#American classic retold

[lilianeruyters]

Percival Everett || James

Booker Prize Shortlist 2024 James received raving reviews. The re-write of Huckleberry Finn was lauded for being ‘Gripping, painful, funny, horrifying, a multi-level entertainment, a consummate performance to the last.’ I can agree with many of these: I found the novel at times painful, funny and horrifying, I failed to find it gripping however. I agree that James contains many levels, I am not…

[bethanydelleman]

do you have any book recommendations beyond classic lit + Jane Austen? Love your blog by the way!

Thanks! I read/have read a ton of books. My favourite genre as a child was fantasy, but I read almost everything except true crime*, thrillers, murder mysteries, self-help, and biography. But I do sometimes read those, my favourite thriller is Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney. I'm going to start with children's books because honestly, I find so much imagination in that genre.

Children's/YA Books: Gail Carson Levine, specifically The Princess Tales 1 & 2, and Ella Enchanted, among others Jean Little/Kit Pearson - these authors have the same vibe to me. Willow and Twig is a favourite from the first one, The Guests of War trilogy and Awake and Dreaming from the other. They both write coming of age novels for girls, both Canadian. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I loved the whole trilogy (haven't watched the movie). The story being based around real antique trick photos is my favourite part The Echorium Sequence by Katherine Roberts - a trilogy of books about magical singers with blue hair and their interactions with half-human magical creatures Margaret Peterson Haddix, specifically Running Out of Time, the Shadow Children series, and Double Identity. Margaret Buffie, who writes stories about teenage girls and ghosts. Also Canadian, which I guess isn't that surprising. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Re-read it last summer and it's as good as I remembered. Roald Dahl, I really loved Matilda as a child, it's been fun to read some of these novels with my kids. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar - and it's sequels. Amazingly quirky and funny stories about a class of students in a weird school

Fantasy: Mercedes Lackey, specifically the Five Hundred Kingdoms series and The Obsidian universe. I also loved the Elvenbane series, but due to the death of Andre Norton it may never be finished. I would advise caution if sexual assault is triggering for you, the ones I like are mostly free of it but that can come up in her other works. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - obviously. Also loved The Hobbit, have not read further The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - the book opens with the triggering of an apocalypse. The world contains people who can control earthquakes A Baroque Fable by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - this book is so hilarious but I don't know if anyone has heard about it Once Upon a Winter's Night by Dennis L. McKiernan - and it's sequels. This is a romance retold fairy tale series

Science Fiction: Michael Crichton - who spans a bunch of genres but I'll put him here. I've read everything he's written and I recommend most of it. State of Fear has not aged well. His books are very fast-paced and Timeline has one of the best enemies to lovers. Orson Scott Card - I am aware, but Ender's Game is a masterpiece. He also has this single novel called Magic Street that is a sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream. I also loved Memories of Earth but it's been a while since I read it. I, Robot by Issac Asimov - short stories about artificial intelligence and how it might go weird

Graphic novels: Astro City by Kurt Busiek - superhero, but more focused on how living in that world would affect normal people Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - every male on earth dies, except for one, and his monkey Fables by Bill Willlingham - after being attacked by an army of wooden soldiers, fairy tale characters and creatures seek refuge in a non-magical world (ours) Nimona by ND Stevenson - a villain gains a shape-shifting sidekick, but she is not what she seems Scurry by Mac Smith - post-apocalyptic earth, the main characters are all surviving mice. Best artwork I've ever seen in a graphic novel American Vampire by Scott Snyder- vampires have different traits depending on their home country, this is about the new, American species. Asterix and Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo - a small group of powerful Gauls defend themselves against the Romans using a magical potion

Non Fiction: Stephan Pinker, I've read both of his trilogies on language and the brain. Trying to get through his huge book about violence The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks - writen by a neurologist, fascinating book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery - what it says on the tin

Toddler/Young Child Books: The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone - I give you a 100% guarantee that if you read this book aloud, the kids will be fascinated. It is literally always a hit Robert Munsch - most of his books are amazing, but if you don't want to cry, DO NOT read the backstory of Love You Forever. The Paper Bag Princess was one of my favourites as a child. Little Critter - only the older ones, the new ones are religious for some reason. Just for You and I Was So Mad were favourites for my kids. Early lesson in unreliable narrators. Phoebe Gilman - Something From Nothing, the Jillian Jiggs series, The Balloon Tree... so many good ones! Really good illustrations too Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - a book about a pea who hates eating candy. This book is fun to read and my kids loved it (I have the box set) The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak - kids love when adults have to do weird things I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen - perfect opportunity to do a lot of funny voices The Mitten by Jan Brett - a whole bunch of animals squeeze into a mitten. That's the whole thing. It's great. The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland - and the rest of the series. These are fun to read because they rhyme. Jonathan Stutzman - my kids LOVE Tiny T. Rex and the Llama series. We haven't read the others An Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems - we have this entire series, they are a delight. An elephant and pig are very silly friends. Good drawings Dr. Seuss - be careful with him though, his books are quite long and can be hard to read, so I recommend waiting until your kids are a bit older. But The Lorax slaps and my personal favourite as a kid was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

Other: Still Alice by Lisa Genova - or any of her books really. She is a neuroscientist and her books are really interesting explorations of different disorders. Book is better than the movie Warm Bodies by Issac Marion - zombie Romeo and Juliet Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a novel that is also an intro to philosophy course Calvin and Hobbes - I own all of them, so excited for when my kids can understand them. I also love The Far Side, Zits, and the earlier Dilbert comics The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John - this book is absolutely charming. I saw the Netflix movie and then bought it right away.

*I avoid true crime because I have heard that the genre causes harassment to victim's families

General Note: I am aware that some of these authors are now considered controversial, some for more serious reasons than others. Sometimes flawed people make really good art. I mean, flawed people make all art because nobody on earth is perfect.

[tracichee]

What do I love about Seven Samurai (1954) and its American remake, The Magnificent Seven (1960)? These stories have been told and retold so many times in the past decades, but to me they never get old: The premise is so simple, and so beautiful in its intimacy—an unlikely group of champions protecting a village from a band of marauders—and the structure isso elegant—three leisurely acts of the heroes gathering, the preparation of the defenses, and the tragic and climactic battle at the end. Most of all, I love how romantic these characters were, not in the way of literal romance but in how they seem like they’ve been pulled out of some heightened romantic age: these wandering loners, these warriors with their hearts of gold, these people of violence, searching, in a lot of ways, for peace.

Let me tell you the full story of how I first encountered this classic story (and its many iterations over the years) in my newsletter, out next week!

[beardedmrbean]

Zoomer Huey rants about fairytales and Disney, okay they been a mess with public domain post Walt… but dear lord the copyright shitshow on the other 18th century-

Shit anyways, let use the earliest Disney movies to say Hercules (I can use mulan but we have very easy access to the og tale vs the classic Disney films)

Let me use the mother of all modern American animation, Snow White and the seven dwarfs

The thing is that Walt Disney grew up watching a version of Snow White in theaters as a child

And he decided that he wanted to do a new SPIN of the Classic fairytale in the then NEW and GROWING style of storytelling that was animation

And that the thing about a lot of Walt Disney era films like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Sword in the Stone, and Jungle Book.

They were SPINS on classics books and stories that were used in live action movies and plays at the time

And while behind the scenes knowledge became more well known after inking and desire to research it became more popular. Surviving documents and quotes always had Walt and his crew doing a different take on the source material. It just the Disney takes on fairytales stood the test of time due to animation styles and the company  preserverstion measures

Also the grimm thing….does anyone look up that the Grimm “fairytales” was a AMALGAMATIONS of different European folklores. So they serve as the basic of where you can get into European folklore…but it always had a citation needed as each region, culture, and era will have a different spin on it

Hell the Arthurian Legends are big examples as they rapidly change over the centuries. Hence why in Sword in the Stone, Merlin mention movies because he was hinting at Art that his life and stories will be retold and remembered for centuries to come.

