October 2021 archive

Premature Evaluation: Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, generally and more pronounceably known as Harrow the Ninth, is one weird chickadee. Even among advanced necromancers, a company not generally known for bland probity, Harrow stands out. Readers of this book’s predecessor, Gideon the Ninth, know it; anyone wandering in on this book as the starting point in the Locked Tomb series …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/30/premature-evaluation-harrow-the-ninth-by-tamsyn-muir/

Space Case (Moon Base Alpha #1) by Stuart Gibbs

My ten year-old brought this home from his school library and recommended I read it, too! Fortunately, he warned me that he hadn’t actually finished it when I handed it back to him, else I would have likely dropped some major spoilers, but I could tell him that it was a fun read with at …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/29/space-case-moon-base-alpha-1-by-stuart-gibbs/

Hugo Awards 2021: Best Novelette Nominees

There was an incredibly strong field in this category this year! I’m going to go ahead and review these from my least favorite to the one I hope will win, starting with Aliette de Bodard’s The Inaccessibility Of Heaven. In all honesty, her overuse of the em dash is a pet peeve of mine: it’s …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/28/hugo-awards-2021-best-novelette-nominees/

Ghost-Spider Vol. 1: Dog Days Are Over by Seanan McGuire, Takeshi Miyazawa & Rosi Kämpe

with inks by Ig Guara, colors by Ian Herring, letters by Clayton Cowles and covers by Jorge Molina. My first introduction to Spider Gwen or, as she prefers to be known, Ghost-Spider, was through the excellent Into The Spiderverse animated movie that introduced many of us to all the different Spider-people of the multiverse. I …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/27/ghost-spider-vol-1-dog-days-are-over-by-seanan-mcguire-takeshi-miyazawa-rosi-kampe/

Stolen Earth by J. T. Nicholas

Firefly meets The Expanse is a really good way to describe this solar system-based space opera, as a ragtag crew of outlaws discover sinister secrets hidden from them by their political overlords. Living in SolComm, the solar system community that houses the refugees from a now uninhabitable Earth, is all Gray Lynch has ever known. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/26/stolen-earth-by-j-t-nicholas/

The Last Line by Robert Dugoni

Wow, what a way to whet a reader’s appetite for more! Police Detective Del Castigliano has left Madison, Wisconsin for Seattle, ostensibly to pursue opportunities in Homicide, but really to get away from a failed engagement and memories of his ex. He’s partnered with hotshot veteran detective Moss Gunderson, who’s generously given him the lead …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/25/the-last-line-by-robert-dugoni/

Monstress Vol. 5: Warchild by Marjorie M. Liu & Sana Takeda

To be perfectly honest, when I saw this series was nominated for the Best Graphic Story Hugo again, I sighed, girded my loins and decided to plunge in so as to get this over with quickly. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the things I disliked about the first four volumes were …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/22/monstress-vol-5-warchild-by-marjorie-m-liu-sana-takeda/

Hugo Awards 2021: Best Short Story Nominees

There was a wealth of authors I very much enjoy reading in this slate, and new-to-me authors I was pleased to make acquaintance of! On reflection, I don’t feel that this year’s list was as good as last year’s, tho was still solidly entertaining. As with last year, I’ll go over each (mostly) alphabetically. A …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/21/hugo-awards-2021-best-short-story-nominees/

Salt Magic by Hope Larson & Rebecca Mock

This stunningly original graphic novel tells a tale of life in Oklahoma after the Great War, when a young soldier returning from Europe triggers a curse, leaving his younger sister to find a way to save their family farm. Vonceil Taggart is the youngest of five children growing up on a farming homestead ten miles …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/20/salt-magic-by-hope-larson-rebecca-mock/

Meranda And The Legend Of The Lake by Meagan Mahoney

Meranda is an 11 year-old girl whose parents moved away from their Nova Scotia home and close-knit family to live in Calgary when she was only 3. While she has regular video visits with her dearly loved relatives back in Cape Breton, her helicopter parents have always been cagey about returning, until the death of …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/10/19/meranda-and-the-legend-of-the-lake-by-meagan-mahoney/