Beth Tabler's Blog, page 209
November 14, 2021
Short Story – Any Way The Wind Blows by Seanan Mcguire
Any Way The Wind Blows by Seanan McGuire Purchase Here Seanan McGuire, Any Way The Wind Blows AboutI’m tired of this. They warned me when I started that one day I’d be tired of this, and I thought they were ranting and raving the way hidebound old fools always rant and rave when there’s a scientific advancement at hand—it’s as much a part of the process as the grandiose declarations of showing them, showing them all, and the ceremonial passing of the adventurer’s compass.―
In the original Tor.com story Any Way the Wind Blows , New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire presents a sweet tribute to Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron building–celebrating the longtime home of Tor Books as the publisher bids farewell for new office space.
Composed of travelers from nine different parallel dimensions, the Cartography Corps crew aboard the airship Stalwart Trumpet of Glory descends on the New York City in our universe to collect and preserve artifacts from the legendary turn-of-the-twentieth century landmark Flatiron building.
My ThoughtsThis is a fun and fairly short story from famed author Seanan Mcguire. Even in it’s short format, the story packs in plenty of worldbuilding to give you a full sense of the moment in time and space that Mcguire is describing.
As someone who has visited The Flatiron building in New York, I can attest that it is an architectural marvel jutting away into space like the sail of a great ship. It is fitting that Mcguire used the imagery of another ship, in this a blimp, as a way to connect the two. At least that is the imagery I got from the story. She created it to celebrate Tor.com’s residence at the Flatiron building. This is a fitting nod to the Tor team, and a node to the architecture of New York. It is wonderfully fun and a quick read that you can do in 15 minutes.
Check it out!
In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love Where to find it? Procurement I bought this from Amazon. About the Author
Hi! I’m Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things. I’m also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon). Beth Tabler 
Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 12, 2021
Review of A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
a house At the bottom of a lake by josh malerman November 12, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress “For the first time in either of their lives, they were falling in love”The House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman is a lovely novella full of nostalgia and wonder with just a touch of horror that takes it from saccharin to sweet.
I remember being 17, don’t you?
Looking back on that period of my life, it was a magical but weird time. I sat on the cusp of adulthood, not quite a kid but also not quite an adult. More importantly, I saw myself as an adult; I thought I knew everything. Looking back on this weird age 20+ later, I now know that I knew nothing then. Hell, I barely know anything now.
A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malorman starts with a boy and a girl, Josh and Amelia. Two 17-year-olds, both are stepping out and trying something foreign.
“How can I say no? Canoening with a stranger? Yes. I’d love to.”
Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.””
They meet up for a canoe date. James’s uncle has a place on a lake. But there is a second lake, one that no one uses that is directly off of the first one. Both self-conscious and not knowing what to do on this first date, they head out on Jame’s uncle’s green canoe. They find the second lake, and a bit of magic happens.
The magic isn’t showy like dragons or unicorns, but it is the magic that occurs between two people connecting for the first time. It is that zing that flows through someone who meets another person, and they become their +1. They connect, marveling at this lake.
“For the first time in either of their lives, they were falling in love.”
On the second date, they find the third lake. If the first was beautiful, the second more so, the third lake was not. It was much less grand, with murky water, and smelled. There was something off about it. But the third lake had something; it felt unvisited. It felt like these two kids were doing something slightly naughty on a grand adventure.
And very soon after, they find a house on the bottom of the lake, one that was not rotting and crumbling from the pressures of the lake and time, but one that is held in stasis. As if it was waiting for them.
A House at the Bottom of a Lake’s narrative touches on various dichotomies of ideas. The story’s main characters have feet in two worlds: reality and dream, 17 and older, horror and beauty, and seclusion and society. A house sitting perfectly nestled on the bottom of a lake is in itself a dichotomy. It is something “other” inside of something natural and normal.
“Curiosity killed the cat and the snooping seventeen-year-old girl.”
Do not go into this story thinking that this is a horror novel. Malerman writes many great horror novels: Bird Box, Mallory, and Pearl. A House at the Bottom of a Lake is about young love first and how terrifying that can be. Later as we learn more about the house, it is creepy and unnatural. It is “other” with fear of the unknown vibes. This otherness enhances the connection between the two main characters but never overshadows it.
Overall, this is a great story. Malerman shows real range with his character creation in his bibliography of work. But the one thread going through his books is true authenticity. His characters feel real, and this story is no exception. The House at the Bottom of the Lake is both fantastical and character-focused. I fell a little bit in love with the idea of Josh and Amelia, and I think you will too. at
Check Out some of our other reviews
Review – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Interview with Josh Malerman, Author of Pearl and Birdbox
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 11, 2021
Interview with Josh Malerman, Author of Pearl and Birdbox
josh malerman "...It wasn’t easy! And it was also incredible. Derek loved driving, Chad loved reading or practicing the bass in the back, and I had shotgun to myself. I could either read, sleep, call someone, or… write. We’d average some 4 hours driving a day, which was a pretty perfect writing window, a perfect session....." Josh Malermen entered the book scene 8 years ago with Bird Box, a novel about the apocalypse. We met Malorie and watched her struggle past the unthinkable. It was highly acclaimed and was eventually turned into the Film Bird Box for Netflix starring Sandra Bullock. Since then Josh has had added a ton of terrifying books to his repertoire: Black Mad Wheel, Unbury Carol, and A House at the Bottum of the Lake to name a few.
But now with the upcoming release of Pearl, a story about a pig that is difficult to describe, but absolutely unsettling and riveting to read. Josh was kind enough to sit down to interview with us and let you know why you should check out Pearl, and maybe sing for precious Pearl if he asks.
GdM: Can you tell me about The High Strung and how you came by your love of music?
My friends Derek and Chad and John were all playing in bands since we were like ten years old. I didn’t think I had that exact bone in me, but I was already writing back then, weird comics and totally emo poems and eventually short stories. Trying to anyway. So… eventually, Chad and John and another friend Adam invited Derek and me to come join their band. Derek because he was amazing at drums and me because… of proximity. We were all hanging out together all day every day and Derek and I came in a package deal or something and they were like, “We’ll get you an organ, Josh, and we’ll teach you some chords, and you’ll play along. Nothing to it.” And while there was definitely something to it, I loved being part of it all. But the real love for it came one night when Derek and I were practicing in the basement of his mom’s house, organ and drums, and our other friend Mark Owen came over and started singing some of his poems and some of mine over the music Derek and I were playing. That was the moment the songwriting door opened to me, to Mark, and we stepped through it without a second thought. We’re working on a new album now. Mark is the closest thing I’ll ever have to an artistic soulmate. He’s unfathomably great to work with.
GdM: When you craft a song versus crafting a story, is it a similar creative storytelling space?
