#i have yet to read the other two novels from the Twins trilogy but man the first volume was so horrible and hard to sit through

[applejuice-central]

still completely broken by the fact Flint and Hinawa are originally named after old firearm types (Flintlock and Matchlock respectively, latter being called Hinawajuu in japanese) and Lucas and Claus being named after the protagonists of a trilogy of war novels, somehow to me it reads as such a weird and somber foreshadowing of the tragedy to come, to have your own lovely family being named after such horrifying things only to be broken to pieces again and again

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 20

Hi, I’m tired. Actually, my friend Celeste created a piece of art that puts the emphasis needed on that sentiment:

I’m very tired. November felt like it was three years and also felt like it went by in a blink and also I’m not sure where October ended and November began—how does time work like that? (I’ve yet to see Tenet, but maybe that will explain it.) But like Michael Scott, somehow I manage, and lately it’s been like this:

Late-night Etsy scrolling. Browsing beautiful, non-big-box-store artwork is very calming just before I go to bed. I’d recommend Etsy stores like Celeste’s chr paperie shop, which I know from experience is full of great Christmas gift ideas. 

Taking a day off of work to do laundry. I’m not sure if it’s more #adulting that I did that or that I was excited to do that.

Eating Ghiradelli chocolate chips straight from the bag. I actually don’t recommend this as a healthy option, but this is also not a health blog.

Watching lots and lots of ‘80s movies. One day I’ll ask a therapist why this decade of films is so comforting for me despite its many flaws, but for now I’m just rolling with it.

Reading. Have you heard of this? It’s a form of entertainment but doesn’t require screens—wild!

Memes. All good Pippin “Fool of a” Took jokes are welcome here.

Leaning into the Christmas spirit by ordering that Starbucks peppermint mocha, making plans to watch everything in that TCM Christmas book I haven’t seen, and keeping the lights on my hot pink tinsel tree on all day as I work from home.

This month’s Round Up is full of stuff that made me smile and stuff that sucked me into its world—I think they’ll do the same for you, too.

November Crowd-Pleasers

Sister Act (1992)

If in four years you aren’t in an emotional state to watch election results roll in, I recommend watching Whoopi Goldberg pretend to be a nun for 100 minutes. (Though, incidentally, if you want to watch that clip edited to specifically depict how the results came in this year, you’ll need to watch Sister Act 2.) This musical-comedy is about as feel-good as it gets, meaning there’s no reason you should wait four more years to watch it. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

Nevada Memes

Speaking of election results, Nevada memes. That’s it—that’s the tweet. Vulture has a round up of some of the best.

SNL Round Up

Laugh and enjoy!

“Cinema Classics: The Birds” (4605 with John Mulaney)

“Uncle Ben” (4606 with Dave Chappelle)

RoboCop (1987)

I’m not surprised I liked RoboCop, but I am surprised at why I liked RoboCop. Not only is this a boss action blockbuster, it’s an investigation into consumerism and the commodification of the human body. It’s also a critique of institutions that treat crime like statistics instead of actions done by people that impact people. That said, it’s also movie about a guy who’s fused with a robot and melts another guy’s face off with toxic sludge, so there’s a reason I’m not listing this under the Critic section. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Double Feature – ‘80s Comedies: National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) + Major League (1989)

The ‘80s-palooza is in full swing! In Vacation (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10), Chevy Chase just wants to spend time with his family on a vacation to Wally World, but wouldn’t you know it, Murphy’s Law kicks into gear as soon as the Griswold family shifts from out of Park. The brilliance of the movie is that every one of these terrible things is plausible, but the Griswolds create the biggest problems themselves. In Major League (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, and Wesley Snipes are Cleveland’s last hope for a winning baseball team. Like the Griswolds, mishaps and hijinks ensue in their attempt to prevent their greedy owner from moving the Indians to Miami, but the real win is this movie totally gets baseball fans. Like most ‘80s movies, not everything in this pair has aged well, but they brought some laughs when I needed them most.

This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (2020)

They’re born a minute apart in the same hospital, but they don’t meet until their 30th birthday on New Year’s Day. So, yes, it’s a little bit Serendipity, and it’s a little bit sappy, but those are both marks in this book’s favor. This Time Next Year is a time-hopping rom-com with lots of almost-meet-cutes that will have you laughing, believing in romantic twists of fate, and finding hope for the new year.

Double Feature – ‘80s Angsty Teens: Teen Wolf (1985) + Uncle Buck (1989)

In the ‘80s, Hollywood finally understood the angsty teen, and this pair of comedies isn’t interested in the melodrama earlier movies like Rebel Without a Cause were depicting. (I’d recommend Rebel, but not if you want to look back on your teen years with any sense of humor.) In Teen Wolf (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 5/10), Michael J. Fox discovers he’s a werewolf.one that looks more like the kid in Jumanji than any other portrayal of a werewolf you’ve seen. It’s a plot so ‘80s and so bizarre you won’t believe this movie was greenlit.

In Uncle Buck (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), John Candy is attempting to connect with the nieces and nephew he hasn’t seen in years, including one moody high schooler. (Plus, baby Gaby Hoffman and pre-Home Alone Macauley Culkin!) This is my second pick from one of my all-time fave filmmakers, John Hughes (along with National Lampoon’s Vacation, above), and it’s one more entry that balances heart and humor in a way only he could do. You can see where I rank this movie in Hughes’s pantheon on Letterboxd.

Lord of the Rings memes

This month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, Kyla and I revisited The Lord of the Rings, a trilogy we love almost as much as we love Gilmore Girls. You can listen to our episode about the series on your fave podcast app, and you can laugh through hundreds of memes like I did for “research” on Twitter.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019)

Most adults are afraid of children’s temper tantrums, but can you imagine how terrified you’d be if they caught on fire in their fits of rage? That’s the premise of this novel, which begins when an aimless twentysomething becomes the nanny of a Tennessee politician’s twins who burst into flames when they get emotional. The book is filled with laugh-out-loud moments but never leaves behind the human emotion you need to make a magical realistic story.

An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982)

Speaking of aimless twentysomethings and emotion, feel free to laugh, cry, and swoon through this melodrama in the ‘80s canon. Richard Gere meanders his way into the Navy when he has nowhere else to go, and he tries to survive basic training, work through his family issues, and figure out his future as he also falls in love with Debra Winger. So, yeah, it’s a schamltzier version of Top Gun, but it’s schmaltz at its finest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

November Critic Picks

Double Feature – ‘40s Amensia Romances: Random Harvest (1942) + The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

Speaking of schmaltz at its finest, let me share a few more titles fitting that description. In Random Harvest (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Greer Garson falls in love with a veteran who can’t remember his life before he left for war. In The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Gene Tierney discovers a ghost played by a crotchety Rex Harrison in her new home. Mild spoiler: Both feature amnesiac plot developments, and while amnesia has become a cliché in the long history of romance films, Harvest is moving enough and Mr. Muir is charming enough that you won’t roll your eyes. You can see these and more romances complicated by forced forgetfulness in this Letterboxd round up.

The African Queen (1951)

It’s Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn directed by John Huston—I mean, I don’t feel like I need to explain why this is a winner. Bogart (in his Oscar-winning role) and Hepburn star in a two-hander script, dominating the screen time except for a select few scenes with supporting cast. The pair fight for survival while cruising on a small boat called The African Queen during World War I (in Africa, natch), and the two make this small story feel grand and epic. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A young man’s (Dennis Price) mother is disowned from their wealthy family because she marries for love. After her death, he seeks vengeance by killing all of the family members ahead of him in line to be the Duke D'Ascoyne. The twist? All of his victims are played by Sir Alec Guinness! Almost every character in this black comedy is a terrible person, so you won’t be too sorry to see them go—you can just enjoy the creative “accidents” he stages and stay in suspense on whether our “hero” gets his comeuppance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1937)

What would you do if you found out you were to be someone’s eighth wife? Well, it’s probably not what Claudette Colbert does in this screwball comedy that reminds me a bit of Love Crazy. This isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Colbert, Gary Cooper, or Ernst Lubitsch films, so it’s no surprise these stars and this director can make magic together in this hilarious battle of the wills. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The Red Shoes (1948)

I love stories about the competition between your life and your art, and The Red Shoes makes that competition literal. Moira Shearer plays a ballerina who feels life is meaningless without dancing—then she falls in love. That’s an oversimplification of a rich character study and some of the most beautiful ballet on film, but I can’t do it justice in a short paragraph. Just watch (perhaps while you’re putting up your hot pink tinsel tree?) and soak in all the goodness. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 10/10

The Third Man (1949)

Everybody loves to talk about Citizen Kane, and with the release of Mank on Netflix, it’s newsworthy again. But don’t miss this other ‘40s team up of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles. Cotten is a writer digging for the truth of his friend’s (Welles) death in a mysterious car accident. Eyewitness accounts differ on what happened, and who was the third man at the scene only one witness remembers? 71 years later, this movie is still tense, and this actor pairing is still electric. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

The Untouchables (1987)

At the end of October, we lost Sean Connery. I looked back on his career first by writing a remembrance for ZekeFilm and then by watching The Untouchables. (In a perfect world I would’ve reversed that order, but c’est la vie.) In my last selection from the ‘80s, Connery and Kevin Costner attempt to convict Robert De Niro’s Al Capone of anything that will stick and end his reign of crime in Chicago. Directed by Brian De Palma and set to an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, this film is both an exciting action flick and an artistic achievement that we literally discussed in one of my college film classes. Connery won his Oscar, and K. Cos is giving one of the best of his career, too. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

Remember the Night (1940)

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in my favorite team up yet! Double Indemnity may be the bona fide classic in the canon, but this Christmas story—with MacMurray as a district attorney prosecuting shoplifter Stanwyck— is a charmer. I’ve added it to my list of must-watch Christmas movies—watch for some holiday cheer and rom-com feels. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

Photo credits: chr paperie. Books my own. All others IMDb.com.

[aion-rsa]

The He-Man Movie You Never Saw Would Have Been Like a Buddy Comedy

https://ift.tt/36Saz15

While Masters of the Universe: Revelation reignites Mattel’s toy-spawning fantasy franchise, the Kevin Smith-conceived Netflix animated series arrives in the recent wake of an ill-fated film project. Indeed, Sony/Columbia settled on up-and-coming directors Aaron Nee and Adam Nee to conjure new live-action exploits of He-Man in the land of Eternia, which progressed to pre-production and cast Noah Centineo in the starring role before the pandemic put an end to the endeavor. Interestingly, David S. Goyer, who wrote an early draft of the Masters of the Universe screenplay, reveals what would have been a rather unique dynamic at its center.

Contrasting with the potentially-controversial protagonist direction hinted in early reviews for Revelation, the driving concept for the long-planned Masters of the Universe live-action movie was to focus on the friendship between He-Man and his loyal giant green, orange-striped tiger steed, Battle Cat, as Goyer reveals to THR. Of course, most of the franchise’s various iterations present the narrative notion that Eternia’s sleepy slacker royal prince, Adam, secretly transforms into “the most powerful man in the universe” when he imbues himself with mystical energy from the Sword of Power, after which he directs said energy toward his cowardly talking pet tiger, Cringer, transforming him into the hero’s ferocious loyal steed, Battle Cat. However, Goyer reveals that—during his tenure with the script—the film would have broken precedence by putting a comically dysfunctional twist on the traditional hero/steed relationship.

“I legitimately liked the script that we did,” says Goyer. “We were going to do it as a feature at Sony. What I liked the most about it was that it was mostly about a friendship between He-Man and Battle Cat. The idea was there had always been He-Men and different recipients of the Sword of Power and that Battle Cat had always served at their side. And this was a new He-Man that Battle Cat and many people didn’t think was worthy of the sword.”

Contextually, while mainstream representations like 1983-1985 animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and the 1987 Dolph Lundgren-starring Masters of the Universe movie mostly stuck to superficial backstories, the franchise’s deeper mythos—once canonically-inconsistent across the decades in its multimedia forms—has started to uniformly embrace the idea that Adam himself is merely the latest recipient of the mystical Sword of Power, which several generations earlier, was wielded by his ancestor and ancient castle namesake, King Grayskull, after which the sword—and the sublime power it yields—was passed down to various other “He-Men.” Indeed, even Revelation’s trailer showcases King Grayskull, implying continued adherence to the hand-me-down dynamic, and the possibility for time-travel-facilitated team-ups with previous versions of Eternia’s hero. Likewise, the concept was integral to Goyer’s screenplay, since Adam’s newfound role as He-Man would have come attached with an intimidating, seemingly-unattainable legacy, of which this wryer, more-critical version of Battle Cat seems acutely aware. Thus, Adam’s arc as an upstart hero would have hinged on earning the ornery Battle Cat’s stamp of approval, yielding buddy comedy style interactions.

Read more

TV

Masters of the Universe: Revelation – Kevin Smith Brings Ultimate He-Man Story to Netflix

By Mike Cecchini

Movies

Gunpowder Milkshake Review: Style Trumps Story in Netflix’s Neon Noir

By Kayti Burt

“So, it was a story of the character earning the sword, but, more importantly, earning the friendship of Battle Cat, who just thought this guy [Prince Adam] was a lightweight,” explains Goyer. “I really liked it. I thought it was a fun story. There was a lot of humor in it and it creeps up on you because Battle Cat sort of grudgingly accepts him, and it’s Battle Cat’s acceptance of He-Man that gave this version of the story heart.” Goyer’s comments seem to shed light on the reasoning behind the eventual casting of Noah Centineo (pictured just below), who—hardly the WWE-level jacked giant one would envision for the role—seemed set to convey Adam’s getting-by-on-good-looks slacker personality, having come from the realm of teen comedies, notably from his role as Peter in 2018 Netflix rom-com To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and its two sequels. Thus, it not only would have been interesting to see how a fully-transformed He-Man himself would have manifested in this live-action attempt, but how Battle Cat could have served as his shade-throwing foil.

Alex Israel

Unfortunately, fate would not favor this particular Masters of the Universe live-action reboot project, which saw several attempts—notably the Lord of the Rings/Game of Thrones-influenced version under director Jeff Wadlow. Those years saw several hints about the movie in the form of early versions of its logo and various social media-teased concept art designs, which revealed a motif that—perhaps in response to Marvel’s 2014 success with Guardians of the Galaxy—leaned into the space-esque sci-fi technology side of the franchise’s traditional amalgam with savagery and sorcery. Moreover, back in 2015, one of the project’s more enthusiastic early proponents, producer DeVon Franklin, tweeted a concept image of what the Battle Cat in question might have looked like—albeit as a CGI creation��in this particular live-action milieu. Yet, despite years of hype and even a projected, never-realized March 2021 release date, the project came to an ignominiously anti-climactic coda, notably affirmed this past April after Centineo reportedly exited the role from the COVID-stopped production.

@danmillerNY @TheOneHansen @Guardians I totally agree!!! pic.twitter.com/6g6W18D9J7

— DeVon Franklin (@DeVonFranklin) March 3, 2015

Regardless, Goyer, having made a monumental mark on the industry with The Dark Knight Trilogy amongst other heavy hitters, isn’t thinking about He-Man and Battle Cat these days, since his hands are currently tied with two lofty tasks as the credited creator of Netflix’s developing television adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman and, more imminently, the Apple TV+ television adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s sprawling novel franchise, Foundation. However, Masters of the Universe, while still generally associated with ‘80s pop culture, has managed to exist in the periphery across the ensuing decades. Oddly enough, we’re living in a time in which the franchise permeates (not even counting Netflix’s recent animated series centered on He-Man’s estranged twin sister, She-Ra,) with two major animated series (one of which is a developing CGI series,) and several current toy lines, two of which are sold at retail stores worldwide. Thusly, Revelation could prove to be the iteration that truly brings it back to the forefront, perhaps leading to another live-action attempt—maybe by Goyer again.

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In the meantime, Masters of the Universe: Revelation will release the first part of its inaugural season on Netflix on Friday, July 23.