But Hercules ugh

“Did you know Hera was actually a bitch-“ did you know that the Greek myths been a backbone of western culture stories for years and around the same time of the Disney movie, there were 2 popular Greek myth shows called Xena Warrior Princess and the legends of Hercules?

Not to mention that the animators presumed you would have learn the og Greek myths in high school English class like they did

And there was a ODEIPUS joke where Hercules thought his daddy issues was bad until he saw the play of the tragic Thebes king

Actually that the thing that I I notice with a lot of pop culture media and Wish is prime example…

Do people only know the CONTEMPORARY versions of Stories and don’t look into classic media or inspirations

Actually a lot of modern dc and marvel comics lore got me thinking here this as a example

Current comics writers and fans know that superhero teams like the Avengers and Justice League are contemporary American twists on classic team groups like Argonauts or Knights of the Round Table right?

Sorry, a lot of media is like…someone making a hamburger and think fast food is the basic for that. Make sense?

And that the thing about a lot of Walt Disney era films like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Sword in the Stone, and Jungle Book. They were SPINS on classics books and stories that were used in live action movies and plays at the time

Walt was a storyteller first and foremost, ya so he adapted a lot of things staying mostly true to the story but not entirely, which make them your own if you can at least with the Grimm stuff since you don't have any copyright issues to fuss with there.

Peter Pan is a odd case, there's still a partial copyright in place even though it's way past where it should exist, but the money funds a children's charity so people let that be, and I think it only is a thing in the UK.

But Hercules ugh “Did you know Hera was actually a bitch-“ did you know that the Greek myths been a backbone of western culture stories for years and around the same time of the Disney movie, there were 2 popular Greek myth shows called Xena Warrior Princess and the legends of Hercules? Not to mention that the animators presumed you would have learn the og Greek myths in high school English class like they did

I knew about Hera, Hercules and Xena too. Hercules really had the biggest issues with Hera not Hades too, but that doesn't work for the story. Also Walt was long dead so not on him at least.

One other bit that bugs me to no end, Hercules is Roman, Heracles is Greek and almost nobody in media ever gets it right.

And there was a ODEIPUS joke where Hercules thought his daddy issues was bad until he saw the play of the tragic Thebes king

Ya they do that, throw those in for the parents. Much better than the naked people in Great Mouse Detective lol.

Actually a lot of modern dc and marvel comics lore got me thinking here this as a example Current comics writers and fans know that superhero teams like the Avengers and Justice League are contemporary American twists on classic team groups like Argonauts or Knights of the Round Table right?

I never put that much thought into it, but honestly most media produced is a twist on a existing tale.

Black Panther, to The Lion King, to Kimba the White Lion, ect till we get to Hamlet, and it actually keeps going from there but I forget the stuff in between Kimba and Hamlet and after Hamlet.

Clueless is just Jane Austin's Emma, 10 Things I Hate About You is Taming of the Shrew, to be fair the writers and such were very open about the fact that they were doing a modern retelling on those ones, several others too big thing in the mid to late 90's.

Sorry, a lot of media is like…someone making a hamburger and think fast food is the basic for that. Make sense?

Think so, would be nice to see more effort put forth. At least for some types of films, stuff that guys like Adam Sandler fart out in order to take him and his friends on a 6 week working vacation and get some people that haven't worked in a while working so they can keep their SAG insurance and what not can stay as they are.

[healerqueen]

May Books

I didn't read as much in May as I did in April, but maybe that was because I tackled a classic novel. Reflections of One Army Nurse in World War II by Gladys Bonine - A short, easy to read memoir of an American Army nurse in England during World War II. The author writes in a way that is easy to connect with and often witty. She was very thorough in her descriptions of medical care and also of her travels and experiences, such as hospital life and contact with English culture. I love engaging memoirs and nursing history, and this one was very enjoyable to me. Crack the Stone by Emily Golus (part of the multi-author series A Classic Retold) - I loved it. It's an epic fantasy retelling of Les Miserables, with a goblin as the escaped convict main character who helps a human child. It's set in Emily Golus's lively portal fantasy world, Vindor. I loved exploring the vivid, unique world further, and the characters and themes were very compelling. I highly recommend this book and the other books in the A Classic Retold series, as well as Emily Golus's other books, beginning with Escape to Vindor. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell - Currently taking a break from this one, but I made it through one-third of the 600 pages without much trouble. I've dreamed of reading this book for years, since the film miniseries is my favorite and very special to me. My reading brain is finally working again, and reading Wives and Daughters has been a wonderful experience. I'm noticing all sorts of details about the main characters, characterization, witty commentary, themes, and what everyone is thinking and feeling. Magic or Not? by Edward Eager - Funnily enough, I'd never read an Edward Eager book until we did this one for book club in May. I enjoyed it. It definitely reminded me of some of the children's classics I grew up on, only with a brand of whimsical and lively that is unique to this book and author.

[reversecreek]

welcome to marina, WILLA DENEURVE ( woman, she/her ) ! they are a TWENTY-EIGHT year old who has lived on the island for TWO MONTHS. word on the street is they’re currently living in HYLAND PARK and works as an ACTRESS. everyone also says they look a lot like ASHLEY MOORE. what do you think?

PINTEREST

“Her voice was trained, supple as leather, precise as a knife-thrower’s blade. Singing or talking, it had the same graceful quality, and an accent I thought at first was English, but then realized was the old-fashioned American of a thirties movie, a person who could get away with saying “grand”. Too classic, they told her when she went out on auditions. It didn’t mean old. It meant too beautiful for the times.” — Janet Fitch, White Oleander.

HISTORY:

willa ws born to honestly like….. the perfect family not to honk my own tit bt……………. they were jst rly quite wholesome. her mum celeste was this larger than life person who could never b contained by the four walls of any room she was in. she hd the presence of a gold glitter chess piece on an otherwise mundane wooden board. her dad marlon used to always joke that he had absolutely NO idea how he landed her bc he was just this like. rly average guy by all accounts n purposes….. blended into the sea in high skl……. had a few close friends but was never rly Notable or made a proper impression anywhere…… he always retold it as him coasting thru life until he met her in college. kind of like he’d been half awake before

willa always very much took after celeste…… there’s this one quote i remember reading that goes vaguely like “my mom and i would sit and listen to leonard cohen and joni mitchell lyrics together. from a young age i remember her being like “i’m playing this song and when it’s done i want u to tell me what’s happening in it” n she would give me a fake glass of wine when i was 8 and i would listen and b like. i think there was an affair.” which so much summarises their dynamic…… she ws just so like. dramatic n fun n always encouraged that in willa too. her mum was like. everything she aspired to be…… got scouted by a modelling agency in college n shot one campaign before blowing it off simply bc she was bored. starred lead in a play. spent a few weeks travelling asia selling handmade candles shaped like koi fish or curled up foxes or elegantly stretched hands. dated a parisian movie star during a break she and her father took n was featured in tabloids on his arm at the premiere. sm fun n exotic stories willa literally cldn’t get enough. whenever she’d tell them to willa as a kid her dad wld roll his eyes like ohhhhh here she goes again but it’d all b playful n he’d smile bc he honestly cldn’t get enough either. the stuff dreams are made of luv (lizzie mcguire stans rise)