The biggest link I’ve found is this sense of a drummer when I’m writing a book. An invisible, shirtless, crazy guy who plays the same beat throughout the entire rough draft. Sometimes that beat is weird and I don’t realize it until the rewrite, but other times it’s four-on-the-floor and easy to follow. Bird Box was like that. I think this comes from the fact that Chad Stocker, the bass player in the High Strung, was really our lead guitarist, even though he was on bass, for many years, while I pretty much played rhythm with Derek. So, for me, songs and books, it’s a lot about rhythm. The roll. And maintaining a steady, unsettling beat for the duration of writing the book.
GdM: Your story of writing on the road sounded pretty fun. I read that you wrote a dozen novels on the road touring with high Strung. How did writing work on a tour bus?
It wasn’t easy! And it was also incredible. Derek loved driving, Chad loved reading or practicing the bass in the back, and I had shotgun to myself. I could either read, sleep, call someone, or… write. We’d average some 4 hours driving a day, which was a pretty perfect writing window, a perfect session. So, I started doing it. I got this lap-pillow thing that had a pillow on one side, a wood board on the other, so it was like a little desk top. And I wrote. I wrote freehand, too. We’d be hungover or tired but we were also living so far under the radar, so broke, so outside the box, that writing novels between cities felt like the exact right thing to do. It was a liminal space, so to speak. I miss it.
GdM: Can you tell me about Spin a Black Yarn, (which is a helluva name by the way) and We Need to Do something? It is exciting for me as someone who loves horror to see you and Max Booth III collaborating.
I met my manager Ryan Lewis some thirteen years ago. I was writing novels in the tour van at the time and he was representing a handful of screenwriters. Ryan worked with an incredible woman named Candace Lake and the two of them read Goblin, sent to them by the lawyer Wayne Alexander, and Ryan called me up and said he’d like to represent me. I was horrified because I didn’t know what representation meant in any form at the time. I hadn’t even shopped a book or queried an agent, nothing. I’d been writing and writing alone, believing in a sort of dust devil swirling cloud that would rise like momentum around me and eventually somehow deliver these books to actual bookshelves. Ryan, Candace, and Wayne were the first steps toward that reality. Eventually Candace retired and Bird Box was shopped and came out, and Universal bought the film rights, and eventually sold them to Netflix, and then (a glorious lifetime later) the movie came out and did better than anybody could’ve anticipated. After that, Ryan suggested we start our own production company. Not because we were upset at having no say in the movie, but because we saw how it works, we learned, and we believed we could get movies made in our own way, too. It started as us focusing entirely on my own books but pretty soon into it Ryan suggested we look at books from other writers as well.
We’ve got some 26 projects in some form of development right now, from a potential screenwriter reading a book we like, to books set-up at Apple (Inspection), and everything in between. Fourteen of those projects are books of mine, the rest not, and it’s all a wonderful bastion of creativity. Max had written the script for his book and it was done really well and so Ryan was like, let’s shop it asap. But something really cool happened here: the very first people we sent it to (hoping they would want to partner or possibly even finance the movie) said they wanted to direct it. We were all a bit happily stunned but also worried, right? What if the first person you shop to says they wanna do it and you give them that exclusivity and then they never make it? Then it’s like you never shopped it. So Ryan did something brilliant: Sean O’Grady (the director) had said he wanted to make it “this year” (2020) and so Ryan put that in the contract, that it had to be made in 2020.
And if not? We could bring it elsewhere. I suppose you could look at it like Ryan was saying put your money where your mouth is, but it wasn’t really like that. We had no doubt Sean wanted to make the movie right away, but Ryan was just ensuring that the project wouldn’t end up in some development purgatory. Just… brilliant. So, Sean and co made it! And it was wonderful! And it was shot not three miles from where I am right now. It was shot during COVID and so nobody was allowed on set (including me), but I sure as hell attended the wrap party and it was stone cold glory. Ryan and I got the name for our production company from a collection I’d written called Spin a Black Yarn (which is coming out in 2023 through Del Rey). Marty Feldman is our spirit animal and “mascot.” And I gotta say, sometimes the business side of things is overwhelming.
I’m an artist. I have no shame calling myself that and I find it strange when other writers do. My heart is in the books and the novel is home, but at the same time? Working with Ryan on all this has been one of the joys of my life. And working with these other writers, like Max and Jonathan Janz and Laurel Hightower and Izzy Lee, Sadie Hartmann, it’s all just fabulous. So, way I see it… even when it’s overwhelming, when there’s a lot of work to do, I just imagine what no work to do looks like and I get over it real fast.
GdM: I read that there was early talk about writing and directing Wendy. Is this still something that might happen?
This is a real dream of mine. It’s the first book I wrote, the first I finished, and it ranks as one of the all-time artistic experiences for me. And I still know exactly how the story feels. Do you know what I mean by that? Books and movies change for us over time, but that one… Wendy (which is printed up and sitting almost within arm’s reach from where I’m sitting now in my office), Wendy hasn’t changed on me. I’d love to direct this movie. It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve done.
GdM: You write unflinching unvarnished prose, and you don’t shy away from diving deep into terror and horror. Are there any ideas you would like to build a story around that you haven’t yet, and are there any ideas that are just too disturbing that you mentally shy away from?
I do have a couple recurring ideas that are just too brutal for me. They’re almost like bullies, how they taunt me. They say: come on, don’t be shy, Josh, write us. And I’ve heard people say you’re supposed to write those ideas, the ones that disturb you, especially, but honestly… these ideas… they’re like… they’re darker than I am. They’re artless, too. Which might excite some people. Artless and brutal has a nice ring to it. This isn’t to say that what I do write is somehow less scary… no no. Just… less abusive.
GdM: I have always thought that horror or dark fantasy writers have to remain very close to their childhood experiences with things that go bump in the night because no one understands horror quite as a child does. Do you think that could be true?
I could not agree more with this than I do. For me, my love for horror comes partially from an arrested development that I have absolutely no desire to outgrow. When I think horror, I imagine a big kid sitting cross-legged before an orchestra made of toy instruments. The music is atonal, the lights in his playroom are dimmed, his eyebrows are arched, and he’s saying: Let’s see how this song makes Mommy and Daddy feel. There’s a part of me that believes every scary movie I see, every scary book I read. A big part of me. I walk around, believing the possibility of these things all day. And I hope that never changes. It would be as frightening to me as when you see an animal lose its appetite. Like, it would mark the end of something very meaningful to me. So, yes, remain close to your childhood… I’m with that all the way.
GdM: Many of your novels use dichotomies as a means of storytelling. For instance, in The House at the Bottom of the Lake, the story has a beautiful, wholesome plot, young love, exploration, and being 17 with your life entirely ahead of you. All of this is on the surface, the dichotomy being the house at the bottom of the lake where things are not entirely as they should be. Bird Box has a similar dichotomy. The domestic tasks of everyday living and surviving versus the malice creeping outside the blocked windows. What is it about this kind of dichotomy of two opposing ideas that attracts you as an author?