The post The He-Man Movie You Never Saw Would Have Been Like a Buddy Comedy appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[dillydedalus]

january reading

why does january always feel like it’s 3 months long. anyway here’s what i read in january, feat. poison experts with ocd, ants in your brain, old bolsheviks getting purged, and mountweazels. 

city of lies, sam hawke (poison wars #1) this is a perfectly nice fantasy novel about jovan, who serves as essentially a secret guard against poisoning for his city state’s heir and is forced to step up when his uncle (also a secret poison guard) and the ruler are both killed by an unknown poison AND also the city is suddenly under a very creepy siege (are these events related? who knows!) this is all very fine & entertaining & there are some fun ideas, but also... the main character has ocd and SAME HAT SAME HAT. also like the idea of having a very important, secret and potentially fatal job that requires you to painstakingly test everything the ruler/heir is consuming WHILE HAVING OCD is like... such a deliciously sadistic concept. amazing. 3/5

my heart hemmed in, marie ndiaye (translated from french by jordan stump) a strange horror-ish tale in which two married teachers, bastions of upper-middle-class respectability and taste, suddenly find themselves utterly despised by everyone around them, escalating until the husband is seriously injured. through several very unexpected twists, it becomes clear that the couple’s own contempt for anyone not fitting into their world and especially nadia’s hostility and shame about her (implied to be northern african) ancestry is the reason for their pariah status. disturbing, surprising, FUCKED UP IF TRUE (looking back, i no longer really know what i mean by that). 4/5

xenogenesis trilogy (dawn/adulthood rites/imago), octavia e. butler octavia butler is incapable of writing anything uninteresting and while i don’t always completely vibe with her stuff, it’s always fascinating & thought-provoking. this series combines some of her favourite topics (genetic manipulation, alien/human reproduction, what is humanity) into a tale of an alien species, the oankali, saving some human survivors from the apocalypse and beginning a gene-trading project with them, integrating them into their reproductive system and creating mixed/’construct’ generations with traits from both species. and like, to me, this was uncomfortably into the biology = destiny thing & didn’t really question the oankali assertion that humans were genetically doomed to hierarchical behaviour & aggression (& also weirdly straight for a book about an alien species with 3 genders that engages in 5-partner-reproduction with humans), so that angle fell flat for me for the most part, altho i suppose i do agree that embracing change, even change that comes at a cost, is better than clinging to an unsustainable (& potentially destructive) purity. where i think the series is most interesting is in its exploration of consent and in how far consent is possible in extremely one-sided power dynamics (curiously, while the oankali condemn and seem to lack the human drive for hierarchy, they find it very easy to abuse their position of power & violate boundaries & never question the morality of this. in this, the first book, focusing on a human survivor first encountering the oankali and learning of their project, is the most interesting, as lilith as a human most explicitly struggles with her position - would her consent be meaningful? can she even consent when there is a kind of biochemical dependence between humans and their alien mates? the other two books, told from the perspectives of lilith’s constructed/mixed children, continue discussing themes of consent, autonomy and power dynamics, but i found them less interesting the further they moved from human perspectives. on the whole: 2.5/5

love & other thought experiments, sophie ward man, we love a pierre menard reference. anyway. this is a novel in stories, each based (loosely) on a thought experiment, about (loosely) a lesbian couple and their son arthur, illness and grief, parenthood, love, consciousness and perception, alternative universes, and having an ant in your brain. it is thoroughly delightful & clever, but goes for warmth and humanity (or ant-ity) over intellectual games (surprising given that it is all about thought experiments - but while they are a nice structuring device i don’t think they add all that much). i haven’t entirely worked out my feelings about the ending and it’s hard to discuss anyway given the twists and turns this takes, but it's a whole lot of fun. 4/5

a general theory of oblivion, josé eduardo agualusa (tr. from portuguese by daniel hahn) interesting little novel(la) set in angola during and after the struggle for independence, in which a portuguese woman, ludo, with extreme agoraphobia walls herself into her apartment to avoid the violence and chaos (but also just... bc she has agoraphobia) with a involving a bunch of much more active characters and how they are connected to her to various degrees. i didn’t like the sideplot quite as much as ludo’s isolation in her walled-in flat with her dog, catching pigeons on the balcony and writing on the walls. 3/5

cassandra at the wedding, dorothy baker phd student cassandra returns home attend (sabotage) her twin sister judith’s wedding to a young doctor whose name she refuses to remember, believing that her sister secretly wants out. cass is a mess, and as a shift to judith’s perspective reveals, definitely wrong about what judith wants and maybe a little delusional, but also a ridiculously compelling narrator, the brilliant but troubled contrast to judith’s safer conventionality. on the whole, cassandra’s narrative voice is the strongest feature of a book i otherwise found a bit slow & a bit heavy on the quirky family. fav line is when cass, post-character-development, plans to “take a quick look at [her] dumb thesis and see if it might lead to something less smooth and more revolting, or at least satisfying more than the requirements of the University”. 3/5

the office of historical corrections, danielle evans a very solid collection of realist short stories (+ the titular novella), mainly dealing with racism, (black) womanhood, relationships between women, and anticolonial/antiracist historiography. while i thought all the stories were well-done and none stood out as weak or an unnecessary inclusion, there also weren’t any that really stood out to me. 3/5

sonnenfinsternis, arthur koestler (english title: darkness at noon) (audio) you know what’s cool about this book? when i added it to my goodreads tbr in 2012, i would have had to read it in translation as the german original was lost during koestler’s escape from the nazis, but since then, the original has been rediscovered and republished. yet another proof that leaving books on your tbr for ages is a good thing actually. anyway. this is a story about the stalinist purges, told thru old bolshevik rubashov, who, after serving the Party loyally for years & doing his fair share of selling people out for the Party, is arrested for ~oppositional activities. in jail and during his interrogations, rubashov reflects on the course the Party has taken and his own part (and guilt) in that, and the way totalitarianism has eaten up and poisoned even the most commendable ideals the Party once held (and still holds?), the course of history and at what point the end no longer justifies the means. it’s brilliant, rubashov is brilliant and despicable, i’m very happy it was rediscovered. 5/5

heads of the colored people, nafissa thompson-spires another really solid short story collection, also focused on the experiences of black people in america (particularly the black upper-middle class), black womanhood and black relationships, altho with a somewhat more satirical tone than danielle evans’s collection. standouts for me were the story in letters between the mothers of the only black girls at a private school, a story about a family of fruitarians, and a story about a girl who fetishises her disabled boyfriend(s). 3.5/5

pedro páramo, juan rulfo (gernan transl. by dagmar ploetz) mexican classic about a rich and abusive landowner (the titular pedro paramo) and the ghost town he leaves behind - quite literally, as, when his son tries to find his father, the town is full of people, quite ready to talk shit about pedro, but they are all dead. it’s an interesting setting with occasionally vivid writing, but the skips in time and character were kind of confusing and i lost my place a lot. i’d be interested in reading rulfo’s other major work, el llano en llamas. 2.5/5

verse für zeitgenossen, mascha kaléko short collection of the poems kaléko, a jewish german poet, wrote while in exile in the united states in the 30-40s, as well as some poems written after the end of ww2. kaléko’s voice is witty, but at turns also melancholy or satirical. as expected i preferred the pieces that directly addressed the experience of exile (”sozusagen ein mailied” is one of my favourite exillyrik pieces). 3/5

the harpy, megan hunter yeah this was boooooooring. the cover is really cool & the premise sounded intriguing (women gets cheated on, makes deal with husband that she is allowed to hurt him three times in revenge, women is also obsessed with harpies: female revenge & female monsters is my jam) but it’s literally so dull & trying so hard to be deep. 1.5/5

the liar’s dictionary, eley williams this is such a delightful book, from the design (those marbled endpapers? yes) to the preface (all about what a dictionary is/could be), to the chapter headings (A-Z words, mostly relating to lies, dishonesty, etc in some way or another, containing at least one fictitious entry), to the dual plots (intern at new edition of a dictionary in contemporary england checking the incomplete old dictionary for mountweazels vs 1899 london with the guy putting the mountweazels in), to williams’s clear joy about words and playing with them. there were so many lines that made me think about how to translate them, which is always a fun exercise. 3.5/5

catherine the great & the small, olja knežević (tr. from montenegrin by ellen elias-bursać, paula gordon) coming-of-age-ish novel about katarina from montenegro, who grows up in  titograd/podgorica and belgrad in the 70s/80s, eventually moving to london as an adult. to be honest while there are some interesting aspects in how this portrays yugoslavia and conflicts between the different parts of yugoslavia, i mostly found this a pretty sloggy slog of misery without much to emotionally connect to, which is sad bc i was p excited for it :(. 2/5

the decameron project: 29 new stories from the pandemic, anthology a collection of short stories written during covid lockdown (and mostly about covid/lockdown in some way). they got a bunch of cool authors, including margaret atwood, edwidge danticat, rachel kushner ... it’s an interesting project and the stories are mostly pretty good, but there wasn’t one that really stood out to me as amazing. i also kinda wish more of the stories had diverged more from covid/lockdown thematically bc it got a lil repetitive tbh. 2/5

[claudia1829things]

"THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" (1977) Review

"THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" (1977) Review I have seen my share of movie and television productions that are based on novels and plays by Alexandre Dumas père and his son Alexandre Dumas fils And for some reason, I never get tired of watching them - over and over again. And one of them is the 1977 television movie, "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK".

Directed by Mike Newell and adapted by William Bast, "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" is loosely based on Alexandre Dumas père's 1847-50 novel, "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later". The novel was the third and last of the author's "The d'Artagnan Romances" literary trilogy, following "The Three Musketeers" and "Twenty Years After". The movie begins with Philippe Bourbon being snatched by a group of mysterious men from his small French estate and imprisoned at the Bastille. It turns out that the men behind this kidnapping is King Louis XIV's finance minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and the head of the Musketeers, D'Artagnan. Aware that Philippe is the twin brother of the king (and the rightful monarch of France), the pair plan to conduct a bloodless coup to eventually switch Philippe with the corrupt and malicious Louis. However, their plans are stymied when the Chevalier Duval, an aide of the also corrupt Superintendent of Finances Nicolas Fouquet, stumbles across Philippe. Fouquet, via instructions from Louis, orders Duval to take Philippe from the Bastille and install him in another prison on the coast. Fortunately for Colbert and D'Artagnan, they learn of Philippe's fate from Louis' reluctant and disenchanted mistress Louise de La Vallière and plot to rescue the royal twin and continue with their plot to replace him with Louis. When I saw "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" for the first time, I thought it was perfect. Flawless. And it became one of my favorite Alexandre Dumas adaptations and television movies for years. After my recent viewing of the television movie, I now realize that it is not perfect. I feel that screenwriter William Bast had changed one aspect of Dumas' novel, "The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later", that had an impact on the 1977 movie's narrative. The novel had portrayed Louis as the older twin and rightful king of France. For some reason, Bast had made Philippe the oldest twin. Why? I have no idea. To justify Philippe's theft of the French throne? Unfortunately, this narrative change left me wondering why Philippe, as the "older twin" was not allowed to be his father's heir and later, successor. In one scene, Colbert explained that former French minister and lover of the twins' mother Queen Anne, Cardinal Mazarin, had Philippe taken away following the latter's birth, in order to manipulate then King Louis XIII. This explanation struck me as lame and confusing. And Bast should have never changed this aspect of Dumas' plot. Many moviegoers have become increasingly critical of any production that have not closely adhere to its literary source over the years. I have no idea how many of them felt about this 1977 television movie. But I have a pretty good idea how I feel about it. Although I found the major change mentioned in the above paragraph troubling, I had no problems with many of other Bast's changes. I have read Dumas' novel. It was interesting . . . to say the least. I have no problems reading or watching a story with a downbeat ending if it suits the narrative or if I am in the mood to embrace it. I have never been in the mood to embrace Dumas' 1847-50 novel. Which would probably explain why I enjoyed the changes in this adaptation a lot. But wait . . . extreme changes had been made in other adaptations of "The Vicomte de Bragelonne". What was it about this particular adaptation that I enjoyed? I found it better written than the other adaptations. For me, "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" was a tight and well-written story that did not drag or rush the movie's narrative. Which is more than I can say for Dumas' story. Most Dumas' adaptations tend to be part-dramas/part-swashbucklers. "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" - at least this version - seemed to be eighty-five percent drama and fifteen percent action. In fact, the only real action sequence in this production turned out to be D'Artagnan's rescue of Philippe from the coastal prison. And if I must be honest, I thought Mike Newell's direction, Freddie Young's cinematography and Bill Blunden's editing made that sequence a tense, yet exciting affair. However, the meat of "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" centered around its dramatic scenes. Thanks to Newell's direction, Bast's screenplay and a talented cast, the television movie featured some very memorable scenes. Among my favorites are Philippe's discovery that he is the King of France's twin brother, Louis' malicious reaction to his failure to impress Louise de La Vallière, a tense conversation between Philippe and Queen Marie-Therese, and the last verbal duel between Colbert and Fouquet. If I had to select my absolute favorite scene, it had to be the one that featured Louis' "Sun King" ballet, Louise's failure to be impressed and Louis' malicious act of using the Queen as a scapegoat for his embarrassment. As I had earlier stated, the dramatic scenes in "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" would have never been fully satisfying to me without its top notch cast. Yes, there were solid performances from the likes of Denis Lawson, Hugh Fraser and Brenda Bruce. But I found myself impressed by other members of the cast. They include Vivien Merchant, who did an excellent job in conveying Queen Marie-Therese's mixed emotions toward her emotionally abusive spouse - whether it was desire, resentment or a combination of both. Ian Holm was excellent as Minister Fouchet's aide, the Chevalier Duval, who seemed to be brimming with cunning intelligence and stealth. I would never associate Louis Jordan portraying a swashbuckling figure. But I must admit that he made an excellent man-of-action in his portrayal of the experienced, competent and quick-thinking D'Artagnan. Jenny Agutter gave a sublime and passionate performance as Louise de La Vallière, Louis' reluctant mistress who ended up falling in love with the latter's twin. Ralph Richardson's portrayal of France's finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert struck me as one of the more entertaining performances in the production. I found Richardson's Colbert cunning, intelligent, patient and more importantly - at least to me - witty. I have seen Patrick McGoohan in several heroic and villainous roles. But I must admit that his Nicolas Fouquet struck me as one of the most subtlety portrayed villains I have ever seen on screen. McGoohan's Fouquet could put Sheev Palpatine from the STAR WARS saga when it comes to subtle villainy. And I like subtle villains. I find them more dangerous. If I had to give an award for the best performance in "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK", I would give it to its leading man, Richard Chamberlain. Mind you, Chamberlain had to portray two characters - the decent, yet slightly hot-headed Philippe Bourbon; and the vain and egotistic King Louis XIV. Mind you, I thought Chamberlain did an excellent job of conveying Philippe's sense of confusion, anger and passion. But the actor's portrayal of Louis literally knocked my socks off. Chamberlain's performance was not over-the-top. He did a subtle job of conveying Louis' villainy. And yet, he managed to inject a great deal of - how can I put it - joie de vivre quality in his performance that I found truly entertaining. There was no doubt that Chamberlain's Louis was a villain. But his Louis proved to be one of the most entertaining villains I have seen on screen. I realize that I have yet to discuss the television movie's production values. We are talking about the 1970s. Although I can recall a good number of television miniseries with first-rate production values, I cannot say the same about several period television productions from both sides of the Atlantic. And "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" is a television movie with a 100 minutes running time. However, I thought its production values were first-rate. Despite being a made-for-TV movie, "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" was shot on several locations in both France and Great Britain. Thankfully, Freddie Young's photography did an excellent job in enhancing those locations. John Stoll took advantage of those locations and skillfully re-created France and Louis XIV's court of the late 1660s or early 1670s. I am not an expert of 17th century fashion - in France or anywhere else. I have no idea whether Olga Lehmann's costume designs or Betty Glasow's hairstyle are historically accurate. But I cannot deny that I found the hairstyles satisfying and Lehman's costumes beautiful, as shown below:

In the end, I am happy to state that "THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK" remains one of my all time favorite adaptations of an Alexandre Dumas père novel. Despite my quibble of one of William Bast's changes in Dumas' story, I feel more than satisfied with his other changes and thought he had presented a first-rate story. And my satisfaction also extends to Mike Newell's top-notch direction and the excellent performances from a cast led by the always superb Richard Chamberlain.

[sigmaleph]

Book recs masterpost

y’all really came through here, thanks! Here’s a collected version, I will continue to update it if recs keep coming. Format will be a little inconsistent but I will try to keep books by the same author together and give the summary if it exists and who provided the rec.

Under a cut cause it gets long:

Gene Wolfe:

The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Three interconnected novellas about life on an authoritarian twin planet system where humans have apparently wiped out the natives. Superbly well written and thoughtful imo

rec by @femmenietzsche

Book of the New Sun 

rec by @napoleonchingon

Octavia Butler:

Dawn, rec by @empresszo, @typicalacademic

Parable of the Sower, rec by @st-just

Kindred, rec by @squareallworthy

Angelica Gorodischer:

Kalpa Imperial

epic fantasy in the style of conan the barbarian, we see the stories of an old empire in some nondescript country, a nondescript amount of millenia ago. small vignettes of different time periods within the country. very light in fantasy, basically an entire book of nothing but lore for a D&D campaign

Trafalgar

comedy sci fi. the life stories of a sales man, a guy who goes door to door selling whatever he can, except IN SPACE. all the stories are framed as him in his little bar in rosario with his friends or drinking mate, telling his latests adventures through space.