(car accident & death tw) so u know when ur walking down a flight of stairs n then out of nowhere u miss a step n u get that lurch in ur stomach like ur in free fall? yeah. i won’t go into it too much but one night they were driving back from getting frozen yogurt and then suddenly they weren’t. she doesn’t rly remember much about it except for completely ignoring the doctors trying to give her the news and just saying “dad chose pecan. who chooses pecan?” n repeating that over n over n over until it didn’t rly register in her ears as english any more.

willa was uprooted from marina at 11 to go n live w her aunt in NY. this was like. a huge adjustment honestly….. her aunt blanche hd always been a little unconventional bt extremely glamorous. she lived in an old defunct theatre she’d bought out n came from a lot of money. willa’s mum’s side of the family hd always been well off bt celeste opted to live a little more Ordinarily shall we say after settling whereas blanche ws jst balls to the walls dripping w eccentric excess…. wld say she was never naked bc she ws always wearing black opium by yves saint laurent…… probably the living embodiment of la vie boheme….. she’d been admitted a yr early to a rly prestigious parisian design school n is an AMAZING seamstress. a corset she stitched a broadway star into got commissioned fr an actress’ red carpet walk at an indie film festival. rly just lived such a life rich w lots of stories n lots of talent too…… had that star quality essence tht her mum had n that was smthn willa found quite comforting everything considered.

(grief tw) u would think maybe a situation like this (one involving so much sudden change) wld cause a kid of tht age to withdraw into her shell bt willa only came out of her shell MORE. she coped w her situation by spinning it into a celebrity origin story inside her head. the tear jerker tale someone tells during their x factor audition to get the judges rooting for them. mentally streamlining things. repackaging all that hurt as a surefire ticket to success bc it had to be useful for something right? there had to b a point to it right? willa decided the point was she’s a star. KFHSGKFHGFKHGKJSFHG. get it girl….. she ws literally just like ok well clearly i’m destined to be famous n i’m the main character of this story. this story called earth. it’s all about me.

rly heavily immersed herself in her high skl theatre scene……. loved experimenting w fashion n literally wore the most outlandish things like. she treated the hallways like her milan f/w debut every new school yr…… a lot of the things she wore were actual like. costumes frm her aunt’s collection…… she has a multi-story closet u have to climb ladders to reach things in like a very rustic library…. it rly wasn’t uncommon for willa to turn up one day corsetted like a pirate with billowing sleeves or sporting the baby blue gingham of a swedish milk maid. it’s like she literally jst…… became a role. always. every day. the world ws her stage. the cameras were always rolling. her aunt only encouraged this tbh n honestly? icon. we love to see it. willa partied a bunch n rly lived a lax lifestyle where responsibility was concerned…. her aunt ws her best friend…… made rly gd friends with performers in the drag club scene n loved the glitz of that….. lots of wild nights turned grossly bright mornings

snagged an agent fresh into her first yr of college (she gt accepted to a pretty competitive theatre program at [redacted] in NY bc i haven’t looked into what that wld be yet <3 i’m merely a helpless british lass <3) n booked a few commercials n things….. when i say willa wld enter audition rooms like she owned the place i’m rly not exaggerating…. once she turned up to a casting call for MEN n just walked right to the front of the line scraping a random chair along the way n then took a seat w her legs crossed popping a bubble in her gum as they all glared at her like wtf is literally going on who are u. she received several complaints n she was just like “ur all acting so jealous of me….”

i feel like she got a pretty big role in a theatre production in her last yr at school. haven’t decided what yet. maybe smthn rocky horror or even mimi in rent. this was meant to b some like huge moment for willa like yes girl finally making it ur on ur way this is what u wanted n she WAS happy abt it but once it was wrapped she jst had this strange like Huh feeling in her chest……. n a la celeste w all her exciting stories was just like well i’ve done that so what’s next?

SO basically i feel like she finally moved back to marina a few months ago n lives in the big empty house in hyland park tht used to belong to her parents. she inherited it n never sold it. it's kind of eerie n weird n like a giant frozen shrine. she hd a brief stint starring on a reality tv show beforehand where her dog gained a handful of fan accounts dedicated to him……. u maybe will see why in the first bullet point of her personality section………… FKGHKSHFGGKFSHKHG. honestly she ws received pretty well too (mostly bc she’s so fking dramatic n like a caricature of a person) bt it wasn’t anything to warrant actual Fame (despite what willa herself might think). she’s mostly jst like. chilling honestly. accepting scripts n flying out fr auditions still. she’ll nab the occasional part bt she’s looking for that One Thing that rly feels like her big moment….. otherwise i cn just imagine her treating marina like a little dollhouse compared to the roaring mansion of NYC n having fun playing around in it. strikes a pose w a hand on my hip…. and now to personality.

PERSONALITY:

got a very large n lithe greyhound n named him marlene dietrich bc she was a black n white hollywood starlet famously known for her affairs n “bedroom eyes”. willa was like ugh. icon status instantly. didn’t rly foresee the responsibilities tht came w owning a dog tht loves exercise n complains abt him being like “ugh he wants to run soooooooooo much 🙄 like where are u literally going”. having said tht loves him dearly n he can often be seen wearing little clothes. a baby’s bonnet. a quilted leather waistcoat. a custom dog boa. he’s very glamorous. willa calls him a gay icon despite no evidence to support this theory. she also says he can sniff out evil in ppl so she brings him sometimes when she’s first introduced to a friend’s new bf n if his nose quivers a certain way she’s like “marlene has spoken. it’s done”. her friends r like omg? what’s done? willa gets up n walks away without elaborating. marlene’s little paws clicking along the floor w attitude.

literally dressed as marie antoinette for her high skl prom even tho there was no theme pertaining to this. jst loves the spotlight. can fake cry and WILL to get out of a parking ticket or teach someone to watch their tone or even simply for the theatrics of it all. the Most dramatic………….. rly fits being an actress like when people find out what she does it’s very like oh that makes sense.

says she doesn’t get hangovers. she’s just like “i revoked that it doesn’t happen to me”. alludes tht this is bc she’s an all powerful deity that was Chosen to be Blessed bt really she’s jst great at bouncing back n acting fine even w a blistering headache. it’s about believing the performance so much that u even convince urself.

has an extremely elevated sense of self importance bc this is kind of the equivalent of several layers of bubble wrap to cushion her frm the world. strives to b extraordinary bc ordinary honestly feels like a death sentence n there’s nothing she’d want to b seen as less. despite this weight she puts on that she rly doesn’t tend to let ppl’s opinions affect fr the most part like she’s quite firmly set in this I’m Literally The Most Gorgeous And Beautiful Angel Star Creature To Walk This Narsty Little Earth view

probably an incredibly big fan of dramatic short lived love affairs. she wants the glamour of it all. the scandal. the randomly breaking up w someone in a public place n sliding on sunglasses after delivering the words over a freshly ordered coffee (tht she’ll leave without drinking bc that’s star power babey she waits fr no man or no hot beverage)…….. has no preference gets w any n all regardless of gender……… romanticises things so they hv a better spin or story in her head n doesn’t rly take things seriously like jst has fun in her fantasy world…. she’s like ugh chuck i know u wanted to marry me but i’m a beautiful bird in a cage n u literally need to undo the latch n set me free……. the guy’s like……. my name’s chase n we’ve only been on two dates….. willa’s like…… please don’t take this so hard i can tell ur besides urself but people r starting to stare……. gets up n leaves. no-one was staring. chase is confused n honestly probably semi concerned fr her welfare.

