Book Review: Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

The first collected tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach by Steven Erikson is wild and creative ribald fantasy at its best. If you've heard of Erikson and his Malazan empire, but you've been intimidated by the massive fantasy series, then this standalone trio of novellas is exactly the read for you. https://youtu.be/B8GH1k0wq7k …After all, my…

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Book Review: Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir is the first in a series of fantasy/scifi novels. It's tagline is Lesbian Necromancers in Spaaaace! And while it is that, that description is also hugely misleading, the story's biggest draw, in my opinion, is its delightfully bull-headed main character. A fun, fast novel, but first you have to…

Did Not Finish: 2 Types of Revision

There are many different types of revision, but I'm focusing on two general categories here:Creative, expansive revision, in which scenes are fleshed out, broadened, and explored further.versusCritical, contractive revision, in which redundant and unnecessary elements are removed. https://youtu.be/iFgs59pWWJk She was impressed. He was smart. He knew what he was doing. Unpredictable, brave, stupid. Rena caught…

Book Review: John Scalzi’s Interdependency Trilogy

The Interdependency Trilogy by John Scalzi, including: The Collapsing Empire, The Consuming Fire, and The Last Emperox is a set of fast paced scifi political thrillers full of great characters and snappy dialogue. https://youtu.be/wgoZpwR0nIg "It was just a dream.""In our line of business, there's no such thing. Emperox's never just dream they have visions. That's…

Did Not Finish: Personal Stakes

A story is nothing without personal stakes. No matter how villainous the villain, or how lofty the goal, it doesn't matter to the reader unless it matters personally to the characters. In this post, I pick on a particular example of a book I did not finish because the life-and-death stakes didn't matter to the…