Archive by Author

Fantastic Apprentices: Remedial Magic and Assistant to the Villain

21 Feb

Remedial Magic
by Melissa Marr
Remedial Magic is the new novel by Melissa Marr. In the creative world Marr shaped, people only find their magic when they are in the most dangerous of circumstances such as about to be in a fatal car accident or falling off a cliff while hiking. Their magic saves them and they are then brought to a magical realm, Crenshaw, where they are enrolled in the equivalent of magical community college. Hobs, manifestation of magic are there to assist them. Unfortunately all is not currently right in Crenshaw. Prospero, a long time resident hopes that amongst the recent arrivals Ellie, a small town librarian, may be the prophesied savior; sparks fly between the two women as well as between several of the other characters. If you are looking for a romantacy series more adult than Harry Potter, but more whimsical and fun than the Magicians than this novel will delight. The book ends on a cliffhanger so I’m interested to see what book two in The Course of Magic series has in store for its diverse cast of characters.

Assistant to the Villain
by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Assistant to the Villain begins with out of work Evie Sage happening upon a very unusual job opportunity to assist the empire’s most notorious villain. If you enjoyed John Scazi’s recent Starter Villain, you should also enjoy this more fantastical spin on the concept. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook version read by Em Elridge. As with any story where the villain is in the protagonist role, often Evie is left looking more like the hero and less truly evil as is her boss and love interest, The Villain, whose perspective we are also given in the novel. Warning though, this one also ends on quite a cliffhanger. I’m glad to see that we are beginning to have more humor and less grimdark in Fantasy works that are coming out recently. While there is a place for serious speculative fiction, many of my favorite works manage to slip in a few laughs and smiles rather than keeping things bleak. 

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Horrors Retold: What Feasts At Night and Interview with the Vampire the Series

14 Feb

What Feasts at Night
by T. Kingfisher
I had enjoyed Kingfisher’s previous novella with Alex Easton, What Moves the Dead, so was curious to read Alex’s continuing adventures. The character is loosely based on the soldier from the Poe story, Fall of the House of Usher. In Kingfisher’s stories, Alex Easton is a retired soldier, who by custom of their homeland, though they used female pronouns as a child, now chooses to use the nonbinary term specifically reserved for sworn soldiers; Gallacians also have pronouns specific to religious leaders. In this story they have traveled from Paris to their family’s Hunting Lodge along with their faithful servant Angus. When they get to the Lodge they are surprised to learn the Groundskeeper had passed away. They are soon joined by Miss Potter who had aided them with their previous mystery and is curious to study the local mushrooms. The dialogue between the characters is charming, but the possible cause of the mysterious illness that has afflicted the village suitably spooky for horror fans to enjoy. The novel can stand alone from What Feasts at Night so you can enjoy this story without having read the previous one, but both are highly recommended. This is the perfect book to snuggle up with on a wintry day, though I’m not sure if I’d recommend reading it right before bed, lest your dreams become haunted.

Interview with the Vampire: Season One
As a teen goth, Anne Rice was of course one of my favorite authors and though I was less enamored with her later writing, her early works to me still hold up as classics of vampire fiction. I had enjoyed the adaptation of Interview with the Vampire with Tom Cruise as Lestat and Brad Pitt as Louis so was interested to see what this newest interpretation would bring to the stories. While the former holds closer to the originals and has some memorable performances, the series still held my attention with its slower pace which allows some changes and additions to the back stories of the characters which gives them slightly more depth than they previously had. The series feels more somber than the movie and the book it is derived from. In this version Louis is played by Jacob Anderson and re-imagined as not a white man of French descent, but instead a wealthy black man who keeps his homosexuality a secret. Claudia is also of African descent in this retelling and is played by Bailey Bass. Due to the Louisiana setting of the story, this lets the series explore issues of racism and slavery that were only hinted at before. If you enjoy this series, Mayfair Witches, about a modern descendant of witches, based on another book series of Rice’s is also available to stream.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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