FF: Inside the Self

Quests tend to get sneered at these days but, as the books I’ve been immersed in this week show, the important journey is the one that goes on inside the self.  Without that, it’s not a quest.  It’s just a road trip.

[image error]

Persephone Catches The Ravens

For those of you just discovering this feature, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

Frogkisser by Garth Nix.  Audiobook.  Humorous fantasy sneaks in some serious thoughts about personal and social responsibility.  The setting is more formulaic than many of Nix’s other works, but certain twists – like the Gerald the Herald – news franchise gives a certain freshness.

Only the Dead and The Ravens by Vidal Sundstol, both translated by Tiina Nunnally.  Books Two and Three of the Minnesota Trilogy which began with The Land of Dreams.  This is truly a fantastic trilogy — in both sense of the word — an unlikely hero’s journey through which the cost of family secrets ripples as a tremendously powerful undercurrent.  I recommend for anyone who is bored by formulaic fiction.

In Progress:

Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith.  A re-read that, nonetheless, has me hooked.

A Wizard Abroad by Diane Duane.  Audiobook.   Just started.

Also:

I’ve started writing something new, so less time for reading.