La saga de los confines by  Liliana Bodoc

lord of the rings except instead of taking inspiration from nordic folk tales is based on the american conquest. see fantasy races and cultures based on the native american population from south america. lots of poetry, lots of cool classic fantasy with a fresh new flavor

(Already read)

la batalla del calentamiento by marcelo figueras

the fantasy here is very understated to the point of it being magical realism but still my top three favourite book of all time. it starts with a man who suffers gigantism receiving a message from heaven delivered by a wolf speaking in latin. the most colorful and endearing little town with the most wacky of habitants open their arms to the guy who is desperatly in search of redemption

homestuck (by Andrew Hussie)

there is really nothing i can say about this that you havent already heard, so im not even going to bother. just give the first arc (which is about a hundred pages long) a change and see where it goes from there

All of the above suggestions by @fipindustries

Ada Palmer. Terra Ignota series (starts with Too Like the Lightning) (seconded by @youzicha)

(read the first one, have the second one but haven’t read it yet)

Jo Walton, Thessaly series (starts with The Just City)

Yoon Ha Lee, Machinaries of Empire series (starts with Ninefox Gambit) (seconded by @terminallyuninspired)

Ann Leckie:

Imperial Radch series (Starts with Ancillary Justice) (seconded by @youzicha and @squareallworthy)

Raven Tower

N. K. Jemisin:

Broken Earth trilogy (starts with The Fifth Season) (seconded by @typicalacademic)

Dreamblood duology (starts with The Killing Moon)

Seth Dickinson, Masquerade series (starts with The Traitor Baru Cormorant)

(Good rec, already read the first one)

Jeff Vandermeer, Southern Reach series (starts with Annihilation)

Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth

Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire

M. R. Carey, The Girl With All The Gifts

All of the above by @st-just

Le guin:

The Dispossessed, rec by @st-just, @youzicha

The Left Hand of Darkness, rec by @youzicha and @typicalacademic

both also seconded by @squareallworthy

(I love Le Guin, read both of these)

Zelazny: Lord of Light, rec by @st-just

Charles Stross:

Missile Gap.

A Colder War.

Peter Watts, Blindsight

Bruce Sterling, Heavy Weather. (I assume. There are multiple books named such)

All of the above by @youzicha

Fonda Lee, Jade City

Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon

Shining Path, more thorough rec here.

all by @typicalacademic

Lois McMaster Bujold:

the Vorkosigan Saga

(rec by @omnidistance, seconded by @squareallworthy. Already read all of them, excellent choice)

The Curse of Chalion, rec by @theorem-sorry

Greg Egan:

Permutation City

Orthogonal

above two and “anything else” by him, rec by @saelf

Diaspora, rec by @squareallworthy

The Clockwork Rocket

Physicist discovers relativity in a Riemannian (as opposed to Minkovskian) universe. Also the world is ending.

rec by @jackhkeynes

Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

Dick, The Man in the High Castle

Gaiman, American Gods

Gibson, Count Zero

Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Liu, The Three Body Problem

Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Niven and Pournelle, Footfall

North, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Powers, The Anubis Gates

Wilson, Spin.

All of the above by @squareallworthy

Pratchett, Discworld books (going postal, thud!, unseen academicals, or the wee free men recommended by @acertainaccountofevents, Wyrd Sisters rec’d by @squareallworthy)

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon & D.O.D.O.

Ted Chiang, Story of Your Life and anything else by him

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (also suggesting this review)

 C.J. Cherryh – The Faded Sun Trilogy.

Honestly not sure there’s anything groundbreaking or unique about it but a solid scifi tale with aliens and politics and it really fleshed out and made me empathize with all the opposing and strikingly different factions.

Taiyao Fujii – Orbital Cloud

A space-related technothriller, quite fun! If you liked the first 2/3rds of Seveneves you’ll probably like this.

Gwynneth Jones – Life.

Story of a woman trying to be the best biologist she can despite a lot of setbacks, bascially. Barely counts as science fiction, really, but I just really like Anna and Spence as characters and their relationship. This a very feminist book, at times quite preachy–but personally it came across as characters being preachy not the author, and therefore much less annoying, but ymmv.

Katherine Addison – The Goblin Emperor.

Fantasy high politics but nice? Like also pretty level headed but not grimdark like fantasy high politics usually is. Also love the worldbuilding, the linguistics, and my precious cinnamon role Maia who deserves good things.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

the most tumblr print book I have ever read. TBH the cover blurb is better than the book but it’s a quick read and enjoyable.

Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl.

Ian MacDonald – The Dervish House.

The twenty-minutes-into-the-future setting has aged weirdly since it was written back when Turkey was trying to join the EU, but I reread it recently and the plot and characters are still compelling.

All of the above by @businesstiramisu

"James S. A. Corey", The Expanse series (rec by @justjohn-jj)

Mariam Petrosyan’s The Grey House

kids and minders in a boarding school for the disabled, their relationships and their setting. Mostly a coming-of-age thing but with a lot of weirdness and some fantastic elements. Extremely readable

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky:

Hard to be a God

Inhabited Island

Roadside Picnic

Stanisław Lem:

Fiasco

Cyberiad

Karim Berrouka’s Fées, Weed & Guillotines

what it says on the tin. Pretty fun. I would suspect his other fantasy mystery novel comedies are good too.

The Invisible Planets anthology

extremely hit or miss, but definitely has its hits.

Bernard Weber’s Les Fourmis

All of the above by @napoleonchingon

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

Sarcastic cyborg tries to avoid humans and watch entertainment media all day and perpetually ends up saving some. With all the snark.

rec by @rhetoricandlogic

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North

Guy is born in 1910s, dies at 80 or so… and is born again in the 1910s, and so on. Also the world is ending.

The End and Afterwards, Andy Cooke

A probe to Alpha Centauri, an idealist Nigerian biotechnician, a humdrum English family – and then the world ends.

Against Peace and Freedom, Mark Rosenfelder

50th century interstellar humanity is mostly doing okay. But socionomics doesn’t cover crises, such as the dictatorship that’s taken over Okura, or the unscrupulous tycoon who’s plotting something over on New Bharat. For that we have Diplomatic Agents. Like you.

all of the above by @jackhkeynes

Meta-recommendations:

worldswithoutend.com, their list of lists, and in particular, defining science fiction books of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

@squareallworthy

Jo Walton’s Revisiting the Hugos series. (by @businesstiramisu)

[supersaiyadaddy]

Dystopia Reading Recommendations by my friend Victoria H:

 

All Good Children by Catherine Austin

The American government has developed a treatment to cure teenage delinquency which is bad news for 17 year old Maxwell, graffiti artist and angry, young man. This novel is a chilling look into the future of social control using pharmaceuticals.

Angel Fall by Susan Ee

One of the few books on this list I haven’t read, but book sellers and readers alike love this series. I’m looking forward to reading how 17 year old Penryn Young survives when warrior angels attack San Francisco, beginning the apocalypse. 

Children of Eden by Joey Grace

Rowan is her parent’s second child, which in a world of strict population control, makes her not just illegal but marked for death. Another novel recommended by my bookseller best friend which has received rave reviews.

Gone series by Michael Grant

I’m honestly not a huge fan of this series, but mine is definitely a minority opinion.  One day, all the adults are simply gone with no explanation, leaving teens suddenly in charge of a world of children. A scary scenario which becomes more perilous as animals and the remaining humans begin to change, developing dangerous supernatural abilities. 

Sixteen by Julia Karr

One of the lesser known books on this list, but one of my favourites as unlike so many other dystopias the setting isn’t also the plot. Nina is nervous about her fast approaching sixteenth birthday when she’ll receive a government mandated tattoo indicating she is now sexually available. After her mother is attacked, Nina discovers that everything she’s been told her about post-sixteen life is a horrible lie.

Legend series by Marie Lu

In the dystopian Republic, June is a fifteen year old military prodigy determined to capture her country’s most wanted criminal, fifteen year old Day, a survivor of the slums. Both think they know everything about their world, but both the hunter and the hunted will be profoundly changed when they learn the truth. The whole series is a must read. 

The Hive by Barry Lyga and Morgan Baden

To rein in online bullying, the government now controls who is targeted for mob justice, and what level of punishment is deserved. Teenaged Cassie has had every reason to believe in the fairness of this system, until one online joke makes her a target of a violent punishment far in excess of her crime. Fully believable and scary; I couldn’t put the book down until I reached the end.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

A fascinating novel of what happens when fertility is limited to the teenage years, and the competition is fierce for the privilege of impregnating the smartest, healthiest and best looking girls. Melody, who scores high on all three categories, believes she’s the luckiest girl in the world until she discovers she has an identical twin sister, Harmony, who is determined to save her from a sinful future.

The Knife of Never Letting Go series by Patrick Ness 

On an alien world, a small community of human men have the ability to hear each other’s thoughts. But when soon to be 13 year old Todd discovers that the Noise of everyone’s thoughts isn’t as omnipresent as he’s been told, he’s forced to flee for his life. For there are many dark, violent secrets on this world where keeping secrets should be impossible. 

Burn Mark by Laura Powell (sequel Witch Fire)

In an England where the Inquisition never ended and witches are still burned, developing the ability to do magic during your adolescence is a curse almost no one wants. Glory is determined to embrace her gifts despite them trapping her in a life of crime. By contrast, Lucas, son of a Chief Inquisitor, feels cursed by his developing powers which are threatening everything he ever wanted. These novels contain one of the more realistic depictions of the practice of magic, and of the oppressive history of British social classes.

Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

A very well known series, but unfortunately much maligned due to the declining quality of the movie sequels. However, the books themselves, especially the first two, are a compelling portrayal of a society at war with itself.  I couldn’t help but root for Tris and Four, two young people determined not to allow violent prejudice limit how they live their lives.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera 

In this near future, computers predict with unfailing accuracy who will die in the next twenty-four hours. Two very different teenage boys receive the much dreaded notification, and as the hours pass for them, you will question with increasing anxiety how accurate the title of this novel is.

Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman

On an Earth where humans have conquered death, Scythes are responsible for compassionately ‘gleaning’ a quota of people to keep the burgeoning population under control. Two teenagers, Citra and Rowan, are unwillingly recruited as apprentices. Soon, their own lives will be on the line as there’s a growing movement within the Scythedom to destroy the rules that limit their ability to kill.

Unwind Series by Neal Shusterman

And if you thought the world of Scythe was twisted, this dystopian series by the same author is set after an American civil war where the opposing sides reached a terrifying compromise. Abortion is now illegal, but between the ages of 13 and 18, unruly teenagers can be sent by their parents to be ‘unwound.’ A process that claims it allows the teen to live on in their donated organs inside more worthwhile citizens. Despite this bizarre premise, the author manages to create a very convincing and terrifying future.

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud (first book of the Bartimaeus series)

In this alternative universe, the British Empire dominates the world because British magicians are able to summon and control powerful demons. When Nathaniel, a young apprentice magician, decides to summon a djinn to get revenge on his teacher, he’s immediately in way over his head. For Bartimaeus is a conniving and hilarious demon, who is often too smart for his own good. If we lived in a just universe, people would have lined up for these books like they did for the Harry Potter series.

Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld

A well known dystopian series that deserves all the praise it has received. Tally has been told all her life that she’s ugly, that everyone is until they turn sixteen and extensive cosmetic surgery transforms them into a Pretty. Tally has eagerly awaited this transformation all her life, until she makes a friend who doesn’t want the surgery as it does far more than just alter outside appearances. This whole series is well worth reading.

The Chrysalids by John Wyndham

A classic from the 1950s that’s still easily available for good reason. This novel is set in a post-nuclear war Labrador where any mutation from ‘the norm,’ no matter how small, is feared and hated. Suspect crops are burned, mutant animals are slaughtered, and any human who appears abnormal is sterilized and exiled to the dangerous, radioactive Fringes. David Storm believes he’s lucky because his differences and those of his friends are invisible. But the arrival of his sister Petra, whose telepathic abilities outstrip all of theirs, threatens to expose them all.   

An Introduction to Zombies:

Zombies Versus Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

An amazing anthology of short stories about zombies or unicorns by some of the best YA authors. Funny, disturbing and moving stories of the zombie apocalypse alongside unicorn stories like none you’ve ever read before.

The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

Told from the perspective of ten year old Melanie, the titular girl, this tense thriller takes place in a world where a fungal infection has transformed much of humanity into cannibalistic hungries. This novel tackles all the hard questions of what makes someone human, but never falters from being an entertaining and scary page turner. Also, the movie adaption is as excellent as the book.

Rot and Ruin Series by Jonathan Maberry

Fourteen years after zombies first appeared, the United States has reverted to the Old West, with small towns surrounded by the rot and ruin of civilization. Benny Imura, 15, doesn’t remember what life was like before, but wants to believe there’s more to existence than living behind tall fences and locked doors. But zombies aren’t the only dangers beyond the town’s borders. This entire series is an Intelligent, compelling and believable version of a zombie apocalypse.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Barricaded in a high school in a small Canadian town, Sloane Price and five other teens try to survive a zombie outbreak, their troubled pasts, and each other. A tense, smart thriller I couldn’t put down. Warning: themes of suicide and child abuse. There’s a sequel novella, Please Remain Calm, that I haven’t read yet, but it’s available on kindle.

Peeps by Scott Westerfield

This is smart, scary book where zombies aren’t caused by a disease, but a parasite which turns people into cannibals who hate everything they used to love. Warning: the teen protagonist, Cal, has become an expert on all kinds of parasites and describes them in graphic detail. But if you have a strong enough stomach, this is one of the most unique visions of zombies from an excellent writer. There’s a sequel that’s hard to get called The Last Days that’s shamefully still on my pile of to be read.

[dovahtobi]

Could you recommend any gay books? I, a well known gay, am running out of gay things to read. Preferable to the guy on guy variety if you could, my good man

(Part 2) Or they could simply be funny. I have recently read P.S Your Cat is Dead and it was quite the delight

Honestly you’ve probably read anything I could recommend because I don’t have much. I’ve been trying to expand my m/m library but every time I look at “queer books!” lists it’s 99% f/f which is getting frustrating (not that there’s anything wrong with f/f but it’s a little tiring seeing ‘queer rep!’ and it JUST being one thing). But I’ll share what I have.

First up is a series that doesn’t focus on the m/m relationship but it is there and holy cow I love them and I ache for them and I cried and I cheered and I screamed and just -whale noises-. I want a series just about them though it’s not gonna happen but that is…

The Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E. Schwab! This series destroyed me in the best and worst of ways and I’m never going to be over it, and the m/m couple in it just hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I love them so much and as I said I just want a series about them post-Conjuring Of Light SO BAD. This trilogy is one of my all time favorite series. It’s amazing.

Next up two books I HAVE read. Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and Hero by Perry Moore. Simon is pretty much one of the most well known ones so I won’t go into it. Hero was pretty good but I don’t think there was much m/m in it? The main guy is gay and it’s about him being a closest gay superhero (in training? I think?), and it was decently good from what I can remember. I need to reread it tbh.

Unfortunately the rest of the list isn’t so much recommendations as it is “here’s what I own that I haven’t read yet”.

Some more known books, I have NOT read these yet. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera, Autoboyography by Christina Lauren, We Contain The Multitudes by Sarah Henstra, Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz, and The Infinite Noise by Laura Shippen. I have not read any of these so cannot attest to them.

More books I have not read!

Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling, Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey, Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, and How (Not) To Ask A Boy To The Prom by S. J. Goslee. Again, have not read them so cannot say one way or another.

Some possibly lesser known books. The entire Underrealm series by Garrett Robinson has a lot of queer characters, I know there’s a few queer men in it but I don’t know if there are m/m relationships in it. I have read the first three books in the Nightblade series and really enjoyed them a lot.

For Ever by Cindy Paul is a collection of short queer fantasy stories, I unfortunately have not read it yet but I am hoping there’s some queer men in there. I know the author is planning on writing a series about gay werewolves soon so that’s exciting!

Darkened Light by Sarina Langer has a gay male in it but I don’t know if he ends up in a relationship or not. I have read other books by Sarina and they are amazing so I am excited to read Darkened Light.

And finally some graphic novels/comic series! That I have not read yet xD

Check Please by Ngozi Ukazu is about a gay hockey player and I am super excited to get the time to read it sometime soon! I know a couple of my tumblr friends really love it and are probably yelling at me right now for reducing it down to simply ‘gay hockey player’ so I apologize for that xD Heartstopper by Alice Oseman all I know is it’s a boy meets boy story which it says on the cover so lol and Bloom by Kevin Panetta is I think a m/m that involves baking.

OH I forgot “My Brother’s Husband” by Gengoroh Tagame! I have the first volume and it is SO good! But it’s more about the main character coming to terms with his homophobia. His deceased twin’s husband comes to Japan to learn more and it’s about that, and it’s so good. I HAVE read the first volume and LOVED it, but it’s not really m/m just a story on acceptance, understanding, culture, and family revolving around being gay.

Also I have just ordered “Cloaked in Shadow” by Ben Alderson the other day but it hasn’t arrived yet, and that is a gay male fantasy series I think.

I’m definitely missing some queer male books I’ve overlooked in my library or simply don’t realize include queer males. I wish my library was bigger and if you’ve got any recommendations feel free to throw them my way. Ditto to my followers. I especially want more m/m in fantasy/sci-fi.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Dahlia Hawthorne

WARNING! This review contains MAJOR SPOILERS!

