#tenthragon

[thelonelybrilliance]

Is Tenthragon really going to just ... end like that?????

[incomingalbatross]

Seven chapters into Tenthragon! Disorganized bullet-point reactions below, by chapter.

Ch. 1-2:

I love the atmosphere so far.

These chapters do well at establishing that Brendan really is doing his best for Patric and cares about him (even if the evidence might not be enough for a small child to find security in that).

Despite that, Brendan also really gives the feeling that there is Danger here—not only that Patric isn't safe here unless he stays within bounds, but that Brendan is in some way constrained. If this were fantasy, there'd be a curse in this house.

(I have a very general idea of what or rather who IS in the "other house," but only very general. I don't know any of the whys or hows or plot developments, really.)

So it SEEMS like there are two Marys, and if so that's really something you need to EXPLAIN to the small child, guys.

Also, I don't like that thing of Mary trying to scare him into behaving by citing Brendan. I've seen that tactic before, and it is both unhelpful and unfair.

Ch. 3:

No, I don't like Mary. That's HIS money. Let him spend it. :(

Oh good. They DID explain the twin thing. Paddy doesn't need that stress.

She bought a SWITCH? It is not her job to buy a switch for a child who isn't hers! Much less to threaten the boy with it when his actual guardian didn't even want it in the house and doesn't know she got it!

Ch. 4:

Even allowing for the fact that this is all being filtered through Paddy's perspective, the list of People I Dislike here is growing. Why do they seem to enjoy scaring children.

Tentatively putting Ludovic Tenthragon (mentioned only) at the head of the list, though.

Ch. 5:

This! Is why you don't make children under your care afraid of you! They're scared to tell you when something goes wrong and then it gets worse. (It's fine, I'm sure this is the ONLY time something like that will happen here…)

Poor Paddy, locking out the dragon. (If I heard strangers partying on the other side of my wall I would ALSO be uneasy. It's bad enough being in a hotel room by yourself at night.)

Brendon gets significant points for this night. But also YES, sir, Paddy is afraid of you. Part of it is just that you all live in a cursed house.

Ah, so Eann Tenthragon was a LITERAL prodigal son.

…Tentatively removing Ludovic from the top of the list. Awaiting further information.

Oh. Oh BOY. Yes, I see someone else owns the coveted top-of-list space.

Ch. 6:

Very glad Paddy is getting along better with Brendon. Sad Brendon can't spend more time with him.

Prue is very good at appreciating music.

Continue to really admire the atmosphere. The way it's not fantasy and yet in every important way, all the fairy tales are true and Paddy's surrounded by them.

Ch. 7:

All right, the dragon is Hugh. ...I can see how that fits in.

(For the record, I would like to state that it is NOT Paddy's fault this house is so confusing. If I saw a house that looked exactly like mine I wouldn't notice it was facing west instead of east either.)

OOF. So he didn't KNOW Paddy was there. Yes, I see the rock and hard place Brendon has been living between.

STOP TERRIFYING THE SMALL CHILD

See, the fact that he's talking to a seven- or eight-year-old who he wants to terrify makes it difficult for me to tell how much of the supervillain monologuing is sincere—but on the other hand, the fact that he's saying it with the intent of being believed is quite bad enough. The malice is real, and it's frightening.

In conclusion: someone save the child. I'm going to stop here for the night, before I get sucked in.

[healerqueen]

Thank you, @isfjmel-phleg! I am very intrigued. I didn't know Constance Savery had written an adult novel in addition to her children's books. It sounds like Tenthragon includes many of Savery's favorite tropes in an even deeper way.

A PSA for any of your followers who are as intrigued by your Tenthragon-blogging as I am: the text is now available on the Internet Archive!

Google doesn’t return it, but searching ‘Tenthragon’ into the Internet Archive metadata search brings up the 1930 US edition. (I won’t link in case it breaks the ask.) I’m not quite sure why it’s been made available ~2 years earlier than expected. Possibly the copyright was never renewed?

Either way, I was very excited to see it available. Your / @valiantarcher / @incomingalbatross’s commentary on it had got me super interested, and I read it all yesterday over 10 hours straight :’)

I have SO many questions and thoughts which I would love to talk about once they’re coherent. But hopefully in the meantime this can get some more new fans on the Tenthragon bandwagon!

Thank you so much for letting me know! Here's the Internet Archive link if anyone is interested.

I'm very glad to hear that you read it and enjoyed it, and I would love to hear your thoughts and questions whenever you're ready!