You know… I’m not sure where this came from. It’s interesting because, as an artist, you can’t really recognize patterns until you’ve finished enough works of art to see patterns in to begin with, right? Like, I was surprised to discover the river in Bird Box is similar to The Trail in Unbury Carol which is similar, in a sense, to a singular setting, the farm, in Pearl. I’ve noticed other patterns, too: a horror story told partially off-camera. Bird Box has a lot of that but so does Dandy, A Nightmare Got In, Two Gods in the House, and at least a dozen more. I think of that scene in Taxi Driver when DeNiro is on the phone and Scorsese pans to the empty hall and keeps the camera there while DeNiro talks. A lot of my books do that, whatever that is. It’s not just a haunted house, but a haunted house under water, right? But I haven’t thought much about this dichotomy thing. Now I’m certainly going to.
GdM: An aspect of Bird Box that I appreciated as a reader was you never showed me what the monster was. The monster was whatever the beast is for the reader. It made the monster take on a very amorphous shape that was so much scarier than if it had tentacles or breathed fire because it could be anything and everything all at once. Was this always the intention when you were writing the story? Or did this idea organically develop as you went along?
About halfway through the rough draft I thought to myself, “Are you going to show these things?” Then, three quarters through I was like, “Ummm, Josh?” And when I entered the home stretch I understood I wasn’t going to. It was no small revelation, in terms of writing the book, because I hadn’t seen something exactly like that in a horror story before. But, like I said, I look for that one unsettling note to play throughout the book I’m writing, that one steady beat, and it was obvious to me that showing the creatures would change the beat entirely. Now, do I know what they look like? Did I ever? Well, I know as much as Malorie knows. And that’s all I ever know.
GdM: Malorie’s experiences in Bird Box, being blindfolded, the trapped feeling she has knowing madness is lurking just outside the cloth, was so well done it was viscerally terrifying. Did you spend time blindfolded in preparation for writing those scenes?
Some. I wish I’d done more. I should’ve attempted an entire walk around the block. But mostly just stuff around the apartment, the space where I wrote the book.
GdM: What was it like seeing your creation on the big screen and people’s reactions to it?
We saw it at Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles. A screening room called “The Upside Down.” The second I saw Sandra Bullock on screen as Malorie, I teared up. How could I not? I’d written the rough draft in 2006. And while the book was completely rewritten by 2014 when it was published, I’d been with Malorie the character for 13 years by the time the movie came out. I mean, this was a big feeling, seeing her on screen, out of my head, outside my imagination. Upside down indeed. As goes the reaction: what can I say other than it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me and I’m grateful for literally every second, every minuscule element of this entire experience. I’m going to write a couple novels a year no matter what happens, this I’ve already proven to myself over a long time now. So, the fact that I get to see them published? The artwork? That I get to discuss them with you? Well, Bird Box the book and movie played a major part in that. For that, I will be forever grateful to it all.
GdM: Pearl had another title, On This, the Day of the Pig. What made you decide to move away from On This, the Day of the Pig to Pearl as a title?
I like both titles. It was definitely my decision. I felt the story is already a beast to pitch and I wanted something more streamlined. I was looking to highlight the fact that Pearl is our slasher here, our monster, our Carrie. The original cover was super colorful and violent (and I love it), but I wanted this edition to be streamlined. A simple rendering of a barn. A simple title. My way of saying, “This story starts small… but becomes a lot more.” The cover and title for the original limited edition feel like how the book ends. And the new title and cover feel, to me, how it begins.
GdM: I liked how, on the surface, the idea of a psychic pig terrorizing a farm is part schadenfreude and part revenge fantasy. But, this story is so much scarier than it has any right being. It is an absolute symphony of horror—specifically the chapters from Pearl’s mind. What was pitching Pearl like?
It was the kind of story that was hard to explain even to my friends at the bar! They’d ask, what are you working on, and I start in about a telekinetic pig and then I’d think, WHAT are you talking about? Because it sounded crazy. I know. Yet… I believe Pearl is one of those scenarios where the actual book is better than the pitch. And wouldn’t we all rather write those books than the opposite? Also: THANK you for the kind words about it here. I’m going to use “an absolute symphony of horror” immediately. And I will credit you of course!
GdM: I watched the interview that you did with The Lasser Cast where you mentioned animating Pearl. It can be done. I think an animated version of Pearl would both traumatize and enthrall kids and adults. Have you watched any of Junji Ito’s work as horror animation?
I have not. But now I’m going to. And yeah… a legit horror movie, animated, truly scary, like the Bernie Wrightson illustrations from Cycle of the Werewolf, only in motion. That may be how this book should go. I could also see an animatronic Pearl… could be scary like going to see the Chuck E. Cheese band was scary when we were kids. Doesn’t that sound fun?
GdM: I read that you listen to horror soundtracks while writing. What kind of music was on your playlist for Pearl?
At the time was probably… the soundtracks for Under the Skin, Creepshow, Troll, and John Carpenter’s Lost Themes I and II. I really do need to start writing down the soundtracks I listened to throughout each rough draft. That’s fun stuff to remember later on.
GdM: So, what is next after Pearl’s release? What are you working on?
Okay, so… Ghoul n’ the Cape is coming out on Earthling Publications in December. The book is a beast. 300,000 words. And I’m working on two books now, well over halfway into each. Working with Ryan on the movie side of things and also making a new album with the High Strung. I have that familiar feeling right now, when you’re mid-project (a few projects here) and you start imagining what life will feel like when these projects are finished, when they’re added to the body of work, as the canon has always been the most important thing to me, a life’s work rather than an individual hit or miss, etc. So I’m starting to see these newer books on the shelf and this new album on the record player, as all my friends drink and dance and talk and laugh and we continue along this incredible path we’ve taken.
Original Interview Appeared On Grimdark Magazine
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Check Out Josh Malerman's Books
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 10, 2021
Review – The Valkyrie of Vanaheim by Phil Parker
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
THE VALKYRIE OF VANAHEIM by PHIL PARKER November 10, 2021 11:02 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress WHAT IT IS ABOUT?Frida Ransom has a secret, she is a human/Fae hybrid. A lonely one too. Frida and her mother lived a solitary existence to keep that secret safe. Her mother’s unexpected death, and a decade-long war with the fae, turned the girl even more emotionally fragile.
Now, with the war over, humanity and the Fae must cooperate to overcome new challenges. Except factions on both sides of the inter-dimensional portals oppose this collaboration. A new dimension has been found, one humanity could colonise.
A mission to reconnoitre this new world takes shape and Frida finds herself included on the team. Her problems deepen when factions of humanity and fae try to sabotage the mission. A sequence of events shines a spotlight on Frida and her family heritage. For this eighteen-year-old young woman, its attention threatens her sanity and places her in danger.
Beyond the spotlight, waiting in the darkness of their destination, something malevolent and cunning awaits. It needs Frida to fulfil its plans. Which, if successful, threatens the existence of humanity and the Fae.
For fans of a wonderful blend of non-stop action, meshed with skillful character development, I strongly recommend checking out the thrilling portal fantasy, ‘The Valkyrie of Vanaheim” by Phil Parker!