always has to b the hottest n most glamorous person in a grocery store…. probably goes to them when she doesn’t even need anything jst holding a basket nonchalantly over her forearm glancing over at a cashier in her wizard of oz corset seamed interpretation on a dorothy dress thinking he wants me soooo bad it’s not even funny….. seduces him over the check out counter jst for him to ask her to come back to his so she can lean back scandalised n cry “IS THAT THE KIND OF WOMAN U THINK I AM, PAUL?! YOU’RE A GHASTLY LITTLE MAN, YOU ARE….” with all the gusto of a telenovela. attracts the shocked glances of all surrounding elderly.

speaks fluent french. probably on her brief stint on tht reality show i mentioned earlier was like “ugh can you believe Deneurve of this guy?” n in her head was like this catchphrase is sensational it’ll catch on fast the twittersphere is abt to implode but it didn’t become a thing except for in a small isolated community. despite this she’s like “yeah it went viral….. go figure. just another day in the life.”

honestly like a lot of fun bt also a huge handful at the same time. keeps her real Serious emotions in a locked box bt is always overflowing w melodramatics n rly giving her all at the drop of a hat where Performing is concerned. probably Loves parties n sees them as another form of production in which she wants to b the lead. rly just. loves herself. except does she? 🤔 lifts my hand up like rihanna n winks. find out next time. lucky by britney plays as i slowly disintegrate in spiderman rp…..

[softlytowardthesun]

Fictional character ask: Clifford who was the host in Muppets Tonight

let me preface this by saying that I've never seen any episode of Muppets Tonight. I'm working entirely from his scenes in Muppets from Space and interviews that puppeteer Kevin Clash did with the character. Moving right along...

Favorite Thing About Them: his sense of humor. it's not quite the usual Muppet vaudeville schtick; it's more self-referential and a lot more 90s. He's an attempt to expand and update the kind of jokes that the Muppets can tell while still feeling cohesive and, well, Muppets.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: I cannot stand the build for the puppet on Muppets Tonight. the eyes just look unnatural and the shades are so much more fitting for this character's sensibility. the eyes make him look perpetually on edge, which doesn't work at all for the calm, cool, devil-may-care characterization Kevin Clash developed for him. Furthermore, the eyes draw attention to how big his nose and lips are instead of balancing out the face, so he looks disturbingly like the caricatures from the blackface era painted purple. Not the vibe I want for (arguably) the first Black Muppet.

Things I Have In Common With Them:

I like the purples of his color scheme.

I enjoy music.

I can be sarcastic and snarky.

Things I Don't Have In Common With Them:

I'm not Black, nor am I a Black-coded fictional character performed by a Black man.

I don't enjoy being spanked.

I certainly hope that I'll have more career options other than "be a Muppet" or "join Milli Vanilli".

Favorite Line: My favorite / only known Clifford joke, from his interview with Arsenio Hall:

Hall: Clifford, how did you hook up with these guys?

Clifford: Well, look at me. I mean, look at me. It was either be a Muppet or join Milli Vanilli!

brOTP: I don't know him well enough to have one.

OTP: Again, I don't know him all that well. I guess Paula, that offscreen girlfriend he does BDSM with?

nOTP: Not a clue. Maybe the Dawson's Creek woman he puts the moves on in Muppets from Space?

Random Headcanon: Despite all his protesting that he's "humanoid", he really is at least part catfish. For one thing, it helps deflate the stereotypical Blackness of his design. For another, the Muppet writers seem to enjoy the idea. In Muppets Meet the Classics: Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, they cast him as the magical fish from "The Fisherman and His Wife" (retold as "The Frog Who Liked the Fish" with Kermit as the protagonist and Piggy as his overly ambitious spouse). And in Muppet Monster Adventure, when all the Muppets are transformed into Universal Monster spoofs, he is the Gill-Man riff.

Unpopular Opinion: It's for the best that he was discontinued after Kevin Clash left. Big sex scandal notwithstanding, Clifford is a Black character, and at the very leas there needs to be a Black puppeteer to do him justice. On top of that, the Muppets' writers and creative team are still overwhelmingly white, which sets Clifford up for a lot of jokes that draw attention to his Black-codedness, which are dated and cringey at best and offensive at worst. The most glaring example I can think of comes from an interview with Kirk Thatcher, who said that back when Muppet Monster Adventure was planned to be a TV special, Clifford's beastly alter-ego would be the "Creature from the African-American Lagoon". Yikes riding bikes.

Songs I Associate With Them:

He's not technically in the sequence, but the "Brick House" opening from Muppets from Space seems like his music taste or close enough to it:

Favorite Picture of Them:

[ariel-seagull-wings]

WHY THE ELVISES COULDN'T BECOME, AND DIDN'T BECOME ENDURING MUPPET CHARACTERS

@softlytowardthesun @moonbeamelf @thealmightyemprex @fragglesesamemuppetz2 @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie @themousefromfantasyland @amalthea9

The Elvises were a trio of characters who looked, acted and talked sounding like Elvis Presley.

The Elvises first appeared with the Muppets in Muppet Classic Theater. Due to Rizzo mishearing Gonzo state the title of the next story of “The Elves and the Shoemaker” as “The Elvises and the Shoemaker,” when the titular magical creatures come to help Kermit and Robin’s shoe shop, they appear as a group of Elvises (much to Rizzo's joy and Gonzo’s surprise). As in the original story the Elves make a bunch of amazing shoes for the cobbler, but since these are Elvises, they not only sang a rockin’ tune, they created a whole mess of Blue Suede Shoes. In thanks for their help, Kermit and Robin made the Elvises white sequin jump suits and, according to Rizzo, they went to Las Vegas where they play “The Big Room” at The Palace.

After their stint in Las Vegas, the Elvises returned in 1996 for the Muppets Tonight recurring segment “Great Moments in Elvis History” where moments in past history were retold… with Elvises. These moments include The Signing of the Declaration of Independence, The King and his Round Table, Elvis of Arabia, Tarzan of Graceland, Sir Elvis Newton, and the death of Elvis Caesar.

In their last onscreen appearance, The Elvises were featured in the full version of “Moulin Scrooge” in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. There, they briefly sing “Jingle Bells,” interrupting Miss Piggy’s big “Santa Baby” number.

CELEBRITY INSPIRATIONS FOR MUPPET CHARACTERS

Going back before the Elvises were created in 1994, celebrities from the musical and acting world had served as inspirations for some Muppet characters.

Miss Piggy was originally known as Miss Piggy Lee, referencing a jazz singer named Peggy Lee, who between the 1950s to the 1970s was known for having a larger than life diva persona. When the Muppet Show camed into fruition, the surname Lee was taken out of the character, for fear that Peggy Lee would see it as a mockery of her image and file a law suit against the show, helping the character to become just Miss Piggy and turn into a big personality and huge celebrity on her own right.

Dr. Teeth's nickname, visual style and talent for the piano and keyboard were references to a jazz musician named Dr. John, mixed to the flamboyance of rock and pop stars like Elton John and Liberace. Mixing up all those influences, Dr. Teeth can also be seen as a character with his own personality, needs and desires, rather than a clone of whatever popular musician of the past. You don't really need to be a previous fan of Dr. John to understand and enjoy who is Dr. Teeth.

Later, in 1996, we were introduced to Johnny Fiama, a Muppet who homaged the style of singers like Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet, with an italian-american cultural background, problems with a very controlling mother, mobster style suit, and a bit of arrogance mixed with ignorance about oversteping in other people's space that hided a hearth of gold deep down. What made Johnny Fiama win a following among Muppet fans was the fact that while he homaged a style of italian-american crooners, he wasn't a clone of a specific italian-american crooner. Like Dr. Teeth before him, Johnny Fiama was an amalgamation of several artists representatives of a style who created a life of his own.