[valiantarcher]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

Day 7:

Most memorable character:

There are even more good candidates than usual this year, I can narrow it down to a few though. Hugh, the extremely conflicted and disturbed initial antagonist of Tenthragon (Constance Savery) is introduced as a straightforward villain, but as his background unfolded the reader begins to pity him and long for his reconciliation. His brother and the rest of the household are all excellent characters in their own rights, but Hugh is the most dramatic, and the one who changes the most. Mr. Land, the miracle-working father of the narrator in Peace Like a River (Leif Enger - again, a book full of finely-drawn people) also deserves notice. He is, ostensibly, the main character, and as one of the most deeply loving fictional characters I’ve ever encountered he gives the tale its heart and impetus. Jonathan Harker (Dracula) gets a mention too, I was fully invested in his story from the beginning and his character growth is truly impressive (though in some ways not positive). He’ll get special attention in the next post. ;D

Most annoying character:

The journalist detective Jimmy London in Calamity in Kent (John Rowland) - he does a fair amount of lying and goes so far as to withhold a lot of information about the murder from the police simply for the purpose of trying to get a scoop. A slimy individual all around.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Forbidden Doors by Constance Savery, the original UK version of the novel that would be revised and published in the US as Tenthragon, enters the public domain in the US in the new year!

[incomingalbatross]

That response from Hugh also makes perfect sense, yes!

Oh, VERY good point. He does want Paddy to be a younger version of himself, doesn't he... and instead, the closest comparison (as both he and Brendon note!) is Robin. Poor little Robin who never seems to have taken part in the angers and resentments.

YES. Paddy's learned a warped idea of what love and virtue are, particularly as applied to him by adults, and of course he can't work his way through it! He has nothing else to work FROM.

Right, exactly... and these choices of Hugh's are illuminated by his later choices and the explanation of his precise history with Quentin, aren't they. So many of his choices are made out of fear as well as anger, but that means he has no experience in what could happen if he didn't listen to his fear. And when the truth finally comes out, he IS cut off from Brendon, so his fears were partly right! But the secret is that he has to be brave AGAIN, deliberately, and do the right thing without fear. Then he does have his brother back, and can start to heal, even though he's in a pragmatically worse position.

(My changing attitudes to Hugh were a journey, and very well-done writing on Savery's part.)

(And yes, that makes sense. I'd have to study him more to make any specific guesses, but he doesn't seem mentally well. Again, understandable!)

It IS. It just stabs at you over and over again, because children are so powerless! Defenseless against injustice not only practically but mentally, because in a case like this they may not even be able to understand that it is injustice. They can only hurt.

Oh, absolutely! Brendon's been driven into his own patterns and limitations and coping mechanisms, and he's worked so hard to be Good and Responsible and Stable for all the various people relying on him that he's had very little room left for even acknowledging his own damage, let alone actually coming to terms with it.

Oh, that's interesting that it was in first person originally! I do think the switch to third was a good choice for the story.

I came out of this book with a whole-hearted condemnation of Quentin that... probably isn't totally fair in light of the book's larger themes (the first dragon turned out not to be a one-dimensional monster, so should I really assume the second one is?), and it's also only fair to acknowledge that A) the other grownups do seem to think he cares for Paddy and B) Paddy ISN'T a child standing between him and an inheritance, but is his own heir. But at the same time I can't get away from my conviction that this man should NEVER BE ALLOWED WITHIN FIFTY FEET OF ANY CHILD. And certainly, as you say, he managed to hurt Paddy (who is like Robin! Robin, who was killed!) even in that limited window of time.

They are SO young. Exactly. That broke my brain. Hugh was still a teenager when we met him! Brendon is, honestly, barely an adult. Of course they're not okay. They haven't had any kind of time to become okay, not on anything approaching their own terms.

Oh yes, I did catch, and love, that! And I can see that, by the terms and themes of this narrative, things kind of have to turn out better in the future. For one thing, Hugh has broken the cycle, which means Paddy shouldn't have to be trapped in it; for another, the brothers are united with each other and with Paddy for the first time, which should mean they can do more than any of them managed previously. And... I think it was Mary Two who said something about taking your own retribution being wrong because it leaves no room for God's retribution? Which implies that Hugh's choice to let go and surrender his own fight is, by the terms of the book itself, creating space for God's grace and God's judgment to work freely in their situation.

But YES, I would have loved a sequel. This is a story that could have made very good use of a sequel.