I decided it would be better to branch out into video game villains sooner rather than later, which mostly stemmed from a desire to discuss the villains of the Ace Attorney franchise. Ace Attorney is a series of point-and-click adventure visual novels with logic puzzles, as you must piece together the inconsistencies in the testimony of whatever crazy character you’re cross-examining in court and find flaws in their testimony so that you can ultimately prove the innocence of the client of our lovable protagonist Phoenix Wright (or Apollo Justice, or Athena Cykes, or Miles Edgeworth in one notable instance).

The series is known for having some truly wacky and colorful characters, so of course this extends to the villains, who tend to have incredibly creative breakdowns after you catch them in their lies and reveal them as the killers. However, even at their silliest the major villains tend to be handled a bit more seriously than the one-shot villains in other cases, even if all of them keep the ludicrous levels of hamminess required to even be in the series. What I’m saying is that the big bad tends to be over-the-top, but in a more subdued way than the wildly gesticulating characters around them. And “Over-the-top in a more subdued way” is probably the best way to describe the first video game villain I want to talk about: Dahlia Hawthorne, the overarching villain of Trials & Tribulations, the finale of the original Phoenix Wright saga, and one of the cruelest, pettiest, and most personal foes  Phoenix Wright ever had to deal with.

Motivation/Goals: Dahlia Hawthorne’s criminal career is almost entirely based around covering up her previous crimes. Her first crime was a faked kidnapping that went awry, which led to her faking her own death and then getting the man she seduced, Terry Fawles, framed; when her stepsister and co-conspirator got a change of heart and wanted to confess to her part, Dahlia killed her and then convinced Terry to ingest poison and commit suicide under the guise she would join him, a la Romeo and Juliet; after that she poisoned the coffee of attorney Diego Armando when he investigated her, and then hid the evidence on some hapless dork she bumped into in the courthouse, one Phoenix Wright; after that, she used her identical twin sister to try and get the evidence back so she could destroy it; and when that didn’t work, despite her sister’s feelings for Phoenix, she went ahead and tried to kill him, only to then try and frame him for the murder of another man who had figured out her true nature. Not once in any of this does Dahlia show even a single shred of remorse or exude any sort of sympathetic trait, unlike many villains of the series; no, Dahlia is just a truly monstrous and rotten person to the core. This isn’t even the half of it, mind you; all of this is just backstory, context for her motivation in the game’s present.

Her attempt to frame Phoenix having failed, she was defeated in court by Mia Fey, who would go on to be Phoenix’s mentor, get murdered, and then guide him by occasionally possessing the body of her spirit medium sister (long story). As such, Dahlia held a grudge against Mia, one that lasted even after she was executed. Revenge becomes her prime desire, revenge for finally being trapped after running for so long. It’s a simple motivator to be sure, but considering the kind of person Dahlia is, it makes perfect sense that she would want to harm someone who finally brought an end to her constant killings. 

Out of all the protagonists in the original trilogy. her motivations make her the most personal foe. Of course, Von Karma was also fairly personal, seeing as he was the killer of Edgeworth’s father, but he was only really around for a single case (albeit a very good one). Dahlia’s actions are a shadow that hangs over the game, and that deeply affected Mia, Godot, Phoenix, and even Edgeworth to a lesser extent due to his role as prosecutor on Terry’s trial. While it is pretty arguable that Dahlia is an idiot and an incompetent criminal who has to keep covering up her crimes with succesive murders, it still doesn’t change the fact she has a rather impressive body count, nor does it negate just how much she personally altered the courses of the main character’s lives.

Personality: Dahlia’s personality is where she truly impresses; she exudes an air of sweet, serene kindness at first, easily winning over the entire courtroom save for the defense bench. Everything about her design invokes sweetness and innocence, and this highlighted by the butterflies that flock to her and the peaceful, pretty music that acts as her leitmotif. Of course, seeing as you’ve read this far and seen the massive list of criminal actions she has partaken in, you know that this is a ruse, and it’s even fairly easy to pick up on before the truth is revealed to the player.

Dahlia is most comparable to Hans from Frozen. Both characters are sweet, charming redheads who turn out to be murderous, sociopathic manipulators who do what they do solely out of a desire to gratify themselves. The big difference is while the foreshadowing with Hans ranges from clunky and obscure to nonexistent, the foreshadowing for Dahlia is pretty evident, especially when Mia notes that they’ve met before. Then of course, in the end the big shock isn’t that Dahlia was the villain, it was the true extent of her wickedness. At the game’s start you get an idea that there’s more to her than what you see in the case, but at the end she seems to be little more than the standard starter villain, though even then keen players will note there’s something a bit off about this; she just doesn’t fit the same bill of most other starter villains in the series, as she is far less eccentric and accepts her defeat quite better than, say, Frank Sahwit or Ted Tonate. Then, over the course of the rest of the game, you see the true extent of how evil she was, as she is at least partially responsible for the entire plot of the game due to her poisoning of Diego Armando, the man who would go on to become Godot and oppose Phoenix in court throughout the game. She’s honestly up there with Von Karma as one of the biggest driving forces behind the original trilogy’s storyline. THIS is how you do a twist villain, THIS is how you do a manipulative sociopath. Dahlia is quite frankly everything Hans should have been.

I think it should be noted that Dahlia gets a shadowed court mugshot in the final cases of the game, long after she is dead. This is an oddity for the series, because typically the faces of criminals are shown in the bright colors of the rest of the game. This really shows us two things: one, obviously, is that she is dead, she no longer exists. A similar situation happened with Joe Darke in the bonus case of the first game. The second thing it shows is Dahlia’s true nature; while the other criminals in the games kill for selfish or stupid reasons, sometimes there is a sympathetic motive behind them. With Dahlia, this is not the case. She was always a prideful, twisted, self-serving monster who cared nothing for anyone other than herself. Her heart and soul were black, and she went above and beyond even what twisted villains like Von Karma or Matt Engarde did. She just kept killing and killing and ruining lives all because she felt like she could. And so, ultimately, a featureless, chilling shadowed image truly represents what Dahlia was on the inside.

Final Fate: Dahlia is hanged for her attempt to frame Phoenix Wright for murder, though this doesn’t stop her; after making a deal with her mother, Morgan Fey, that would have allowed her to get revenge by proxy on Mia by possessing the body of her stepsister Pearl and murdering Mia’s little sister Maya, Dahlia is summoned to the mortal plane yet again… and then finds that the entire plan failed, she’s actually being channeled by Maya, and she got one upped by Mia once again. Phoenix and Mia top off this chain of humiliation with one of the most epic “reason you suck” speeches in fiction, one that is just so incredibly awesome that it completely exorcises Dahlia’s spirit from Maya’s body and sends her shrieking with rage back to Hell.

Best Scene: The best moments the villains get in these games are always the breakdowns, and Dahlia probably has the most extravagant and satisfying in the entire series. After everything she did, sending her back to Hell with full knowledge that she is a complete and utter failure who will never be able to get revenge on Mia feels so damn good.

Best Quote: Upon finally being revealed in the final case, how does she introduce herself to the courtroom? “Dahlia Hawthorne. And my current profession? Permanently retired.”

Final Thoughts & Score: There are few villains in the history of video games who are so satisfying to see taken down. Dahlia is just an utterly irredeemable, heartless witch with a capital B… and for that, she gets a 10/10.

There really was no better way to cap off Phoenix Wright’s character arc in the original trilogy than with a foe so personal to him, a foe that ended up bringing him and Mia together and setting into motion the events of the past two games. Without Dahlia, Phoenix could have ended up on a different course in life, despite his best efforts to become an attorney to save Edgeworth, but because of her she pushed him down the path that would lead to the conviction of dozens of criminals, the saving of Miles Edgeworth and numerous others, and the reveal of the black corruption festering in the courtrooms. 

There’s also the way she ties thematically into the overarching moral of the story: revenge is ultimately a pointless endeavor and will consume you, ruining more than it helps. Dahlia kept on killing and killing in her quest to seek vengeance on any who dared to oppose her, and all it did was bring her not only to her own death, but eventually ended up damning her to an eternity in the afterlife existing with the knowledge of her failures. And that final failure also acts as the catalyst for the true killer of the final case to admit their wrongdoing and encourage Phoenix Wright to uncover the truth, so that they can pay for their foolish quest for vengeance that ended up causing more harm than good.

Three games in and they managed to make the absolute pinnacle of thematically appropriate villainy that is ultimately incredibly satisfying to see stripped of their bluster… it’s an incredible feat, and even with the fantastic villains that they’ve created since then, ones that are definitely as evil and impressive in a technical sense, I don’t think they’ll ever again create a villain as wholly satisfying to defeat in court as Dahlia Hawthorne.

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2019

We are 25% through the year!

……….FILM……….

Us (2019) I don’t do well with scary movies; It’s the one genre where I have to know as much as possible before seeing it. With this (and Get Out) I found it thoroughly enjoyable knowing the full plot and so I guess I’m suggesting you see this movie twice? It’s layered and weird and demands suspension of disbelief but that in no way lessens the impact of what’s on screen.  

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part  (2019) I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this. I loved the first one, but reviews and theatre attendance seemed to imply that it just wasn’t that good. With that in mind, I think I went into the movie with the same hesitation as the first film and was equally surprised! It would be impossible to surprise you with a twist as big as the first movie, while still being a sequel, and for that I give it some leeway. The jokes were just as funny, the plot was just as sincere and commenting on the nature of play, and the animation was stellar. It’s hard when a sequel is just as good cause I think that feels like a letdown to some, but I was thoroughly satisfied and would highly recommend.

Captain Marvel (2019) Really good! Culturally important and a couple great messages tucked away in there. Carol Danvers seems like a super interesting character and I’m excited for her to shine in future films, but I suppose I’m spoiled by the weirdness of Spider-Verse and Ragnarok now and want all my superhero movies to be over-the-top.

Sorry to Bother You (2018) To say too much is to possibly spoil this movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it. I will say that I wish I knew the genre of the film before going into the movie, as I think it would’ve mentally prepared me a little more for some of the bigger plot points. With that said, those same points hit harder BECAUSE I was so unprepared. Did it overwhelm the metaphor with its surprise? Yes. Is it worth a second viewing so I can better appreciate what the movie is trying to do? 100%.

……….TELEVISION……….

The Bachelor (Episode 23.08 to 23.12) Oofadoof. Credit where credit is due: that wall-jump was as good as the season-long tease and rarely does the show deliver like that. With that said, I really think this season was a good example of why the show should integrate therapy a little more. Or simply allow the show to be less extreme. Bachelorette Canada is still one of my favourite seasons of the franchise and it was just a nice person meeting nice people and the natural drama from that environment. Maybe it’s too different of a culture (there weren’t any content creators vying for the Canadian lead’s heart) but I believe it could work. Also Hannah B is bonkers.

Brooklyn Nine Nine (Episode 6.04 to 6.07) It’s sad to see Gina go but her send off was perfect. I just...I just love this show so much.

Umbrella Academy (Episode 1.03 to 1.10) The first few episodes were rocky for me. Not because it’s a bad show, but because the tone was so different from the comic book that it took me a while to adjust. I suppose an adaptation like this couldn’t fully capture the spirit of the source material without breaking the bank, but it does a good job at what it wants to do. While I won’t say one or the other is better (they really are too different to truly compare), I’ll admit that the book has an energy and zaniness that I love and that’s just not what the show is going for.

Queer Eye (Episode 1.01 to 1.03) Finally starting this and it’s been great! The guys are a little...mean...that first episode, but everyone seems to be finding their groove and the overall tone is really settling in to one of positivity and growth.

……….READING……….

The Cthulhu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities by James Lovegrove (Complete) A combination of two of my favourite corners of literature? Sign. Me. Up. It delivers on the promise as well; there’s lots of investigating and Holmesness to the novel (even structured in two parts like the original stories) and the added layer of Lovecraftian horror ratchets everything up a notch! This appears to be book 2 in a trilogy but I didn’t feel like I’d missed anything.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (Complete) One of my faves and this is a little research for a D&D setting I’m working up that will be set in a version of Neverland!

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) While I say this after reading each volume, this series continues to impress. It has a great balance of straying from form while never feeling inconsistent. The characters continue to grow and the danger feels real and ever-present. Such a good read.

Alien: The Illustrated Story by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson (Complete) This is a beautiful adaptation of the film! Simonson does a great job at capturing each character’s spirit (not exclusively relying on the actors’ likenesses or stills from the film) and the pacing is strong. The chestburster scene wasn’t what I was expecting, but maybe I’d just built it up too much.

Last Man: The Stranger by Bastien Vivès, Balak, Michaël Sanlaville (Complete) There’s something so refreshing about the art style and I think it’s maybe just that I don’t read enough French comics? It was light and simple is some panels, yet communicates so much and has so much nuance in the characters. The story so far is fun (always love a good fighting competition as a framework for character drama) but I was a little bummed that the collection didn’t really offer a satisfying arch. Maybe it’s meant to be one long read and couldn’t really be naturally broken up into chunks, but it still left me feeling shortchanged.

……….GAMING……….

Katamari Damacy Reroll (Bandai Namco) Loved this the first time around and it’s just as great on Switch. It took a while to get back into the wonky controls but I just love how insane this game is. I know some of the later games weren’t as well-reviewed by I’d love to try them out (for the first time) on this console.

A Red & Pleasant Land (Lamentations of the Flame Princess) The party continues to explore this strange land while waiting to crash the Hatter’s party. They saved a fish priest despite receiving ominous origami telling to beware the fish’s fingers and they even risked death by giant twin babies to do so!

Maze of the Blue Medusa (Satyr Press) The group continues to explore the gardens and have defeated a toad demon, a priest made of mulch, and made a friend of a shambling puppeteer!

Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast) We had our first knockout! To a swarm of beetles! Who knew a bunch of bugs were more lethal that ghasts and cultists. The party is still exploring the mysterious basement to the haunted house and everyone is having a great time!

And that’s it! As always, feel free to send recommendations and happy Sunday!

[thelimeonade]

Introducing my WIPs

As requested by the very welcoming, funny @zburatorii

Evolve: to forget is my current online WIP! You can find it on Wattpad by clicking on here! It is the first part of a trilogy! It’s dystopian\Utopian along with adventure, fiction with side themes such as thriller, romance. The book revolves in the future after WW8 has been declared over, leaving mankind on the verge of extinction and now all inhabiting a small area in, what was previously known as, Western Europe. They are now all united under one flag, one crown, one government: The United Kingdom of Mekar. -->Le blurp\Description: Man's greed for power and dominance has always been the reason. The greatest proof of this is the Era of the inhumane, barbaric World Wars which sent mankind scuttling to unite their numbers to avoid extinction. Limited to a small area in - what was once - Western Europe, a new civilization awoke: The United Kingdom of Mekar. Divided into eight sections plus the Royal Capital of Orbis. The most brutal, yet efficient, way of survival where 'To Forget is To Evolve', with it the past has been demolished with ferocity to avoid another uprising risking their extinction. Many believe that those ways are effective. But there are others who strongly beg to differ; however, they can't expose themselves as it meant risking their lives. Emilia Adonis, a 25 year old woman from Hell-Bay, the most discarded section of Mekar, has been chosen by King Jayden to represent her section in The Versency - the royal race that takes place every time the King or Queen of Mekar dies. The greatest event in the history of the Kingdom where death becomes your constant companion with the final line either being your ultimate death in the most gruesome way, or the throne of Mekar. With the fate of thousands of Hell-Bayers resting on her shoulder, Emilia strives to reach the throne and end the period of negligence that loomed over the section ever since its formation (due to the fact that no Hell-Bay contestant has ever won The Versency). She teams up with Zain and Hailey Hill, twins from Hell-Bay whose future is also dependent on the throne. They all face problems igniting between them along with the trail of mercenaries and royal beasts unleashed on the contestants. But what exactly happens when a lot more than beasts are threatening your life? When those who abide by the system meet the rebels? When the past clashes with the present, affecting the future and nothing is as it seems? When the race becomes a prison with no way out whether you win or lose? [P.s. Thanks to @mediocre-prose for promoting this book]

Pontifex this is an under-development book that is not published online nor is placed on draft; however, all the ideas and main plot points are written down in a notebook. This book is action\crime following serial killer and hit-man Xavier Pontifex also known as The Phoenix who has been active for over a total of twenty years without leaving a single trace behind. It’s part one of a two book series. [Second book follows Xavierre Pontifex, his daughter] --> le blurp\Description: Xavier Pontifex: A man who has the looks, the charm, the strength, the agility, the wit and the reflex to rule the entire world single handed without failing. He may look like the typical person, with a normal job, but what he harbors underneath is much darker. Being a professional killer, a hit-man, a serial killer that leaves no piece of evidence or trace behind, sending the world into chaos as they try to find out his identity, labeling him as ‘The Phoenix’ always comes with a price. From the streets of Florence, Italy to those of New York, U.S.A. we follow Xavier Pontifex on his journey for self-comfort and ridding himself of the demons in his head, his own twin brother. Facing more conflicts than ever and realizing that the rule ‘Only a life can pay for another’ is much more than it really is…

Onyx Ivories is an online work on Wattpad that is on pause and editing since I realized that dumbass me forgot to write down VERY IMPORTANT KEY POINTS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK and now shit is ruined. It’s an action fiction but you won’t find that out until the second part in the book [Since the book is split into two major parts and an epilogue] P.s. the blurp is misleading (because I am an evil writer) You can check itout by clicking here!! --> le blurp\Description: Aqua Abraham steps off the bus into Pyro Camp where she intends to achieve all her dreams with one stone - winning her Ex back, Julian Monroe, as well as a scholarship. By rolling her onyx 5 ten-sided dice given to her on her first night, she's given one unique 5-digit code that's her key to everything around the camp along with adventures, little does she know the secrets that the code with the dice hold. It won't only lead her to all her dreams but also something much bigger.

