#lady muir

[barracuda-shark-games]

Does the noblewoman have a little dog that gets scared very easily?

Yes and she wants more cheese and macaroni RIGHT NOW!!!!

Haha I often don't think about how her name is Muriel because her nickname and preferred name amongst friends is Muir, so that's how I refer to her in my head. Gonna update that on the RO page because it's what I use for her tag. :')

(Also ngl it took me a minute to get the reference and the first thought in my head was a trembling crusty white dog in a handbag, which is also so funny to picture if you know what Muir's secret lifestyle entails.)

[dustykneed]

WOMEN 😩

oh ABSOLUTELY.

(based on this f!bones dedicated to @muirmarie in spirit :3333 🩵💙💛)

[tindome-art]

So.

Our Lady of the Passion.

Nickname "Pash".

Today, because of a Viva La Dirt League's "Epic NPC Man" binge, I learned that "pash" is, let me quote Oxford English Dictionary:

slang (chiefly Australian and New Zealand). intransitive. To kiss, embrace, engage in amorous fondling.

MUUUUUIIIIIIIRRRRRR!!!!

[clonerightsagenda]

was discussing how Gideon seems to have inherited knowledge of pre-Resurrection memes from her dad, speculated that maybe it's a soul thing, then paused and said with genuine horror "memes are the DNA of the soul"

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

TOP CHARACTER OF ALL TIME (bigcats-birds-and-books edition)

hi yes hello @asexualbookbird tagged me to do the TOP FAVE CHARACTERS thing. in the name of Gender Balance (with a pivot point of "N/A"), i have gone with seven (7) options for you all to vote on. choose wisely.

(no non-option option, if you don't know any of these people but still want to push a button, show laverne some love, i think she'll need it most and she's a fucking delight)(and then go check out NOTHING BUT THE RAIN, because it's SO GOOD)

i tag: @sixofravens-reads, @emoclone, @e-b-reads, and @pyr0clast, if you wanna play!! no pressure, as always

[hollywoodlady]

Hope Lange for 'The Ghost and Mrs Muir' (1968 - 1970).

[sharry-arry-odd]

We Suffer said, "Ah! Are you secretly an expert on the stellar craft of your people, Crown? That is a very useful piece to have in our box of tricks," but Crown just laughed.  "Oh, only secondhand, Commander. I had a massive crush on a boy who was really into shuttles," she said, and added wistfully, "He had a great body. A dancer. /Loved/ shuttles . . . didn't look at me twice, so I fell head over heels. Story of my life." The bodyguard said, "What happened? You eat him?" Crown said, "A boy like that? Not all at once."

Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

[ourladyofomega]

Vernon Drive Grocery in Vancouver.

📸: roaming-the-planet (Flickr)

[lilareviewsbooks]

More Short SFF Books!

Guys! Thank you so much for the love on my post on short SFF books! It was a lot for a tiny little blog like me lmao, and it made me feel very appreciated - thank you, again! 

I thought that because of all that love, this deserved a second edition. So, since short SFF is definitely my specialty, and I won't stop reading these novellas any time soon, here's some other SFF short books I think might be worth your time!

Also, check out part one of this list if you’d like some more books in this vein :)

The Monk and Robot Duology, starting with A Psalm For The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

152 to 160 pages

duology (so far!! I'm hoping and praying, Ms. Chambers!)

queer rep of all kinds, but our protagonist is non-binary! 

If you know me, then it's a surprise this didn't make it into the first edition of this list. I love Monk and Robot! They're My Favorite Books, so rest assured that they come very highly recommended!

This one follows Sibling Dex, a disciple of Allae, the god of small comforts, as they decide to change the course of their professional life and become a travelling tea monk. Along the way, they meet Mosscap, a very friendly robot, with one question - "what do humans need?" There's just one problem: robots have been living in the wild for generations, and they haven't interacted with humans since they gained consciousness. Can Sibling Dex handle this responsibility?

I hardly have the words to describe this one. This is a sci-fi, I guess, but it feels like a fantasy -- it's just so atmospheric and draws you into this utopian and equitable world full of nature and community. Monk and Robot really emphasizes the best parts of life, the best parts of humanity. It will warm your heart because you will see your life in it - in all it's smallness and its gorgeousness. It's perfect if you want something that's short, sweet, and with a conflict that doesn't span the whole entire world, but is focused instead on two people - or, I guess, on one person and a robot. 