The book is set in a not-so-distant dystopian future, filled with prejudice, mistrust, and misunderstanding between Fae and human-kind. Humans live in one dimension, while Fae live in another, however the two species can enter one another’s space, and other dimensions as well.
The protagonist, a teenager named Frida, is part-human, part-Fae. This mixed heritage would make both sides – human and Fae – suspicious of Frida, therefore her true lineage is hidden. Frida’s deceased mother elected to pass her daughter off as human only, in order to protect Frida from scorn, ridicule, or worse.
The humans and the Fae have been at war for years, however a fragile peace has been forged. Still, there are forces on both sides that disapprove of the detente, and actively conspire to ruin the treaty. Meanwhile, other dimensions that are suitable for habitation, unexplored by humans or fae, have been discovered. A collaborative mission is formed to investigate the new universe, but danger and disaster await those who attempt the journey.
Frida has grown up somewhat isolated, a bit socially awkward, and feeling out of place in the world. She longs for deeper friendships, companionship and a romantic relationship. In Frida’s mind, she is not considered as feminine and as attractive to men as other women. Perceiving herself as unattractive, along with the secret bloodline factor, Frida feels despondent that she will not be able to forge deeper connections. But Frida does not wallow in self-pity. She is very brave, intelligent, capable, and a very morally upright and strong person of values.
Frida finds herself part of the military mission to survey the new dimension. The dimensions of the world in Parker’s story are inspired by Norse Legend, and the new dimension is called Vanaheim, home of the Vanir Gods in Norse mythology. The mission will need Frida’s burgeoning powers, to combat the evil that lurks in Vanaheim, and that evil intends to use Frida for its own pernicious purposes.
As I noted at the onset of this review, there is action aplenty in this book, with some heart-stopping battles, blending modern weaponry, advanced technology, and ancient magic. Lovers of a fast-paced plot will not be disappointed in this book. Parker keeps the tension on, and the reader praying their favourite players can survive the constant, epic conflict!
Again, I admire Parker’s ability to incorporate depth of character – particularly with his main character, Frida – side by side with the blurring fight scenes. The reader will acutely feel Frida’s angst, moral quandaries, hope, disappointments, rage, sorrow, and the gamut of her emotions. She is very well-drawn and believable.
The secondary characters are quite interesting as well, and I loved the twists Parker threw in with their plot arcs that the reader likely won’t see coming! I also enjoyed the diverse creatures in the book, and I don’t want to spoil it by giving away most of them, however, I’ll just say something akin to a fire-breather may make more than one unforgettable appearance!
I LOVED the themes touched on in the book. Present thought-provoking ideas in a novel and you will definitely receive my praise and admiration. The misgivings among different human and Fae factions is very well done by Parker, and portrayed with dexterously and with appropriate realism.
There are plenty of shades of grey / ambiguity among some of the characters and their motivations (outside of the downright evil ones) and there is a lot of grappling with questions about what is right and wrong, and if others who are different can be trusted and accepted. There is also the debate over colonialism, and what gives another group the right to simply take over another territory, for their own purposes, which is a theme that will always intrigue me.
A very good book, “The Valkyrie of Vanaheim” was a fun ride, with strong characterization and compelling themes! I will sure be looping back to read any sequels, and also checking out Parker’s “Knight’s Protocol” trilogy, as “The Valkyrie of Vanaheim” has converted me into a Phil Parker fan!
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P.L. Stuart
I’m an experienced writer, in that I’ve been writing stories all my life, yet never thought to publish them. I’ve written informally – short stories – to entertain friends and family, for community newspapers, volunteer organization magazines, and of course formal papers for University. Now, later in life, I’ve published what I believe is a great fantasy novel, and definitely worth reading, called A Drowned Kingdom. My target audience is those who enjoy “high fantasy”. A Drowned Kingdom is not “dark fantasy”. It’s written in a more idealized and grandiose style that I hope isn’t too preachy, and not too grim. Still, I’m hoping my book has appeal to those who don’t typically read this type of work – those who don’t read fantasy of any kind – because of the “every-person” themes permeating the novel: dysfunctional familial relationships, extramarital temptation, racism, misogyny, catastrophic loss, religion, crisis of faith, elitism, self-confidence, PTSD, and more.
Many of these themes I have either personal experience with, or have friends or family who have dealt with such issues. I’ve had a long professional law enforcement career, undergone traumatic events, yet been buoyed by family, faith, and positivity. I’m a racialized middle-aged man. I’ve seen a lot of life. Ultimately I want the planned series, of which A Drowned Kingdom will be the introduction, to be one of hope, and overcoming obstacles to succeed, which I believe is my story as well. My protagonist, Othrun, will undergo a journey where he’ll evolve, change, and shape a continent. He’s not always likeable. He’s a snob, bigot, is vain, yet struggles with confidence. He’s patriarchal. Overall, he’s flawed. But even ordinary flawed people can change. We’re all redeemable.
Ordinary people can make a difference, not just fictional Princes. I want that message to shine through my work.
WHERE TO FIND HIMTwitter – @plstuartwrites
Facebook – @plstuartwrites
If You Liked This - Please Share the LoveShort Story – Ozioma the Wicked by Nnedi Okorafor
Beth Tabler 5/5 
Unnatural Creatures by Neil Gaiman Purchase Here Nnedi Okorafor, Ozioma The Wicked AboutTO MOST, OZIOMA WAS A NASTY LITTLE GIRL whose pure heart had turned black two years ago, not long after her father’s death. Only her mother would dis- agree, but her mother was a mere fourth wife to a dead yam farmer. So no one cared what her mother thought.―
“I was there when NNEDI OKORAFOR won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel for Who Fears Death, and cheered as loudly as anyone. She’s a wonderful writer who makes her home in Chicago and has the best hair in the world. Twelve years old, and able to speak with poisonous snakes, Ozioma’s the undefeated champion of her village—despite the fact that everyone in it thinks she’s a witch. One day, though, a tremendous serpent descends from the heav- ens, and tests even Ozioma’s courage…..”
My Thoughts Ozioma the Wicked is a short story written by writer Nnedi Okorafor. It appears as the the fourth short story in the collection Unnatural Creatures. I chose to review each of the stories separately due to the stories found in the collection being so different. The stories have come from different eras. Some were written by fantasy writers, hard science fiction, comedy writers and even satirists. Ozioma is no different. Ozioma is about a young girl who can talk to snakes. Or, rather a young Nigerian girl who can communicate with snakes or sense what their intentions are. This isn’t Harry Potter though. Afam stopped, out of breath. “There,” he said, pointing. Then he quickly backedaway and ran off, hiding behind the nearest house and peeking around its corner.Ozioma turned back to the tree just as it began to rain.Shaped like two spiders, a large one perched upside down upon a smallerother, the thick smooth branches and roots were ideal for sitting. On days of rest,the men gathered around it to argue, converse, drink, smoke, and play cards on different branch levels.I believe that the picture that Okorafor paints is a much truer picture of how a small town or community would handle a girl like her. They ostracize her. They belittle her. They call her a witch. Ozioma is a a model of courage in the face of hard circumstances, in the face of mob mentality, and in the face of fear this little girl shines. It is a great story and at this point I would expect nothing less from Okorafor. But, if you get an opportunity to check out this short story by itself, I think it is 30 pages or so, or read Unnatural Creatures in its totality please do. Ozioma The Wicked It is worth the read. If you like this , Check Out Her Other Work
Review of Hello Moto by Nnedi Okorafor
Knowledge Comes at a Steep Price in Nnedi Okorafor’s Biniti
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love Where to find it? ProcurementI checked this out from the library
About the Author
Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian American author of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for both children and adults and a professor at the University at Buffalo, New York. Her works include Who Fears Death, the Binti novella trilogy, the Book of Phoenix, the Akata books and Lagoon. She is the winner of Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards and her debut novel Zahrah the Windseeker won the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. She lives with her daughter Anyaugo and family in Illinois. Learn more about Nnedi at Nnedi.com.
