#d.m. cornish

[pleas3pretendimnothere]

Still dealing with chronic illness issues, but that's okay! I was able to read what I was!

The Sword of Summer & The Hammer of Thor

By Rick Riordan - I read the first two books in Riordan's Magnus Chase trilogy, and as usual, I have little to say that hasn't already been said! Riordan continues building his mysterious universe of delightfully fun and silly young adult characters navigating their lives as the children of gods. I'm a huge fan of Norse mythology, and this series dives right into that stuff...

The first two Magnus Chase books are just like the rest of Riordan's works. Each follows a new adventure amongst unlikely friends who suddenly encounter some sort of doomsday timeline--something terrible is about to happen, and this time our team only has three/four/five days to stop it! It's a familiar script, but if you're familiar with Riordan, you know not to take the books too seriously. You go in to meet colorful characters and learn obscure facts about godly mythology. They're guilty pleasure novels, but somehow, Riordan is always able to attain stakes. Characters gain and lose, kill and die. That, I believe, is what make his worlds most endearing.

My biggest shock of this series? The representation. A homeless hero. A deaf best friend. A Muslim partner. And a genderfluid love interest. My jaw was consistently on the floor, and I was once again absolutely thrilled with Riordan's commitment to inclusion. Thanks to cheery, playful dialogue, it never comes off as forced, and I will never not recommend Riordan's work to people of all ages. RENT IT!

Love, Theoretically

By Ali Hazelwood - All right, I have to be honest. I'm in a book club with a friend, and we love bad books. We previously read Hazelwood's The Love Hypothesis and had a great laugh. Published Reylo fanfic? Unbelievable. We had to know what happened. That book was so strange and...upsetting (a sex scene where the MC is uncomfortable the whole time? Wow, that's sooo hot...). So my friend insisted we read another book from Hazelwood...

I admit, I am not the target audience for books like these, but I really hated this one. Hypothesis was fun because of the Reylo of it all. But Theoretically? Bland, slow, and incredibly unrelatable (to me, at least). Incredible average. I don't enjoy fanfic, nor do I enjoy relatable-girl rom-com reads. This book was made to be disliked by someone like me. The constant mentions of Twilight. The persistent, quirky thoughts of cheese. A seemingly perfect love interest with exclusively perfect friends. A quirky family that's...actually also pretty perfect. And an absolutely, objectively perfect ending. Come ON. I was ASLEEP.

At least reading all the different ways Hazelwood could skirt around using the word "vagina" kept me laughing. If you like plain, inoffensive, modern-day romance, sure. Read it. Whatever. But I prefer more turmoil in my love stories, stuff that goes beyond "It's so hard to just be myself...". SKIP IT!

Factotum

By D.M. Cornish - Okay, now this is the stuff I love! Can't sing enough praises for Cornish's series, and this finale does not disappoint. Like the two books preceding it, Factotum struggles with pacing at times, but otherwise, it's another fascinating thrill in a horrifying world. I may have teared up a bit at the end.

I'm a sucker for huge fantasy. I love gothic settings, and I love a heartfelt parent-child relationship story. I would die for this series' main character, and so would all of his caretakers. He must be protected, and in this finale, our poor MC is being actively hunted. As the reader, you just want this young boy to be safe, to follow his dreams and go about his life, but never has he been more in danger. It was scary and violent, and I had so much fun--even when our little boy was being mind-tortured.

Great, high-stakes action. Beautiful prose. Mesmerizing world with monsters and kings and gods. Delightful artwork, and loveable characters. Bloodborne for kids, and now one of my new favorite book series in the gothic/fantasy genre. I'm just desperate for more. By all means, do not overlook this little series from the 2000s. BUY IT!

[fictionadventurer]

Book asks - The Monster-Blood Tattoo series by D.M. Cornish?

added to TBR | on my TBR | couldn’t finish it | did not enjoy | it was OK | liked it | loved it | favorite | not interested

I had to think a while on this one. My initial reaction was no, because I tend not to mix well with things with "monster" in the title. Looking up the series made it sound very intriguing, but the magic system might edge just a bit beyond what I'm comfortable with, so I'm not sure I'll seek it out.