Anyway. I love the three Tenthragon boys (and they ARE all boys—even more than I realized when I first called them that). Definitely going to be reading this again in the future. And thank you for your thoughts!

Completely unedited and unexpanded reading notes on Tenthragon Ch. 8-19

Ch. 8

(filled with rage) Mary!!!!

That is all I have to say about chapter 8. This poor BABY. He doesn't understand how rules work! Scaring him doesn't HELP!

Okay wait I do have something else to say, and it's that I genuinely don't know what Hugh was getting at with his hints about Brendan's relationship to Paddy.

The obvious idea is that Brendan is Paddy's father, but then A) Hugh wouldn't hate Paddy if he weren't the Snake's son, right?? and B) Hugh says Paddy IS their cousin, implying he is ALSO something else.

This suggests a relation might be through Paddy's mother's side--was she a relation of theirs? I don't think she could be Hugh and Brendan's sister, though, because I think someone said she lived in China.

*throws up hands*

Ch. 9:

Paddy trying to hide from the Nightmare Guilt lurking in his mind is all too relatable. :(

Wait did Ellen say Hugh TOOK Paddy from his parents? I mean, no names obviously, but the baby mentioned has to be somebody we know and there's nobody else. How does THAT fit in here?

Ellen. Thank you for giving good advice, but also TAKE IT YOURSELF. If it's better to be punished by Brendan than kept in bondage by Hugh (and it IS), act on that? Don't ask the child to braver than you're being.

Ch. 10

Hugh: *tortures a child*

Hugh: UGH why are you always crying

I DO understand that he's replicating what Paddy's father did to him.

…That should really make him LESS surprised by the results.

Ch. 11:

All right, Hugh suffers SOME pangs of conscience. Not enough to actually face what he's doing, but some.

Ugggh this man. Wilfully fighting back against his softer feelings toward Paddy, of course, but I'm also just mad how he assumes Paddy will ENJOY misbehaving or breaking things. Even when Paddy says he doesn't want to! Hugh doesn't listen!

Ch. 12:

"surely you love him well enough to trust him?" That's the WHOLE THING, that's what Paddy can't get to, because he can't tell what's reasonable and what isn't so maybe a person like Brendon WOULD still cut his thumbs off for what he did! Maybe that's a reasonable consequence in Brendon's eyes! He can't piece together that that's incompatible with his love and respect for Brendon. Because he is a CHILD.

Hm, the sister lived in Other Thragoness all her childhood and Hugh refuses to say any more. Some evidence she could be Paddy's mother, then.

Oh NO poor BABY (he was caned)

Ch. 13:

Hugh: Hm. Why does hurting my baby cousin/nephew feel bad. Why am I trying to make him feel better. Why CAN'T I make him feel better by just pressing a button and magically turning off all his hurt feelings, it's like my actions have consequences

Ah yeah, Hugh's got a point, doesn't he? The "telling Brendon" threat isn't just empty, it's more likely to end HIS world instead of Paddy's.

Hugh: Well, having recreated my childhood trauma, I guess I'll recreate the consolations we got as well! Please don't examine any of this too closely (SUCH a mess)

And he literally HAS a way out of this self-created trap. Brendon wants to tell him Paddy's here! He is asking for an opportunity! And Hugh decides to keep going with the layers of lies instead.

"Hugo mio" aw that's cute

"DON'T TELL ME HE'S LIKE ROBIN I DON'T LIKE THOSE IMPLICATIONS"

"You would like him yourself if you knew him." OOF

Ch. 14:

Can't believe Paddy told Hugh he was "mean" for the first time ever and it was over Hugh's teasing him with a glimpse of "the baby"

(Also that Paddy's immediate reaction to hearing the baby was in the house was "Brendon doesn't like it better than me?" <3)

Brendon's a knight for the costume party. Of course.

Hugh speaking well of Quentin is…a lot. But also OW the blatantly awful things lying BARELY under the surface of what he tells Paddy--and that is the best he has to tell! It's just All Awful! 

Of course, this isn't sustainable either. But give Hugh credit, he has very little practice thinking about other people's emotional welfare. He's trying not to be actively cruel here!!

Ch. 15:

Oh no, baby. :( Progress with Hugh is good but a barrier between him and Brendon is BAD. Unfair to both of them.

Ugggh, ANOTHER unjust adult in his life. Just what Paddy needed.

"Did you enjoy living at Victoria Lodge?" "Why, was I meant to?"