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 9, 2021
Review – Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
YELLOW JESSAMINE by CAITLIN STARLING November 9, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPressYellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling started incredibly strong with great atmospheric detail and a very creepy vibe but puttered out and ended with a whimper.
Evelyn Perdanu is a shipping magnate, the only living survivor of her family. She walks the city veiled and hidden away from the eyes of those around her. Her country is slowly dying, rotting away like food left out to spoil. Arriving from her last voyage out, she discovers that a plague has visited her city, and it is traced back to her crew. They act erratically and slip into catatonia. She begins to investigate the plague as much for the city’s sake and those in it as for her own company and family name. What she finds is complicated and horrific.
Also highly confusing to me as a reader.
This story started beautifully. It was atmospheric and enchanting. We learn little bits of the background of Evelyn’s life; we know a bit about the relationship she has with her assistant. We realize that Evelyn is a master herbalist, and she has used her herbal concoctions all over town, both for good and evil. This fantastic backstory for Evelyn gave me a solid foundation to picture her character in my mind.
This all takes place in the first act of the story.
When we start the second act, additional ideas and characters are added to the mix; the police captain, for instance. It gets confusing, and I was not sure of the importance of things. Should I, as a reader, be concerned by the Police Captain sniffing around? Or with the plague? Or with Evelyn’s business interests?
By the third act, the story gets a bit stranger and still more confusing, and it just ends. I don’t want to give it away, as the ending is very out of the left field.
Conceptually, this is a remarkable book. Starling absolutely knows how to work words into magic in the mind of the reader. During the story’s first half, my mind’s eye was covered in yellow smoke, twisted and thorny vines, and a woman sitting amongst it all veiled in black lace. It lost me in the second and by the third act, I was so confused by some things that I was just done. The atmospheric description and excellent detailing were constant, though, and that is why I finished the story.
Check Out some of our other reviewsReview – The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Review – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
Short Story Review – If You Take My Meaning by Charlie Jane Anders
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 8, 2021
Interview with Zoje Stage, Author of Baby Teeth and Getaway
ZOJE STAGE "...I find it much harder to write a world that’s grounded in reality. With Getaway in particular I tried to adhere to the specific geography of the trails and places I named in the Grand Canyon. This necessitated conforming my plot elements to what was physically possible given the terrain....." Pittsburg native and former filmmaker Zoje Stage is a USA Today and international bestselling author of Baby Teeth, Wonderland and now her newest release Getaway. A story where two sisters, Imogen and Beck, and a long-time friend Tilda are hiking in the majestic Grand Canyon’s backcountry. “But as the terrain grows tougher, tensions from their shared past bubble up. And when supplies begin to disappear, it becomes clear secrets aren’t the only thing they’re being stalked by.”
Zoje was kind enough to interview with Grimdark Magazine about her penchant for horror and suspense, writing, and Getaway.
[BWG] What kind of stories inspired you to become a writer? And if it wasn’t a story, what was your journey here?
[ZS] For decades my dream was to be a writer/director of independent films. At the time, I believed that film was the medium that encompassed all of my interests: writing, photography, theatre, etc. Unfortunately, due to finances and health issues, I never achieved in film what I’d hope to do. At the end of 2012 I made the difficult decision to leave my film aspirations behind and see if I could learn to write novels. The kinds of books I write are very similar to the types of movies I wanted to make, with stories that delve into interesting facets of human behavior amid a situation or setting where something weird is going on—naturally or supernaturally. A lot of my creative motivation is in exploring how people react to the strangeness going on around them.
[BWG]
You have heavy film and screenplay experience. How does your background affect how you craft scenes for novels? Do you approach them visually? Do you storyboard? What is your process?
[ZS] I still think quite visually, and often an idea for a novel will start with an image or two. It was very challenging when I first switched from filmmaking to writing novels as I had to learn how to create an image entirely with words, while understanding that everyone imagines things differently. It helped that long before I was a filmmaker I wrote poetry, so I had some experience with using language expressively. Now I rather enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to translate the mood, setting, imagery that I see in my head using only the precision of sentences.
[BWG] Your first two novels, Baby Teeth, and Wonderland have supernatural elements to them? Do you find it easier to write a world where the world’s rules are changeable i.e., ones with supernatural elements or ones grounded entirely in reality?
[ZS] I find it much harder to write a world that’s grounded in reality. With Getaway in particular I tried to adhere to the specific geography of the trails and places I named in the Grand Canyon. This necessitated conforming my plot elements to what was physically possible given the terrain. Sometimes it’s a constructive challenge to have certain kinds of restrictions—it can help you stay focused. But I really love the freedom of letting my imagination run wild, which is likely why I’ve always been attracted to writing genres like horror and fantasy.
[BWG] Your stories have various horror aspects, whether psychological, supernatural, or suspense. Do you read horror novels? And if so, what scares you?
[ZS] I’d say my greater passion is for the various ways that suspense resides in a novel, and I read more thrillers and psychological stories than straight horror. I definitely like my horror to “ring true” (no matter how fantastic it may seem): I like to see characters realistically grappling with their situation. I’m pretty hard to scare, and when a book scares me it’s usually moments of off-kilter creepiness.
[BWG] Do you find writing a therapeutic outlet?
[ZS] I’ve maintained for a long time that writing is how I process the world. I swear sometimes I don’t know what I truly feel or think about something until I have a chance to sit down and write about it.
[BWG] Having released two novels amidst the pandemic, Wonderland released in 2020 and now Getaway in 2021, how has the experience of releasing differed as an author from that of Baby Teeth in 2018?
[ZS] Releasing books during a pandemic has been very difficult, on multiple fronts. There’s the business aspect: people are not necessarily as plugged into things like new book releases as they once might have been, and are concerned about their finances in a changing world. With Baby Teeth I was just getting the hang of making public appearances as an author…and then it all came to an end. Virtual events are wonderful in certain ways, but I often end up feeling quite disconnected. In many ways it feels like Wonderland, especially, was released into a black hole. My sense of these books being “published” doesn’t feel completely real, although this time around I’ve gotten to see Getaway in a number of bookstores (always a thrill!).