[wanderingcotabussurgetank]

sketchbook 0004 - Trislynn Orana by David (D.M.) Cornish

[valiantarcher]

Book asks: 8, 11, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28

Thank you! :) Just a heads up that I have dug back into my notes for some earlier reads since it felt like I kept coming back to the same books; I found reviewing some old reads a lot of fun, so hopefully you don't mind.

8. A book that left you emotionally devastated. Ooh. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger and Tenthragon by Constance Savery are easy answers, as are a number of non-fiction books, but I'll go with Dawn by Elie Wiesel.

11. A book with one scene that really annoyed you. Just one scene? Hmm. I don't remember all my complaints with When the Stars Threw Down their Spears by Kersten Hamilton, but I do remember one scene that really bothered me.

20. A book that you enjoyed, but barely remember. According to my notes, Sword Song by Rosemary Sutcliff is a book I remember one plot point about but also can't ever reliably remember if I've read it when asked.

21. A book that improved upon reread. I enjoyed Lamplighter by D.M. Cornish on the first read, but I just finished a reread of it and I think I like it even more now.

22. A book that got worse on reread. Ha, probably a number of my childhood reads would fit this! But I'm going to say East by Edith Pattou: I had remembered not loving it the first time I read it but I read it again a few years ago and liked it less than I remembered.

25. A book on your B-tier: Not one of your favorites, but one you enjoyed. It looks like Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers was one of these.

27. An author whose early work you enjoy more than their later work. This might be stretching it a bit as an in-progress series is my favourite of his works, but since I have ignored the last four or so published books, I'm going to say N.D. Wilson.

28. An author whose later work you enjoy more than their early work. This is also stretching it, but it looks like most of the books I enjoy by Patricia McKillip were written in the second half of her career (but not all).

[idratherdreamofjune]

To Read 2023

We’re dialing it back this year, not aiming for a list of ten but instead just the titles that keep coming to mind.

- Foundling (D.M. Cornish), and the two sequels hopefully - American Nightingale (Bob Welch), on the recommendation of Valia - The Perilous Gard (Elizabeth Marie Pope), a long overdue reread - Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones), ditto - While Still We Live (Helen MacInnes), ditto again - Spring Tide (Mary Ray), necessitating a reread of two others first - Brat Farrar (Josephine Tey), if the mood strikes - The Blackout Book Club (Amy Lynn Green), inspired by @fictionadventurer

[linkwood]

Project 1: GodSpit - An Overview of Where We're At Now

GodSpit is the first and oldest idea I'm working on the plot for this NaNo. It's the only project I've already done substantial writing for, but I'm pretty unhappy with the direction the plot was taking, and wanting to rework it was kinda the impetus for this whole NaNo plotting work thing. It's also the project I'm the most casual about: it's 100% writing practice, verging on fanfic, and I don't expect to publish it. It's for fun. Like most of my creative ideas, GodSpit is stupidly derivative. It began with a sick thread on /tg/ (and then /qst/) called Totemist Quest, which began in 2011, authored by Diarca. The Totemist Quest world and magic system were extremely fun, but Diarca's posting was inconsistent and eventually stopped in 2019. Participating in those threads was a ton of fun (literally the only fun I ever had on 4chan), and I still check back every now and then to see if Diarca has posted again. If you're interested, you can read through all the old TQ threads here. GodSpit was my response to wanting more Totemist Quest. I loved the primary magic system, which involved "capturing" the spirits of monsters and adding them to weapons and armor to create wild effects, kind of like a fusion of Pokemon and Monster Hunter. I also loved the creative action, the diverse character cast, and Diarca's willingness to take things a little slow and explore both character and setting. I had other influences, too. D.M. Cornish's Monster Blood Tattoo books, Garth Nix's Seventh Tower, and the Monster Hunter video games being the biggest. There's bits and pieces of some Final Fantasys, some How To Train Your Dragon, a few Magic: The Gathering planes (mostly Kamigawa), and lightly seasoned with a touch of good old Naruto fanfic. One small note: I intentionally use some amalgams of real-world terms, languages, and religious symbols in this story mostly to translate style and intent. I never wish to cause offence or harm, so if that happens I want to know about it and change it. When I began writing GodSpit in 2019, it was with the idea of releasing it serially on Royal Road. So I researched what people said was succeeding on RR, and found a Reddit post of one author's advice. Their core message: don't take your foot off the gas. Break your story's neck. Go really fucking fast. So I tried to do that, I pantsed 9 chapters, ~12k words, looked back at it, and saw a jumbled mess. And now we're here. I even drafted up a ttrpg system for the setting and got a cover commissioned (the one at the top of this post, by the very cool and talented @lucyg_art on Instagram). I'll cover the current world and story of GodSpit in my next post, and then at some point soon I'll actually start re-plotting the whole fuckin thing out 😵‍💫

[amanitaknowsbest]

Wait, D.M. Cornish! He wrote the Monster Blood Tattoo series, he's great! Does his own illustrations!