NO

Brendon is his world! And yet he believes Brendon might cut his thumbs off! THIS is why little children are so vulnerable!!

He's HURTING HIMSELF ON PURPOSE to make a chance for Brendon to take care of him. HONEY

Oh the ESSAY. The best thing Miss Prince ever did was send Brendon Paddy's essay.

His mostly-dead relatives are his imaginary friends. I can't believe Paddy actually brought MORE Gothic to Thragoness.

His imaginary dad is just a version of Brendon who approves of him AUGH

He's REENACTING THE RING ABUSE AS A PRETEND Brendon get this child some better occupations

Ch. 16:

No Brendon not like that

…The flipside of the problem is that Brendon ALSO doesn't get that Paddy loves HIM. Because Paddy doesn't TRUST him and Brendon is misdiagnosing the symptoms (and doesn't have confidence he CAN do a decent job with Paddy)

Hugh. Hugh. I GET that you can't cope with Brendon's feelings being hurt either, but it doesn't help to yell at Paddy without actually explaining what he did wrong, and it ESPECIALLY doesn't help when this whole thing is your fault

(Though tbf, Paddy HAS been hiding his problem from Hugh. And Hugh doesn't want to see anything unpleasant unless it's put directly in front of him, so)

Hugh is such a WILD mixture of growing self-knowledge and complete blindness to Paddy. "Not that YOU would know anything about living in dread of discovery, of course"

Ch. 17

Ah yes the WORST POSSIBLE PERSON to catch Paddy. SURE WHY NOT.

All three of the Tenthragon boys are having the WORST DAY IMAGINABLE.

Incredibly impressive, though, what coherent characters both of these brothers are even filtered through Paddy's POV.

Oh Brendon. Buddy. I understand what you're doing, and Hugh literally asked for it because he can't achieve emotional honesty to save his life, but DON'T.

Ch. 18:

Okay, I did not give Brendon enough credit. I mean, I still suspect he doesn't know how MUCH he means to Hugh, but he's putting more even thought into this than I thought.

Paddy loves Hugh too. :( It shouldn't have been his job to learn to understand Hugh, but he has a bit anyway.

He's writing LETTERS to Hugh.

No one is entirely happy and everyone concerned here misses each other and it doesn't CHANGE anything

Oh, the mysterious sister is here?? She's here with her husband???

Auggggh the Snake is HERE.

UGGGGH the sleeper command to "obey Brendon" at the beginning of the book came from HIM? Of course it did. Lifelong expert in frightening children.

Hey. Hey Hugh. Thanks for stealing Paddy when he was a baby.

Ch. 19:

…Oh. Somehow I did NOT place that all the tragic Tenthragon deaths probably weren't accidents.

…Really should've picked up on that.

Oh GOLLY. (Quentin getting legal and financial guardianship over Hugh.)

Hugh telling the whole story in third person because he can't deal with actually TELLING Paddy.

I repeat: even if it wasn't Hugh's intention, the arrangement he put into place ended up being probably the best outcome possible for Paddy.

…I'm sorry, are you telling me that Hugh is STILL NOT A LEGAL ADULT. CURRENTLY.

I knew he was young, but…

That's what you DO miss when POV is filtered through a nine-year-old.

(Brendon might still be in his twenties himself, then. He probably is. OOF he has had WAY too much on his shoulders for WAY too long.)

(He IS in his twenties. He's I think twenty-five?? What an INCREDIBLY good adult he's been.)

Noooo, Brendon, Paddy DOES deserve to know. He's already in the middle of this, he should get to navigate it with some understanding of what he's seen.

Oh, all right, if Hugh didn't want it read then it's fine. Hopefully Paddy can wait a bit to understand his family fully.

Dread.

It ends THERE?

[incomingalbatross]

IMPORTANT: I've just found out that Internet Archive has Runaway Robot, top-tier kids' sci-fi novel, available for borrowing. If you would like to meet my favorite robot of all time, please go read it. Rex is a delightful narrator, is too good for this world, too pure, and he deserves appreciation.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Because absolutely no one demanded it but I wanted to talk about this anyway:

Most of the designs for my main cast are holdovers from the earliest version of the story, written when I was fourteen and still deluding myself about drawing.

The character that would become Rachel was originally an authorial insert, so she basically looked like fourteen-year-old me. Later on, I hated having a self-insert, and it took me a while to decide to revamp her into someone who does have things in common with my younger self but has been allowed to take on an identity of her own. This included giving her strawberry blonde hair, making her look more like my youngest sister, or Dorothy Gale in John R. Neill's illustrations, which pairs well with some visual associations of Rietta and Ozma that I wanted to make.