[BWG] Has the pandemic had any effect on your ability to be creative?
[ZS] It’s been a very strange year and a half, to say the least. Like many people, my ability to concentrate was impaired for quite a while and I was more inclined to write short pieces—poetry, essays, short stories. I am back to work now, though I still experience bouts of existential malaise. Everything seems very uncertain, which makes it hard to feel grounded and in a solid, safe place. Writing is always the thing that keeps me sane, but it takes a bit more willpower now.
[BWG] In an interview from a few years ago, you mentioned in jest that people won’t know who someone is as a writer until their third book. You went on to say, Baby Teeth has a very internal story with tight relationships. Wonderland has a very strong external element, but your third book has very tight relationships within an external environment. This brings me to the question about your third, recently released book, Getaway. Can you tell me a bit about it?
[ZS] Getaway is about a trio of thirty-something women (two of them sisters) who have been friends since high school. Over the years life and distance have pulled them in different directions and their bonds with each other are fraying. Worse, our hero Imogen has experienced some life traumas that make it increasingly hard for her to function well in the world. Her sister devises a Grand Canyon backpacking trip in an effort to help the three of them get re-connected, and hopes the magnificent environment will help Imogen heal. But soon into their adventure they meet someone very unfortunate, and their vacation goes awry.
On the surface, Getaway looks like an adventure thriller, but I think it’s equally a tale of psychological suspense. The characters find themselves in a situation that tests every ounce of their physical and moral resolve and because Imogen perceives herself as small and weak, her survival strategy becomes more internal and psychological.
[BWG] I read your inspiration for a Getaway was a camping experience with your family as a child. Can you elaborate on that?
[ZS] Getaway, indeed, has its origins in an odd encounter I had with my family on a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. We were in a remote area called Salt, where one party at a time was permitted to camp. I was in my teens, and in my emotionally-colored memory of it a haggard fellow appeared out of nowhere, wearing a pistol in a hip holster.
My dad and sister remembered it more accurately: he wasn’t carrying a gun, but he did mention that he’d recently gotten out of prison and was just “wandering around.” He also remarked that, upon crossing paths with a lone female ranger, he realized he could’ve picked up a rock and bashed her in the head and no one would ever know.
Needless to say the incident at Salt stuck with me through the years, as it marked the first time that being in nature carried a hint of human danger. After that, I was always more paranoid, especially when it was just me and my sister camping somewhere deserted, off-season. In my family’s story, the man walked on. Getaway explores the “what if” of a trio of backpackers who aren’t so lucky.
[BWG] Getaway doesn’t fit into any category or genre. There are elements of relationship discussion and familial strife, dealing with psychological turmoil, psychological suspense, survival, and even horror. Do you think that genre labeling is helpful for authors or a hindrance?
[ZS] For better or worse, I don’t think about genre when I write. While I endeavor to write dark and suspenseful books, more specific labels feel very restrictive to me. Labels exist primarily for marketing reasons—who is the audience, where is the book going to be shelved—but I think it affects how some readers approach a book. For instance, some readers have biases toward certain genres and won’t read things that are labeled in categories they believe they don’t like. On the flip side, some readers have extremely specific ideas about what a label like “horror” should mean, and if a book doesn’t conform to that they may be disappointed. For both of these reasons I always wince a little when my books are labeled, but I guess “dark and suspenseful” isn’t an official genre.
[BWG] In the prologue of Getaway, we meet Imogen and her experience with a shooting that happened in a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Many of the feelings that Imogen experiences, “What could I have done?” and survivor’s guilt, is felt by victims of traumatic experiences. Imogen’s experiences wrang with authenticity. Did you do any specific research into this particular type of PTSD?
[ZS] I have experienced a very different sort of trauma than Imogen’s but because of my own experience it was important to me to create a character who was complex and relatable. As part of my own effort to understand trauma it was very helpful to read Waking the Tiger by Peter A. Levine. I do truly believe that as sensitive beings in a violent and uncertain world most—if not all—of us are living with trauma, even if we don’t realize it. I believe society itself is a product of trauma, and the more we damage our world and each other the more prevalent trauma becomes.
[BWG] I know that you are from Pittsburgh, specifically the Squirrel Hill neighborhood that had a similar shooting at the Tree of Life congregation in 2018. Is your connection to this area the source of inspiration for this prologue?
[ZS] It is. The Tree of Life shooting took place just blocks from my then-apartment. It was a very shocking and frightening morning, made even more memorable by having a Baby Teeth event to go to, which I’d considered canceling (but didn’t). I felt the repercussions of that incident in my neighborhood for months and months afterward. There were reminders in every storefront window: posters of the names of everyone who’d been killed; Stars of David dangling from every tree and parking meter. It was both poignant and hard to see all the time.
[BWG] The locations and scenes in Getaway play a more significant role than just as a space that characters move through, often seen in novels. They almost seem like they are characters themselves. Was that intentional? Or, was that how the writing evolved because you described something that had to be incredibly difficult to explain?
[ZS] The setting of everything I write is an integral part of my books. Baby Teeth would feel completely different if Suzette didn’t obsessively clean her already perfect prison of a house. Wonderland needs not just the isolation of the family’s new Adirondacks home, but the beauty and danger that manifests in extremely wintry conditions. Getaway picks up on those wilderness themes—beauty and danger—but in the context of being so deep in the Grand Canyon’s desert backcountry that the characters can’t consider any survival strategies beyond their own wit. The place they’d come for a back-to-nature vacation becomes hostile territory, almost an inescapable fortress. I think by necessity—and by its inherent awesome presence—the Grand Canyon feels very “alive” in this book, and even when the characters feel trapped and afraid they’re never unaware of the beauty around them.
[BWG] Can you tell us a bit about the other characters in the novel? We meet Imogen in the prologue, but who are the other characters who will share this journey with Imogen?
[ZS] Imogen’s life has made her somewhat paranoid and cautious, but she has a rich imagination—which Beck and Tilda think she relies on too much. Beck, Imogen’s older sister, lives a stable life with her equally successful wife. Imogen would describe her sister’s need to “fix everyone” as annoying, but it’s probably why Beck became a physician. Their friend Tilda was always a bit of a showwoman, so her life path took her from doing high school musicals to auditioning for American Idol. She’s made a career as a motivational speaker and influencer. At one point while writing Getaway I realized I’d chosen career paths for my three women where they were each basically their own boss. There is another character…but for the sake of avoiding spoilers I will let readers discover that on their own.
[BWG] Familial relationships are significant in Getaway, both born of blood and those relationships that happen when a friend becomes lifelong family. Do you think the mental growth and mending these characters had at the end of the story could have been achieved had the trip gone on without a hitch?
[ZS] Absolutely not. If everything had gone according to plan, perhaps Imogen and Tilda would have developed some new respect for each other—and then they would’ve gone right back to their old ways. I’ve thought a lot over the years about the impact of difficult situations—how soldiers bond on the battlefield. It can be true even for less traumatic circumstances, such as an arduous backpacking trip that goes according to plan. But part of what we do as novelists is put our characters through the worst things they can endure, to test their inner resolve in the hopes of learning something vital about themselves. Part of the magic of a book is that evolution can be experienced in condensed time, whereas in real life we’re learning and changing over a span of years.
