I previously did 4 reviews of beautiful books, 4 sci-fi books. and 4 books with tough characters. This only leaves only the last batch of 4, books that don’t really share much in common, or at the very least, one of them is the very odd one out.
- The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
- The Girl Who Married a Skull and Other African Stories edited by Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, Charlie Spike Trotman, Taneka Stotts
- Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
- Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
The Magpie Lord by KJ Charles
Blurb:
Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.
Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude… and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.
Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die.
Starting with the odd-one-out. I completely inhaled this book. Listened to the audiobook in one day. House was very clean that Friday. The narration was a great fit, though if I had known how steamy it would get, I might have gone for the ebook, I’m a little prudish that way.
You can probably tell I loved this book. All of it, the characters, the dark mystery and magic, the witty writing, the atmosphere, and the chemistry between the romantic leads. I’m still a bit unused to how much interesting plot romantic fantasy books have, if I’d have known this, I wouldn’t have avoided them for years.The pacing was very quick alternating between the romantic and general plot focus.
It’s a historical fantasy set in late Victorian England, and I really like the dynamic between the young lord and the magical practitioner who came from less privileged circumstances. It helps a lot that Lucien is set on righting a lot of the wrongs done by his family. The main plot is a magical attempting-murder mystery, with a heavy side of uncovering family secrets, and a serving of vengeful ghost.
The Girl Who Married a Skull and Other African Stories edited by Kel McDonald, Kate Ashwin, Charlie Spike Trotman and Taneka Stotts
Blurb
Have you heard the one about the skull who borrowed body parts to pass himself off as a complete human so he could trick the village beauty into marriage? Well, what about when Frog and Snake’s daughters had a play date? Okay, okay. But surely you’ve heard the story about the crocodiles who held a vote on whether or not to eat a man that had saved one of their lives? NO? Wow. Have we got some stories for you.
Really enjoyed this anthology, also read it all in one day. The comic-book format makes it a really quick read.
I liked the mix of fables and fairytales, it made for great pacing. I also loved the mix of such completely different art styles, it added an extra layer of being excited to see what’s next.
It was nice to read stories so completely different from my own package of cultural stories. It was also really sweet to see one of them would have fit right in with the ones I grew up with.
I also liked how some of the stories had a twist at the end, not going for the happy ending all the time. I often forget how dark fairy tales originally were.
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
Blurb
‘Death has to happen. That’s what bein’ alive is all about. You’re alive, and then you’re dead. It can’t just stop happening.’
But it can. And it has. So what happens after death is now less of a philosophical question than a question of actual reality. On the Disc, as here, they need Death. If Death doesn’t come for you, then what are you supposed to do in the meantime? You can’t have the undead wandering about like lost souls. There’s no telling what might happen, particularly when they discover that life really is only for the living…
This was a comfort reread for me. I always find Death’s kind, inquisitive nature soothing. I’d forgotten this one had a lot of the Wizards, which don’t rank highly among my favorites, but I quite liked them here. There’s an awful lot of comedic running around, and they got to have some jolly good fun with spells.
In this story, Death gets fired, and suddenly finds himself having Time. He takes it rather well, starts, rather enthusiastically, to live like a human. This vacancy causes a lot of problems and shenanigans for the Discworld at large though.
There a lots of things going on in this book. I greatly preferred Death’s chapters, with his sweet efforts to act human as Bill Door. But, the others were really fun too, I really liked the Medium, feared by churches and cults everywhere. And there was an enjoyable general sense of chaos.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Blurb:
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl’s castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there’s far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.
Howl’s Moving Castle is another book that I’d heard lots about on Reddit, and had been saving it for when I needed a sweet comfort read. Well, this pandemic has me burning through comfort reads, happy to report it fits the bill perfectly.
I didn’t know a lot about it, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see it’s a story about stories, their power, and also their limitations. I was a bit worried about it being a children’s book, but its charm and honesty made it very enjoyable.
I love books that have conversations with other works, and Howl’s Moving Castle sure does a lot on that front, packed with references and tropes from children’s tales, that it usually turns on their heads. There’s a lot of fun playing with information, who knows what, and what aren’t they saying.
The characters were lovely, flawed but charming. The young-girl as an old woman steamrolling over everyone to get her way was a joy. The audiobook narration was delightful.
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