Rietta has lots of dark curly hair because of some drawings I had made as a child of someone called Rietta fitting that description. No idea what that original context was, but I liked it enough to reuse both name and hair. I haven't changed because it's become an iconic part of how I picture her, and the springy curls reflect her personality so well. Her having some Mediterranean features (thanks to her pseudo-Italian mother) was a later development as I better defined the nations' cultures. It's a way of visually emphasizing her outsider status despite being the queen.

Delclis has reddish-brown hair for incredibly dumb reasons. I'll spare you the full story, but the short version is the original incarnation of the story, which was overtly fantastical in painfully derivative ways, drew from some thing my siblings and I made up as kids, including a concept of my brother's of a nation where the monarch take as a ceremonial name the name of a type of snake. That was a thing in Corege in the earliest draft, and Delclis's ceremonial name was...Copperhead. So I literalized it and gave him reddish-brown hair. That horrific detail got dropped, thank goodness, but Delclis's design stayed and morphed into his having a coloring and build and features that I could tie to his love of plants. Hair like the color of certain trees in autumn. Much better. It also contrasts him with the rest of his family, showing his disconnect from all of them.

I originally made Elystan a dark-haired puny little person as a vague nod to illustrations of Eustace, because original Elystan was just there to be a bratty character with a redemption arc (badly executed!). That connection is practically nonexistent now, but I like the visual of him with the high contrast between hair and complexion, a bit eerie-looking. The black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes also accidentally make him resemble a) a character from Tenthragon and b) quite a few comic book characters, and I'm fine with that. His originally being described as very short and thin was what led to the creation of his health issues as the story developed into what it is now. It makes him very different visually from his father, Delclis, and Josiah, and that's necessary.

Amarantha's design didn't have any references or reasoning behind it. I was fourteen and drew a brown-eyed brunette probably because that was my description. Her distinctive hairstyle comes from a later attempt to ground the story in more historicity. At this point, it was set in a pseudo-1540s, so Amarantha's hairstyle was inspired by styles meant to be contained under a cap. Fortunately, it translated decently well into the current setting and has become a visual symbol of her uptightness.

Tamett originally had a very bland brown-haired design with no distinctive features, because I didn't bother to put much thought into him. Later, I realized I needed a visual contrast to Josiah and made him blond. I can't remember if I did that before or after deciding he was from pseudo-Scandanavia. (His Noriberrian heritage is actually a very recent development.) The blandness of his design has become a feature, reflecting his role as professional shadow.

The basic designs of the Liennese royal family came from a royal family in an imaginary city that my brother and I created as kids; beyond that, there wasn't a lot of thought put into Josiah's design. The more distinctive features came later. It's important to me that he look very ordinary, not conventionally "good-looking," to emphasize that he's not as perfect and exceptional as he has been raised to think he is, and it's significant that he more strongly resembles his father but the features he gets from his mother will become more prominent with character development. His greater height and larger build also make him almost a comedic visual contrast with Elystan, which is fun to picture.

[incomingalbatross]

Positive things:

Done with my semester!

Finally read elusive Constance Savery novel Tenthragon

Jonathan Our Good Friend Jonathan has returned to my inbox

Really started to build a sense of camaraderie in our minuscule English grad student cohort this semester, and we're forming some Plans for the English graduate organizations next semester (I get to sit back and take a supporting role in the formation of said plans, which is how I like it)

I have half a season of BNHA stored up that I haven't seen yet

Still haven't heard back about the potential university-affiliated England trip, but I talked with one of the people in charge today and she said they should be sending out application responses soon. Which is good to know!

I can read stuff. And watch stuff. Without the nagging awareness I should be thinking about schoolwork instead

My sister just told me to try We Bare Bears and one episode in I can tell this was good advice :)

I don't actually know how much more free/unscheduled time I'll end up having this summer--my work hours are about to shoot up, I think, which has its pros and cons--but I have the IDEA of free time. I could go on outings with friends! Or with family members! Or by myself!

[incomingalbatross]

ACTUALLY the first thing I have to do with my free time (tonight and/or tomorrow) is read Tenthragon. Which I borrowed, promptly realized I didn't have time to read, and am going to have to return in the next couple days.

