The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles de Lint
From its charming dustcover to the muted two-page illustration at the end, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest is a beautiful book that I would love to read with, or to, a child. Charles de Lint and artist Charles Vess form a perfect collaboration here, with a wonderful, magical story for middle readers.
This novel is an expansion of de Lint’s novella, The Circle of Cats. De Lint uses as inspiration many of the Appalachian folk-tales,
March 7th, 2013. Marion Deeds and Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Charles De_Lint | Children | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke
“Cat, this is Finn. He’s going to be your tutor.”
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke is a beautifully written story. Clarke evokes a beautiful contrast between the wild gardens and streams Cat inhabits as a child under the watchful eye of her tutor, and the cold, sterile, unfeeling world she inhabits as an adult in contact with other humans. At its core, this is a romance between a human and a cyborg. Though an interesting examination of what it means to be human,
February 19th, 2013. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 3.5 | Cassandra Rose Clarke | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
Ron Howard is in talks to direct a movie version of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
Alan Moore is most known for the graphic novel The Watchmen. Here’s a guide to reading a bit deeper into his repertoire.
Nerdscape contest. I may have to do this.
A great column with several prominent authors contributing discussing which books would benefit from rebranding as YA novels, and which YA novels should be reissued as adult books.
January 30th, 2013. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 4 comments |
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
C.S. Lewis once wrote his goddaughter, “Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” It seems an odd statement at first, that one is ever not the right age to read fairy tales, but I think there is something truthful about that assessment. We read fairy tales to our youngsters, to teach them the way of the world, to be wary of strangers, that dragons can be defeated if you are brave enough, to keep your word and to guard your tongue.
January 29th, 2013. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 5 | Catherynne M. Valente | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
So, I put this as my status on Facebook:
Guess which book I’m talking about. I’m reading this YA post-apocalyptic novel where the United States of America has been torn apart by War and now it’s all separated into regions and you can’t move between regions without permission from the central government that is set on enforcing its rules on everybody and then the girl that’s the main character gets abducted from her home by the government and sent to this brutal place with a bunch of other kids but she survives because of this guy that she’s known forever and he loves her and protects her and then they join the rebellion.
January 24th, 2013. Ruth Arnell´s rating: 2 | Kristen Simmons | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
I’m back and feeling good which means this column has all sorts of goodies in it for you. If you can’t find something interesting in here to read, watch, or listen to, you’re not trying hard enough!
The Sunday Rumpus interviews Margaret Atwood. Also, this week marks the 63rd anniversary of George Orwell’s death, and Margaret Atwood wrote a column about her experiences reading Orwell as a child.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller’s LIADEN Universe hits its 25th anniversary this year.
January 23rd, 2013. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |
This column is a bit short and lacking in flair because one, I am siiiiiiick, and two, it’s my birthday! And apparently I celebrate by reading unreleased Catherynne M. Valente books rather than working on my column. So here we go.
1. An awesome comic teasing Neil Gaiman about his amazing success.
2. An excerpt from George R.R. Martin’s upcoming The Winds of Winter. It is due out sometime this year.
3. And here’s some video documentaries about The Wheel of Time:
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January 16th, 2013. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 5 comments |
Did you know that you can nominate and vote for the winners of the Hugo Award? You can!
And while you’re at it, please vote for Fantasy Literature at the Preditors & Editors Poll for Best Review Site. Thank you!
Tor collected some of the best of the short fiction published on their website this year and collected them into one free DRM-free ebook.
Maurice Sendak’s last interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, animated. Make sure you have tissues available.
January 9th, 2013. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 7 comments |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
I’m pretty sure every person in the western world knows who Harry Potter is and knows the basic story line. Harry Potter was The Boy Who Lived. Both his parents were killed by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the evil Lord Voldemort, but he survived the attack, somehow causing Voldemort to disappear. Now Harry is eleven, and off to his first year at Hogwarts wizarding school. But it seems like Voldemort is making a resurgence. Is Harry safe, even under the watchful eye of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore?
January 3rd, 2013. Ruth Arnell, Kat Hooper, Terry Weyna, Marion Deeds and Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | J.K. Rowling | Children | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
A wonderful list of the things that Kvothe has to do on the third day of The Kingkiller Chronicles. That book is going to be giiiiiiiinormous. And he’s going to have to talk like an auctioneer for 24 hours to get through all of that. Or maybe King is just a dog he runs over in a carriage.
According to Lois Lowry, The Giver is going to be made into a movie, with Jeff Bridges in the titular role. I have serious questions about how they are going to end a movie version of this.
January 2nd, 2013. Ruth Arnell | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |
No, Paul, sorry, I don't believe I've read any books by Aickman; perhaps the odd story. I'm generally not a…
I like the ambiguities when the story leading up to them has inserted various dreadful possibilities in the back of…
COMMENT Marion, I expect that my half-hearted praise here (at best) will not exactly endear me to all of Ramsey…
Ramsay Campbell was all the rage in my circle of horror-reading/writing friends in the 1980s, and they extolled the ambiguity.…
Oh boy, I wish I could escape that Neil Gaiman article, too. I knew already he’d done reprehensible things but…