Do you have a favorite Australian author? (Other than yourself of course)

To be honest, I don't pay all that much attention to where authors come from, so I have no idea.

[the-fae-folk]

This week’s recommended book is brought to you by Dozmjir and his entire Council of Brethren. “Foundling” by D. M. Cornish is the first book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series. Usually I am loath to read any more fantasy that heavily relies on grimdark elements, I find that this one surprised me with its focus on the nature of people. It hosts a surprisingly unique world that truly feels alive and like a real place you might visit, even if you wouldn’t want to once you’ve read about it. Follow the titular character, a boy by the name of Rossamünd, as he is apprenticed to be a lamplighter in a world plagued by the attacks of terrible monsters. For those of you who delight in otherworldly being such as the Fae, these books may give you a clearer glimpse at how such creatures are viewed and how they might view humans in return.

[inkytomes]

Please Read The Monster Blood Tattoo Series

It’s a trilogy of books by Australian Author D.M. Cornish with some of the most amazing worldbuilding I’ve ever seen, it also goes by the title “A Foundling’s Tale” in some regions.

I won’t spoil too much of the story itself but it’s setting is lovingly crafted and detailed with a lot of vernacular touches and the last hundred pages or so of each book are an “Explicarium” which gives definitions and expanded detail on a lot of the terms in the book. 

The world has humans and monsters, with stunning artwork, and a FASCINATING system of organic chemistry which takes the place of any hard magic system in the setting, with muscles powering the engines of ships, chemical treatment of clothes (called gaulding) in place of most metal armor, specially trained combat chemists, man-made monsters, monster-hunters surgically implanted with ORGANS from monsters to gain specialized powers called lahzars who have to take medicine each day to avoid rejecting their organs and dying and so much more!

There are societies of all-women monster hunters and social reformers called Calendar Claves, a black market trade in the body parts of monsters and people, cults dedicated to ancient undersea monstrosities, friendly monsters, malicious monsters, dutiful soldiers, sinister bureaucrats... I have a deep love of this series, the characters and most of all the WORLD and every day it drives me mad it’s not better known, especially since it lends itself so well to OC’s, Cosplay, and fanfic with so much going on in the books outside of the tiny corner the characters explore.

PLEASE give the book a look, it’s a work of art.

[punctographist]

[mage-child]

Book Review: Foundling by D.M. Cornish

#BookReview Foundling by D.M. Cornish Loved this dark fantasy world of dangerous monsters, mad chemists, and vinegar pirates! #amreading #middlegrade #fantasy

4 out of 5 Stars The Blurb

Set in the world of the Half-Continent—a land of tri-corner hats and flintlock pistols—the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy is a world of predatory monsters, chemical potions and surgically altered people. Foundling begins the journey of Rossamund, a boy with a girl’s name, who is just about to begin a dangerous life in the service of the Emperor. What starts as a simple…

[pleas3pretendimnothere]

Here's what I read in February! Unlike in January, we read a lot of good stuff this month!

Renegades

By Marissa Meyer - I am a sucker for bad YA novels, and this book had all the makings of one. However, much to my surprise, this book was a delight! I'd previously read Cinder by Meyer many years ago, and I remembered a whole lot of nothing about it--it was incredibly dull and forgettable, the epitome of middle-of-the-road YA fiction. Luckily, Renegades is a fantastic departure from that! Superheroes, adventure, likeable characters, and great pacing galore! It felt like I'd fallen from the typical YA romance story I'd expected and into an adventurous, delightful Rick Riordan novel. While the story is predictable and unremarkable, I was too busy having so much fun in this YA Boys world, that I didn't care one bit!