Extinct Galactic MY BABY, MY PRIDE AND JOY, MY MOST DEVELOPED LIL CUPCAKE WHO I AM INTENDING FOR PUBLISHING!!!! It’s a four to six book series!!! And the plot and idea is too big to fit here but I’ll be sharing Excerpts of it here! (better than the last shitty one that you can read over here, I promise) It’s a sci-fi\Fantasy series THAT WILL BLOW YOUR WIG OFF ALL THE WAY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNIVERSE!!! [Hopefully....] For more details click heeeereeee!! (p.s. Characters page is still a wip) --> faint blurp: When the Creator of all Life –Pratham– is gone, killed by the Council of the Universe, and Death–Azazel lives on, the Council would do anything to right their wrong before Azazel’s darkness wipes the entire universe out.  Including exterminating an entire race, an entire galaxy to find life again. --> a few quotes:  “Perhaps we were created to die in order to right a wrong. We were never meant to exist.” -Aximus Power [Book Character] “Today, we write history. We will no longer be degraded as Dunams, we will show them what mankind, children of Milkyway, has to offer of courage, loyalty and wits.” -Kahera [Book Character] “I didn’t know what you have done to save us. I only saw a self-centered, demanding, spoiled brat Queen on a throne... not the selfless warrior who drained herself every single day to keep us alive in secret.” -Ximen Cysgod [Book Character] “You have disowned her, you have treated her like scum, you have let her die in vain, you didn’t do shit to stop Jobiia from taking her when she had given up everything to save us! To save the people who had abandoned her! and now you dishonor her last wishes? How fucking dare you?” -Frontress Pulse [Book Character]

yes I have a wip that’s based off Egyptian Mythology but no details yet

I have a million old ideas that I am thinking about rewriting but let’s just get through this first

I also have a sappy romance novel that.... will never see light

Welp. That’s all for now!!!!

As you can see I am quite experienced in multiple genres so I can give you a billion tips on how to survive!

Tell me which WIP is by far the one you are most excited to read!!!

Please reblog and/or like this if you like my WIPs introduction and want to see more! Follow me if you are feeling kind and I’ll follow you back and whoever reblogs this!!!

I LOVE YOU ALL *drops microphone*

Feel free to send me any questions, requests, asking for help, compliments, whatever you like by clicking here!

For my latest Tips on ‘How to write an Evil character’ click here!

For more about me click here!!!

For my Lime-blr (Writeblr) intro, click here!! [idk why I added it... just felt like it]

[sleepy-bookworm]

The Goatathon

Day 1 (of 7). 

Hello! If you didn’t know, @heretherebebooks is hosting a readathon from June 1st to June 7th, called The Goatathon. I haven’t done a readathon in quite a while, so I’m nervous and pretty excited to get down to things, because reading! and sharing with you!

The first challenge for the Goatathon is to share a picture of your Goatathon TBR, and to tell all y’all about the books I plan on reading. Below is a picture of what I plan on reading during this Goatathon.

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Torn by Amanda Hocking, Eve by Anna Carey.

There are only 4 books that I’m going to try my hardest to read. If I manage to read all of them with time left over (then YAY!!!!!!), I’ll read more. But for now I’m keeping my Goatathon TBR small, to keep my anxiety to a minimum. 

I have no idea what book I will read first, nor the ones after that, so, without further ado, let me tell you about the books I’m going to be reading this Goatahon:

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong is a book that I’ve had for a few years. Like, I think I bought it when the series first came out back in 2014. Sea of Shadows is the first book in the Age of Legends trilogy. TBH, I thought that this series was going to be like, 6 books long so I’m satisfied that the series is only 3 books long. I don’t have the other 2 books though, so if I end up needing the second book asap, I’ll have to wait to borrow it from the library. HAH! -- OK, so, Sea of Shadows actually seems like a pretty interesting read. SoS (do you think that was on purpose, or has any meaning to the story? anywho) is about exiled twin sisters Moria and Ashyn. They’re charged with a “dangerous task.” The two of them play the roles of Keeper and Seeker. 

I hope that Sea of Shadows isn’t predictable. But I do have a good telling that SOS has two points of view, and that it will be one heck of a journey that these two go on. 

In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned. Only this year, the souls will not be quieted. Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters’ journey to find each other sends them far from the only home they’ve ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court—one that will alter the balance of their world forever.

(Sea of Shadows on Goodreads)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is another book that I’ve had my eye on. I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I should read Graceling once and for all, and since a friend recommended it to me, I decided that yes, I’m going to read Graceling. Once and for all. 

I actually started reading Graceling not too while ago, but other books took more of a priority. I’m determined to read Graceling during this Goatathon! One thing that I’m particularly looking forward to about Graceling is that it’s a standalone, but is also a companion novel to the Graceling Realm trilogy. 

I particularly like the fact that the main character is a royal-blood assassin. 

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug. She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po. She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone. With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

(Graceling on Goodreads)

Torn by Amanda Hocking is the second book in the Trylle series by Amanda Hocking. Just thinking about the first book, Switched, I can barely remember what happened, save for the ending. Hopefully Torn will be an interesting journey. I’m quite ready for some fae stories. 

With Torn being the second book in a series, I have decided to not add in the synopsis, just in case someone who is reading this hasn’t read Switched yet. 

(Torn on Goodreads)

Eve by Anna Carey is another book that I’ve had on my shelf for years. Probably since 2013! I have the complete Eve trilogy, so if I end up needing to know what happens next in the series, I can move onto the next! It’s been so long since I read the synopsis for Eve. Like, I completely forgot that I had the series, but just reading Eve’s goodreads page, I know that it’s a Dystopian novel. Which I’m, again, looking forward to. 

Reading the synopsis though, I’m kind of dreading that the story might be a dud. I’m kind of over the fact that there are so many books out there where the main character is one who “has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America.” Like, am I the only one tired of books like this? Anywhoozle, I read the rest of the synopsis, and let me tell you: I need to read the complete synopsis’ more often. I’m both looking forward to reading Eve, as well as dreading it. So maybe I’ll read Eve first. Just to get it over with. 

Where do you go when nowhere is safe? Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school's real purpose and the horrifying fate that awaits her. Fleeing the only home she's ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust... and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life. In this epic new series, Anna Carey imagines a future that is both beautiful and terrifying.

(Eve on Goodreads)

So there are the 4 books that I’m going to try my darnedest to read! Just for funzies, if all goes well, I’m going to be reading 1,523 pages! Within seven days! That seems like quite a lot to be quite honest with you!

On the Goatathon post/page-thingy there are 5 Bonus Goat Challenges. Of the 5, I’m going to be tackling 3 of those! The first challenge is Bleat the backlist: read a book that’s been on your TBR for over a year. It’s safe to say that with well, all 4 of these books, I’m going to be tackling this challenge head on, lol! 

The second BGC is: Have you heard: read a book that someone recommended you. Graceling is the book on this list that was recommended to me, haha. 

The third BGC is: Udder worlds: read a book set in a world different from ours. With this challenge, the books that apply are: Graceling, Eve (since its a dystopian. maybe it doesn’t work? I’m keeping it tho), and Sea of Shadows. 

If you’ve managed to read this far, thank you so much! 

[ilikebigbooks-and-icannotlie]

Lol sorry guys...

Not that I have many followers to start, but those that I do have I love dearly!!! And those of you may have noticed that I have gone on a slight Leigh Bardugo craze… And by slight I mean extreme… So, I would like to take this moment to apologize, but also to discuss the amazing masterpiece that is the Grisha Trilogy and the beautiful soul that is Leigh Bardugo.

I pressed the text post button with gazillions of things I wanted to say about this series sitting in my head, so I will begin with my sudden never-ending love of Leigh, and go from there!

I read these books in 4 days. I began, and I could not stop. I bought the first one, read it the next day in one sitting, bought the other two the next day, and read them in the following 2 days. I devoured them whole. The artistry. The literary magic. The plot twists that I did NOT see coming. The effortlessly beautiful and casually placed LGBT secondary characters who no other character batted an eye about. The amazing brother sister relationships. The love story I did NOT see coming??? The multiple unbelievably well-done (and lack there of) love stories I did not see coming. Unbelievable pain in the form of my beautiful child Nikolai. The unrelenting complete destruction and death of characters, that many authors are afraid to accomplish. (Lol this is going to be a long ass post as I cover each of those topics #sorrynotsorry…) The amazing feminists and glorious female characters who easily went head to head with the men. The low key shade thrown on religion and the fanatics of the supposed Saint. I loved every second of the beautifully well-defined world this amazing woman created. And I cannot express that enough.

One of the things that has been difficult for me to wrap my head around is the general lack of fan art in this fandom, I feel like? I come from the Sarah J Mass and Rick Riordan squad of decorative pillows and official rings and candles and fancy tattoos of quotes, on top of piles and piles of fan art, so what feels like the lack of that for the Grisha Trilogy is strange? Or maybe it’s just me and I’m not finding it?? Idk, that’s kind of irrelevant, but maybe someone else has some input???

I REALLY want to talk about the plot twists, but I don’t know how to without spoiling them, but I will try my best? But just in case, be aware, spoiler alert! I did not expect a single one of them, to start. Where I did expect plot twists, there weren’t any. And where I didn’t, BAM there they were. The only time I expected it was in the second book when Alina and Mal returned to their small inn and the owner guy was being really shifty and I had a feeling he had totally given them away, but did not expect the Darkling himself to be there and I 100% did not expect the roof with the shadows. I also knew Mal would follow Alina in Shadow and Bone when she Ran away, but I didn’t expect her to actually run. Literally EVERY other plot twist, 100% was shocked. There are also the plot twists I expected to happen that didn’t?? I was 100% ready for Alina to be proven to be related to the Darkling. I was ready for her to be super special and keep her powers somehow and defy logic. I was ready for Mal to die. Literally from the first book I was ready for the Darkling to pull a Warner (from Shatter Me) and prove to have been a misunderstood good guy all along and for Alina to end up with him, or for Alina to give herself to Nikolai in the end, or for her power to be the thing to 100% fix Nikolai, and literally none of that happened??????? And what did happen both infuriated and pleased me because while yes childhood friends being together is cute, I was 100% team Nikolai all the way not gonna lie… He is my everything, and he understood her in a way I feel like Mal never can. Same with the Darkling. From the very beginning it was very clear that her and Mal were VERY different. And while you can say opposites attract, or they belonged together from the beginning, or they got each other because they both lost pieces of themselves, or if your argument is “psh whatever, he was willing to die for her” I feel like none of that cuts out for me? There’s opposites attract and then there’s literally being completely different people with entirely different purposes and world views. And of course, the entire concept of the novel is “Like calls to like,” of which Alina and Mal have nothing in common, other than attraction and upbringing. And you can say they belong together from the beginning, but just because they have known each other the longest doesn’t really mean they’re meant to be?? Also the fact that they both lost pieces of themselves is kind of moot, because Mal’s piece wasn’t really something he felt on the same level as Alina’s Grisha power? Only the Darkling matched her and understood her in that sense and he was right about the fact that Mal would never truly understand. Like calls to like. On top of that, there is Nikolai. The perfect Prince, who always had the right retort, who was always more friend than lover to Alina, but who she would have been the perfect Queen for. Grisha and otkazatsy'a (preeeetttyyy sure I spelled that wrong) would have been united as Alina and Nikolai took the throne. He understood the darkness that took hold in her and she understood that in him. She connected to him. He knew her when he was in his darkest form, he recognized her, he fought his instincts to spare her. They were drawn together. And instead, she chose Mal. And you can say it was because he was willing to sacrifice everything for her. But to be honest, there were hundreds of people willing to do the same. He was not special. He was not unique, in that sense. If the twins had been the amplifiers, if it had been Genya, or any of the Soldat Sol, or pretty much anyone else in Alina’s squad, honestly, they all would have died for her. So for me, idk, I just didn’t see Mal coming, and for me, he wasn’t the logical choice. But, I loved their banter, and I liked him, and I cried when I thought he was going to die, and his sadness broke my heart, and every single line of his declaring love for Alina definitely made me long for a love like that, but realistically, I don’t know, I still feel like Nikolai was the better choice? I don’t know :/

Tamar and Nadia was everything I needed and never knew I wanted from this book, and how easily it was added and how easily everyone accepted and moved past it and treated neither of them differently, and how neither of them died, oh my god I love these books for it. So so so so amazing and important and wonderful. So comfortably and casually added and just Aaahhhhhhh so precious I love them dearly.

Speaking of those two wonderful ladies, both of their relationships with their brothers were just so unbelievably wonderful and sweet and wholesome and as a sister to a younger brother (who is also currently reading these books) I loved every minute of it. I love these siblings’ undying support and love of one another. Tolya and Tamar’s banter and never ending trust and faith in one another and distant protectiveness. They begrudgingly split but knew when it had to be done and had faith in each other, and that hug when they reunited in the freaking third book made me cry because they are so precious. Also Nadia’s support of her brother, and her control when his arm was being cut off, and that kid’s bravery, and the fact that he saved them when the cave in occurred, I loved their relationship so much as well.

I already addressed the fact that I didn’t really see Mal and Alina coming, partly because I didn’t really expect the love square to end that easily, as Alina stayed with the guy she started with in the beginning, but it did?? And I just addressed Tamar and Nadia which I LOVED. But I want to take a sec to talk about David and Genya. Which just. I could go on and on about this duo. But I just want to say I loved it. Because they have barely anything in common. All of David’s interests lie in engineering and science. And Genya’s not all that about that life? And she was beautiful, and then she was scarred. But he didn’t see that. He did not worship her beauty, he did not pity her pain. He loved the gentle yet strong unyielding woman beneath, and I love him for it. And I love her for loving him. She could have had anybody. Picked anybody. Gone for anyone else. But she chose him. And when it came to his strangeness, his shyness, and his undying love of learning, she loved him all the more for it. And I just loved that. That complete acceptance from both parties was just incredibly beautiful.

As far as the “lack thereof” goes, I was really happy to see Zoya single. Not in like a “ha ha suck it I hate you” way, because I actually really really liked Soya in the end. In the sense that, she didn’t need a man. She chose who to be with. She had offers that she didn’t want. She was strong. She was beautiful. And she was perfectly okay being her own person. And she was also a great ally, and turned into a great friend (oh god that scene in the After of the last book killed me), and all of that happened as she stood on her own, a great beauty contained by no one and content with herself, and I loved that. She had standards and she was strong and she was just lovely.

I loved the girls. I loved Genya, and her fierce destruction of the king. I loved Nadia and her role with her brother and with Tamar and as a powerful squalor and her strength I just loved her. I loved Zoya and her sass and her strength. I loved Tamar, kicking ass and taking names and giving no apologies for who she was. I actually had mixed feelings about Alina if I’m being honest, but in the end, I felt like she also had mixed feelings about herself, and I appreciated that. I loved that she had no fear when it came to punching both of the royal princes and going toe to toe with the king and the Darkling. I loved the Darkling’s mother, who was just the ultimate sass master. I loved them all and their unflinching strength and bravery and aaahhhhhh strong women, man, 10/10.

I both loved and hated how many people died? I will say that it takes a strong and brave author to kill as many characters as unrelentlessly as Leigh did. But I can’t say I enjoyed it, for obvious reasons, because my precious babies died and almost died waaaay too much (don’t even get me started on the hell I went through with Nikolai). However, in the end, it was amazing. The sacrifice of the Darkling’s mother. The death of Ivan. Of Marie. The impact on Sergei. The death of Sergei. The deaths of sooo many others in the armies and soldiers. The deaths of those hung on the tree by the Darkling. The sacrifices made. The death of the Inferni whose name starts with an H and that I will 100% butcher if I try to spell it actually really pissed me off. Not because I was so mad he was dead, but because he didn’t even get an actual full death that we got to see, he was just gone. And I get it, it makes sense, it’s a war and people die and faces blend together and that was part of all of the death, the misery and the pain and the impact and all we got of him was the leftover cat from a death we didn’t even get to see, and that was part of the whole image of how awful it all was, but it just ugh man it bugs me he deserved more than to be some metaphor, some body in a pyre. But, that’s probably the point of it all in the long run.

I also forgot to mention Misha but like shout out to that kid, loved him so much, what a precious little puppy, he was just a cutie pie I adored him!!!

