Yet another wayward child discovers a world beyond her wildest dreams in Across the Green Grass Fields. Seanan McGuire’s sixth novella installment in the Wayward Children series hobbled across the finish line, leaving me to draw a personal conclusion: it’s time for me to part with this series. It may not be that time for…
Continue reading ➞ Across the Green Grass Fields – Series Meets Banality
Alright, let’s reveal a fun, embarrassing, personal fact. Ever since I was a young boy I have usually used the same moniker when playing videogames. As you might imagine, being a boy of about seven when I first came up with it, I was not particularly creative. I went with “Darkstar” because I thought it…
Continue reading ➞ The Flight Of The Darkstar Dragon – Flight Of Fancy
Beneath the Sugar Sky returns, if only for a moment, to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. The third novella in the aptly named Wayward Children series brings us back to present-day following Jack and Jill’s prequel adventure in Down Among the Sticks and Bones. This pattern of alternating past-present stories will continue, according to…
Continue reading ➞ Beneath the Sugar Sky – Nonsense Meets Mortality
Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Seanan McGuire’s first prequel to Every Heart a Doorway, offers brutal ruminations on the nature of childhood and the implications of growing up. This story, starring twin sisters Jacqueline (Jack) and Jill (before you ask--yes, there are plenty of references to the nursery rhyme. No, they’re not overdone), paints…
Continue reading ➞ Down Among the Sticks and Bones – Childhood Meets Brutality
Seanan McGuire weaves a poignant tale in Every Heart A Doorway, the first novella in her award-winning Wayward Children series. Through expert world-building and a sharp writing style, Every Heart A Doorway provides a heart-wrenching look at belonging, acceptance, and what it means to be stripped of them. When protagonist Nancy finds herself ejected from…
Continue reading ➞ Every Heart A Doorway – Magic Meets Reality
V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic collects all the building blocks of a great fantasy novel, but mostly leaves them on a shaky foundation. At times, the pieces come together, teasing the reader with apparitions of a grand storytelling fortress built on strong characters and expert world-building. Instead, I left the book wondering whether…
Continue reading ➞ A Darker Shade Of Magic – The Brighter Side Of Just Okay
