Feb 07 2025

A Year of Diana Wynne Jones: The late 1980s!

In my quest to read all of Diana Wynne Jones’s books in one year, this month I read Howl’s Moving Castle, A Tale of Time City, The Lives of Christopher Chant and Wild Robert!

It was fun to revisit Howl after the Ghibli film version became so popular, and Wild Robert was entirely new to me.

In Marnanel Thurman's image, the words "A Year of Diana Wynne Jones," the week we read the book, and the title of the book are superimposed over colorful original artwork on the book's theme, and a small image of a book cover of one of the possible editions.
Howl’s Moving Castle (1986)
Howl’s Moving Castle is about narrative determinism. We are presented with Sophie, a talented and competent young woman who is absolutely sure she knows what her role in the world “should” be and doesn’t question it. This causes problems as she initially seems quite passive. Her two younger sisters are less accepting of the roles they are told to play, and are thus more active at first. Sophie’s magical abilities incur the anger of a powerful witch even without her trying, and she is cursed by turning into a plodding old woman.

As it turns out, Sophie finds this very freeing, and begins speaking her mind and standing up for herself, as she goes to work for the dreaded wizard Howl and gets embroiled in all kinds of interdimensional and political upheaval.

This is a really fun one, and if you are already a fan of the Ghibli film of the same name, I’d recommend it highly, with the caveat that the book is much more about the dangers of believing the stories others tell about you, and much less about the horrors of war.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/07/a-year-of-diana-wynne-jones-the-late-1980s/

Feb 06 2025

Timing/Luck by Gerry Duggan

subtitled Two Decades Of Photos From Comic Books & Hollywood.

So I’ve been a comic book fan since the mid 1980s but darned if I can think of a single Gerry Duggan comic that I’ve read. This is not meant to be an insult, especially since my devotion to mainstream Marvel/DC Comics faded soon after the turn of the 21st century (I hated House Of M waaaaay before the dire ending of WandaVision, lol.) As such, I’ve definitely missed out on Mr Duggan’s work in comics, tho my on-going affection for the field meant that I definitely wanted to pick up this intriguing stand-alone book once I saw that terrific cover.

Timing/Luck is an excellent title for a memoir, even if the collection is less autobiographical than (literal) snapshots from the author’s adult life as a writer for both television and comics. The book isn’t big on details, tbh, so it often feels like reading someone’s quite personal photojournal. Luckily, that someone is both interesting (especially if you’re interested in comics, celebrities and geek culture in general) and talented with a camera. While Mr Duggan is unlikely to win a Pulitzer, he does have a terrific eye for a shot, and is generous with sharing his point of view with readers.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/06/timing-luck-by-gerry-duggan/

Feb 05 2025

If You Knew My Name by Lisa Roberts Carter

I honestly don’t recall the last time I read a novel in verse, but I’m glad I broke that spell with this powerful debut!

Mason Zy’Aire Tyndall is a high school senior who has two goals: hone his battle rap skills to better fit the “Legend” moniker he’s working on and find a cute girl to couple up with so he doesn’t look like a loser in his final year of school. Which might not be his final year if he doesn’t choose and pass one more elective. His guidance counsellor Ms Franklin encourages him to take a Black Poetry class, which he scoffs at because he’s a rapper not a poet. She rightfully laughs at his teenage ridiculousness and gets him to sign up for it anyway.

Black Poetry class is not what he expected. For starters, their teacher, Ms Jordan, is white. Rumor has it that her husband didn’t mind when she wanted to adopt a Black child but drew the line at moving to a Black neighborhood, so left her. More concerningly tho is the presence of several classmates Mason did not expect. While his school is large and diverse, the last people Mason expects to see in a Black Poetry class are white people openly hostile to Black honesty.

But as class progresses and Ms Jordan gets them all to speak up and be heard, what looks like the basis for a healthy dialog is tentatively established. That all changes when a large-scale fight breaks out at school. Mason knows better than to get involved in what’s soon termed a “riot”, but when a cop stops him at the park later on, accusing him of being a riot instigator, his Black Lives Matter activist mom’s worst nightmares look dangerously close to coming true.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/05/if-you-knew-my-name-by-lisa-roberts-carter/

Feb 04 2025

The Green Witch Illustrated by Arin Murphy-Hiscock & Sara Richard

subtitled An Enchanting Immersion Into The Magic Of Natural Witchcraft.