Last but not least, I kind of really appreciated how this book low key took a pretty big dump on religion, in my opinion. The concept was hope, was the people believing in something even though it wasn’t real, because they needed to and wanted to, and in the end, receiving their martyr, as they watched a fake Sankta Alina die, and I loved that. Because Alina changed history based on how it was convenient for her, and that’s the story that will be told, it’s how the saint will be remembered now that she’s dead, except she never died, and she was never a saint, and people would cry and touch her and hold her and get their tattoos on their faces and part of that was happening while she didn’t even have powers, it was all just nice parlor tricks done in a derelict, thrown-together kefta, and I loved that. I loved that blind ridiculous faith being called out and brought forth as countless people died for the Sankta Alina who just wanted to chill with her friends and acquire more power and was honestly no saint at all. I loved the selfishness of the Apparat and his ability to persuade people into whatever he wanted and his convenient decisions that staying underground and protecting people was what was best for everyone because it was best for him and I loved his manipulation of Alina in “the name of her safety” and just the complete destruction of religion in this book, intentional or not, just really rung true with me. Because I have always been someone who felt like faith was a silly thing. Because there is proof Alina existed, and in the end Nikolai was definitely alive, but how Alina died, what Nikolai was, and everything that happened in between, was conveniently erased and forgotten, and that can JUST as easily be the tale of a lot of our own history, and religion and I just really really appreciated the seeds of those concepts in this book.

However, all of that said, the romanticism of Tsarist Russia by other fans is kind of ridiculous??? Anyone who wants to step into the world of Racks is kind of fundamentally wrong, in my opinion??? I know that in interviews Leigh has said that she’s happy people want to step into her world, but seriously guys???? I am Bulgarian, and I speak Bulgarian, which is a Slavic language, and I know the Cyrillic alphabet, and I took 4 years of Russian and was obsessed with Anastasia and the Romanovs, so to see Russian culture, and to understand the language and where it came from in the books, and to appreciate it and feel a connection to it was really really cool for me, and I loved connecting to it in this way. But Tsarist Russia was a time of poverty, and serfdom, and suffering, and on top of that in Leigh’s version you add evil monsters, a crazy dictator, an absolute trash king, a country divided in half, and even in the best case an aftermath of destruction, with orphans at every turn and death all over, and THAT is the world you want to step into?? And if your argument is “yeah, but I could have special powers,” at what cost????? The Grisha went to the Darkling, and by the end of it all the likelihood is you would have been dead, or severely traumatized. Post Ruins and Rising Ravka, maybe. Maaaaaaybe it’d be tolerable. But personally, everyone praying to Sankta Alina would probably drive me insane, if I were to step in now, knowing everything I know as a reader. So, in conclusion, all of you saying you want to step into this world, I feel like you missed the point? And I definitely feel like you’re seriously lacking some information regarding Tsarist Russia.

In the end, I loved these books. I loved their characters, I loved their concept, I loved their setting, I loved their twists and turns, I loved their deaths (even when I hated them), I loved their artistry and how brilliantly they were crafted, and I love Leigh. I love the adorably kind-hearted queen who put them all together. Who takes time out of her day to answer fan questions and run her own tumblr blog. Who is just precious, in every interview I read. I discovered her and her world literally less than a week ago but I swear to god I already want to be her best friend forever and ever and hold each other while we cry over dear sweet precious baby Nikolai who is too good for this world :’(

Leigh, a million thank yous for the magical world you have opened up for me, and I’m really sorry I would 100% rather not step into it…

Lol guys really this post was really long I am so sorry and I am also really sorry that it’s only going to get worse because I’m going to buy Six of Crows tomorrow… oops… also really sorry about any typos, 0 effort was made to edit this really long post…

[aion-rsa]

Most Anticipated Non-Western Fantasy Books of 2019

https://ift.tt/2ouKBy1

It's a great time to be a fan of fantasy literature, as the genre makes more space for epics told outside of the western perspective.

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While I love a good epic fantasy read where an unassuming, usually male, usually white farmboy learns of his great destiny to save the world, there are so many fantasy stories that exist outside of that framework. 

One of my favorite ways to see fantasy genre tropes subverted is by taking the usual feudal European-like setting of the "traditional" epic fantasy saga and throwing it out the window in favor of mythic tropes that are less familiar to western fantasy readers. After all, Game of Thrones is great, but we tend to overrepresent Eurocentric, medieval-inspired stories in the epic fantasy world. There are so many other kinds of stories out there waiting to be told and heard.

read more: Best New Fantasy Books

It's an exciting time to be reading fantasy, as mainstream publishing makes more space for epic sagas told through the lens of cultures, perspectives, and storytelling traditions that have developed outside of the western world. Here's a collection of some of the fantasy books we're most looking forward to in 2019 that fall into that exciting, vital, and extremely broad category.

January

Can't wait to pick up something good? Check out these fantasies that have already hit the shelves.

The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty

In The City of Brass, Nahri learned that the magic she'd always dismissed (in favor of running her own cons in 18th century Cairo) is real, powerful, and dangerous. She's had to use all her instincts as a con artist to survive the royal court of Daevabad and embrace her true heritage.

read more: A Conversation with S.A. Chakraborty

In her return in book two, she's without the allies she thought she could trust, and any mistake could be disastrous. Add a prince defying his father, djinn, assassins, and unpredictable water sprits, and this #ownvoices adventure is sure to be a hit with readers of the first novel. (If you missed the first one, better catch up before starting book two.)

Read Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

Monstress #19 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

The long awaited return of Liu and Takeda's Eisner Award-winning Monstress hit shelves in January. Inspired by 20th century Asia, Monstress is set in a matriarchal world where magical creatures, Arcanics, have long battled with sorceresses, who use the Arcanics to fuel their own magical powers.

Maika Halfwolf is an Arcanic disguised as a human, and her adventures tackle themes of war, racism, slavery, and what it means to be human. Missed earlier issues? Two trade paperback volumes have already collected the beginning of this #OwnVoices series.

Read Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

In this conclusion of Arden’s Winternight Trilogy, Vasya tries to save two Russias: the mortal one and the magical one. It’s no easy task when the Grand Prince seems set on war, and trusting people he shouldn’t, or when a powerful demon returns to wreak havoc.

read more: Everything We Know About the Children of Blood & Bone Movie

Along with having the world on her shoulders, Vasya strives to save Morozko, the frost demon she has respected since she was a child, who has become even more important to her over the course of the trilogy. Readers who have yet to pick up the earlier two volumes should not begin with this one—go back, instead, and pick up The Bear and the Nightingale to read where it all began.

Read The Winter Witch by Katherine Arden

The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Brodsky draws on both Viking lore and Inuit tradition in this fantasy set in 1000 A.D. Omat, born with a female body but raised in the man’s role of shaman, can invoke the spirits of animals, the land, the sea, and the sky. But when the spirits stop listening, Omat’s people are on the brink of starvation.

When Omat meets the Viking Brandr, who brings with him new and different gods, she sees how her whole world could be thrown into turmoil. Brodsky, who grew up in Eastern Canada, did in depth research of all the mythologies in play to present a fantasy well-grounded in real-world beliefs and legends.

Read The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky

February

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan

Macallan launches the first in his "Lord of the Islands" novel with a blood-drenched vision of rulers vying for power in a setting reminiscent of Indonesia. The book features Katerina, the daughter of the Khevan Emperor denied her throne because of her sex; Prince Jun, a prince more interested in poetry than combat until his father is murdered; and Fahran, a spy and merchant trying to start a war between his nation's adversaries in order to gain his country greater prominence.

Interested in more? Check out our review and interview with Macallan.

Read Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

In Shannon’s East-Meets-West doorstopper of a novel, two cultures with very different ideas about dragons meet in conflict. The nations of Virtudom, ruled by Queen Sabran IX, have at their core the myth of the Nameless One, a fire-breathing dragon defeated by their ancestor, Saint Galian Berethnet, and thrown into the Abyss with his draconic horde. So long as the royal line of Virtudom remains unbroken, the Nameless One cannot return.

On the other side of the world, in Seiiki, people revere water-based dragons, bonding with them and becoming Riders. The Seiikinese believe that the Nameless One was forced into a sleep by a comet as part of a cycle of balance: fire and water, earth and sky. Now, a thousand years later, the Nameless One is about to return, upending the world as everyone knows it.

Though much of Shannon’s dragonlore is typical of high fantasy, the different cultural views of the species—and their divergent mythologies—earned the novel a place on this list.

Read The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Stories within stories provide the narrative landscape for James’s #OwnVoices African-set epic fantasy trilogy starter, which already has a development deal with Michael B. Jordan set to adapt.

Tracker always works alone, but when he encounters a group of mercenaries looking for the same child he has been hired to find, he breaks his rule. In the company of the shape-shifter Leopard, Tracker and the others search, sifting through stories and lies, determined to discover the truth behind the boy and his disappearance.

read more: Children of Blood and Bone Review

Lengthy and filled with cinematic violence and graphic sexuality—and sometimes a mixture of those two—this #OwnVoices novel leans heavily into pre-colonial African mythology, including vampires, witches, and necromancers, among others, and features point of view characters who circle the truth while making the reader work to figure it out as they go.

Read Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

The True Queen by Zen Cho

Although this fantasy sequel is set in Regency England, Cho gives the genre a spin with her focus on main characters of color (here, Malaysian twins Muna and Sakti; in the first, Sorcerer to the Crown, African freed-slave and sorcerer Zacharias Wythe and dark-skinned sorceress Prunella Gentleman) and a willingness to engage on the unfairness of the society of the era.

When Muna and Sakti wake with no memory of how they washed ashore, they’re aided by witch Henrietta, who decides to take them to London to see the Socreress Royal for help. Sakti abruptly vanishes, and Muna and Henrietta pursue the mystery of where she’s gone—and why the fairy realm is encroaching on England.

Light hearted with plenty of Regency wit and banter, this #OwnVoices novel also offers a good helping of female-female romance, along with a return of the characters from the first novel.

Read The True Queen by Zen Cho

March

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

While many readers may know Wilson best from her fantastic run on Marvel’s Ms. Marvel, which introduced Kamala Khan, she’s also the author of the celebrated Alif the Unseen and, now, a Muslim-Iberian historical fantasy set in 1491.

The Bird King follows Fatima, the sultan’s last Circassian concubine, and Hassan, the royal mapmaker, as they travel through Spain in the company of a jinn. Hassan’s magical ability to draw maps of places he has never seen—and whose maps can change reality by how they are drawn—is viewed as sorcery by the Christian Spanish monarchy, putting both Hassan and Fatima, as his friend, at risk.

As Fatima, Hassan, and the jinn search for the safety of the island of The Bird King, the novel transforms from historical and grounded to a true fantasy about tolerance and friendship.

Read The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

The Perfect Assassin by K. A. Doore

In a world of assassins and jaan, Amastan isn't sure that he wants to follow the family business into becoming a killer. But when members of his own family start being murdered, it's Amastan who is ordered to solve the murders, before his family is blamed for killing their own. This series starter launches "The Chronicles of Ghadid," and is likely to appeal to Assassin's Creed players as much as fantasy readers.

Read The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore

April

Descendent of the Crane by Joan He

Princess Hesina of Yan is uninterested in being a princess; she’d far rather have an ordinary life than be part of the imperial court. But all of those wishes are thrown away when her father is murdered. Not only must Hesina take up the mantle of queen, but she’s determined to discover who killed her father—before the murderer can turn on her as well.

read more: Best New Young Adult Books

This standalone YA #OwnVoices fantasy, which has the possibility of more novels to follow set in the same world, follows Hesina as she breaks the laws of her nation by enlisting a soothsayer and a criminal to help her determine who to trust, and who must be punished.

Read Descandant of the Crane by Joan He

Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker

In promotional blurbs, Banker is called a pioneer of fantasy in his home country of India, and Upon a Burning Throne is based on the ancient classic, The Mahabharata, full of demigods and demons and battles for the throne. Although princes Adri and Shvate are royals, they must pass the Test of Fire if they want to inherit the throne.

read more: 9 Fantasy Books Set at Magical Boarding School

To make matters more complicated, a half-demon girl claims to have the right to take the test as well. When the girl is not allowed to claim any power after passing the Test, her demon father declares war on the Empire, threatening to tear the world apart. This #OwnVoices series is set for seven volumes, so get ready for an epic fantasy saga stretching over thousands of pages.

Read Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

An assassin and a soldier get tangled in a civil war in this #ownvoices fantasy steeped in Indian history and Hindu mythology. Viper, an assassin fighting alongside the rebels, is how Esha hides her identity. No one knows that she, who lost so much in the royal coup, is the legendary assassin.

Kunal is a soldier, unquestioning in his orders to support the king, even while he longs for life outside the army. When Viper is on a mission to kill General Hotha, Kunal’s controlling uncle, the pair become involved in events on a grander scale, and no one is really sure who is directing all the pieces of this deadly game... This is listed as book one of the trilogy, so expect more cat and mouse games as the story progresses.

Read The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala

May

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

In this YA feminist fantasy, set along the Silk Road, the city of Noor is destroyed by Shayateen djinn; only Fatima and two other humans survived the attack. Now, a restored Noor is protected by Ifrit djinn, who represent order and reason.

But their protection does not remove all the danger: when one of the Ifrit is killed, Fatima is forever changed, and she finds herself drawn into the political intrigues of the maharajah and his sister—and onto the magical battlefield. Azad’s #OwnVoices tale features fiercely independent women, and a cosmopolitan Silk Road city striving to find harmony within its myriad cultures.

Read The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

It isn’t easy to be a legend. Zafira is the Hunter; by taking on a man’s role to feed her people, she can never reveal that she’s a girl, or everything she has done will be rejected. Nasir is the Prince of Death, a deadly assassin who punishes the enemies of his father, the king, despite his own tendency toward compassion.

Both Zafira and Nasir believe that an artifact can stop the incursion of the Arz, a cursed forest that expands by the day. Zafira, as the Hunter, sets out to find it; Nasir is ordered to retrieve it—and to kill the Hunter. Set in a fantastical Arabia, filled with cultures and beliefs that reflect the diversity of the real-world region, this #ownvoices YA series starter features lyrical prose and an enemies-to-lovers romance.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Nocturna by Maya Motayne

First in an #OwnVoices fantasy trilogy set in a Latinix-inspired world, Nocturna introduces Finn, a face shifter, who has been in and out of so many disguises over the years she’s practically forgotten what her own face looks like. Unfortunately, she crosses the wrong mobster, and she’s given a choice: succeed at a heist inside Castallan’s royal palace, or have her magic stripped away.

Prince Alfehr faces the dilemma of trying to live up to his dead brother’s role as heir to the throne; feeling as though he will forever fail at that role, Alfie would far rather dabble in forbidden magics on the hope of bringing his brother back. When the two of them accidentally unleash an ancient evil, they have to become a team to stop it from destroying the entire world.

Read Nocturna by Maya Motayne

June

The Last Tsar's Dragon by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

Set during the Russian revolution, this novella features dragons as tactical weapons, giving it the feel of a historical fiction that happens to have dragons involved in the plot. Yolen and Stemple explore the Romanov family history, as well as royal conspiracies and the revolutions of Jews and Bolsheviks during the October Revolution. For fans of this mother-son duo, it's a chance to delve into historical intrigue.

Unraveling by Karen Lord

Told in a contemporary setting, Lord's newest fantasy could easily be called a psychological thriller. Dr. Miranda Ecouvou has helped put a serial killer behind bars, but there's more to the world than she realized—and now Chance and the Trickster have enlisted her to look more deeply into the seven unusual murders. The plot and world are both labyrinthine, steeped in #ownvoices Caribbean storytelling.

July

Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells

You might have heard something about "that angry feminist bisexual dragon YA fantasy novel" on the Internet, and that's a description that Wells has embraced wholeheartedly for her new series starter. In Shatter the Sky, Maren and Kaia expect to live a quiet life—but then the emperor's prophets steal Kaia away to join them, and it's up to Maren to rescue her girlfriend. She's determined to do it, too, even if the only way to rescue Kaia is to steal a dragon from the emperor and storm the fortress of his prophets on her own. While there's a lot in Shatter the Sky that fits into the traditions of western fantasy (including Tamora Pierce and Mercedes Lackey), but the worldbuilding includes #ownvoices Asian influences as well.

David Mogo, Godhunter  by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

This #ownvoices urban fantasy is set in Lagos, Nigeria, in an age in which thousands of gods fell to Earth during a war. David Mogo is a demigod and a freelance Godhunter. But he takes a bad gig when he agrees to catch a god for an Eko wizard—who turns around and decides to rule Lagos himself. The three sections of the novel intertwine, but each has a distinct arc, almost like separate novellas. But together, they show David's journey of self-discovery as he deals with his own feelings of abandonment and defines for himself what it means to be a demigod.

