#k o'neill

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries below:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep. Fantasy, secondary world, epic fantasy, romance, adult

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons. After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own. Graphic novel, middle grade, fantasy, dragons

[skygemspeaks]

Reread the first two tea dragon books today and i had forgotten how much i loved the series!!

Also finally got around to reading the third book and it made me cry so much with how tender it is 🥺 the amount of character growth was amazing, and i really liked how it handled some very heavy topics like grief in a child-friendly way!

[bookcub]

tea dragon society aesthetics: rooibos dragon 🍒

[noahsbookhoard]

📚August 2024 Book Review (Part 3/4)📚

I am so late on these posts, this is a disaster. Long weeks, lack of Internet data and a newfound interest in House M.D. will be my doom.

4:48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane

The last, short play of Sarah Kane, relating in a loose dialogue between a doctor and their patient - or maybe between the patient and herself - relating her pain and struggle, shortly before she took her own life.

I knew Sarah Kane from her Theseus play (if it doesn't speak of a tormented mind I don't know what could). But this play, has dark and desperate as it is, it was mostly sad. It felt like a cry for pain and anger and despair that came to late for anyone to hear.

I can't really find much to say because it feels wring to analyse the literary qualities or comment on the pacing of what felt so much like a scream in the void. This is raw emotions in sharp words and it's as beautiful as it is sad.

It has to be read not summarised but tread carefully if you are not in a right mental place.

The Moth Keeper by K O'Neill

Anya is her village's Moth Keeper, responsible to protect the moth that make her community thrive by making the Night Lily bloom every year. Every night, when her village awakes, she goes to shepherd the moth to safety and bring them back to the village before sunrise. But it is a lonesome job and it burdens Anya. When she leaves to see what life is like in the sun, the moths are left alone and her village in peril.

It's a story about community, responsibility but also about knowing your worth as a person and finding your place. Anya will have to learn both that you can't abandon your duty when it is vital to your community AND that it's okay to ask for help when the task becomes to much. That her worth is not defined by how much her village needs her so admitting you need a break is okay. It is done with great poetry and imagery.

It takes place is a desert with gorgeous art and earth tones color that I love so much. The characters have beautiful designs range from bipedal animals to anthropomorphic with animals traits (I especially love the owl Keeper of stories) and I liked how you can feel the presence of a long and deep culture in the cloths, the traditions, the stories...

Anya encompasses what lot of people feel in recent years, burnout, loneliness, worthlessness. The pression of performing, whether someone put it on us or we create it ourselves is getting heavier and heavier in our societies so I feel everyone needs to hear that they can share the burden, that they have a community to support them if they look for it and that it's okay not to be in work mode 24/7 to feel like you are doing enough.

A cute tale but a very important one, with beautiful art, I cannot recommend it enough for every ages. I need to read the Tea Dragon Society so much now!

Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

After years of war, the different species of the galaxy hold every years a singing contest design to vent out competitiveness and create unity within the already competing species but also to determine if newly discovered sentient species are sentient enough to deserve a place in the alliance. Not this is Humanity's turn to prove their worth or be destroyed: Decibel Jones and the Absolutes Zeroes, a one-hit-wonder long separated band, have only one chance to dazzle the galaxy.

From the pitch I was expecting glitters, music reference and a lot of humor. Well there is definitely that, but there's is also some ruthless competition and absolutely devastating backstories for the Absolute Zeroes and I wasn't expecting this book to hit so hard in the feels.

The story comes back to how the glam rock (emphasis on glam) band was formed, the three members (Decibel Jones, Oort St. Ultraviolet and Mira Wonderful Star, you can't make this up) finding instant fame and failing to keep it. Since Mira died and Decibel blame himself for it they both moved on, Oort especially whi know has a family. They are out of practice, out of synch and they have only a few days to write a Metagalatic Grnad Prix worthy song and they are at the bottom of their self confidence. This leads to some raw emotions and longing that felt deeper by their contrast with the more absurd comedy aspects.

In terms of humor it's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy with more glitter, there's some reflection on the absurduty universe as a whole ("Life is beautiful and life is stupid"), there's alien species of improbable forms with absolutely wild singing act... Unfortunately, the number of alien species was a bit overwhelming to me, I would be able only three months after to name or describe any of them.

This is not a feel-good comedy but it's really fun and I loved it nonetheless, the feelings that surprised me as much (maybe even more) than the ones I was expecting. It is extremely niche and a bit slow (I heard some say overwritten) at times but deeply enjoyable if you like glamrock and THGTTG.

Les Cinq by Mathieu Rochelle

The Five, a group of outlaws wandering the Kingdom of Irsinth meet a young girl, the only survivor of a plague that decimated her village like so many others across the land. In the meantime General Hiver is using all his resources to find those bandits that everyone think untraceable. In a neighbouring kingdom, a skilled assassin is sent to play a part on a conspiracy against Ursinth. Those people are meant to meet, but what links them and this terrible disease known as the Calamity?

I have always been a fan of medieval fantasy, this is the genre that got me hooked in reading. I however have never really read much grim dark but since the author is a friend of a friend I gave it a go!

At least I knew to expect morally grey characters, blood, and violence but what I really liked was the political aspects, the intermingling of subplots that lead every characters to meet and set begrudging alliance to defeat the real hidden threat to all the land. The characters have clashing personalities and that makes for interesting interactions. The girl, Tige, is the only one that felt a little out of characters from time to time.

The universe is nice although a little bit coventional for a medieval fantasy. It has some pacing issues around the middle and some elements kept throwing me out of the story (cigarettes in a medieval fantasy setting, a 15 year old girl drinking for the first and downing five glasses of whiskey like it's orange juice)

But overall I had a good time! It has not convinced me to read more dark fantasy but it was a nice change of pace from what I read recently.

