Oct 05 2026
This would have been way more successful for me were it the overly wordy storyboard for an anime — most likely a repetitively depressing one like Berserk — than an actual book. And look, I get it. Depression sucks. It’s a legit mental illness that you can’t just will yourself out of. But that doesn’t …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/10/05/the-secret-world-of-briar-rose-by-cindy-pham/
Sep 24 2026
Back in April when the finalists for the 2026 Hugo Awards were announced, your Frumious Consorters talked about what we liked in the nominations, what we were excited to find out more about, and what we hoped to actually read. Curious to discover how things turned out and what the Consortium thought? Read on! Doug: …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/09/24/hugo-awards-2026-winners/
Sep 14 2026
Frankly, any good faith attempt to bring the world’s diverse mythologies to a wider audience of young readers — a la Rick Riordan’s Camp Half-Blood Chronicles — is a win in my book. While Christopher Roubique is careful to note that his story is based not on any one tribe’s beliefs but on an amalgamation, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/09/14/mythspeaker-by-christopher-roubique/
Aug 15 2026
Like its predecessor The Element of Fire, The Death of the Necromancer begins with a heist. Wells gives the first line to Madeline, an actress and singer who is rising in the theatrical world of Ile-Rien’s capital city, Vienne. She is also tightly entwined with a leading figure in the city’s criminal underworld. “The most …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/15/the-death-of-the-necromancer/
Aug 12 2026
Gah, how is the second book in this series even better than the astonishing first? Carl’s Doomsday Scenario is, granted, not a perfect book. There’s still a lot of information dumping — an almost inevitable part of the LitRPG genre — and some bits that verge on deus ex machina. It’s also unforgiving of people …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/12/carls-doomsday-scenario-by-matt-dinniman/
Aug 04 2026
That has got to win the prize for unwieldiest title going. But yes, I came to this graphic novel adaptation of Ursula K Le Guin’s classic because it’s been nominated for the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. Fred Fordham has done an incredible job here and I’m grateful that this book was nominated, …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/04/a-wizard-of-earthsea-a-graphic-novel-by-ursula-k-le-guin-adapted-by-fred-fordham/
Aug 01 2026
In contrast to Cinder House, The Summer War is not a classic fairy tale re-told in a more modern idiom but a re-working of fairytale elements, a new story told entirely in the register of a fairy tale. Thus the kingdom that is the setting for a bit more than half of the story is …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/01/the-summer-war-by-naomi-novik-2/
Jul 20 2026
with wonderful illustrations by Poly Bernatene. This sequel to Cousins In The Time Of Magic finds our three young protagonists Siggy, Camilla and Jorge heading back in time for an even more personal reason than in the first book. Camilla is already having a terrible day after being humiliated at her Florida school by the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/20/adventure-in-the-city-of-stories-by-emma-otheguy/
Jul 19 2026
A Long and Speaking Silence, the seventh in Nghi Vo‘s Singing Hills cycle, takes Cleric Chih back to one of their first assignments as a chronicler, a gatherer of stories. On their way to the riverside city of Luntien a moment of inattention led to their being relieved of their purse and stipend, so as …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/19/a-long-and-speaking-silence-by-nghi-vo/
Jul 15 2026
Ooh, Naomi Novik, you crafty little devil of a writer, you! I’m always so impressed when an author sets the reader up to intensely dislike a character, only for that same character to eventually and successfully capture our hearts later on. And I get it, there were a ton of mitigating factors for why our …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/15/the-summer-war-by-naomi-novik/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire