FF: A Veritable Vortex

News Flash! I took part in a segment of writer Dave Gross’s “Creative Colleagues” roundtable.  The subject this time was heroic fantasy.  Go here to read what I say, compare it to what some other writers think on the same topic, and, if you comment, be entered to win a chance at audio downloads of some of Dave’s Pathfinder novels.

Persephone and the Troll Cat

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 magazine articles.

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:

X by Sue Grafton.  (Audiobook)  A bit all over the place, but interesting.

The Orpheus Descent by Tom Harper.  Two plot lines, one contemporary, one from the POV of a fortyish Plato.  Protagonists are moved by events, rather than instigating them.  However, I think the author intended this to create a sense of Fate in operation.

The Hotel Cat by Esther Averill.  A fun children’s book.  I plan to read, re-read, others in the series.

D’Aulaires’ Book of Trolls by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Auliare.  Their books on Greek/Roman and Norse myths were old favorites, but I had never seen this collection of material on Trolls.  I quite enjoyed.

In Progress:

Kitty Goes to Hell.  (Audiobook)  A very direct sequel to Kitty and the Deadman’s Hand.  Just started.

Summerland by Michael Chabon.  A baseball fantasy seems the right thing to counter winter.  Just started.

Also:

Research for a short story whose deadline is creeping up faster than I thought possible!