I'm excited to post the second part of my review for Queen Victoria's Book of Spells! It was a blast to read and write. One day I'll tackle my favorite fantasy anthologies and why they are so awesome; my belief is that they distill everything good about novels into a compact, accessible form, and that the literary wizardry has to be pulled it off in a tighter space. Immediately after I finished QVBOS, I jumped into George R. R. Martin-edited Dangerous Women, weighing in just under 800 pages. That's an anthology that will teach readers that stories are meant to be savored, not consumed whole in a sitting. Still, I love how it brings together stories from all genres: fiction, romance, mystery, fantasy.
Truly I think my favorite aspect of short stories are how it's like a short introduction to an author. Although readers may prize one genre over another, it's difficult to be really "well read" within any genre. (Personally, I don't mind that at all, because the journey of discovery is usually a blast.) Fantasy is generally considered to be a new genre, and yet it remains challenging to keep up with new authors while reading the backlist of old ones. And sometimes I want a shortcut to find new stuff similar to what I like. Today I decided one of the new features I'd like to add are author introductions; my personal take on authors, their works, and how readers will experience works. It's the lowdown on fantasy authors before you commit to purchasing a work.
There's not going to be any badmouthing here--just old fashioned analysis and fun connections. My plan is to discuss the works I have read by a certain author, bits about the author outside of their work, and then connect the works to something a movie, game, or other books that readers will recognize. One of my projects on this blog is to blend the various forms of nerdy media (being as most people aren't strictly into movies, games, or books alone). I can't wait!
Other upcoming content includes:
1. An Incomplete Education to British Murder Mysteries (TV)
2. The Lowdown on Libraries (and Why You Should Like Them)
3. Frances & Bernard and How to Read Confessionalist Poetry
There's more (as always), but that's a sneak peek. Happy reading! You may have noticed that my blog is getting more geared towards fantasy literature and less towards geek culture at broad. The literary aspect is an itch that I want to scratch, but I promise that I haven't totally lost sight of talking about nerdom in general.
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