-by-katherine-addison/
Feb 12 2015
What Makes This Book So Great by Jo Walton
Jo Walton answers the question posed by the title for a bit more than 100 books in this collection of brief reviews devoted to re-reading. As I read through, I enjoyed thinking of how the emphasis could fall on each of the words in the title, although the cover design clearly places it on the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/02/12/what-makes-this-book-so-great-by-jo-walton/
Feb 09 2015
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
In the second Discworld novel, The Light Fantastic, Rincewind saves the Disc, not quite by accident but certainly not through great forethought and cunning action, either. The Disc appears to be hurtling toward a great red star in such a way that collision is imminent, and the only way to prevent the Disc’s annihilation is …
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