Will be picking up the sequel! Incredibly fun and digestible read, especially if you enjoy superhero stories. However, it's no great feat, so I'd recommend you RENT IT!

To Kill a Mockingbird

By Harper Lee - I am always reading classics, because I typically end up loving them. This read will not be amongst my favorites, but I am glad that I finally got to it. Mockingbird is an incredibly important read, I think, and anyone who hasn't picked it up should.

It's worth noting the book's popularity isn't necessarily related to its quality, but instead to the matter of its initial printing. Mockingbird is one of the first affordable "higher-quality" paperbacks available to the larger public, and its publishing was intended to bring broader audiences into the market of cheap paperbacks. Sales revolutionized the market. Today in America, the majority of children are required to read this book at some point during their education. For good and for bad, that's what made this book worth the read. The history of this story and its influence on American culture is stark and vivid.

Though schools may tout Mockingbird as an important piece discussing America's racist past, I think the book is worth a read in today's modern context for much different reasons. This here is the father of the "white savior" trope, and it's incredibly enlightening to learn about this book's history in the lord's year of 2024. Definitely RENT IT!

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern - So this book has been sitting on my shelf for over ten years. FINALLY I read it, and unfortunately, I will not be keeping it. I LOVE romance, but this one was not for me.

I don't have a lot to say about Circus, except that it just wasn't my cup of tea. The point of view frequently jumps between characters and points of time, making a comprehensive story feel sort of jarring and lacking. The characters themselves also felt incomplete for that reason. The world was fun and whimsical, but the story was small and haphazard. And for me, I dislike romances where I cannot explain why the characters are in love. And truly, I cannot.

If you like more traditional, slow romance stories, this might be worth a RENT IT, but otherwise, SKIP IT! Read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell instead!

Lamplighter

By D.M. Cornish - This is the second installment in a trilogy. The first book was fantastic, and this sequel, though lesser than its predecessor, is more of the same. I call this series "Bloodborne for kids!"

The world Cornish has built is staggering. Each book begins with an expansive map. The novel itself is peppered with charming illustrations by Cornish, and at the hardcover's back is over a hundred pages of reference and glossary. This sequel is more difficult to read than Monster Blood Tattoo: Foundling, as essentially every sentence has some concept or idea that is novel to this world, and the reader is expected to remember it all. The pacing suffers because of that, and Cornish's commitment to realism often comes at the price of brevity. That would be my one and only issue with the work, because the story itself remains horrifying and delightful.

There is mystery everywhere. There is fun and also terror and intrigue. The world is beautiful and horrible, and even though the work is intended for children, I'm often disgusted by Cornish's often gory descriptors. It paints a harsh, unfriendly world, where our young protagonist stands no chance of surviving. And yet, he is just so adorable, you can't stop rooting for him!

If you enjoy dark fantasy (like Bloodborne), this series is a must-have. If you don't, this series is still worth hours of your time, just for the experience of the sheer scale of this fantasy world. Absolutely BUY IT!

Another four books down! Excited for next month, where plan to read the Southern Reach books and, somehow, the behemoth The Way of Kings. Pray for me!

[brucedinsman]

Book review: Lamplighter by D.M Cornish

Book review: Lamplighter by D.M Cornish

Factotum by D.M. Cornish My rating: 5 of 5 stars amazon Rivaling J.R.R. Tolkien and Robert L Jordan, Cornish has created an entire world (well, half continent), including creatures, language, everything. Truly a masterful fantasy storyteller. I enjoyed the entire series but I won’t spoil the big climax. Suffice it to say that Rosamund in an enigma, hard to quantify.

View all my reviews

[coollovebibliophilethings]

Foundling by D.M. Cornish

Why didn't I love this when I first tried to read it!?!? #MonsterBloodTattoo #DMCornish

Title: Foundling Author: D.M. Cornish Series: Monster Blood Tattoo #1 Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again) My Bookshelves: Australian authors, Dark fantasy, Steampunk Dates read: 1st – 9th January 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Novel Publisher: Scholastic Year: 2006 5th sentence, 74th page: Could I see the gastrines, sir?

Meet Rossamnd a foundling, a boy with a girl’s name who…

[thewanderingcotabus]

Idaho, gloomstalker by David (D.M.) Cornish

[slantears]

Persephonë - half-elf ranger by David (D.M) Cornish