[BWG] To hearken back to a previous question about getting to know a writer through their books? What is on the horizon for you? What can you say about your next novel?
[ZS] I believe come 2022 readers will get to see my first published novella, called (at least for now) The Girl Who Outgrew the World. As a dark yet whimsical fairy tale it’s a little “off brand” for me, but it is dear to my heart. It’s about an eleven-year-old girl, Lilly, who has an inexplicable growth spurt. When her father and doctors decide to take drastic action to curb her dangerous growth, Lilly runs away—and embarks on a journey to discover her true self. In the spirit of fairy tales, the story works on two levels and TGWOTW is also a parable for how patriarchy reacts to and treats, the female body.
I’ve also recently finished a new novel, but it’s at a delicate stage at the moment so I can’t say too much about it except that it’s an adult mother/daughter story, very psychological, a little batshit crazy.
[BWG] Are you reading something exciting right now? I had heard that you loved Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. I, too, cried when I read it as well as Cabin at the End of the World. They are gut-punches of novels.
[ZS] I love both of those novels! I’ve read some great books this year—Cackle by Rachel Harrison, Don’t Look For Me by Wendy Walker, Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari, Rovers by Richard Lange. At the top of my reading pile right now are These Toxic Things by Rachel Howzell Hall, and The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward.
Interview Originally Appeared in Grimdark Magazine
Check out zoje stage's books
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November 7, 2021
Review – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
NINTH HOUSE by LEIGH BARGUGO November 7, 2021 10:00 am No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress What is it About?Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.
Bardugo, of course, nominally needs no introduction. But in case those reading this review are not familiar with her work, she is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of numerous YA fantasy novels. Bardugo is probably best known for the Six of Crows Duology.
“Ninth House” is a deviation from Bardugo’s normal genre, into adult fantasy-horror. I have to say, I was not entirely sold on the book at certain junctures, but overall, the sum was much greater than the parts, and it truly grew on me, emerging as an amazing book.
The book’s protagonist, Galaxy “Alex” Stern, has a troubled past. Brought up in Los Angeles by a mother immersed in counterculture, Alex is a high-school dropout, who has run with the wrong crowd for the better part of her life.
Hanging out with undesirables, and steeped in the illicit drug world, Alex life is listless and even dangerous, due to her association with drug dealers and that ilk. Horrifically, Alex ends up almost the victim of murder, while some of those she knows are not so fortunate.
Recuperating from the incident that was nearly fatal for her, Alex obtains mysterious sponsors, who offer her a chance, despite her lack of academic success, to attend uber-prestigious Yale University, fully paid via the sponsors. She does not know why, after her tumultuous upbringing, and having barely escaped death, she has been given a chance to join an exclusive Ivy League school. But she, naturally, seizes the opportunity.
Alex quickly learns, as one might expect, nothing in life, especially admission to an institution as distinguished as Yale, is free. Due to her benefactors, she is soon drawn into the shadowy world of Lethe House.
Lethe House is the ninth of Yale’s clandestine societies – hence the eponymous “Ninth House” – and one that appears to be closely linked to the occult. All of the university’s secretive societies are populated with very wealthy, very influential, and very sinister people. But Alex soon learns, due to her own untapped abilities, she is not as out of place in Ninth House as she first thought she might have been.
What at first did not appeal to me, frankly, were two aspects. The main character, Alex, was seemingly somewhat ambivalent and dispassionate, despite all she undergoes, the way she was drawn by Bardugo.
I have no issues whatsoever with flawed or unlikable characters at all, and it was not that I did not like Alex, or that she was written to be unlikable. It was that Alex was hard to decipher as a character, initially. Of course, this is my opinion, and I considered early in the book that her somewhat dispassionate perspective was a result of trauma, and her other challenges.
As the book went on, for me it seemed that Alex evolved, and was much more engaged in her own story. The secondary characters are very well-done, and since most of them are villainous, or at least ambiguous in their morality, it makes for a very compelling book.
Second issue for me: I had heard raves about Bardugo’s prose, though I had read none of her work myself previously. The book was well written, but perhaps my own lofty expectations got the better of me. There were definitely some gems of passages, but I thought it would be more consistent throughout.
The plot is more slow burn, and this is just my jam, but I think the languorous pace may be the one thing that might be off-putting for some readers. Bardugo takes her time in setting all the pieces in place. The novel commences with a future scene. Then, multiple timelines are woven together, but eventually collide, with shocking results. But, just to emphasize this point, as some other reviews I have read point out a significant concern with the pacing, the major events are often dispersed in lethargic fashion throughout the book, except for certain points. Those craving faster pacing may abandon ship, unwilling to wait for those big occurrences.
For me, it was very much worth the payoff. I felt there was plenty of action, especially scary and shocking scenes, for readers to sink their teeth into. Murder, disappearances, and more abound, and Alex is sucked even deeper into the bizarre and perilous world of Ninth House. Things take on a mystical, and terrifying element, as black magic, haunting spirits, blended with corruption, dark secrets, and the impetus to protect the privileged at all costs from facing the consequences of their actions, become pervasive in the narrative.
What turned this book into a five-star from a four star, which is what I originally rated it, was the engrossing themes. Bardugo’s exploration of serious and troubling topics such as sexual assault and what consent means, feminism, classism, elitism and privilege, racism, and more, were fascinating, and handled with appropriate skill and sensitivity.
Reference the aforementioned, fair warning regarding the above as potential triggers. Moreover, there is plenty of violence and gore in the book, so readers beware if this is not something you want to digest.
This is the first book in a series, and I think it’s a series that is worth reading. The book presents a lot of realism, and plausible conflict. It has a great dose of the fantastical, is very imaginative, and has some truly mesmerizing moments. Along with the powerful themes, Ninth House has done more than enough for me to be looking forward with anticipation to the next book in the “Alex Stern” story. Check Out some of our other reviews
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P.L. Stuart
I’m an experienced writer, in that I’ve been writing stories all my life, yet never thought to publish them. I’ve written informally – short stories – to entertain friends and family, for community newspapers, volunteer organization magazines, and of course formal papers for University. Now, later in life, I’ve published what I believe is a great fantasy novel, and definitely worth reading, called A Drowned Kingdom. My target audience is those who enjoy “high fantasy”. A Drowned Kingdom is not “dark fantasy”. It’s written in a more idealized and grandiose style that I hope isn’t too preachy, and not too grim. Still, I’m hoping my book has appeal to those who don’t typically read this type of work – those who don’t read fantasy of any kind – because of the “every-person” themes permeating the novel: dysfunctional familial relationships, extramarital temptation, racism, misogyny, catastrophic loss, religion, crisis of faith, elitism, self-confidence, PTSD, and more.