Jade War by Fonda Lee

The Green Bone Saga continues in this sequel to the World Fantasy Award-winning Jade City. The Kaul family battles for control of the capital city of Kekon, and over the jade that allows Green Bone warriors to maintain their supernatural powers. But the conflict within Kekon is only a hint at the conflicts beyond the island's borders. Other nations have become interested in the properties of Kekon's magical jade, and the Kaul family must decide whether to band together, or whether to make new and more dangerous alliances to rise to the top. This #ownvoices Asian-inspired fantasy surpasses the first in the series, delving more deeply into Lee's world.

July

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

If a Xhosa-inspired revenge fantasy sounds up your alley, this #ownvoices debut may be exactly what you're looking for. Originally self-published in 2017, The Rage of Dragons got picked up by Orbit in a new edition for July 2019 publication. The story is set in a world of war, where those rare gifted—one in two thousand women can call the dragons, one in one hundred men can magically transform into a superhuman killer—wage battles, using the rest of their people as fodder. Ungifted Tau's greatest desire is to get injured early on so he can settle down and raise a family. But when everyone he cares about is slaughtered, his goals change: he will be come the greatest swordsman in order to get revenge on the three people who betrayed him.

The Ascent to Godhood by J. Y. Yang

The fourth in Yang's "Tensorate" series of novellas, The Ascent to Godhood explores how the Protector, now dead, came to power—and why her greatest enemy, Lady Han, mourns her death. Yang's series falls into a space that is almost serial fiction (we include it in our serial roundup), because the novellas are a shorter length, and the story and world grow with each new addition.

Fans of this #OwnVoices silkpunk saga are sure to enjoy seeing how it all began—and new readers might find this a good jumping in point for the series.

Read The Ascent to Godhood by J.Y. Yang

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

There’s something going on with stitching and magic in recent fantasy, but this #OwnVoices novel features both tailors and a girl-disguised-as-boy fantasy story with echoes of Mulan. Drawing inspiration from Chinese culture, Lim creates an Imperial Court where the competition over who will become the imperial tailor—and where Maia is at risk of being executed if anyone discovers that a girl is vying for the job.

Things get even worse when the court magician takes an interest in her, because he almost certainly knows the truth. Set with the task to sew three impossible gowns, one from the laughter of the sun, one from the moon’s tears, and the third from the blood of stars, Maia departs on a journey that will either save her family, or end her life.

Given that the book is marked as the first of a series, one can only hope that Maia will survive to stitch her way through future installments.

Read Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

August

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Though this one isn't set wholly in a fantasy world, I couldn't miss out on including a Jazz Age underworld epic. Casiopea Tun dreams of life beyond her small town in Mexico, but those dreams didn't prepare her for freeing the Mayan god of death and following him into the Mayan underworld to reclaim his throne.

With parts of the novel set in Mexico City and the Yucatán and other pars set in the darkness of the Mayan land of the dead, this #OwnVoices novel is at the top of my TBR list.

Read Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Morena-Garcia

The Dragon Republic by R. F. Kuang

The sequel to Kuang's celebrated The Poppy War, the novel follows shaman and warrior Rin, now addicted to opium, traumatized by her own actions at the end of the Poppy War, and hiding from her god.

In order to get revenge on the Empress, Rin allies with the Dragon Warlord to take over her home country—but Rin learns that her new ally's motivations may not be for the good of the nation after all. Kuang uses some real-world events from twentieth century China as inspiration for an #OwnVoices fantasy full of magic and monsters.

Read The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

September

The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

If you can't wait for the 2020 live action Mulan, starring Liu Yifei, keep an eye out for this YA wuxia retelling by Chinese-American author Sherry Thomas. A cover reveal posted at Hypable also offered an excerpt packed full of martial arts action. Catching arrows? This #OwnVoices Mulan is definitely going to be our action hero.

Read The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

Arrah doesn't have the knack for her witchdoctor family's magic. But when the Kingdom's children start to disappear, she's not going to let the mystery go unsolved. But this is no simple crime spree: the Demon King is waking, and Arrah may be the only one to stop him—if she's willing to sell years of her life to gain the magic it will take to defeat him. This #ownvoices fantasy sets witchdoctors and demons and an over-ambitious mother in the path of a heroine who's willing to tackle it all to save the world.

A Hero Born by Jin Yong

It might be a stretch to consider this classic Chinese epic truly a fantasy novel, but if you love a good kung fu epic, this is absolutely a thing you need on your list. Stretching from the Song Empire to the rule of Genghis Khan, the novel follows Guo Jing, a Song patriot who joined Genghis Khan. But a greater destiny awaits him, and he must learn from the Seven Heroes of the South in order to take up the mantle of his fate.

Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger

Krueger explores the role of colonization in this #ownvoices Asian-inspired fantasy epic. The nation of Tomoda has, until recently, been a colonial power. The Sanbunas have recently won a war that freed them from Tomoda. It means that Jimuro, heir to Tomoda's throne, should despise Tala, one of the Sabuna soldiers escorting him back to him to his home nation. But the two of them are thrown together, along with a detective-and-Shang-princess-in-disguise, Xiulan, and her thief partner, Lee. The four of them team together to defeat a killer using more powerful magic than the world has ever seen—and, along the way, forge friendships that could change the progression of their entire world.

October

The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco

Climate change can be a threat even in a fantasy world, and here, a goddess has sent the world spinning into a climate shift that causes rifts between nations. Half of the world is cloaked in night, and the other half burns with daylight. The two goddesses who rule the world each have a daughter, and both have kept their secrets about which twin goddess betrayed their world.

These young goddesses are called back to the site of where it all happened... and determined to undo the damage their mothers have caused. The daytime desert setting features sandworms and sand dolphins (which is enough to put it on my TBR list right there), and the author has noted her inspiration from both Mad Max and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The worldbuilding itself is less referential to real-world mythologies, and some advance reviewers are saying it's like nothing they've ever read before. We can't help but consider that a good thing.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Eva and her sister Isa must face each other in mortal combat to decide who takes the throne, because in Myre, only the strongest is fit to be the queen. Eva has magick of both marrow and bone, a rare power, but it means that her sister may not be the only one who wants her dead.

Eva must rely on a fey instructor and a khimaer prince to teach her how to wield her own magick before it's too late. But Eva's biggest challenge may be facing the sister she still loves and fighting her to the death, because only one of them can survive. Based on a North African setting, this debut fantasy doesn't shy away from the dark and bloody, whether in magick or politics.

November

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Inspired by the song of the same title, written by Hamilton original cast member Daveed Diggs and his fellow hip-hop artists William Huston and Jonathan Snipes, Solomon’s novel takes place under the water, where generations of African slave women live now-idyllic lives, their pasts forgotten.

Only Yetu, the people’s historian, remembers the truth of their past. But the weight of the memories is destroying her, so Yetu tries to flee to the surface—only to gain the understanding that if her people are to survive, they must begin to remember for themselves. Solomon, author of the science fiction novel An Unkindness of Ghosts as well as a writer on Serial Box serial The Vela, shows their versatility with this switch into this #OwnVoices fantasy.

Read The Deep by Rivers Solomon

The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore

Doore's Chronicles of Ghadid continue as Thana, daughter of the Serpent, takes up her first assassination contract to prove her worth. Her target, Heru, is a dangerous sorcerer, and Thana isn't the only one who wants him dead. When a rival sends an undead horde to attach Heru and Thana both, Thana has no choice but to follow her target into the empire that threatens her own nation. Following a different main character from the first book in the series, The Perfect Assassin, the novel still relies on the world building of the first in this Arabian-flavored setting, so pick up book one before this one hits the shelves.

Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

Last year's Empire of Sand told the story of Mehr, daughter of an imperial governor and a mother who is one of the outcast and oppressed Amrithi people, descendants of desert spirits. Because Mehr can work desert magic, the deathless Emperor and his advisers take her captive, force her to marry, and try to break her spirit. But when Mehr discovers their plot for her magic, she stands against the tide. In Realm of Ash, Mehr's younger sister Arwa is now an adult, widowed in a massacre she only survived due to her Amrithi heritage. To try to free the Empire from a curse, she forms an allegiance with the disgraced prince, and they travel to the Realm of Ash, seeking to to find answers in the ghostly memories of their ancestors. This #ownvoices sequel returns to the South Asian inspired desert lands of the Ambhan Empire, giving readers new aspects of its world to explore.

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callendar

Set in a Carribean-inspired fantasy world, this #OwnVoices novel follows Sigourney Rose, last heir to a murdered noble family. Her people have been enslaved and massacred by colonizers for generations, and Sigourney, who has the power to control minds, is ready to take her revenge. But as she manipulates herself into the royal island and among the colonizers, she realizes a sinister magic is killing the ruling families, and she herself may be a target.

Callender’s excellent middle-grade novel, Hurricane Child, had an understated sense of fantasy and a beautifully grounded depiction of the islands, family, and same-sex budding romance. While I expect the fantasy aspects in Queen of the Conquered to be much stronger, I hope that we’ll see more of those earlier strengths.

Read Queen of the Conquered by Kheryn Callender

December

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

If you're like us here at Den of Geek, you've already taken the quiz to find out your Maji clan and you've put the date for this release, the sequel to last year's Children of Blood and Bone, on your calendar in big red pen. We're ready to get back into the world of the Orisha and find out what happens next with Zélie and Amari now that they've brought magic back into the world.

Step one is securing Amari's throne—so that Orisha's maji clans can be safe from persecution. Can't wait until December? You've got time to read Adeyemi's first #ownvoices African-centered fantasy over again!

In the Works

Choice of Games, publisher of interactive, multiple-choice novels, has two forthcoming non-western fantasy apps in production. (Disclosure: I also have multiple-choice novels published by Choice of Games, but I’m not involved in either of these projects!)

Keep an eye out for #OwnVoices Destined for Greatness, by Yasmine Fahmy, in which the reader directs the actions of a main character who keeps company with a djinn, flies magical carpets, and has to save the city of Ghariba from a nefarious dragon; and Tale of Two Cranes by Michelle and Stepanie Balaban, in which the main character helps shape the course of a battle between two warring nobles (based on the historical civil war between the Han and Qin dynasties) in an ancient China filled with magic.

What non-western fantasies are you most looking forward to this year? What did we miss? Let us know—we’ll keep updating this piece as we find them!

Alana Joli Abbott writes about books for Den of Geek. Read more of her work here.

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Alana Joli Abbott

Oct 10, 2019

Fantasy Books

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Best Netflix Hindi Movies Of April 2020 In India To Watch

The Best Hindi Movies Of April 2020 On Netflix In India

Below is the list of all Hindi movies from Andhadhun To Udta Punjab on Netflix to watch in India 

In the past year, Netflix has made huge strides on the movie the front in India: it signed an extended-term address Karan Johar, and it has a gaggle of upcoming projects from the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Ajay Devgn, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Dibakar Banerjee. But the ones are still to return, and thus far, aside from Soni, none has been a clear winner. For now, the exceptional Hindi movies on Netflix belong to different studios. And happily, the sector's biggest streaming carrier has some amazing partnerships in the vicinity, despite the fact that it's nonetheless too reliant on stuff from the existing century.

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April 2020 TV Series List: Hotstar, Netflix & Amazon Prime

To pick out the fine Hindi-language films on Netflix, we trusted Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb rankings, and different critics reviews, to create a shortlist. The latter two were preferred because RT does not provide a complete illustration of evaluations for Indian movies. Additionally, we used our own editorial judgment to feature or get rid of a few. This list may be up to date once every few months if there are any worthy additions or if some movies are removed from the provider, so bookmark this page and maintain checking in. Here are the pleasant Hindi films currently to be had on Netflix in India, taken care of alphabetically.

ALSO SEE

Amazon Prime Video Series: April 2020 Releases

Andhadhun (2018)

Inspired via the French brief film L'Accordeur, this black comedy thriller is the tale of a piano participant (Ayushmann Khurrana) who pretends to be visually impaired and is stuck on the internet of twists and lies after he walks into a murder scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte celebrity along.

Aamir (2008)

Adapted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a young Muslim NRI doctor (Rajeev Khandelwal) getting back from the United Kingdom to India is forced to comply with terrorists' needs to perform a bombing in Mumbai after they threaten his family.

Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

Two slackers (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who belong to middle-class families fight for the affections of the heir and unintentionally become protectors of the central gangster in Rajkumar Santoshi's cult comedy classic.

Article 15 (2019)

Ayushmann Khurrana is a cop in this portrayal of casteism, non-secular prejudice, and the modern-day socio-political condition in India, which explores the absence of prosecution against three adolescent girls in a small village. A hard-hitting, nicely-made film, even if satirically, has been criticized for being a caste player and having an outsider's perspective.

3 Idiots (2009)

In this satire of the Indian schooling gadget's social pressures, pals recount their university days and how their 0.33 long-misplaced musketeer (Aamir Khan) stimulated them to suppose creatively and independently in a heavily-conformist international. Co-written and directed by means of Rajkumar Hirani, who stands accused inside the #MeToo movement.

Barfi! (2012)

Set within the 1970s amidst the hills of Darjeeling, writer-director Anurag Basu tells the story of three humans (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they learn to love at the same time as fighting the notions held by using society.

Bawarchi (1972)

This remake of the 1966 Bengali movie Galpa Holeo Satya reunited the Anand trio of Rajesh Khanna, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Amitabh Bachchan, although the latter has a voice-most effective position. It's about a prepare dinner (Khanna) who offers to paintings in a household recognized for its unwell-remedy of domestic assist, handiest to grow to be the apple of everybody's eye earlier than disappearing with the family jewels.

The Blue Umbrella (2005)

Based on Ruskin Bond's 1980 eponymous novella, the tale of a young girl in rural Himachal Pradesh whose blue umbrella will become the item of fascination for the whole village, riding a shopkeeper (Pankaj Kapur) to desperation. A National Award winner directed through Vishal Bhardwaj.

Budhia Singh: Born to Run (2016)

Before he guided Jamtara for Netflix, author-director Soumendra Padhi brought us this first-of - an a-genuine-story tale of the youngest marathon runner in the world, the titular five-year-old (Mayur Patole), who completed almost 50 marathons under the tutelage of his teaching (Manoj Bajpayeee). Padhi had auditioned over 1,200 children before picking Patole.

Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017)

After an unfastened-spirited, younger woman (Kriti Sanon) in small-town Uttar Pradesh chances upon an eponymous ebook whose protagonist reads exactly like her, she units out approximately looking for the writer (Rajkummar Rao) with the help of the printing-press owner and novel publisher (Ayushmann Khurrana). Many critics loved Rao's work, whilst some observed trouble with its unsubtle script.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut about 3 inseparable formative years buddies whose wildly special technique to relationships creates stress on their friendship stays a cult favored. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta famous people.

Delhi Belly (2011)

Three suffering buddies and flatmates (Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, and Vir Das) are unwillingly stuck in the lure of a lethal crime syndicate in India's capital. Praised for his satire, his speed, his imagination, and his goofiness, even though a few have had issues with his over-reliance on scatological humor. It's all in English, and while there's a Hindi version, it's not on Netflix yet.

Dev.D (2009)

Anurag Kashyap gives a present day-day reimagining of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali romance conventional Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having broken up along with his formative year's sweetheart, unearths safe haven in alcohol and tablets, before falling for a prostitute (Kalki Koechlin).

Dangal (2016)

The notable proper tale of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who trains his daughters to turn out to be India's first world-class female wrestlers, who went directly to win gold medals on the Commonwealth Games.

Dhanak (2016)

This National Award-triumphing film from author-director Nagesh Kukunoor is the tale of two siblings — a 10-year-antique lady and her visually-impaired, 8-12 months-vintage brother — who set out on a 300-km adventure across the desert of Rajasthan to locate actor and goodwill ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, believing he can assist with a cornea transplant.

Drishyam (2015)

Ajay Devgn and Tabu megastar on this remake of 2013 critically praised Malayalam special, about a small cable operator (Devgn) who is doing everything he can to shield his own children, accused inside the missing-men and women's case of the son of a high-ranking police officer (Tabu) who was blackmailing his daughter with a nude photo. It's overlong and easy, watch the original — on Hotstar — if you're all right with the subtitles.

Dil Se.. (1998)

Shah Rukh Khan portrays a radio journalist who fell for an enigmatic feminist (Manisha Koirala) in this third and very last part of the author-director Mani Ratnam's thematic trilogy portraying a love tale against a political backdrop. It is the rebellion in Northeast India. Often recognized as A.R. The paintings of Rahman, in particular, the title music and "Chaiyya Chaiyya."

Gurgaon (2017)

Set within the titular Haryana city, this neo-noir thriller explores gender inequality and the dark underbelly of the suburban wastelands via a tale of an actual property mogul's (Pankaj Tripathi) undisciplined son who kidnaps his very own sister to repay a gambling loss. Its grittiness did not especially match audiences, however, critics were greater appreciative.

Gol Maal (1979)

A chartered accountant (Amol Palekar), with a knack for singing and performing, falls deep down the rabbit hole after mendacity to his boss that he has a twin, in this Hrishikesh Mukherjee comedy.

