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Book Review: Death on the Caldera

Cover of Death on the Caldera, by Emily Paxman. Features an elaborate art deco-style border, with a black train traveling through clouds of steam, with a headlight shining, against a red background.

I liked how grounded this book felt. The details of train service, survivors trying to recover after the wreck, the squabbling among various factions of train passengers, the differences between types of magic — all of these felt thoughtfully explored.

820. The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag — Reading Rangers

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-820-the-deep-dark/SandF_820_TheDeepDark.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSComplicated families, long lost friends, and lizard creatures, oh my! Shaun Duke and Stephen Geigen-Miller join forces to discuss Molly Knox Ostertag’s Hugo Finalist graphic novel, The Deep Dark! Together, they discuss the work’s various metaphors and core themes, examine intergenerational trauma, and deep dive into the visual poetry and structure of this brilliant work! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!

819. Ugetsu monogatari (1953; dir. Kenji Mizoguchi) — At the Movies

https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/sand-f-819-ugetsu/SandF_819_Ugetsu.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSHaunted desires, lakes of death, and agrarian utopias, oh my! Shaun Duke and Daniel Hauesser join forces to discuss Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu monogatari (1953). Together, they discuss the film’s tragic storyline, the nature of desire and its destructive force, Mizoguchi’s women, the film’s production, and much more! Thanks for listening. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Into the Wardrobe: DRAGON OF THE LOST SEA by Laurence Yep

Cover of Dragon of the Lost Sea, by Laurence Yep, featuring a pale greenish-grey dragon, with an Asiatic youth with baggage on its back, flying at night with clouds in the sky and the moon in the background, and mountains and trees below.

Starting the novel, I was immediately drawn into the world and the folk nature of the story being told. As the human, I expected Thorn to be the center of the novel, but gradually began to appreciate Shimmer as the protagonist and character we would see adapt and grow through the adventure unfolding.

Book Review: The Adventures of Mary Darling, by Pat Murphy

Cover of The Adventures of Mary Darling, by Pat Murphy, featuring Sherlock Holmes, in deerstalker cap and cape, holding a magnifying glass up to a hovering fairy, behind a woman in late Victorian dress and wearing a pirate hat, holding a sword.

Mary and the other viewpoint characters are a lot of fun to follow through their adventures and evolutions, and Murphy’s insights into storytelling and explorations of the Victorian/Edwardian period are as entertaining as they are enlightening — Murphy examines historical horrors rather than glossing over them, but her characters overcome these challenges with verve.