Mandatory reading for everyone! Get your hands on a copy, you won't regret it!

Our Lady of Endless Worlds Duology, starting with Sisters of the Vast Black, by Lina Rather

176 to 192 pages

duology

sapphic rep

We're staying on theme here, with another religious-y pick. I give you: Sisters of the Vast Black! This one is about nuns! In space!

Some time into the future, the Catholic Church is alive and well. The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita live on their (get this) living ship, a gigantic animal they use to navigate between space stations and planets. I think this one is worth it just for that concept, I fell in love with it!

This book follows the Sisters as they receive a distress call from a colony, and find out that the Church's means might be more nefarious than they seem. But, mostly, it's about the sisters themselves, as they grapple with their faith, the ever-changing universe and the questionable morality of the Church. 

I loved this one! Not only are the characters very compelling, the setting is just so cool. This concept of the living space ship is so fucking neat, and the duology gets down to the nitty-gritty of it. Not to mention, the idea of religion, and contemporary religion in particular, surviving mostly unchanged into the future is so interesting! I don't know if it's me being nerdy, but I just found the concept here so, so compelling, I couldn't resist bringing these books home with me!

The Seventh Perfection, by Daniel Polansky

176 pages

standalone

I don't remember it being queer, but I could be wrong??

I guess this is also kind of religious in a way lmao. The Seventh Perfection follows Manet as she searches for someone for the God-King, who runs the kingdom she lives in, using her perfect dominion over the seven perfections to help her.

The unique thing about this book, though, is how the story is told. Instead of following Manet's perspective as she goes through her city, interviewing people, we only see one side of her dialogue. As Manet speaks to a shopkeeper, for example, we are only treated to his answers. In this manner, its up to the reader to put some pieces together.

Although it is nothing too complicated, - especially for veterans of books such as The Locked Tomb or fantasy behemoths like A Song of Ice and Fire, with their crazy amount of characters - the structure is pretty unique. Like Esme N pointed out in her Good Reads review of this one, it kind of reads as if you're a POV character in a videogame, going NPC to NPC. I'd say this one is for the anyone who likes different approaches to stories in SFF, and enjoys being a little bit confused!

Elder Race, by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

201 pages

standalone

no queer rep that I remember, either

Elder Race is an interesting one, as well. This one is definitely for fans of books with almost anthropological approaches to culture, such as The Left Hand of Darkness and A Memory Called Empire. Elder Nyr is a scientist, sent to another planet in order to explore it, who lives in his space ship. Except that, for the locals, that space ship is a giant tower, and Nyr is its mysterious sorceror of legend. Now, Lynesse comes to search for him so that he can help her deal with the threat of demon.

The result of the interaction between Lynesse and Nyr, and the fact that each of them have POV chapters, means that this reads as almost two separate books. One of them is a sci-fi, and that's Nyr's perspective, who is from a society with very high-end technology, and sees all problems as matters of science. Meanwhile, Lynesse sees everything as magical, so hers reads almost like a fantasy. It makes for such an interesting experience!

I think about this book constantly, and have been wanting to reread it for ages. I quite liked this particular approach, not to mention the concept! Plus, I love books that go deep into culture like this one. And, of course, it's from prolific and famous author Adrian Tchaikovsky, who wrote the Children of Time series, and although I haven't read the rest of his work, I've heard this is a good starting off point in case you want to get into his other books.

Princess Floralinda And The Forty-Flight Tower, by Tasmyn Muir

146 pages

standalone

non-binary rep

I'm always singing Ms. Muir praise, and that's for a reason! This one follows Princess Floralinda, who is locked up in a (guess!) forty-flight tower by an evil witch. She has placed one monster at every floor, and no prince has managed to get through the first one, let alone trudge up the stairs to rescue Floralinda.

With impeccable sense of humor, which is a trademark of Ms. Muir's fiction, we follow Floralinda's plight as she waits for someone to come rescue her - and then eventually notices no-one might be coming, after all. Her character development is astounding, and it's so satisfying to follow her. It's also just so impressive that so much can be packed into so little pages when it comes to her arc. 

And I forgot to mention - there's a fun fairy character who will help Floralinda on her way! I think it's worth reading just for that!