When I was a young teenager first interested in learning more about witchcraft, I pestered my poor dad into getting me books on the subject whenever he traveled overseas — heaven knows, you weren’t about to find anything accessible on the topic in Malaysia back in the 20th century. My dad did his best but, in fairness to Malaysian bookshops, books about learning witchcraft weren’t that easy to find in your average Waterstones or Waldenbooks back then either.

So it’s a delight that books like The Green Witch Illustrated are nowadays readily available for anyone with an interest in learning more about the practice. Keep in mind tho that this book and many like it are very much centered on temperate climates: there’s some mention of different seasonal variations but the tradition is clearly sourced from the ancient European. And that’s fine! This is a book marketed to North Americans, referencing both natural and commercial items most readily sourced from the USA and Canada. Arin Murphy-Hiscock is based in Canada herself, and is part of a druidic tradition informed by both Celtic and German witchcraft, according to her website. It makes sense that her advice comes from that, as that’s what she knows. Younger me would have been disappointed and frustrated at how inaccessible some of these components are — even the turning of the seasons is completely different down by the equator — but present day me recognizes how practices like these aren’t universal and also aren’t the center of all knowledge.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/04/the-green-witch-illustrated-by-arin-murphy-hiscock-sara-richard/

Feb 03 2025

The Sky Is Not Blue by Joy Jones & Sawyer Cloud

Happy Black History Month, readers! We’re kicking off February with this terrific children’s picture book about perspective and empathy and quietly standing up for yourself, because who couldn’t use a little more of that right now?

Robert is a creative kid who has the eye of an artist. He never assumes that anything is just one color or only ever a certain color. When it comes to art and the human experience, he trusts what he sees instead of making assumptions based on how things “should” be.

His teacher Mrs Murphy is almost his complete opposite. She likes things to be predictable and orderly, even when making art. If you’re going to paint a picture of the sky, for example, she thinks you should use the blue marker, regardless of what the sky actually looks like at the moment of depiction. She’s usually too busy to look for herself, after all, so it’s easier and tidier to just default to blue, regardless of whatever spectacular array of colors is actually on display. She and Robert often butt heads, but nicely, on what color the sky is.

On the last day of school, Robert finally uses the blue crayon to color the sky before saying goodbye for the summer. After he leaves, Mrs Murphy can’t help looking at this final piece of art he’s left her and feeling, strangely, a sense of loss. Robert has finally done exactly what she’s been insisting on all year, so why does she feel like she’s the one who’s been defeated? When he comes back in search of forgotten crayons, the two sit down and draw together, in an unspoken truce where Mrs Murphy finally accepts that not everything can be neatly categorized away, whether it be colors or papers or joy.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/02/03/the-sky-is-not-blue-by-joy-jones-sawyer-cloud/

Jan 31 2025

Tantalizing Tales — January 2025 — Part Three

What a busy month filled with some terrific books! We’re on our third round-up of January so let’s dive straight into some of the really terrific books I’m hoping to find time to read soon.

First up is Linda H Codega’s Motheater. Being a game designer, I know Mx Codega from their excellent work reporting on developments in the indie tabletop field, so was super excited to check out their fiction-writing, too. Their debut novel is a queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, as the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea “Bennie” Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship and her reputation to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s the right thing to do — but also because she hopes that this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs.

Instead, the stranger brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and a half into the future. Now, the choices that Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the mountain itself.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/31/tantalizing-tales-january-2025-part-three/

Jan 30 2025

The Whitestone Chronicles, Volume 1: Ripley by Marieke Nijkamp & Tyler Walpole

with input from Critical Role, ofc, as this is part of the Legend Of Vox Machina universe.

I have to admit that I’ve never really gotten into the CR lore and fandom, mostly due to the fact that when I have time for role-playing games, it’s because I’m playing them, not watching other people play them. I did manage to find time for the brilliant Exandria Unlimited: Calamity miniseries because it was only 16 hours or so long, but since I don’t have time for regular TV (she says, typing while keeping one eye on the Arsenal game at Girona,) watching Actual Plays is pretty low on my list of priorities. Still, as a committed RPG enthusiast, I’ve definitely been interested in the iterations of CR across multiple media, if only to keep up with current trends in one of my favorite hobbies.