[humanoidhistory]

Angus McKie's cover art for The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space by Gerard K. O'Neill, 1978.

[a-ramblinrose]

JOMP BPC || June 4 || Precious Cinnamon Roll: Greta from The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

[sarathrwizard]

Making up more head canons because I want to! (Rottmnt)

[Pain meter!]

Raph can take pain like a boss, doesn't mean he won't tear up a bit.

Leo would whine loudly when it only hurts a little. But he would suck up the pain the best he could when it's serious.

Donnie hates pain in any shape our form. He doesn't like things poking him and he doesn't like bruises. That's why he has all that protective gear! (and he especially doesn't like headaches. That's the one thing his gear can't help with.)

Mikey would ball his eyes out when he gets hurt, but when his brothers are around, he'd try and act tough about it. (but obviously failing.)

And April, She takes pain pretty well. But it all depends on her expressions to know how much she actually is in pain. Never the less, she would give a thumbs up whenever someone would ask if she was okay.

[traeumenvonbuechern]

Which books would the Exocolonists read?

Happy Exo-versary! 🚀I Was a Teenage Exocolonist came out one year ago, and I want to celebrate by recommending some books I think the main characters would love.

Book titles:

Sol: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

Cal: Taproot by Keezy Young

Anemone: Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz

Marz: TJ Powar Has Something To Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

Dys: How to Get over the End of the World by Hal Schrieve (comes out October 3, 2023)

Tangent: Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai

Tammy: The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

Nomi: Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender

Rex: So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens

Vace: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Sym: Two Dark Moons by Avi Silver

[80smovies]

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

A Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson

S.T. Gibson's sensational novel is the darkly seductive tale of Dracula's first bride, Constanta. This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . . Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things. Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death. Fantasy, horror, gothic, historical fiction, adult

Princess Princess Ever After by K. O'Neill

"I am no prince!" When the heroic princess Amira rescues the kind-hearted princess Sadie from her tower prison, neither expects to find a true friend in the bargain. Yet as they adventure across the kingdom, they discover that they bring out the very best in the other person. They'll need to join forces and use all the know-how, kindness, and bravery they have in order to defeat their greatest foe yet: a jealous sorceress, who wants to get rid of Sadie once and for all. Join Sadie and Amira, two very different princesses with very different strengths, on their journey to figure out what happily ever after really means -- and how they can find it with each other. Graphic novel, fantasy, middle grade, romance

[feeling--pink]

I have done it!! I have drawn the toitles!!! :D :D :D

[godzilla-reads]

🍵 The Tea Dragon Festival by Kay O’Neill

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Rinn has lived in her alpine village her whole life, taking tender care of the tea dragons the community is proud to host, every year having a tea festival. When a guardian dragon who’s been asleep for 80 years wakes up, Rinn decides to show the dragon what home feels like.

Out of the three Tea Dragon books (Society, Festival, and Tapestry) this one is my favorite! I love Kay O’Neill’s use of sign language in this story and the diversity of characters. Everyone helps in this community to keep it running, even Aedhan- the dragon who has awoken. Festival is wholesome and inspiring, bringing forth themes of home, belonging, purpose, and dealing with regret. Also, we get to meet a younger Erik and Hesekiel, which the two are charming as ever!

You don't have to read The Tea Dragon Society to understand this one, but it does give you a deeper appreciation for the characters and story.

[transbookoftheday]

🐉 Trans Dragon Books 🐉

One does not learn to fly without taking a leap. And one has to fall to be caught. Nomi is a young druid finally taking the chance to spread her wings and leave her home. To see the world and discover its magic, beauty… and maybe love. Calia is a dragon on the hunt for angels, trying to square an old debt. That, and to get Laura, her desired bondmate, to finally return to her side, where she belongs. Nomi immediately catches the eye of the powerful dragons. Calia entices her with honeyed words and a skillful tongue. On the other hand, Laura, much smaller but equally intimidating, takes it upon herself to protect her. Despite the warnings, Nomi can’t help being drawn to Calia's charm, her power, her fangs… and the hidden gentleness in her eyes. She promises danger where Laura promises safety, and Nomi is torn between the two. Luckily there is a convenient cult out for the dragons’ heads, providing Nomi with ample distraction and at least one dragon egg to steal, hatch, and raise by herself. Perfectly normal things for a young transgender druid to get involved in! In the clutches of dragons, battling dark forces from beyond the stars, Nomi faces the questions of who she is and who she wants to be. Whether she deserves the love offered to her, and what it truly takes to earn her wings...

Revisit the enchanting world of Tea Dragons with an all-new companion story to the two-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Tea Dragon Society, now in paperback! Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep… but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost. Critically acclaimed graphic novelist K. O'Neill delivers another charming, gentle fantasy story about finding your purpose, and the community that helps you along the way.

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive. Since they were orphaned, Arcady has scraped a living thieving on the streets of Vatra, dreaming of life among the nobility - and revenge. When the chance arises to steal a powerful artefact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history, they jump at it, for its magic holds the key to their dreams. But the spell has unintended consequences, and drags Everen - the last male dragon, who was once foretold to save his kind - into the human world. Trapped, and disguised as a human, Everen soon realises that the key to his destiny, and to regaining his true power, lies in Arcady. All he needs to do is convince one little thief to bond with him completely - body, mind, and soul - and then kill them . . . Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

Series info:

Book 1 of Tea Dragons

Book 2: The Tea Dragon Festival

Book 3: The Tea Dragon Tapestry