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

One day I’m going to write a silly romance about a Victorian ghost who, after over a hundred years, falls in love with an eighties rocker

[guide-to-galaxy]

Top 5 (genre mash-ups) Tuesday

I liked this because I really like genre mash-ups! Even if they’re… extremely weird and confusing like Gideon the Ninth. Let’s go! But just before we go, feel free to look at Meeghan Reads blog for more prompts! 📚🚀📚 William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls by Ian Doescher (GR/SG/My Review) – Mean Girls… but Shakespearean – I had fun with this and Doescher’s done Star Wars too! Celebrate…

[bantambookeater]

Not yet, but there is one more book left!

(Three books down, final one maybe hopefully next year? we have no release date yet but it seems likely given release schedules. I think it's written already?)

I think she should climb Gideon as a ladder

[thatgeekwiththeclipons]

Remembering Academy Award Winning, 2x Tony Winning, BAFTA Nominated, Golden Globe Nominated actor Sir Rex Harrison! ^__^

[mintish0]

Drawing skeletons is goofy ahh

Ngl Ianthe is my fav character ever. The way she acts, totally careless of others but following some sort of fucked up plan she made, very girlboss of her. And also I LOVE how Muir potrays her, as a tall seraphic crazy lady thirsty of blood but yet very pale and weak. I haven’t read Nona the Ninth yet, I hope to see her again there.

Imagine a whole book abt her tho (delusional)

[no-man-no-woman]

On this note, we know that seeing Wake's portrait put Harrow's lobotomy in stress, so they must be so fucking similar. Do you think that Pash looked at the tower prince and, for a second, saw herself or, maybe (even worse), her aunt? Do you think she was at her limit in that van, unable to look the fuck away because that zombie was almost a carbon copy of her?

And what about Gideon, Kiriona, the orphan daughter of God? Do you think she saw Pash and almost had a heart atack? Gideon, who hasn't had family for most of her life, seeing this weirdly similar person, with tha same facial structure and anger, almost disgust, on their eyes.

Truly the family ever.

can we talk about the wake-pash-gideon family resemblance. when will we talk about the wake-pash-gideon family resemblance. please can we talk about how they all have the same nose.

[katakaluptastrophy]

Periodically, I remember how absolutely fucked up the necromancers in TLT are meant to look. Like, necromancy does an absolute number on people physically.

Harrow is "rather small and feeble".

Necromantic Ianthe is "the starved shadow" of her non-necromantic twin.

Our first description of Palamedes is "a rangy, underfed young man" who is "gaunt".

Silas is "knife-faced...He had a necromancer build."

Ianthe parodies make-over scenes in House novels with "if the hero’s a necromancer it’ll be described like, ‘His frailty made his unearthly handsomeness all the more ephemeral'"

Jod acknowledges to Wake that even small children with aptitude would look odd to non-House eyes: "“I have access to any number of cute pictures of necromantic toddlers with their first bone. They don’t make for fat-cheeked roly-poly babies, but they’ve got a certain something."

In As Yet Unsent, Judith brags about her previous physical fitness: "I could run a kilometre in ten minutes, which was among the fastest for my adept group in the junior reserves." Which is about double the time you might expect for a physically fit woman her age.

In non-necromancer-friendly New Rho, Harrow's body is mistaken for a child's and has to be explained as a result of starvation and trauma to seem plausible: "Pyrrha explained without missing a beat that what with everything Nona had gone through she had been ill and still didn’t eat very much, which was why she was so knobbly and undergrown. The nice lady said that yes, many of the children had problems like that, but it was still hard to imagine Nona was anywhere over fourteen, wasn’t it?"

Tamsyn Muir's descriptions of the Canaan House gang on Tumblr back this up: "Judith is somewhat less completely scrawny than other necromancers on the cast, though she should be less built than Marta is", Palamedes is "seriously underfed" and "bony", Harrow is "scrawny".

And that's just what I can think of off the top of my head - I'm sure there's more.

Anyway, necromancers aren't slender in a conventionally attractive way, they're gaunt in a concerning way...and probably the only reason no one instantly clocked that Coronabeth wasn't a necromancer was because they all just thought it was par for the course that a Third House princess would have had a lot of plastic surgery flesh magic.