THE ELVISES

And them there were the Elvises. A trio born out of a pun between "Elves" and "Elvis" due to how much Rizzo was a fan of Elvis Presley.

They are all called Elvis, so you won't know how to differentiate one from the other. They all only sing in the style of Elvis Presley. They all have the same hair and dress style as Elvis Presley. They all talk the same way as Elvis Presley, and they all have the same blaze facial expression.

Unlike Miss Piggy, Dr. Teeth and Johnny Fiama, who are characters inspired by previous existing celebrities who developed their own sense of identity, the Elvises have literary no identity.

They are mechanical clones of Elvis Presley, with no feelings and desires of their own, wich is not good if you want to be part of a versatile, diverse and character gang of performers like the Muppets are.

They worked for the pun joke in Muppet Classic Theater, but when they were put to act in a segment of Muppets Tonight, they were the weakest part of the show!

I am glad that after that one quick scene in It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, they were retired for good.

May them stay in Las Vegas playing "The Big Room" at The Palace forever, and never return again.

[semper-legens]

85. Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, by Ben MacIntyre

Owned: Yes Page count: 327 My summary: During the Second World War, the imposing German castle of Colditz was used to house the most notorious Allied prisoners of war - the escapers, the troublemakers, the ones who proved difficult to contain. This is their story, from the first POWs to walk through the gates, to the liberation of the castle. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Look, at this point, I don't feel the need to justify myself anymore. I've got a few special interests in things that most people aren't interested in, and one of those special interests is prisoner of war camps during World War Two. And, specifically, Colditz. It's an interesting subject, okay! I'm always fascinated by the ways that people react to being put into extreme situations, as well as the nuances of class in the 1940s and the ways we retell these stories. This was an interesting read, but first - Jamie gets on their soapbox!

So many POW tales that get retold (see the Great Escape) are of Plucky Brits Plus A Token American Or Two exhibiting the classic Stiff Upper Lip and treating wartime escapes like they're games. Which wasn't the reality for most POWs, and not even most officers. See, under the Geneva Convention, officer POWs could not be made to work in captivity, whereas regular soldiers could. In the earlier stages of the war, the penalty for attempting escape as an officer would be returning to the POW camp and some time in solitary. Regular soldiers could be shot. And so many of our POW narratives revolve around the Heroic Escaper that Kept Defying The Nazis even after captivity...which subtly reinforces the idea that some, who saw less combat, aren't worth talking about. There's class dynamics, there's toxic masculinity, there's a lot going on in how we characterise people in this time period, and a lot of nuance gets lost in media like the Great Escape, which mostly focuses on Posh Lads Escaping And Fighting The Good Fight, rather than the regular lives of men who were captured by Germany.

Anyway. This book specifically! It promises to be the true story of Colditz, but it still mostly focuses on some of the same old stories - understandable, Colditz was the camp where they housed the chronic escapers and much of the camp genuinely was trying to escape in their time. That said, despite the fact that I already knew some of the stories relayed in this book, I wasn't ever bored. It builds up its core cast of characters quite nicely, from the German commander of the camp to the British prisoners (and some from other nationalities) living there. It is quick to criticise people who need criticising, including war hero and notable asshole Douglas Bader, and shows a level of nuance when talking about the German officials, most notably the difference between the regular German army and the Gestapo, the latter of whom were far more likely to torture and murder prisoners. Overall, if you're interested in the subject, it's a pretty good book! I'm probably gonna return to it a few times when in the throes of Special Interest Fever, that's for sure.

Next up, it's graphic novel time, and we're off to Oregon to the sleepy town of Gravity Falls.

[aninsecurewriter]

American Gods - Book Review - 4.5/5

American Gods is one of those books that most people know immediately. Personally, I had been really interested in reading it for quite a while. The concept as a whole was fascinating and allowed for so much creative flow in terms of the shape that these gods could take, questions such as "What are things that we worship in our modern society and how would these shape a god" rising from it. Overall, from reading this book, I felt it matched my expectations and, in part, exceeded them. However, in one area I did feel quite let down.

Everyone who knows Neil Gaiman knows that he is on the forefront of impactful and creative plots in literature today, and this book showcases that perfectly! Gaiman weaves this beautiful story, showcasing the unseen war between the gods of old with the gods who have arisen from modern America. Interspersed throughout the novel as well are sections where we learn of some of the immigrants who came to America, and the gods who came with them. How the gods of old are now battling for life in a world that is slowly killing them with a lack of belief and worship. We follow Shadow as he navigates this world that, since boyhood, he has felt connected with although he never knew what it was. As Shadow learns of the gods, their struggles, and how he fits into this mysterious war. The plot of this book is a definite highlight, a slow build towards an inevitable war but the journey made all the more interesting by the discovery we go on alongside Shadow.

A part of this novel that I adored was the character Gaiman crafts. As someone who grew up reading tons of old folktales from different cultures seeing them retold in this completely different settings gave me a feeling of nostalgia I never knew I needed. Seeing characters such as Anansi and Anubis making their way outside of their culture and their different paths made me so much more invested as it felt like reading of a childhood friend. For that alone, I love this novel. However my one quip with this novel comes here. My biggest draw for this novel was to read about the ideas and concepts of "new gods" and what do they look like, act like, how have we as Americans created them and subsequently become enslaved to them. However, aside from a few, we really didn't meet any. The ones we met were great but the continual name drops showed that the idea for more was there but it was never fully shown. I was quite disappointed by this as I felt it was an amazing concept and so much more could've been done with it, to add to the folklore with new characters as well as building upon what was there.

Obviously, the world building in American Gods is incredible. One of my favorite types of worlds are ones where it's almost ours. Worlds like Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, most horror fiction in a way, and Miss Peregrine's. This novel fits perfectly into it. The world is recognizable as ours, but there is so much more to it that the typical people of the world can't see. That's what makes it so beautiful, these subtle yet drastic differences in the world. Exploring something that's hidden yet so plainly in sight, the undercurrent of even our own world and the idea that we're gonna be worshipping something, no matter what it is. It's this thought that crafts the world of Gaiman's America, where the gods of old live in, sometimes, harmony, and we see their interactions with the more modern world as it is ever changing.

I think Gaiman has proved over and over again that he is a master at writing, one of those writers who will go down as a classic from our time. He harnesses this ability that all writers crave, to be able to create a beautiful idea from a simple sentence. To leave readers desperate to hear more through just five words. It's what becomes the heart of the book, the voice of Shadow as he makes sense of a world beyond typical comprehension. And through these struggles we see Gaiman's prowess at crafting a typically difficult concept and making it into something which causes the reader not just to understand but to truly think.

The novel was an absolutely beautiful one! The idea and concept behind it were enough to capture me and throughout the whole novel it kept dragging me further into this world. The characters he crafts are masterful, and aside from my own gripe I really struggle to fault this novel. I just hope maybe, one day, he'll do something to explore it even further.

[le-trash-prince]

“I don’t remember exactly in what form I first encountered the story of Aladdin. But I remember I heard it in Bengali, and this happened in Calcutta, now Kolkata, when I was very young, before the Disney animated movie or the Alif Laila show on state-run Indian TV. The Arabian Nights are old and have grown in many directions, media, and languages, retold with infinite diversity and divergence. I never thought of the version I heard as “foreign” in any way.

