Book #219 of 2021: Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal Given the title of this YA novel, I hope it’s not too much of a spoiler to mention that there’s a literal werewolf in it, even though that fact isn’t confirmed until almost a third of the way through. But both before and …
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Book #218 of 2021: When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey Author Sarah Gailey always has great casual representation of gender and sexuality in their characters, and this YA novel is no exception with its tale of six queer best friends, including the bisexual heroine with two dads. I dig the gutsy premise too, which …
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Book #213 of 2021: The Atlas of the Land by Karen Wynn Fonstad This reference book is a true labor of love for the first six volumes in Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant fantasy series. (It was published in 1985, well before the final quartet arrived. And it’s been out of print ever …
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Book #204 of 2021: The Born Queen by Greg Keyes (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone #4) This high fantasy quartet never quite regains the propulsive rush of its initial entry, and there are a few too many dramatic reversals and reveals in the lengthy climax of this last novel for each to land with …
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Book #202 of 2021: Any Way the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell (Simon Snow #3) The new Simon Snow sequel is another loose entry in a series that reads ever more like fanfiction of someone else’s work. The previous volume at least had its great American road trip providing a basic sort of structure, but …
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Book #197 of 2021: Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater (The Dreamer Trilogy #2) Author Maggie Stiefvater has always prioritized ambiance and personal relationships over concrete plot, so I wouldn’t say that the slowness of this latest Raven Cycle spinoff is a total surprise. And yet — perhaps befitting a series about characters bringing their dreams …
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Book #192 of 2021: Fable of the Swan by Jenna Katerin Moran This is without a doubt one of the strangest books I’ve ever encountered. It’s weird fiction in every sense of the term, the sort of story that has to teach you how to interpret its slipstream oddities as you go along, and even …
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Book #191 of 2021: The Blood Knight by Greg Keyes (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone #3) Another strong fantasy adventure, following the returning heroes — by this point fairly scattered across the realm — as they navigate civil war, political intrigue, and unjust imprisonment amid the prophesied apocalypse still unfolding all around them. It’s …
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Book #190 of 2021: Making Money by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #36) I still don’t feel as though reformed con man Moist von Lipwig is a particularly engaging protagonist, and a lot of the plot beats to this attempt to turn around the archaic Ankh-Morpork banking industry seem too similar to his previous efforts at the …
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Book #176 of 2021: The Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone #2) Another strong entry in this unfairly-obscure fantasy quartet. I don’t like it quite as much as the previous volume, in part since a couple of the new storylines — Anne’s to some extent, but especially Aspar’s — seem …
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