Aug 13 2025
Wahey, I’m back to my regularly scheduled review programming! And what lovelier way to return than with a gorgeously illustrated children’s book that artfully blends science with fantasy, for a delightfully whimsical read. This field guide to enchanted creatures starts with several very important caveats to young readers, in a way that absolutely aligns with …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/13/how-to-spot-a-magical-woodland-creature-by-sarah-glenn-marsh-lilla-bolecz/
Aug 11 2025
This post concludes my year of reading all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books! After her death in 2011, Earwig and the Witch was published the same year, and a collection of her nonfiction writing was published in 2012. Much more recently, Moondust Books has published collections of her plays and poems! In this post I’ll …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/11/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-wrap-up/
Aug 10 2025
I’ve read that The Innkeeper’s Song is Peter S. Beagle’s favorite among his novels, and I think I can understand why. He writes the novel from no less than ten points of view — including a shapeshifting fox — allowing him to show events from numerous different perspectives, to show how the same actions have …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/10/two-short-takes/
Aug 07 2025
This graphic novel took Emil Ferris something like seven years to write and draw, and it was honestly worth every minute. My only quibble with it is the idea that it somehow serves as a conclusion. Sure, it solves the murder, presented in the first volume, of who killed Anka. But the emotions are still …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/07/my-favorite-thing-is-monsters-vol-2-by-emil-ferris/
Aug 05 2025
Would I read this comic if it weren’t for the fact that it’s nominated for a Hugo almost every year? Absolutely not. Tho apparently it was not nominated last year (I’ve heard that Vol 8 was Not Great) and I skipped the Hugos the year before, so missed reading the last two books. Not that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/05/monstress-vol-9-the-possessed-by-marjorie-m-liu-sana-takeda/
Jul 31 2025
Oh hurray, a new high fantasy property in comics! It does feel a little Dungeons & Dragons meets World Of Warcraft but that is honestly a-okay given that that’s basically what most fantasy is nowadays. Orcs and humans have been at war for years, as they struggle over land. The orcs require fields on which …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/31/the-hunger-and-the-dusk-vol-1-by-g-willow-wilson-chris-wildgoose-msassyk/
Jul 23 2025
Managed another reading category for the Hugos this year! Will review the other categories I’ve read through after tonight’s voting deadline, but figured I’d start with the next fastest to read: the nominees for Best Novelette. As is my wont (but not Doug’s!) we’ll go from my favorite on down. Tho I must say that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/23/hugo-awards-2025-best-novelette/
Jul 20 2025
Officially, I’m taking a break from reading for the Hugo Awards this year. I’ve found participating in the Hugo process as a reader and voter wonderfully rewarding, not least because it has introduced me to authors I would have completely missed otherwise, but I’m also a conscientious voter, and that means I try to read …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/20/hugo-awards-2025-best-short-story/
Jul 16 2025
I have become even more time blind than usual lately, and am woefully behind on any emails that may be reminding me of voting deadlines. Nevertheless, I’m glad that I’m finally getting a chance to look at this year’s Hugo nominees, beginning, as is tradition, with Best Short Story! And, as is tradition, let’s start …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/16/hugo-awards-2025-best-short-story-nominees/
Jul 03 2025
This month I reached the end of Diana Wynne Jones’s life in my year of reading all the books by Diana Wynne Jones! I read The Game, House of Many Ways, and Enchanted Glass. That’s one final book in Howl’s universe and two stand alones – three extremely strong books. The Game (2007) In The …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-2000s/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire