![]() ![]() ![]() Fencer Evadne Gray cares for none of the former and knows nothing of the latter when she’s sent to London to chaperone her younger sister Dorina, an aspiring art critic.Īt loose ends after Dorina becomes enamored with their uncle’s friend, Lady Henrietta “Henry” Wotton, a local aristocrat and aesthete, Evadne enrolls in a fencing school. Victorian London is a place of fluid social roles, vibrant arts culture, fin-de-siècle wonders … and dangerous underground diabolic cults. Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer The Diabolist's Libary #1Ī Victorian urban fantasy featuring duelists, demons, and the dark arts, inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray. ![]()
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5/24/2023 0 Comments Campusland book![]() ![]() ![]() The students there are “earnest” and “likable” by comparison with the Ivy League, there is “less entitlement, and no one” - blessedly - “was confused about what pronouns or which bathrooms to use.” In other words, this is a place where real learning can happen, and where Eph can educate his students about the realist tradition in American literature, beginning with Mark Twain, whose characters, Russell explains to a group of well-mannered students, In the meantime, Russell has taken a part-time teaching job at a university in Alabama. The main character, Eph Russell, a middling, well-meaning English professor, has taken a year-long leave of absence from Devon University (a fictionalized Yale), where he was falsely accused of sexual assault by a freshman, put through a bogus Title IX trial, and watched as his beloved Huckleberry Finn was trashed by campus social justice warriors in a staged protest. It does not arrive until the very end, and it goes like this. ![]() FROM THE BEGINNING of Scott Johnston’s new novel, Campusland, we know that a mention of Tom Wolfe is forthcoming. ![]() 5/24/2023 0 Comments Alyssa cole when no one![]() ![]() Cole’s move is not only vital but political by default, as most things are when identity is involved. ![]() Her works are automatically political because of the characters, the authenticity, the revolutionary existence- Cole’s The Reluctant Royals series places Black women at the forefront as scientists, swordsmiths, and most of all, royalty. Indeed, one could expect that her historical pieces tend to include politics and markers of the time, but even Cole’s modern romance novels are imbued with political meaning. “There is so much to draw from across the history of humankind - staying in one time period, or even one genre, boring,” Cole states in an interview with Vulture. Whether her piece is set during the civil war, the medieval times, the revolutionary war, or the present-day. Though princesses, soldiers, and happily-ever-afters fill her pages, Cole’s works include politics and history. Many of Cole’s works are historical romances, with the occasional science fiction series. For Cole, the personal has always been political. ![]() 5/24/2023 0 Comments Man who sold the moon![]() ![]() So when his works deviate from science or historical fact because science and history have outpaced them … well, that feels weird. Heinlein is closer to us in time, close enough, indeed, that he feels like he should be all properly scientific. They were writing adventure novels with a fantastic science component, inspired by the cutting edge scientific discoveries of their time, but not necessarily bound by any need to be accurate. Still, no one reading Verne or Wells really expects the books to feel scientifically accurate. Wells are two names who loom large when we discuss the earliest science fiction novelists-or is it science fantasy? Hard to say…. Few would dispute, however, that Jules Verne and H.G. ![]() ![]() I’m all for crediting Mary Shelley with the first SF novel, though I‘m aware there are numerous earlier claimants to the looser “story” title. We could get into a rousing late-night discussion about the “first” science fiction stories. The more I read Heinlein, the more the experience becomes a reaction to how his writing is so old, but not quite old enough…. This edition has an afterword, two introductions to The Man Who Sold the Moon, as well as a preface from Heinlein. (In fact, it’s a double feature, with Orphans of the Sky as the second book. It just so happened that this paperback was on the New Books shelf at the library, so I snatched it up. ![]() 5/24/2023 0 Comments Vc andrews petals on the wind![]() ![]() It also helps that McIver, soon to be seen starring in the CW’s new series “iZombie,” emerges as a captivating and surprisingly shrewd leading lady. But the franchise’s real calling card is the forbidden romance between Cathy and Christopher, which began in the attic and blossoms here into a full-blown tortured love story.īy alternating significant time between Cathy, Christopher, Carrie and Corinne, the ADD storytelling in “Petals” ensures there’s never a dull moment - or a sensible one either - and the events retained from Andrews’ novel are just bonkers enough to make the approach pay off. From there the siblings are scattered like, well, petals: Self-possessed Cathy heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a prima ballerina and falls for tempestuous colleague Julien (Will Kemp), her brother-lover Christopher studies medicine and attracts the attention of sweet Southerner Sarah (Whitney Hoy), and social outcast Carrie struggles to overcome her shyness at an all-girls school before meeting lovesick minister Alex (Ross Philips).ĭomestic violence, pregnancy, bullying, marriage proposals, a miscarriage, home renovation, a fatal car crash and suicide by baked goods follow - not necessarily in that order - as returning screenwriter Kayla Alpert condenses some 450 pages of melodramatic craziness into roughly 90 minutes of screen time (sans commercials). ![]() 5/24/2023 0 Comments Something dark and holy![]() Spoiler Post titles must begin with the following tag. That includes most unsourced, unofficially-obtained material. Comments that contain unmarked spoilers will be removed. Spoilers must be marked and cannot be included in post titles. Absolutely no witchhunting.