Aug 04 2024
Like many children who grow up in peculiar families, Ru does not realize just how peculiar his home life is. As he gets bigger, he starts asking questions. Who am I? Who are we? Where do we come from? The second two are particularly important in in Bowbazar, the Calcutta (the spelling that Das uses …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/04/the-last-dragoners-of-bowbazar-by-indra-das/
Aug 02 2024
I should have read the description of The Language of the Night more closely because when it arrived I was a little irritated to discover that it’s a collection of essays mostly from the early and mid-1970s, with some footnoted and additional remarks that Le Guin added to a new edition of the book in …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/08/02/the-language-of-the-night-by-ursula-k-le-guin/
Jul 28 2024
In the first two novellas of Nghi Vo’s Singing Hills series — The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and When the Tiger Came Down from the Mountain — violent conflict is kept at a distance, and much of the tension in the stories arises from the question of whether it can continue to be kept from …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/28/mammoths-at-the-gates-by-nghi-vo-2/
Jul 25 2024
I love getting all the Dungeonmeister game aids: they’re always a super fun and creative way to throw my Dungeons & Dragons players a curveball to help keep things fresh! This random monster generator was no different. It’s based on a very cool flipbook concept, where the bulk of the book after the first 25 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/25/the-dungeonmeister-random-monster-generator-a-mix-and-match-rpg-flipbook-by-jef-aldrich-jon-taylor/
Jul 24 2024
Interestingly, it says “text by Terrance Crawford” in the credits as well, and I’m not sure exactly what that means. Credit where it’s due, tho? So this is a cute story that champions black representation in children’s fantasy, particularly of the cute anthropomorphic fantastic beast variety. Afronia is a magical land in the stars populated …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/24/afro-unicorn-the-land-of-afronia-vol-1-by-april-showers-ronaldo-barata/
Jul 15 2024
God, reading this book was such a relief. After struggling through three of the other Best Novella nominees for the Hugo Awards 2024, it was nice to finally read a book that felt like it was written by a professional who gives a shit about her audience. Now I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings, so …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/15/thornhedge-by-t-kingfisher/
Jul 10 2024
OKAY, I am still inordinately pissed at the absurd, regressive, anti-feminist retcon that DC Comics gave Wonder Woman’s origins with the New 52. I know that people say that comic book back stories are like changeable weather: if you don’t like it, wait a short period of time and it’ll change again. But between the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/10/wonder-woman-historia-the-amazons-vol-1-by-kelly-sue-deconnick-phil-jimenez-gene-ha-nicola-scott/
Jul 09 2024
For all that each novella in this series is touted as a standalone, I do very much think that readers would benefit from reading at least a few of the earlier books first. I was struck with Nghi Vo’s propensity for giving almost no backstory to readers in Book One, preferring to immerse us directly …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/07/09/mammoths-at-the-gates-by-nghi-vo/
Jun 21 2024
I adored the first volume of the Ava’s Demon series, and am even more impressed by this follow-up effort! My biggest complaint about the first volume is slightly alleviated here, too, as this cover is definitely less awkward than Volume One’s. After the catastrophic events that capped Book One: Reborn, Ava finds herself battling Wrathia …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/21/avas-demon-book-two-aftermath-by-michelle-fus/
Jun 20 2024
Hunh, I didn’t realize that almost all of the novelette nominees in this year’s Hugo Awards category have their own entries on Goodreads. I’ll have to populate my shelves there accordingly. Anyway, my favorite novelette this year by a country mile was C. L. Polk’s Ivy, Angelica, Bay. She’s long been one of the authors …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2024/06/20/hugo-awards-2024-best-novelette-nominees/
Al Singh
Doug Merrill
Doreen Sheridan
Emily Lauer
John Pitzel
Lars N. Goldschlager
Laura Eilers
Professor X
Robert Maedgen
Sylvere Ap Leanan
The Shire