It was many years later that I learned that even the “original” Arabian Nights Aladdin was a last-minute anthology insertion by a French collector based on a folktale he’d heard from a Syrian Christian storyteller, set in a generic China that was somehow also Muslim and Arab and featured a villain from generic Africa. And then I rewatched the animated film set in Hollywood exotic Arabia featuring classic American cinema/pop-culture references. And I knew that some day I needed to give this roaming orientalist classic yet another temporary residence to call its own. So this book started out as a retelling, a new house for a fable that I could see was tired and lost, but then the place I set the new story in, and the people who lived there, started demanding to be let in. This book is what happened after they took over and invited their friends. I think it stopped being a retelling at some point, but I was too busy trying to clean up after these unruly creatures to tell. Whatever it is, I really enjoyed writing this one!”

Samit Basu on The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport

[terranoctis]

Stories of 2022

It’s been a year that’s kept me quite busy, so truth be told, I’ve gone through less stories this year than I would’ve wanted to. That being said, perhaps I’ve made stories of my own moreso, and that’s not a bad thing. Time changes your circumstances and I’m proud of what I’ve done this year. 

However, there’s been a few standout stories I’ve experienced/read/watched. Here’s a few thoughts on those, in no particular order:

MOVIES

1. Everything Everywhere All At Once

I would be highly remiss to not include this whatsoever, because it’s the one movie I can easily recall as my favorite of the year. I had a conversation earlier this week with two friends who I always talk movies with and all three of us unanimously agreed that it was our standout film of the year. As someone who is a daughter of an immigrant and has countless tales of being an Asian-American, it touches my heart all the more with its portrayal of generational trauma and the tension that arises when those generational differences are at odds. 

It’s one of those rare stories that touches on multiverses in a way that is its own--and in what a glorious way it does. It’s less about the multiverse and handles beautifully the personal aspects of a woman who could’ve been anybody--and was everybody in countless other universes, but understands the implication of being just the one person that they are and knowing that it’s worth so much. It’s a film that loves cinema, which is my favorite kind of film, in the way the cinematography is shot, in the messiness of all the wardrobes and costuming of this film, in its homages to films before it, and in the way there are key lines that are so heartfelt you cannot help but remember them for a long time. 

The cast for this film has been one of my favorite. No one is surprised at Michelle Yeoh’s acting chops if they’ve paid attention to cinema, but it’s the first film that’s allowed Ke Huy Quan to fully shine as an adult actor and introduced me to the wonderfully talented Stephanie Hsu. This deeply moving script allowed all three main actors and their ensemble cast to really show off that talent and I’m all the more grateful for it. It’s one of the rare films that is both a visual marvel (due to its wonderfully frenetic editing) and wonderfully well-written. It might not be for everyone, but I, for one, will sing praises for this film for a long time. 

2. Belle

The first film I saw in theaters this year was actually this film and I’m so wonderfully pleased that I did. It’s a story that is not without its flaws, and it’s not even the best animated film I’ve seen... but it’s a story that I can’t help but love because of how earnestly it is portrayed. It’s a story of love through grief and perhaps that’s why it hit closer to home for me. The animation is stunningly beautiful, merging various styles from across the world into a film that is held largely together with its core Japanese animation style from Mamoru Hosoda and his team. The main character Belle, or at least her avatar form in the virtual reality world ‘U’, is drawn by one of the lead character animators at Disney, and the design of her character reflects beautifully the retold Belle from Beauty and the Beast in this world. 

Even though the film is a retelling of the classic fairytale behind Beauty and the Beast, it’s surprisingly less about romantic love than it is about love in all its forms, particularly the kind of love can have when someone is at their lowest and scarred. That love can be for someone else--and it can also be for yourself. You do have a love between “Beauty” and the “Beast,” but that love is hardly portrayed in a romantic light. It’s the kind of love that someone has when they see someone in need and they want to help... and it’s a story that comes full-circle beautifully with the main character. 

I’m also a sucker for good music and Belle had some of the best music I’ve heard in any film this year. I literally had chills when the main character started singing for the first time as Belle, when she’s testing out her voice again in the reality of the virtual world--despite being unable to sing loud in real life. The songs all tie in beautifully to the overall themes of the film as well. 

GAMES

3. Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

If last year was a story of my love for Shadowbringers in Final Fantasy XIV, this year was a story of my love for Endwalker. I unfortunately did not get to finish Endwalker during its release month as most others did, but I did get to finish it earlier this year. I can’t say that I loved it as much as Shadowbringers as an independent story, but as the culmination of every tale you’ve experienced as the Warrior of Light from A Realm Reborn to Shadowbringers, it’s a mastercraft in storytelling. For being able to resolve that tale in a way that hinges on some time-travel (which I’m a sucker for) and do it in such a heartfelt way and make you feel as the main character for all the people you’ve fought against and fought for in the past--Endwalker masterfully did so with amazing trials and cutscenes to boot. 

It isn’t to say the expansion didn’t have its poor moments. The pacing had some issues, but for an expansion finished in the pandemic, I understand why. I loved the overall story nonetheless and could deal with the pacing. The culmination of the whole Elpis arc and seeing how we became to be the Warrior of Light has been some of my favorite moments in the entire series. Not just in Final Fantasy XIV, but in all the Final Fantasy games I’ve played. 

Two of my favorite characters are also fleshed out in such wonderful ways this expansion. Venat and Hythlodaeus are easily two of my favorites of the game so far and it’s no wonder I loved the Elpis parts of the game so much. The end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga with Endwalker was masterfully done and it makes me all the more excited to strike on a new adventure with the world. There’s also so many tales that I haven’t gotten to experience yet and I’ve been having a wonderful time jumping through all those tales as well as I wait for the next huge patch in the upcoming year. 

4. Stray

I played this rather late in the year, and it made my heart soft in all the good ways. I should state first I love cats, so I have some bias there. The game has you play as a cat wandering about a strange city filled with only robots. From the get-go, you even when you’re not yet in the city, you see that this world is devoid of all humans, wandering with a stray pack of cats. The city reflects this yet again, as you seem to be the only living being aside from Zurks, who are largely your antagonists in the game, as mutated bacteria life-forms. 

At a basic level, the game is you wandering as a cat. On a larger scale, it’s a game about what constitutes life and how simple things like friendship and companionship are emblematic of what make us living beings. The journey is played largely with you as the stray cat and your companionship with a small robot. I can’t say too much without spoiling the story, but it’s a beautiful, lovely little tale of friendship between a robot and a cat in a dystopian cyberpunk world. It’s worth a play if anyone ever gets a chance to do so. 

BOOKS

5. Nona the Ninth

This was one of my most anticipated books this year and I think one of the rare novels I actually binge-read within a few days even with school work and whatnot. I should say that I did love Harrow the Ninth more, but I loved this book in its own way. It’s a portrayal of a character who has made herself forget who she truly is and the horrendous things that have happened to her (and I mean, world-shattering, world-ending horrible things), perhaps because she wanted to save the girl whose body she inhabits and perhaps because she loved these people with her. It’s about love, for good or bad, and the kind of resurrections we put ourselves and others through in a testament to that love. The whole series of the Locked Tomb is love in its revenant forms, which I highly appreciate the more I occasionally re-read the novels and random passages. 

What makes the Locked Tomb series so humanely interesting to me is the way the narrator does not have the complete picture, by nature of their fragmented perspectives, but you as the reader do because you’re privy to the prior stories and other tales told through dreams or flashbacks. Nona is especially such a character because she is a “new” character, or rather a character who is seemingly unaware of her own true identity. The story leads you at first to believe she is perhaps one of the two previous main characters (Gideon or Harrow) in amnesiac form, but it becomes quite obvious she is a little bit of both in personality and perhaps neither of them at all. The more you read the story though, the more you begin to understand that perhaps she’s more aware than she lets on, but it’s because she’s so in love with the people around her that she doesn’t want to remember the trauma that made her something else. Thematic focuses aside, the writing is as fun as ever and where the Locked Tomb truly shines is with the personalities and dialogues of its characters. 

