Fiction:
You might be surprised to know that A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is the first book by this author I have ever read, after receiving many recommendations for her work over the past I don’t know how many years. I would consider it to be dark fantasy with some fairy tale elements turned sideways. Set in an alternate Regency-like world, across the sea from the Old Country, it opens with a child being abused by her mother in a horrible magical way: her mother controls her body like a puppet so she doesn’t move during the church service. The mother Evangeline is the sorceress of the title, and her goal is to become rich through controlling others, first by finding a rich husband for herself, and then to find one for her daughter, who is fourteen (the mother says she is seventeen). All this is complicated by the fact that in this world, the wedding ceremonies use water, wine, and salt to dispel magics, so the sorceress uses her wiles to seduce her prey and will only use magic after the ceremony, so horror is lurking in the future. The child, Cordelia, is shunted off to the potential husband’s fifty-year old spinster sister, Hester, who has a bum knee and a lover she won’t marry for fear he will pity her in her old age. As I have been told, Kingfisher does a great job with crone characters (there are several!) and a group effort eventually takes Evangeline down after many exciting plot twists. Warnings for: child abuse, mind control, horrible murders caused by mind control, and animal harm except the animal is actually a demon and really is out to get them. I don’t gravitate towards dark fantasy and horror normally, but I loved this book and recommend it.
Fire Heart: Book One of the Fire Heart Duology by Joyce Ch’ng is a book about Sword Lesbians who make swords! The protagonist goes to the city to become an apprentice and learn to make swords, which she does, after being alternately frustrated and dutiful about the effort required. She makes a friend who becomes a sweetheart, and is beginning to wonder more about the politics of her world, that include people who live on the border and cause trouble; however, the book ends before she (and we) achieve any insight into the border people and their problems. So I enjoyed the soothing “learning to do something” portion but was ultimately frustrated when I felt the story did not advance sufficiently to feel complete. I think this duology ought to have been one book.
The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison is a limited edition hardcover set in the world of The Goblin Emperor. This story begins at the same time, with the destruction of the airship Wisdom of Choharo. A disgraced scholar, Ulcetha, was falsely accused of stealing a rare artifact. He receives an odd message from his deceased friend, a pilot on the airship. This initial clue leads to more clues and eventually discovering a murder. The story had a somewhat noir feel, and ends with Ulcetha leaving for a new city. I can easily see this story becoming a series.
Fanfiction:
Jessica Moore’s Second Wind by avocadomoon was very different from other Supernatural fanfiction I’ve read. I loved this despite not having seen the relevant seasons; just the language, and the idea of remaking Heaven to be like this, was very comforting. It felt like a meditation and a thought experiment more than a continuation of the series.
Shoulder to Shoulder, Hand to Hand by cornelius is a Reality TV!AU with gay Air Force veteran Castiel Novak on a dance program, paired with professional dancer Dean Winchester. Reluctant Castiel is only doing this to get publicity for LGBTQ charities while embroiled in a court case; Dean desperately wants to win this competition, just once. Other characters from the show appear, but in very minor roles. Romance ensues, and of course learning to dance together.
the one where they flirt on the track: a roller derby AU by Badgerette takes the characters from Our Flag Means Death and makes them into roller derby competitors, and it’s delightful. It taught me some things about the rules of roller derby that never made sense to me while watching womens’ derby live for several seasons in a row. Bonus points for Edward Teach’s A-plus AU dayjob choice. Recommended!
