It’s an interesting work of alternate history in which a naive young girl has to grow up fast when she is abducted and installed in a foreign court as the intended bride of a warrior king. Ignorant at first, Òdòdó learns fast that kindness can conceal cruelty, and tenderness can be a distraction from tyranny; eventually, she learns how to make allies and take control of her own life, and more.
Diavola is interesting as a gothic horror through the inclusion of modern-day family vacation chaos and emotion. But it also follows a unique path from the setup and haunting and predictable responses to an original take on consequences and after-effects.
I was pleased to sink my teeth into Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro, about an ancient Nahua (from what’s now Mexico) vampire roaming the modern world. Some elements of the book weren’t to my taste, but it was fairly interesting and entertaining.
I happily devoured the nearly 400-page novel within one day, although I had to stay up a few hours late to finish it. I just couldn’t put it down.
In Green Fuse Burning, Morris takes Dylan Thomas’ theme of the intertwined nature of life and death in an endless cycle of time and applies it through a spectrum of ecosystems from the grandiose to the individual to explore the psychology of grief and guilt both personal and collective.
I have to give Leiber a pass on the fridging in Ill Met in Lankhmar. But I don’t have to enjoy it.
One of the many reasons I still love Saber & Shadow is that its women don’t get fridged, because they are the protagonists. Their lovers don’t get fridged, either, because these women are into each other. It’s a joyful romp, albeit with a lot of tense moments, and a few traumatic memories for one character.