I wasn’t sure how to feel about Nona at first, but the more I read, the more I adored her and her love for the people around her. And the more I felt that trauma that all three protagonists of this series so far have felt and still found some semblance of love despite it. 

6. Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence

I should clarify I am still reading this at the moment, but it is already one of my favorite books of the year as I near the end of it. Translation as a magical weapon, translation as a means of colonialism--translation as a manifestation of something else... all these means of translation as not just a text-form thing, but something intrinsically cultural and used as a cultural weapon against its own people is utterly beautiful and devastating all at once. R.F. Kuang does an amazing job yet again with characterization of characters and that personal dilemma within the protagonist. I quite love the world-building in this one, having jumped from her previous works to this new world in Babel in the U.K. with silverworking and translation as a weapon. Since I’m still reading this novel, I won’t go into as much depth with it as I did the previous novel. For all I know, I might be missing a key piece of what makes this novel even greater. 

[thegreateststoriesevertold]

Cinderella

‘Cinderella’ had to be the first entry in this series of the greatest stories ever told. I believe there’s even a case for it being the greatest story ever told; it’s been told and retold more than almost any other story, finding new beats in every cultural climate, from Ancient China to contemporary American high schools. A good underdog story can never be underestimated, and though now we well know that Cinderella will rise beyond her degradation at her stepsisters’ hands, her early subjugation still strikes a chord that compels us to root for her victory. Romance, and the visual decadence that the ballroom scenes bring with that, will never fail to engage me, hopeless sap that I am – but I think the story’s true draw lies in Cinderella’s eventual triumph over her sisters. Because whilst I remain a hopeless romantic, I can’t help but delight in that vindictive, vindicating moment.

How it plays out differs depending on which version of the story you’re enjoying. My personal favourite is from Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy’s seventeenth century French story, ‘Finette Cendron’. I highly recommend you look it up, although I’m about to spoil its climactic moments. The story is an amalgamation of the classic Cinderella format, and an early variant of ‘Hansel and Gretel’, and as such Cinderella finds herself stranded in the woods with her stepsisters. Here her sisters threaten, in deeply sinister tones, to kill her – good thing they don’t, as when they come across an ogre, she is the one to outsmart and behead it. Having encountered far more violent and tangible threat than many other Cinderellas ever deal with it, Cinderella’s eventual triumph is all the more victorious. Her sisters having long abandoned her in their quest to get to the castle and claim a certain missing shoe as their own, they’re nearly out of the woods, and looking all the worse for it after their lengthy trek. Meanwhile, Cinderella has been in touch with the magical horse who replaces the fairy godmother in this tale, and she’s speeding off to overtake them. Which she does – her dress intact, looking beautiful, splattering the two with even more mud as she passes them by, laughing at their misery.

Plucking out their eyes is all well and good, but a bit of good old-fashioned humiliation can’t be beaten in this instance.

[celiabowens]

Adult SFF edition

High/Epic Fantasy

The Lies of Locke Lamora: heist fantasy following a band of misfits! It has morally gray characters, fun banter but heartwrenching moments and a pretty complex plot. It’s a classic to say “if you liked Six of Crows and want to try adult SFF try this” and it’s probably true. 

Kushiel’s Dart: a political fantasy tome loosely inspired by Europe in the Renaissance. Pretty heavy on romance and erotica (with BDSM elements) as it follows a courtesan navigating the political scene. It has an amazing female villain.

A Darker Shade of Magic: probably the easiest way to approach adult fantasy. It has multiple Londons and a pretty unique magic system and concept, plus a crossdressing thief, knives and great banter. 

The Poppy War: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome.

The Sword of Kaigen: if you liked The Poppy War you could like this one. The Sword of Kaigen is an Asian-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

The Priory of the Orange Tree: high fantasy, featuring dragons, a F/F romance and pretty complex world building. The author reuses typical fantasy tropes and roles in a fresh way. Very readable in spite of its length.

Empire of Sand: inspired by Mughal India, this one focuses on culture and religion and has great slow burn romance (TW: abuse, slavery). It’s pretty slow paced, but the payoff is great. Also a good "YA crossover”.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms: first book in a companion novel trilogy, following a young woman who finds herself at the center of a vicious political struggle, as she’s suddenly become the heir to the throne. 

Black Sun: first book in a new series by Rebecca Roanhorse, inspired by pre-Columbian societies and cultures. It mainly focuses on religious and political conflicts. TW for abuse, mild body horror and suicide (not very graphic). Nice inclusion of lgbt rep across the whole cast + one of the main characters is blind. Great world building!

Historical Fantasy

The Night Circus: perfect transition from YA to Adult for a reader, The Night Circus is a gorgeous historical fantasy romance. The author’s writing is amazing, the descriptions and the subtlety of the main characters’ relationship are to die for.

The City of Brass: political/historical fantasy tome featuring Middle Eastern mythology. It follows younger MCs (honestly another series that could be a good way to approach adult SFF) and has great character growth throughout the series. The first book has some more trope-y elements, but the payoff is worth it. 

The Golem and The Djinni: historical fantasy (if you loved The Night Circus you could like this one), following two mythical creatures as they navigate New York in 1899. Slow burn romance, rich descriptions, fascinating combination of Jewish and Syrian folklore.

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. Another great way to approach adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human.

The Ghost Bride: set in Malaya in 1893, it follows the daughter of a ruined man as she receives the proposal to become a ghost bride. Lovely setting, rich in culture and extremely atmospheric.

The Bear and The Nightingale: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. Another great way to start reading adult SFF: it’s very atmospheric and fairy tale-like. Also frost demons are better than men.

Queen of the Conquered: first book in a fantasy duology(?) set in an alternate version of the Caribbean at the time of Scandinavian colonisation. It follows Sigourney, a biracial woman (her mother was a slave, freed by her father) and the only islander who is allowed to own and use kraft and therefore has a position of privilege, which she constantly abuses, while telling herself she’s doing it for the islanders’ benefit. The book is hard to read, because the MC is no hero and her POV can be quite challenging to get through, but if you’re up for it I’d totally recommend this. (TW: slavery, abuse, death).

The Lions of Al-Rassan: this one has minimal fantasy elements, much like other Kay books, as it reads more like an alternate history. Using Moorish Spain as a template, it deals with the conflict between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Much like Under Heaven and most of his historical fantasy it shows common people being swept up in dramatic events. 

Urban Fantasy

The Divine Cities trilogy: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Also, slow burn F/F romance.

Jade City:  a wuxia inspired, gangster urban fantasy. Great family dynamics, very interesting political and economical subplots. 

One for My Enemy: sort of a modern Romeo and Juliet, but set in New York, starring two magical gangster families. The female characters are to die for.  

Trail of Lightning: inspired by Native mythology and the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. You could like this if you liked the Kate Daniels series.

American Gods: a classic of the genre, pretty much brilliant in how it reuses old mythology in a modern setting.

Retellings

Spinning Silver: a very loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, with a gorgeous atmosphere. It mainly follows female characters from different social and economical backgrounds and reuses the original tale to challenge the antisemitic ideas around the role of the moneylander.

The Queens of Innis Lear: fantasy retelling of King Lear, very atmospheric and gorgeously written. Slow paced, but very satisfying build up, lots of backstabbing and miscommunication. (heads up though, one of the MCs is coded as aroace and I found the rep pretty bad on that. The book does feature casual bisexual rep though, which was great)

Lady Hotspur: genderbent retelling of Henry IV, set in the same world as The Queens of Innis Lear. Lesbian and bisexual rep. Heavy on political subplots, features ambitious women growing into their roles.