Many of these themes I have either personal experience with, or have friends or family who have dealt with such issues. I’ve had a long professional law enforcement career, undergone traumatic events, yet been buoyed by family, faith, and positivity. I’m a racialized middle-aged man. I’ve seen a lot of life. Ultimately I want the planned series, of which A Drowned Kingdom will be the introduction, to be one of hope, and overcoming obstacles to succeed, which I believe is my story as well. My protagonist, Othrun, will undergo a journey where he’ll evolve, change, and shape a continent. He’s not always likeable. He’s a snob, bigot, is vain, yet struggles with confidence. He’s patriarchal. Overall, he’s flawed. But even ordinary flawed people can change. We’re all redeemable.
Ordinary people can make a difference, not just fictional Princes. I want that message to shine through my work.
WHERE TO FIND HIMTwitter – @plstuartwrites
Facebook – @plstuartwrites
If You Liked This - Please Share the LoveNovember 6, 2021
Short Story – Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, Skottie Young
Beth Tabler 
Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman Purchase Here
Neil Gaiman, Fortunately, The Milk AboutSpoons are excellent. Sort of like forks, only not as stabby.―
“I bought the milk,” said my father. “I walked out of the corner shop, and heard a noise like this: t h u m m t h u m m. I looked up and saw a huge silver disc hovering in the air above Marshall Road.”
“Hullo,” I said to myself. “That’s not something you see every day. And then something odd happened.”
Find out just how odd things get in this hilarious New York Timesbestselling story of time travel and breakfast cereal, expertly told by Newbery Medalist and bestselling author Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Skottie Young
“If the same object from two different times touches itself, one of two things will happen. Either the Universe will cease to exist. Or three remarkable dwarfs will dance through the streets with flowerpots on their heads.”
DON’T FORGET TO GET THE MILK.
Neil Gaiman is a man of whimsical and prodigious talents. He is a massive neutron star in the science fiction/fantasy/graphic novel realm. And, rightly so. He has amassed close to 2 million followers on twitter and not because of just his name. He connects with his fans and seems to generally appreciate them. Not only that, he is an authors “author.” Many authors look up to him and emulate his style. People love him and his work.
If you haven’t connected with his middle-grade stories you really should. Coraline and the Graveyard Book are precise and whimsical story telling with an edge of scary and unnerving. Not enough to be inappropriate, but enough to show kids of that age bracket that not all is sunshine and rainbows in the world. He treats kids like they have a brain, thoughts and emotions and ideas worth challenging. It is smart writing through and through.
Even when he puts random ideas in a bucket and pulls them out one at a time, he can seamlessly craft an entertaining and memorable story. Thus enters Fortunately, The Milk. The premise is simple, it is the story of what happened to dad when he went to the corner store to get milk, and why he was late. In the vein of Paul Bunyan, it is a true tall tale.
Or is it?
Examples of creatures and other awesome things found in this book:
Time traveling dinosaursHot Air BalloonsSentient VolcanoPiratesPiranhasAliensMilkThis story is the absurd, the fantastical, the amazing, and is quite possibly real.
“I mean, what if this really happened to dad?”
“He was gone a very long time.”
“Dad is an incredible guy, it could happen?”
That is the point of this story, the “what if?” Absurdly fun to read for both adults and kids. Don’t miss it.
Also, as a small side note on the illustrations. If you look in the background at the pictures on the wall, and other details you can see where dad is getting his tale from. A la The Usual Suspects.
Check Out Neil's Other WorksShort Story – Sunbird by Neil Gaiman
If You Liked This - Please Share the Love Where to find it? Procurement I Listened to this on Scribd and checked it out from the library. About the Author
I listened to this on Scribd, with Gaiman doing the narration. It is worth it just to listen to him read it. However after listening to it I went and found the wonderful illustrations.
Beth Tabler Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
November 5, 2021
Short Story Review – If You Take My Meaning by Charlie Jane Anders
check it out here BOOK REVIEW
IF YOU TAKE MY MEANING found in Even Greater mistakes by charlie jane anders November 5, 2021 11:00 pm No Comments Facebook Twitter WordPress Short Story List As Good As NewRat Catcher’s YellowIf You Take my MeaningThe Time Travel ClubSix Months, Three DaysLove Might Be Too Strong a WordFairy Werewolf vs. Vampire ZombieGhost ChampagneMy Breath is a RudderPower CoupleRock Manning Goes For BrokeBecause Change Was The Ocean and We Lived by Her MercyCaptain Roger in HeavenCloverThis is Why We Can’t Have Nasty ThingsA Temporary Embarrassment in SpacetimeThe Bookstore At The End of AmericaThe Visitmothers IF YOU TAKE MY MEANING
illustrated by Robert Hunt 
WHAT IT IS ABOUT? As an ex-smuggler and two-time reluctant revolutionary, Alyssa is used to staring into the razor-sharp jaws of death. But now she’s embarking on the most terrifying adventure of her life—journeying into the darkness to become a new type of being, one who can help humanity to survive. And deep at the heart of the city in the middle of the night, the price of transformation could be higher, and more terrible, than Alyssa ever expected.
REVIEWIf You Take My Meaning is a difficult story to come in to and get the full meaning of unless you have read Anders’s The City in the Middle of the Night. It is still a unique and enjoyable story, but I can see it being a bit confusing for some readers due to Anders jumps right into the story and doesn’t give a huge amount of info on why things are the way they are. But, because I have read The City in the Middle of the Night, I understand the gravity of the actions of the characters.
The premise is of an ex-smuggler and revolutionary Alyssa, and her becoming a new species. A new type of thing. But things get a bit wobbly.
Alyssa and Jeremy want to be more like Sophie. You learn about Sophie in the The City In The Middle of the Night, “Sophie, a young student from the wrong side of Xiosphant city, is exiled into the dark after being part of a failed revolution. But she survives–with the help of a mysterious savior from beneath the ice. Burdened with a dangerous, painful secret, Sophie and her ragtag group of exiles face the ultimate challenge–and they are running out of time.” They feel that getting implanted with the alien tendrils will allow a much greater connection to Sophie. They each have the procedure and have different reactions to it. Extreme pain, as Alyssa in a pique of revulsion, tries to rip them from her body. Jeremy feels his grafts will expand his ability to be an activist.
The two of them have an epiphany about the Gelent and the role humanity plays. They shift their perspectives and understand that they are becoming a new thing.
This is a difficult story to understand. It is hard to know what is going on. However, it is connected to the heart of the characters much like any Ander’s short stories. You feel a connection to what the characters are going through and because the story operates as a sequel lovers of The City in the Middle of the Night get a little more information on the characters’ lives.
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Beth Tabler
Elizabeth Tabler runs Beforewegoblog and is constantly immersed in fantasy stories. She was at one time an architect but divides her time now between her family in Portland, Oregon, and as many book worlds as she can get her hands on. She is also a huge fan of Self Published fantasy and is on Team Qwillery as a judge for SPFBO5. You will find her with a coffee in one hand and her iPad in the other. Find her on: Goodreads / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter