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

Day 10:

The book I read but have already forgotten:

One of the Patricia Wentworth titles is ringing no bells - the rest I have a general idea of the plot and a few standout scenes at least, but Outrageous Fortune is just... gone. :P

Book with a scene that left you reeling:

I can’t pick between Tenthragon (the END), Dracula (Mina crying “unclean” was pretty gutting), and Things We Couldn’t Say (when Diet was working in the laundry at the camp...). I thought for sure Peace Like a River was going to deserve a mention but the writing was just so... gentle? The awful events weren’t easy or sugarcoated, but I always felt prepared - I suspect the author was deliberately avoiding the shock factor, and the narrator had such a calm and gentle “voice”.

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

Day 9:

Favorite non-romance relationship:

There were a lot of really good options - the found family of children in The Fog Diver, Brendon caring for little Paddy in Tenthragon, Maia and his staff in The Goblin Emperor, and the “Crew of Light” from Dracula, who trusted and loved each other so well. Ultimately the true stories of Diet and her dedicated resistance friends in Things We Couldn’t Say caught my attention the most. Real people, welded together by suffering and a singleness of purpose more worthy than any encountered in fiction. Together they hid their Jewish friends or neighbors and engaged in small acts of defiance, taking a stand against the evil which had engulfed the rest of their world. Most of them spent time in prison or concentration camps, and many were killed - faithful unto death to each other and the cause.

Best non-fiction book:

I got through a total of nine last year! Three times as many as 2021, hah, and my goal was only to read five or six, so I’m thrilled. The best one was either Things We Couldn’t Say (Diet Eman) or Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis).

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

This year I got through 36 books - and as usual entered the new year still in the middle of several I’d expected to finish. :P More finished than in 2021, though. Since I’ve been tracking the number of mysteries for a few years, that’s sitting at 12, a very solid 33%!

Day 1:

Overall - best books read in 2022?

Scanning the list, obvious standouts are, in order of appearance, Things We Couldn’t Say (Diet Eman), The Goblin Emperor (Katherine Addison), Peace Like a River (Leif Enger), Tenthragon (Constance Savery), Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis), and Liturgy of the Ordinary (Tish Harrison Warren).

Best series you discovered in 2022?

I read a couple of Book Ones this year which I decided to enjoy as stand-alones based on reviews of the later books (The Fog Diver and The Goblin Emperor). The only new series I continued has an excessively long final book in which I remain bogged down (Hero at the Fall, Alwyn Hamilton). So no real standouts in this category.

Best reread of the year?

It’s hard to believe, but I only got around to two rereads this year! The Tower at Stony Wood (Patricia McKillip) pulls ahead of The Silver Branch (Rosemary Sutcliff) - both are warm and heartening with characters I love, and The Silver Branch is the one I plan to make a graphic for one of these days hah. But the McKillip I had only read once, and longer ago. The reread was therefore more of a surprise and delight, and the sibling relationship was excellent. And I already said I love the characters in both books, but can I just emphasize that Cyan Dag is wonderful?!

[idratherdreamofjune]

Fortnight of Books: 2022

Day 12:

Book you still aren’t sure of your feelings on:

While my feelings on it overall are very positive, Tenthragon left me very conflicted about the ending. Some discussion with @valiantarcher and @isfjmel-phleg helped, but I’m still not reconciled to the author’s decision (and I don’t think they are fully either - ladies?).

Series you gave up on in 2022:

I answered this back on Day One - however, due to Mel’s input I’ll tentatively reconsider the sequel to The Fog Diver, leaving just The Goblin Emperor follow-ups in the discard heap. I enjoyed the book itself heartily, but the next books in the series follows a secondary character I don’t care to see more of.

[valiantarcher]

Fortnight of Books: 2021

Day 1:

Overall - best books read in 2021? Girl at War by Sara Novic. Paper and Thorns by Elijah David. The Man who was Magic by Paul Gallico. Beyond the Desert Gate by Mary Ray. Fox’s Book of Martyrs by John Fox. Henry and the Paper Route by Beverly Cleary. Henry and the Clubhouse by Beverly Cleary. Tenthragon by Constance Savery.

Best series you discovered in 2021? I read a couple of duologies, but I think there was maybe one new series I read a book in - if it is, I didn’t like it well enough to try to track any other books in the series down.

Best reread of the year? I reread 28-29 books this year, so that’s hard! High on the list are The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs, The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, and the first three Fairy Tale Novels by Regina Doman. Honourable mentions also to the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery, and a couple of E. Nesbit rereads.