Deathless: sort of a retelling of Koschei the Deathless set in the first half of the 20th century. Brilliant reuse of Russian folklore to weave together politics and history. It does have pretty brutal descriptions of war, morally gray characters, unhealthy relationships and overall a lot of mindfuckery.

Space Opera

A Memory Called Empire: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn F/F romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks).

Ninefox Gambit: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault).

The Light Brigade: militaristic space opera set in a not-so-defined future in which corporations rule Earth and space in general. The book follows a newly enlisted soldier as they go through gruelling training and experience the side effects of being broken down into atoms to travel at the speed of light. It’s a heavy book, featuring raw descriptions of war, and quite difficult to follow (non-linear timelines...) but it’s also an amazing critique of capitalism and political propaganda (TW: death, mass shooting).

Gideon the Ninth: pretty much lesbian necromancers in space. Very loose world building, but a fun mystery full of banter. Can be quite confusing in the beginning, but a relatively easy and fun way to approach science fiction.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. Also features a F/F romance. 

Science Fiction-Fantasy that I can’t fit anywhere else

Vicious: college roommates put themselves through near-death experiences to obtain super powers, only everything goes wrong. Follows a great band of misfits (and pretty much everyone is morally gray).

Middlegame: a brilliant and complex tapestry of alternate timelines, following telepathically connected twins trying to escape the alchemist that wants to use them to obtain godhood (TW: attempted suicide).

Piranesi: the long awaited return of Susanna Clarke, Piranesi is an odd, mysterious book set in a house with infinite rooms and endless corridors, apparently inhabited by only two people. 

Bonus Novella recs: novellas are amazing and don’t sleep on them!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella, it gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed.  

The Black God’s Drums: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. 

The Haunting of Tram Car 015: alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It has a compelling mystery, starring a great lead.

This Is How You Lose the Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war, F/F romance and gorgeous prose. 

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate: an incredibly heartwarming and yet meaningful novella about research and the meaning of it. It’s the tale of 4 astronauts on a crowdfunded mission to explore space, to observe and report without conquering. It’s written in lovely prose and is very casual in its lgbt rep.

The Deep: very good novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. It’s not an easy read at all, as it deals with trauma, both personal and generational ones. 

Bonus short story collections recs

A Cathedral of Myth and Bone: 16 short stories featuring myth, legend and faith, that mainly focus on women reclaiming their agency. 

The Paper Menageries and Other Stories: features plenty of different fantasy and science fiction subgenres. The Paper Menagerie in particular is an extremely moving tale.

Conservation of Shadows: science fiction-fantasy short stories that focus on topics like colonisation and the role of art and language. 

Graphic Novel

Monstress: series set in an alt 1900s matriarchal Asia, following a teenage girl who survived a war and shares a connection with a monster that’s slowly transforming her. (TW: slavery, death).

[mermaidsirennikita]

So You Liked (Or Didn't Like) Bridgerton

So you've read the Bridgerton series and loved it--or, for whatever reason, you tried to read them, they didn't work for you, but you're interested in reading historical romcoms nonetheless.

Historical romance is a subgenre of romance, but in itself there are further subgenres. There are the gambling hell romances--think Dreaming of You, or the Rules of Scoundrels series; there are Scottish romances, along the lines of The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie; there are lighter romances, darker romances, and so on and so forth.

Bridgerton falls into the "family saga" subgenre. It's also a lot lighter than many historical series, and additionally does not dedicate much time to historical accuracy (which is fine! I personally don't care much for accuracy in my historical series). It could be categorized as a "wallpaper historical" but.... That term is understandably controversial as it can be considered a bit demeaning. A lot of what I read is wallpaper (the idea of historical accuracy being more important than the reality) and I tend to prefer more emphasis on the relationships than the accuracy.

Certainly, Bridgerton is more of a ballroom series--the characters are largely upper class, the stakes are relatively low, and we do indeed spend a fuckton of time with the ton.

If you're looking for something romcom-y, if you're looking for ballroom, it can be hard to sort through the genres. That's why I'm building a list of series to look for if you're seeking that Bridgerton vibe without it being Bridgerton.

Love by Numbers by Sarah MacLean. This trilogy does indeed focus on a family--specifically three siblings, including the Marquess of Ralston, his twin brother, and their half-sister. But where I feel this gives that Bridgerton feeling is the humor that MacLean tends to flavor her books with, as well as the frothy ballroom-y setting of the first and third book in particular. Fans of Penelope Featherington might like Callie, the heroine of the first book, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake--a plus size heroine who goes after what she wants (though in my humble opinion, her hero fuuuuuuuuuuuuucks a lot harder than Colin Bridgerton). While book two gives us something of a cozier romance, book genderflips typical class divides a bit--giving us a rakish, illegitimate heroine and the uptight duke who's obsessed with her (despite himself).

The Wallflowers by Lisa Kleypas. It doesn't get much more ballroom--or seemingly ballroom--than four wallflowers agreeing to help each other land eligible husbands. The marriage mart is on overdrive in this classic series. You get a little bit of everything here--self-made heroes, upper class peers, American heiresses seeking lords, marriages of convenience. The girls aren't family (well, two of them are related, actually) but they feel like four sisters. Keep in mind, though, as a general rule: Kleypas heroes tend to run a bit grittier and a bit more threatening than Quinn heroes. Featuring one of the most influential historical romances of the past couple of decades, Devil in Winter--but take it from me and read these in order.

Girl Meets Duke by Tessa Dare. If you love the humor in the Bridgerton books, you have to read Tessa Dare. Her books are undoubtedly the funniest historical romances I've read. This ongoing series in particular focuses on women who, yes, run into dukes. Whether it's a duke who needs an heir, or a guy named Duke--one way or the other, they are duke-adjacent. Dare's sex scenes tend to get a lot more graphic than Quinn's, but these books are nevertheless perfect for quick, light reading.

The Rogue Files by Sophie Jordan. Sophie Jordan has everything: romcom retellings (While The Duke Was Sleeping), rogues galore, SEX POTIONS??? There's a bit of wackiness to her books, and I can't help but appreciate her willingness to go for it all. Her Debutante Files duology is a good companion series, and while the books don't necessarily follow a single family to the letter, there is a stepsibling romance in that series. So.... points?

The Hathaways by Lisa Kleypas. While Kleypas does write another family series, The Ravenels, I find The Hathaways to be far superior. Following five siblings after they stumble into the upper class by means of an unexpected inheritance, this series blends humor and high drama for the sake of romance. You get a little bit of everything--rake romances, childhood friend romance, bad boy romance, epistolary romance. The sense of family is really strong in this series, and while not every hero is a conventional lord (Kleypas loves a self-made man) the sense of wish fulfillment in this one is strong.

The Bedwyn Saga by Mary Balogh. If you like your romances to focus on family while being a bit lighter on steam and a bit heavier on classic froth, the Bedwyn Saga is for you. While these books can be a bit too heavy on high society for me at times, I would call them one of the closest cousins to the Bridgerton books. I'd be a bit shocked if Balogh and Quinn didn't influence each other on some level.

Fairy Tales by Eloisa James. An Offer from a Gentleman is literally a straightforward Cinderella retelling, so why not pick one of these up? Although they aren't related to each other in plot or characters, these books are all fairy tale retellings by way of historical romance. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling, and Rapunzel all get retold in this series. James is another one who I find really funny, while being something of a classic historical romance writer.

I plan on reading more and adding to this list as time goes on--but in general, I think these series kind of fall into some of the same general categories as Bridgerton. Happy reading!