Guru (2007)

Mani Ratnam wrote and directed this rags-to-riches tale of a ruthless and formidable businessman (Abhishek Bachchan) who does not let something stand in his way as he turns into India's largest rich person. Loosely stimulated by using the lifestyles of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003)

Set in opposition to the politically-charged backdrop of the Emergency in the Nineteen Seventies, author-director Sudhir Mishra's film revolves around three friends (Kay Kay Menon, Chitrangada Singh, and Shiney Ahuja) whose lives are converted inside the wake of the turbulent period.

Haider (2014)

The Shakespearean trio from Vishal Bhardwaj was finished with the contemporary version of Hamlet, which is also fully based on the Curfewed Kashmir Memoir of Basharat Peer's 1990s (CNP). It follows a younger man (Shahid Kapoor) back home in a continuing violent upsurge to investigate the death of his wife.

Hamid (2019)

Sitting in the midst of the most insurgent neighborhood on the world stage, a younger Kashmiri kid attempts to reach out to his brother he's ever met to his uncle, whom Allah is ordered to be with. It was mohd's base. Amin Bhat's 'Cell No.786' was awarded the National Prize, although it was deemed a little tougher by other observers.

I Am Kalam (2010)

A smart and poor kid (Harsh Mayar), the son of a former noble family and influenced by India's late President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, whose social circle in his youth had a destructive impact, has become a directorial debut of Nila Madhab Panda. Mayar was awarded a national prize.

Ittefaq (2017)

Inspired by means of the 1969 Yash Chopra movie of the identical name, which itself became a remake of the 1965 movie Signpost to Murder, an acclaimed author (Sidharth Malhotra) and a younger homemaker (Sonakshi Sinha), the best witnesses and suspects in a double homicide, gift special variations of activities to the investigating officer (Akshaye Khanna).

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008)

Imran Khan made his appearing debut — in creator Abbas Tyrewala's directorial debut — as Jai, a mild-mannered, peace-loving younger man, who is the opposite of his high-quality pal Aditi (Genelia D'Souza). The two start to look for a companion publish-university, oblivious and blind to how perfect they are for every other, as their pals and own family recognize very well.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008)

This 16th-century epic is a probably 3.5 hour-long tale of the same Mughal emperor (Hrithik Roshan) and Rajput princess (Aishwarya Rai), who, as he knows, is still his identical political union, and who will become true love. In a rising number of intolerant India, his message has only been informed but strong. It's led by Gowariker Ashutosh.

Koshish (1972)

In 1961 Gulzar rebuilt the Japanese film Happiness of Us Alone as a deaf and mute pair with Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri (now Bachchan). Their lives had been influenced by their courtship for several years, as their young people had started. Gulzar and Kumar were both recognized for their composure and their iconic depiction of illness on an Indian show computer.

Kahaani (2012)

A pregnant girl (Vidya Balan) travels from London to Kolkata to search for her lacking husband in creator-director Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-triumphing mystery, scuffling with sexism and a cowl-up along the way.

Kapoor & Sons (2016)

After the heart failure of their grandfather (Rishi Kapoor), distant brothers return to their home adolescence where they have to confront a host of other issues in their society. The star is Alia Bhatt and Ratna Pathak Shah.

Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006)

Having kept a successful property supplier (Boman Irani), his son and his son's friends are forming a scheme to replicate a swindling squatter and compensate him less for it along with his own cash, to compensate for a freshly acquired property for a ransom. The directorial debut of Dibakar Banerjee.

Lagaan (2001)

Set in the very peak of British Raj in a remote, ruined Indian region, a village farmer (Aamir Khan) is all about cricket fun with the good colonists, exchanging three years for tax relief. He was named for the Oscars by director Ashutosh Gowariker.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006)

The eponymous underworld don of Mumbai (Sanjay Dutt) continues to be electronic to the radio jockey with whom he has been smitten in this sequel to the original 2003 (also included in the list). Remarked for his willingness to combine the word with enjoyment while others think he fell into Gandhian. Co-written and directed in the # MeToo campaign, by Rajkumar Hirani.

The Lunchbox (2013)

Four managers – Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar – are responsible for four separate components of this anthology series, which is based on four women's romantic lives, deepening their passion, energy, place and natural urge. Popular for their credibility and their portrayal on the television of real people. A Netflix Original.

Lust Stories (2018)

Four administrators — Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar — helm four unique components of this anthology drama that focuses on the romantic lives of 4 women, delving into love, strength, status, and naturally, lust. Popular for their credibility and their portrayal on the television of real people. An original Netflix.

Lootera (2013)

Set in West Bengal in the early 1950s with the elimination of the regime by the zamindari, the young writer and daughter of a Zamindar (Sonakshi Sinha) is an archaeologist (Ranveer). This drama stimulated through O is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. The short tale "The Last Seed" by Henry in 1907. His graphics were widely appreciated, but the love tale wobbled.

Manto (2018)

The existence of Pakistani writer Saadat Hasan Manto (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) — one of the best Urdu writers of the 20th century — before and after the Partition of British India, whose acclaimed lifestyles in then-Bombay is uprooted and unearths his work being challenged in Lahore. Nandita Das directs.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)

Highly normal Mumbai subworld don (Sanjay Dutt) attempts to save his life by enrolment in medical colleges, and his humanity bends to the oppressive dean (Boman Irani). When his mother and dad learn that their son is pretending to be a doctor. Co-written and directed using the # MeToo Movement by Rajkumar Hirani.

Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (2018)

Born with an extraordinary circumstance that doesn't permit him to experience physical pain, a boy who grew up watching martial arts films trains to defend the prone and longs to satisfy the one-legged man who won hundred-men combat. Praised for being a fun trip that trades on film nostalgia, although it would not aspire to be greater than a crowd-pleaser.

Masaan (2015)

Neeraj Ghaywan is investigating the lives of four men at his directing debut in the heartland of India, who will all battle caste, tradition and norms. State Award Winner and the Cannes FIPRESCI Medal.

Masoom (1983)

Shekhar Kapur's directorial debut changed into an uncredited model of Erich Segal's 1983 novel “Man, Woman, and Child”, wherein the joyful existence of a family is disrupted after an orphan boy — born of the husband's (Naseeruddin Shah) affair with every other female — involves stay with them. It's a real tear-jerker, thoughts you, and complex in some places.

No One Killed Jessica (2011)

In 1999, a journalist-activist (Rani Mukerji) and the victim's sister (Vidya Balan) have brought the rightful son of a famous leader into court on the grounds of the assassination complaint against her in 1999. Extremely praised, while others have doubted their heaviness.

OMG: Oh My God! (2012)

A remake of the 2001 Australian movie The Man Who Sued God, and additionally based totally on the Gujarati play Kanji Virudh Kanji, this satirical comedy-drama follows a small-time shopkeeper (Paresh Rawal) who documents a lawsuit in opposition to God after a low-intensity earthquake — legally dubbed as an “act of God” — ends in the financial spoil. Akshay Kumar also stars.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

The inspirational acclaimed thief (Abhay Deol), who after having been detained, recounts his life that began in a negative suburban West Delhi home, is ready to conduct Dibakar Banerjee's 'second directing company, as well as to the way he became media celebrity with a spree of burglary.

Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

An actual tale of the eponymous soldier and athlete (Irrfan Khan) who received gold at the National Games, and later turned into a dacoit to clear up a land dispute. Won pinnacle honors for movie and actor (Khan) at National Awards.

Pink (2016)

A legal professional (Amitabh Bachchan) comes out of retirement to assist 3 girls (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, and Andrea Tariang) to clean their names against the law involving a politician's nephew (Angad Bedi). Won a National Award.

PK (2014)

A surreal comedy-drama that explores religious dogmas and superstitions through the eyes of an alien (Aamir Khan) streaked on Earth as he drops his private communicator and makes friends with a TV anchor (Anushka Sharma).

Peepli [Live] (2010)

In the run-up to an election, the farmer is pursuing the assistance of an apathetic leader who advocates suicide in order to profit from the central government's policy that requires households of departing farmers to forfeit his property owing to an unpaid government mortgage. An incisive critique on Indian farmers 'suicides, the media and political circus. Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao's aunt produced it.

Queen (2013)

A 24-year-antique shy girl (Kangana Ranaut) units off on her honeymoon by myself to Europe after her fiancé calls off the wedding a day previously. There, freed from the traditional trappings and with the help of new pals, she profits a newfound perspective on existence. Won two National Awards. Co-written and directed by way of Vikas Bahl, who stands accused within the #MeToo motion.

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Aamir Khan leads the ensemble forged of this award-prevailing film that makes a specialty of four young New Delhi men who change into innovative heroes themselves even as playacting as five Indian freedom fighters from the Twenties for a docudrama.

Stree (2018)

Based on a Karnataka city legend — although transported to small-metropolis Madhya Pradesh within the movie — this Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.-written comedy-horror follow a girls' garb tailor (Rajkummar Rao) who falls for a mysterious female (Shraddha Kapoor), who regularly disappears.

Swades (2004)

Shah Rukh Khan stars a successful NASA scientist on this based on a real tale drama, who returns domestic to India to take his nanny to the USA, rediscovers his roots and connects with the local village community inside the procedure.

Shaitan (2011)

Blackmailed by means of a Mumbai cop after successful-and-run, five buddies (Kalki Koechlin among them) level a fake kidnapping with a plan to gather the ransom on this black comedy. While a few observed it spell-binding, others were removed by its attempts to encounter as ‘hip' and ‘cool'. Produced by Anurag Kashyap.

Soni (2019)

In their everyday lives and paintings through which it influences their organizing attempts to resolve the upward drive of crimes against women through Delhi, a teenage cop who has a wave of brief anger and a cool-headed lady supervisor will battle with a profound mistake. An original Netflix.

Special 26 (2013)

Inspired by way of the 1987 Opera House heist in then-Bombay, Akshay Kumar stars as one in every of several conmen posing as authorities sellers running for the CBI — India's equivalent of the FBI — who execute a fake income tax raid on an outstanding jeweler. Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday!) writes and directs.

Sadma (1983)

Balu Mahendra remade his very own 1982 Tamil film Moondram Pirai with Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, and Silk Smitha reprising their roles from the authentic. It's the story of a younger female (Sridevi) with retrograde amnesia who regresses to a baby's intellectual nation and finally ends up in a brothel, wherein she's rescued by means of a lonely college trainer (Haasan).

Secret Superstar (2017)

Though often melodramatic, this coming-of-age tale — produced by using Aamir Khan and wife Kiran Rao — of a Muslim woman from Vadodara who goals of being a singer dealt with important social problems and broke numerous field office information in the course of its theatrical run.

Taare Zameen Par (2007)

Sent to boarding school towards his will, a dyslexic 8-12 months-vintage is helped through an unconventional art teacher (Aamir Khan) to conquer his incapacity and discover his authentic ability.

Talaash (2012)

The ensemble of this psychological crime drama is headed by Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Kareena Kapoor, in which a police officer (Khan) will face up to his future in order to settle a murder of a rank that includes an intimacy employee (Kapoor) and an opponent (Mukerji). Additional manager, co-written by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Pretty much commended, but a few think it seeks so hard.

Talvar (2015)

In 2008, a dual-hostility case in Noida was murdered by a teenage woman with an employee of the family; and the incompetent police bungle the probe with Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj, together to combine powers. Uses the influence of Rashomon to take three measures.

Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016)

In the light of their heartfelt romantic story, which discusses gender and social divide alongside the other direction, 530 friends were at war to find a position in Mumbai where they could play football peacefully.

Udaan (2010)

Vikramaditya Motwane made his directing debut with this forthcoming tale about a youth expelled from the boarding school and returned home to the Jamshedpur company region where he had to paint at his father's restrictive factory.

Udta Punjab (2016)

The dark comedy crime film shows the interwoven lives of a junior police officer (Diljit Dosanjh), a welfare activist (Kareena Kapoor), a stripper (Alia Bhatt) and a pop star (Shahid Kapoor), with the Indian opioid crisis as a backdrop.

Wake Up Sid (2009)

A wealthy, carefree and privileged son (Ranbir Kapoor), a prosperous Mumbai businessman, feels like an unholy awakening when his college fails very recent exams, after which a desiring writer friend (Konkona Sen Sharma) from Kolkata starts taking more accountability and becoming independent of himself. The directorial debut of Ayan Mukerji.

A Wednesday! (2008)

Neeraj Pandey's movie is ready between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, obviously, while a not unusual guy (Naseeruddin Shah) threatens to detonate five bombs in Mumbai until 4 terrorists accused in the 2006 Mumbai teach bombings case are released.

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[danithebookaholic-blog]

ARC REVIEW! - Royal Rogue

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Royal Rogue

By Jessica Peterson

Publication Date: July 12, 2018 Genre: Royal Romance, Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

Dear Jane, You’re a princess. I’m a thief. This isn’t a Disney movie. We never had a chance in hell of a happy ending. But I still wish I could have given you one. When we met, I had you pegged as a snob. All polo and private jets. But you turned out to be the exact opposite. I fell for you the first day we met. I lied to you about a lot of things. I don’t expect or deserve your forgiveness. You’re too good for me. But I was always honest about my feelings for you. I hope you’ll find true happiness one day. That’s the only way I’ll ever be happy—knowing you’re okay. I’m sorry— Charlie PS—don’t let your blackjack game go to crap. Practice it every day, all right? A STANDALONE Royal Romance!

Goodreads

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Purchase:

Amazon US  / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU

FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Also Available:

Royal Ruin (Book #1)

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU

FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Royal Rebel (Book #2)

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Amazon AU

FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Author Bio:

Jessica Peterson began reading romance to escape the decidedly unromantic awkwardness of her teenage years. Having found solace in the likes of Mr. Darcy, Jamie Fraser (OMG love the gingers!), and Edward Cullen, it wasn’t long before she began creating tall, dark and handsome heroes of her own.  She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, Mr. Peterson, and her smelly Goldendoodle Martha Bean.

Website / Facebook / Facebook Group / Instagram

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Review & Wrap-Up:

Here I am, yet again reading another romance! What has gotten into me?! I know you're thinking for someone who doesn't enjoy romance novels, you sure have been reviewing a lot of them! And I have! But yet again, Royal Rogue surprised me! While it was very hot and heavy, there was still a great story to keep me interested. Here's my take on the whole thing:

Five words to describe Royal Rogue: WOW!, steamy, hot, lewd, and heartbreaking.

Royal Rogue hits you hard rather early with hot and steamy, and somewhat lewd, sex scenes. Considering Charlie and Princess Jane meet for the first time in chapter three, followed by a really hot make-out scene in chapter 10, and are rolling around in bed by chapter 13, I find that rather fast, but that could also just be my conservative view on things, I'll admit I can be a little prudish on things. But on top of that, it's not your normal romance novel sex scene either. I mean compared to some of the things that happened in E.L. James' Fifty Shades trilogy, Royal Rogue looks like child's play, but it was still more than I expected for the first go round!

Sex to the side, I enjoyed the story. I found the concept of a con man dating a princess as interesting and fun. To see how they connect over some of the most random of things, things that you would think would fit one, but not the other, was fun in and of itself. The concept of them possibly ending up together once Jane finds out that Charlie was a con man I found to be ridiculous, but that's my real world view on things and I guess I'm not as optimistic as Charlie. (But then again, never did I ever think an American would marry the Prince of England! Had I known, I would have been chillin' by the palace every day! Way to go, Meghan!)

I actually teared up when Charlie is found out. The love is there, and I could picture those screaming blue eyes as he poured his heart out in explanation. And if Jane's heart didn't break for him, mine did. But my heart also broke for her. I know what its like to be hurt and broken so bad that your world crumbles to pieces around you, and here Jane is going through it a second time. She is one brave and strong woman!

I enjoyed Royal Rogue so much that I purchased the first two books in the series as well. Book one, Royal Ruin, is about Kit, Jane's brother and future King of England, and book two, Royal Rebel, is about Jane's brother Rob, the Playboy Prince. So I do hope that Jessica Peterson has plans to finish the series with a fourth book about Jack, Rob's twin brother, and his hot body guard (which she alluded to in Royal Rogue). Don't forget, you can purchase all three by clicking the links above!

 From one bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix. —Dani

Dani's Score out of 5: 📚📚📚📚

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Love this book? Check out Saving Grace by Vi Carter

Grace knows that the only way she can survive life, is to bury her past. But nothing stays buried forever... It’s been two years since she lost so much. Two years since she started a new life, in a new college, with a new group of friends. Two years, and now her troubles are rushing back. When Derek walks into Grace’s life, he makes her feel things she’d hoped never to feel again. The box she hid all her secrets in is opening, and Grace might not be able to keep it shut this time. As each of her traumas resurfaces, Grace isn’t sure having Derek at her side is enough to save her. And if he’s not, Grace isn’t sure she’ll come out the other side fully intact.

*** You can read my review for Saving Grace here. ***

Pair it with: Nitty Gritty Cabernet Sauvignon

Flavors of dark berries, plum, mocha and vanilla.

Pair with slow-braised venison or grilled steak.

Buy a bottle (or two or three) here.

Start a conversation: How would you react if the person you loved betrayed you?

Have a book you’d like to suggest or one you’d like me to review? Please feel free to leave your comments down below.