įollow spoiler rules: Follow spoiler tag rules for posts and comments. Do not use offensive/harassing language when addressing other users. Keep it civil: Follow Reddiquette and be civil. Links & videos should only be an addition to a well-constructed post. No spam: No spam, advertising, or blatant self-promotion. Low-effort content & reposts: Low-effort/low-quality content, frequent reposts, and memes will be removed at the moderators' discretion.Ĭheck the Formatting & Sourcing Guide for tips on making high-quality posts that are easy to read. To discuss general Destiny-related topics, please visit r/DestinyTheGame. Must be related to Destiny's lore: This subreddit is specifically for discussing and dissecting the lore of Destiny. Welcome to DestinyLore Join the DestinyLore Discord Server | Weekly Questions Thread | Lore Compendium | Lore FAQs General ![]() 5/24/2023 0 Comments Eliza's monsters![]() ![]() ![]() She develops a close relationship to Wallace, who experiences selective mutism, and he seems to understand what it’s like feeling truly at home online and less so face to face. She feels out of place at her school and experiences anxiety, including social anxiety. Joce’s review:Įliza Mirk is a high school student who lives in Indiana and anonymously writes and illustrates the famous webcomic Monstrous Sea, read by millions, as her online persona Lad圜onstellation. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.īut when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built-her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity-begins to fall apart. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea ’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. ![]() Online, she’s Lad圜onstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. ![]() ![]() ![]() Lord Henley, who is, after all, a member of the English aristocracy, is also never depicted as talking downto Mary, he approaches her as an equal, actually, he approaches her as a fellow scientist, a fellow discoverer. Equally encouraging is the fact that Lord Henley does not simply take over Mary's discovery, that he is shown as being supportive, without being interfering. It is also both encouraging and wonderfully modern that Mary's mother is more concerned with her daughter's physical safety than proper ladies' fashion, that she insists on Mary donning a gentleman's top hat on her expeditions, it being sturdier than a straw bonnet. Faced with the critical attitudes of some members of her family (like Mary's Aunt Ruth), Mary's mother nevertheless encourages her daughter's ambitions, her curiosity (Mary must help around the house, but her mother never frowns upon or discourages her searches for curiosities). I appreciate how the author conveys both Mary Anning's curiosity and ingenuity, but also how supportive certain members of both her immediate family and the public seem to have been. ![]() ![]() This wonderful picture book by Jeannine Atkins (illustrated by Michael Dooling) describes Mary's momentous discovery in both an informative and emotionally satisfying style. ![]() Show More made a palaeontological discovery, but it is generally accepted that she was the first individual to have discovered a complete skeleton of an ichthyosaur. ![]() 5/23/2023 0 Comments Médicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot![]() This non-fiction book about the power of creativity and living a creative life gave me a lot of inspiration, as well as a lot to think about. At times heartbreaking, hopeful, and funny, I could not put this gorgeous novel down and read it in a single day. This was a lovely, realistic young adult novel about a young woman whose dreams of being a singer are destroyed after an accident cost her her voice. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler Impeccably researched, as are all Winters’ books, this is the perfect read for lovers of historical fiction and ghost stories alike.ĩ. There is a great twist to the story that I did not see coming it was set up and executed perfectly. This historical novel, set during the fraught days of WWI, is wonderfully creepy and unpredictable. Here, without further ado, are my top 10 books that I read in the second half of 2015, all of which were published at some point in 2015. ![]() As such, I knew I’d have to split my top picks for the year into two posts/lists. As I mentioned in my post about my top 10 books of the first half of 2015, this past year was an excellent one for readers, with wonderful books in many genres being released. ![]() 5/23/2023 0 Comments Stonehenge by bernard cornwell![]() ![]() through writing, Cornwell decided to write such a series. ![]() Motivated by the need to support himself in the U.S. Forester, chronicling the adventures of fictional British naval officer Horatio Hornblower during the Napoleonic Wars, and was surprised to find there were no such novels following Lord Wellington's campaign on land. Unable to get a green card, he started writing novels, as this did not require a work permit.Īs a child, Cornwell loved the novels of C.S. ![]() He relocated to the United States in 1980 after marrying an American. He then joined Thames Television as editor of Thames News. ![]() He then joined BBC's Nationwide and was promoted to become head of current affairs at BBC Northern Ireland. He attempted to enlist in the British armed services at least three times but was rejected on the grounds of myopia. After he left them, he changed his name to his birth mother's maiden name, Cornwell.Ĭornwell was sent away to Monkton Combe School, attended the University of London, and after graduating, worked as a teacher. He was adopted and brought up in Essex by the Wiggins family, who were members of the Peculiar People, a strict Protestant sect who banned frivolity of all kinds and even medicine. His father was a Canadian airman, and his mother, who was English, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. ![]() |