Oct 07 2025
Hello, readers! Today we have a scene-setting excerpt for you from Heather Ogden’s debut Young Adult dystopian novel, The Betrayal. This first book of the The Lies We Fear series centers on Angelette Arabella, the seventeen year-old daughter of the most powerful man in Libertis, a megalopolis large enough to be considered a nation. From …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/10/07/the-betrayal-by-heather-ogden-excerpt/
Aug 28 2025
God, given the week I’ve been having, it’s so nice to be able to slip into a book about young people whose deeply felt and very real problems are solved by the end of its 300+ highly readable pages. So look, when I compare Alexandra Brown Chang’s debut novel By Invitation Only to Cecily Von …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/28/by-invitation-only-by-alexandra-brown-chang/
Aug 25 2025
It is tempting to begin this roundup with the timeworn lede, “Comics! They’re not just for kids any more!” I’ve been rolling my eyes at that one for decades at this point, as mainstream reviewers seemingly “discover” that sophisticated graphic novels exist, over and over again. In fact, the graphic novel is a form that …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/08/25/18443/
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/
Jul 09 2025
with colors by Michael E Wiggam, and letters by Simon Bowland and Charles Pritchett. When was the last time I sat down and enjoyed a teen comedy that wasn’t primarily another genre, be it mystery or romance or fantasy? Student Government has a bit of all of those, but is primarily just a warm-hearted coming-of-age …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/07/09/student-government-by-dave-justus-lilah-sturges-joe-eisma/
Jun 03 2025
In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read The Merlin Conspiracy, Conrad’s Fate, and The Pinhoe Egg! We have now entered the era of Diana Wynne Jones books I read one time when they came out, and generally have not read since. It is an …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/06/03/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-mid-2000s/
May 09 2025
In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Believing is Seeing, Year of the Griffin, Mixed Magics, and Unexpected Magic! That’s three collections of short stories and the sequel to my deeply beloved Dark Lord of Derkholm. Believing is Seeing (1999) This is a story …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/09/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-new-millennium/
May 01 2025
subtitled A High School Story. Ever since Susan Lomond beat Monroe Poole to the top of the Highwater High School Proficiency Listings, Monroe has been obsessed with taking her new rival down. It’s bad enough that Susan is the school’s star quarterback, someone so popular with her classmates that she’s just been elected prom queen …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/05/01/bring-me-the-head-of-susan-lomond-by-connor-b/
Apr 23 2025
As I’ve mentioned before, I love speculative mysteries! In the next few months, we can look forward to murders among scholars on far-future Jupiter, at a magical boarding school in England, and revolving around a small town high school rivalry in the U.S.A., all being published by Tor. If “dark academia” is the zeitgeist, these …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/23/speculative-mysteries-to-get-excited-about/
Apr 16 2025
Hyo the Hellmaker, by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh came out this week, from Scholastic! It’s got intricate world building, noir vibes, and atmospheric illustrations by the author for any manga-loving teen of your acquaintance. Hyo is a “hellmaker,” which means she is able to make bespoke curses for your enemies. Once you commission her, she can …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/04/16/hyo-the-hellmaker-by-mina-ikemoto-ghosh/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire