This book illustrates many of the strengths and weaknesses of the Epic Fantasy genre. As expected, a lot of ink is spent on detailed and evocative setting descriptions, and especially in the opening chapters there is a huge and detailed hierarchy of metaphysical beings. The plotline opens with a series of intricately described but unrelated…
Month: June 2024
REVIEW
“Pentimento Mori” by Valeria Corciolani
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This is very different murder mystery. A story of art dealers and ancient relics, of forgeries and academics. And above all, about people. Each new character is a work of art, described in the articulate detail of an art dealer’s catalogue. And each is an individual par excellence, including one that seems to be a…
REVIEW
“Maine Under Water” by Allison Wittenberg
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This is a fascinating novel: an extended character story where nothing happens. That’s the whole point. Maine is at a turning point in her young life: she is changing schools (from Junior to Senior High, from segregated to integrated) but she has nothing to do for the summer. Her friends and her boyfriend are all…
REVIEW
“How to Love in Sanskrit” by Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh
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Translation of ancient writings is a many-edged sword. The advantage is that you are presenting works that have stood the test of time; they obviously appeal to the human condition. However, they are also taken centuries out of context. Oh, yes, and in a different language. Which tempts the translator to explain everything too much.…
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“Of Pigs and Meteorites” by G. Dorchak
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This is billed as a book of “mildly interesting tales,” but it plays more like series of evenings on the back porch with a sack of suds, shooting the breeze with the old geezer from down the street. The plotlines of the stories are best summed up in his own coined word, “unnoteworthy.” He doesn’t…