So I absolutely jumped at the chance to read this graphic novel and get a better idea of the much-celebrated world created by Matt Mercer & Co. EU:C aside, I’ve also run the Frozen Sick campaign for my local group, some of whom are much more interested in the setting than I am. I thus have a general understanding of the worldbuilding, and was looking forward to expanding that with this graphic novel.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/30/the-whitestone-chronicles-volume-1-ripley-by-marieke-nijkamp-tyler-walpole/

Jan 29 2025

Shadow Of The Eternal Watcher by Josh Mendoza (EXCERPT)

Hi, readers! Today we have an excerpt from a very cool speculative fiction debut by screenwriter Josh Mendoza, the genre-bending Shadow Of The Eternal Watcher.

From the blurb: “Private detective Duster Raines has demons. Some visit him in his dreams, reminding him of the choices he made in combat to survive. Others visit him while he’s awake, demanding he pay penance for those sins. But lately, he’s started seeing an alternate version of reality where he leads a life of importance, full of wealth and power. Visions so vivid, they seem more real than the life he lives as a private investigator, scrounging the gutters of Los Angeles for an easy buck. It’s enough to drive anyone insane.

“Pulled into a missing persons case he never wanted, Raines finds himself framed and hunted by the government. But as he searches for answers to clear his name, he discovers a truth he never could have imagined: he possesses the ability to bend spacetime to accomplish incredible feats. With these powers, maybe he’s got a shot at the life he deserves.

“There’s only one problem standing in his way: another Duster Raines.”

Read on for a pulse-pounding excerpt that shows exactly what Raines is up against as he navigates (for now) our Los Angeles!

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/29/shadow-of-the-eternal-watcher-by-josh-mendoza-excerpt/

Jan 28 2025

Gastronogeek: Gothic Recipes by Thibaud Villanova

The Gastronogeek himself Thibaud Villanova flies solo for this installment of his thoughtfully designed, geek-culture-inspired cookbook series.

Despite embracing something of a goth aesthetic myself during college, I haven’t really consumed a lot of gothic media, as this book has definitely enlightened me to. Dracula and The Addams Family were, ofc, two unmissable properties, showcasing multiple facets of the gothic experience. And while I definitely wish I had more time in my life to watch such entertainments as Penny Dreadful and Crimson Peak — both of which inspired recipes in this book — a small part of me is surprised that properties such as It and Evil Dead made the cut here. But hey, the more the merrier, as M Villanova treats us to over 40 delicious recipes that he’s concocted around the theme.

A note for those who’ve never encountered these books before: each recipe is legit, and I say that as someone who writes a weekly cooking column over at CriminalElement.com. The flavors are exquisite and the techniques, tho best suited for someone already familiar with the basics of cooking, are not at all complicated. Everything I’ve tried from these books so far has been a joy to eat. That said, these books were definitely written by a European for a European audience, with no localization for American readers. So if you don’t automatically know the conversion for Celsius/gas marks to Fahrenheit on your stove, make sure to keep the Internet or other reference tool handy. Don’t be afraid to look up food terms and make appropriate substitutions as well!

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/28/gastronogeek-gothic-recipes-by-thibaud-villanova/

Jan 27 2025

Carla’s Glasses by Debbie Herman & Sheila Bailey

It’s so uncommon to find a book that perfectly captures both exuberance and empathy as well as Carla’s Glasses does! And especially in so few pages, and in a way that’s perfect for readers of all ages.

Carla is one of those rare but delightful grade schoolers who loves standing out. When her teacher Ms Pimento announces that everyone will be getting a vision test from the school nurse next Monday, she’s super excited. As she tells her classmate and good friend Buster, she hopes she’ll need glasses so that she can be the only kid in class who has them.

Over the course of the next few days, she comes to school with brand new “glasses” she’s constructed from various craft materials. She gleefully discusses them with all the other students, as they consider which ones suit her best.

The day of the vision test arrives and Carla is amped up about possibly missing one of the letters. The next day, however, brings only disappointment. According to the nurse, Carla’s eyesight is just fine. The only person who needs glasses is Buster, and he is not happy about it at all.

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2025/01/27/carlas-glasses-by-debbie-herman-sheila-bailey/