Bee’s Knee’s Fantasies: Wolf Worm and Butterfly Effects

17 Mar

Wolf Worm
by T. Kingfisher
Wolf Worm the latest by T. Kingfisher will be out on March 24. Sonia Wilson grew up assisting her botanist father with his research and as a talented illustrator, enjoyed creating beautiful art out of what many people would simply consider weeds. But after her father’s death she struggles to find work as a scientific illustrator until she is hired to paint a collection of parasitic insects for a reclusive entomologist. The strange happenings in the nearby woods filled with odd wildlife and rumors of “blood thieves” has her both fearful and curious.

This is an entrancing dark historic fantasy/gothic horror story that gave me the creeps in the best possible way. As someone who grew up with a biology teacher for a father who enjoyed photographing our backyard bugs, I appreciated the detailed way that Kingfisher handled the topic. Even predisposed to finding insects intriguing, Kingfisher’s description’s still were at times horrifying and I can only imagine how much dread they would inspire in entomophobics. The 1899 time period felt well researched including social issues of the time. Kingfisher’s experience as an artist, herself, brings Sonia’s passion to life. She masterfully builds dread and includes several unexpected twists. If you enjoy this story, also check out her excellent spin on Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, What Moves the Dead, and its sequel, What Feasts at Night.

Butterfly Effects
by Seanan McGuire
Butterfly Effects is the latest in Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid series, which follows several generations of the Price family (both biological and found) on their adventures. Sarah Zellaby is one of the more unusual members of the family who was adopted as a young child. Sarah isn’t human, she is a Johrlac, a species that look like pale humans with dark hair, but are actually evolved from a species of psychic wasps on a world in another dimension. By those who are aware of them, her species is typically feared and reviled on earth for their powers and tendency to cause chaos. Despite all of her best efforts at being a good person, she has been kidnapped and brought to the Johrlac home world for crimes she did not even know existed.

McGuire gives enough of the backstory at the start so that you do not need to read the other books in the series to understand this one; this books follows events most closely with the stories in Imaginary Numbers and Calculated Risk which also focused on Sarah. Butterfly Effects is told from both Sarah’s perspective and that of one of her adopted cousins. Sarah is an interesting and complex character and I think readers who are neurodiverse will especially feel a kinship with her. The Johrlac world is vividly described from its giant bugs and beautiful flowers to its unique buildings; this story will appeal to Science Fiction as well as the series’s usual Fantasy fans.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Lord of the Flies (1963) on Kanopy

12 Mar
An illustrated film poster showing a young boy’s face painted with white and dark markings, staring forward with an intense and focused expression. Abstract shapes and muted earth tones surround the figure. The title, “Lord of the Flies” is integrated into the artwork.

There haven’t been many film adaptations of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (I believe this one and one in 2001 from MGM), but Peter Brook’s 1963 experimental film (available on Kanopy) might be the only one we need because the novel itself is an experiment. When a plane of schoolboys crashes on a deserted island, they are forced to decide how they will survive. Will they follow rules and order, or descend into chaos and savagery? Will order prevail, or will the fun of living untamed win?

Brook leans more heavily into this moral conundrum than into traditional character development, which is why I’d recommend reading the novel first (it’s a short read). The terror of this film is more so rooted in what unfolds, not necessarily in one particular scene (although there are certainly a few gut wrenchers): the bullying of Piggy, the low self-esteem follower who looks to Ralph as the fair-minded leader versus Jack, the “big man on campus” whose authority acted out through intimidation rather than reason. Between these opposing forces are a handful of boys we can feel for, none more than Simon, the timid and curious observer quietly grappling with his own moral compass.

Hunting and playing all day looks fun, but can fun save them, or is it just a slippery slope into madness?

The film rolls at an even pace, and the boys’ turn toward order or disorder is implied rather than drawn out. The transitions happen quickly, sometimes too quickly, but by the midpoint it becomes very clear where Golding believed humanity would drift when in this situation. Brook captures this sentiment brutally well. He doesn’t ease the message into us but instead twists it in with the roughness of a whittled spear.

Black-and-white close-up of two boys facing each other outdoors in an island jungle. One wears round glasses and grimaces mid-sentence while the other listens closely as they share a confrontational discussion.
Black-and-white photograph of a group of young boys standing and crouching on rocky terrain, many with painted faces and holding spears, as if guarding something or about to go on a hunt.

When the credits rolled, I didn’t feel like I’d just watched a movie, but more so an apocalyptic study on the tenacity of human innocence.

Watch now on Kanopy: Lord of the Flies (Free with your library card). You can reserve the book in BCCLS here.

Comment below your thoughts once you’ve had a watch.

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Written by:
Sean Willey
Information and Digital Services Assistant

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