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Book Review: Dragon Heart by Cecelia Holland

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A fantasy kingdom under threat, avaricious and grasping scions of an Empire seeking their ambitions and desires, and an implacable dragon come together in Dragon Heart, the first fantasy novel from Cecelia Holland. Holland is best known for a long string of historical fiction novels set across history and time such as The Secret Eleanor, looking at the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The Angel and the Sword is set in 9th Century France,  a telling of the female knight legend of Roderick the Beardless. Pillar of the Sky details the construction of Stonehenge, and Until the Sun Falls goes deeply into the life of Psin, a General in the Mongol horde in the time after Genghis’ death. In Dragon Heart, King Reymarro, the King of Castle Ocean, at the edge of the sea, is dead. The grasping, avaricious Empire to the East has seized the opportunity to exert dominion over this last outpost of land in the west. Queen Marioza and her children face the scions of the Empire come to take control of the land and the Castle. These scions themselves have ambitions, plans and desires of their own, and struggle and conflict amongst themselves as well as the royal family. Control of a kingdom like Castle Ocean could be a stepping stone to challenging the Emperor for supremacy, after all, or at least to keep in his good graces.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

284. Aliette de Bodard (a.k.a. The Boneduster) — The House of Shattered Wings (An Interview)

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode284AlietteDeBodard/Sandf–Episode284–AlietteDeBodard.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSFallen angels, bone dust magic, and Paris, oh my!  Aliette de Bodard joins Shaun and Julia to discuss her new novel, The House of Shattered Wings.  We explore Aliette’s process for creating an alternate history, discuss the novel’s themes of colonialism and religion, and other exciting topics! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

Shaun's Rambles

Shaun’s Rambles 010: On C.L. Moore’s Judgment Night and Gender Violence

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/ShaunsRambles010OnC.L.MooresJudgmentNight/ShaunsRambles010–OnC.l.MooresJudgmentNight.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSpace opera attacks!  It’s been three weeks since I started teaching my space opera course, and I already have far too much to talk about!  In this edition, I take a look at the first half of C.L. Moore’s Judgment Night and the interesting ways in which I and my students read gender violence into some of the early scenes. I hope you enjoy it! Some useful links:

Blog Posts

Book Review: Cities and Thrones by Carrie Patel

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Revolt and revolution are only the beginning of the troubles facing Malone, Jane and the other characters in CITIES AND THRONES, the follow-up to THE BURIED LIFE by Carrie Patel. Taking place on the heels of the prior book, while the first novel is a New Weird murder mystery with a large side of political revolution and unrest, Cities and Thrones explores the consequences, causes and calamities when political revolution happens. Malone has prospered, in a way, in the wake of the political changes occurring in the prior volume, having risen to a position of power and authority over the Inspectors that she didn’t quite want, but is the only person trusted for the job, anyway. Jane Lin and her companion Anders, on the other hand, having gone on the run, give the reader a view into a completely different city — Medina. While Medina is another underground city in the same vein as Recoletta, its culture and setup are very different. Lin’s talents for espionage and getting wrapped up in the councils of power do not fail her in Medina, and Lin soon finds herself caught in them in her new city in short order.

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

283. Fran Wilde (a.k.a. Chadwick’s Progeny) — Updraft (An Interview) and Giveaway!

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode283FranWilde/Sandf–Episode283–FranWilde.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSWings, bone towers, and mouth monsters, oh my! The glorious Fran Wilde returns to the podcast to discuss her new novel, Updraft.  We talk about worldbuilding, hierarchies and bone towers, and much more! We also have an extra copy of Updraft to give away.  If you want to win, all you’ve got to do is answer the following question in the comments (or via email): If you had wings, what kind of job would you like to have and why? Answers are due next Tuesday!  The winner will be announced (hopefully) the following day! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note:  If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below):

The Skiffy and Fanty Show Podcasts

Episode 9. Last Night (1998): Finding the Self in the Canadian Apocalypse

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http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/TotallyPretentiousEpisode009LastNight/TotallyPretentiousEpisode009–LastNight.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSLast Night and finding the self in the Canadian apocalypse. In our 9th episode, we talk about what we’ve been up to for the past month and dive into Don McKellar’s celebrated apocalypse film, Last Night.  Given that David is a Canadian and Shaun is an American, we take a look at the film’s Canadianisms, discuss its exploration of character and the meaning of “the self” in the moments before apocalypse, and much more! We’re also still working on our Subscriber Drive so we can add a second regular episode to the show.  Help us spread the word! Enjoy!

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