Tag: magic

The Autumnlands V. 1: Tooth & Claw by Kurt Busiek

The Autumnlands V. 1: Tooth & Claw by Kurt Busiek
autumnlands

Excellent introduction to a world where anthropomorphized animals live on cities that float in the sky with the help of a magic that is fading from existence.

To combat this magic shortage, a talented magic user gathers a coalition of wizards to bring a great warrior from the past to the present in order to reawaken the powers.

The warrior is surprising, his summoning has unintended consequences, and the reader, after just a few pages, finds herself quickly caught up in a strange new world.

Highly recommended for adult readers who enjoy fantasy graphic novels.

There is a bunch of graphic violence and full frontal male nudity in here so, head’s up librarians. Make sure to shelve The Autumnlands in the appropriate section.

Some similar graphic novels, though I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much as this book: Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening or Wild’s End, Vol. 1: First Light.

Thanks for reading!

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

I seem to be on a dragon themed reading kick lately. And, as far as I’m concerned, that’s awesome!

Red Ben is a dragon, masquerading in human form so that he can walk down the street without everybody freaking out. Hundreds of years before this, he signed a pact called the Lore with a bunch of other magical creatures and knights, in which, he essentially agreed to hide his existence from humanity at large and the knights, in turn, would protect him. Tonight, he was attacked twice. What’s up with that? Ben doesn’t know, but he’s going to find out. He’s also had a falling out with his lady fair. Hiding your true nature from someone doesn’t make for a healthy relationship, but Ben’s enemies seem to know Rose’s (the girlfriend) name. So, now, he has to save his hide, her life, and still preserve the Lore.

Meanwhile, in a desert in Africa, an ancient power is awakening…

I enjoyed Chasing Embers. I really dig the basic premise that there’s a magical world existing alongside ours but we just can’t perceive it. Also, the idea that the Magna Carta wasn’t a political document but a secret, magical pact is fun too.“John, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine and Count of Anjou, doth decree and grant this day, by common counsel of our kingdom, this Pact devised by the Curia Occultus and witnessed by those guardians of our realm. Those Remnants of the Old Lands, which yet linger amongst us, shall forthwith succumb to the Long Sleep…” loc 362, ebook.

The other magical creatures are straight up creepy- like magical creatures should be in my opinion. Also, Bennett seems to ascribe to the Terry Pratchett view that too much magic use thins the veil between worlds and draws attention of the things outside of this world to the magic user, which is also pretty creepy: “The nether wasn’t space, nor the ambient cosmos, but a place that lay beyond, or between, as inner as it was outer. Perhaps it was the raw, empyreal stuff of creation, for all Ben knew. Things lurked in that astral sea, creatures hungry for life, and all magic had its price. When a person drew on the nether- drew on it like a thread in a carpet- they risked unravelling the world entire.” loc 393, ebook.

The romance between Ben and Rose is just the perfect amounts of dysfunction and sparks (nothing graphic in here though for folks who look for such things): “I miss you,” she said, quiet and fierce. “I hate you.” Defeated, Ben rested his head on her shoulder, smoothing down the flowers on her dress. He let her anger hit him like a wave, tasting her muted fury at her love for him. Since he’d first crawled out of his egg, it had always been this way. Some women went for the knight. Others wanted the beast. Neither stood a chance of a happy ending.” loc 711, ebook.

Ben’s angst at his long-lived existence reminded me of Atticus in The Iron Druid Chronicles. He loves deeply but, at the same time, he realizes that those he loves aren’t going to be around that long: “Your love of humans. Do you never grow tired of it? You might as well love a sunbeam that flickers through a cloud. This world was not meant to hold them. Time will take them all so quickly. A blink in the life of a god.” loc 3112, ebook.

What kept Chasing Embers from being a five star read to me is that I thought Bennett explained himself too much. Leave some of the plot mysterious and murky, like magic itself. I don’t need to be spoon-fed why this happened or that happened. Otherwise, this was an excellent read. There’s some language in here and a few disturbing, physical descriptions, but nothing that a mature teen couldn’t handle. Highly recommended for urban fantasy and dragon readers!

Some read alikes: Hounded by Kevin Hearne or Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for a free, digital advanced reader’s copy of this book for review purposes.  And, thank you for reading!

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst

Eve can’t remember who she is or where she’s from, but there are government agents with her, protecting her. They say that her mind holds the key to solving the case(s) of a serial killer, but she can’t even remember her own parents. How is she going to help save others when she can’t even recall what happened last week? And, why is she able to make birds fly out of wallpaper? That’s not normal… is it?

Conjured is a fluffy, young adult fantasy that tip-toes around the horror genre but, mainly, remains safely in the real world of amnesia and teenage angst. This book suffers from a glacial pacing but the mystery part of the story really took me by surprise. As I mentioned, the horror elements in this story are minimal but there are some brief and not terribly graphic descriptions of blood, mental anguish, bondage, imprisonment, physical violence, and creepy circus folk.

My favorite parts of this book happened during Eve’s blackout moments or visions. They read like scary fairy tales: “It always begins with ‘once upon a time,’ my dear. That is how it is, even if ‘once upon a time’ is now.” Gnarled hands separate the strands of my hair and wind them around knuckles. “A witch…for of course there was a witch. There always is, isn’t there? She had stars in her eyes and dust in her hair. She heard the sounds of the forest when she moved and the ocean when she spoke.” pg 14 ebook. The visions set the tone of this story. They’re like nightmares for Eve- profoundly disturbing, but not real. Or are they?

I loved that Eve took a job as a library assistant. The craziest things happen at the library but it was also a place of safety for her when she couldn’t remember anything else: “Libraries… they’re the places with stories,” Eve said. Closing her eyes, she tried to summon up a memory of a library. Shelves of books. Sunlight falling across a table. She saw spiral stairs. It could have been a real place, or Malcolm could have shown her a picture at some point. It felt like a real place.”pg 17, ebook

The extraordinarily slow unfolding of Eve’s background was frustrating:“You can’t do any magic here. There is no magic in this world- that’s why this place is safe for you.” She held her face still. Another hint about her past. He had told her so much in those few sentences, more than he’d ever told her before. There is no magic in this world, she thought. I’m from another world? pg 21, ebook. I don’t know… you tell me!

The teenage love story in Conjured is cute and very John Green-esque:“Because when I’m with you, I feel whole,” he said. “Because with you, life doesn’t feel brutish and short. It feels beautiful… and short.” pg 176 ebook.

So, if you can tolerate an extremely slow reveal, pick up Conjured. Some read-alikes: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (circus themes, slow story) or Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace (a girl is asked by a ghost to help him find someone he’s lost).

Thanks for reading!

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life by Jessa Crispin

The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life is an excellent tarot card reading manual for beginners to the more experienced card reader.

I loved that Crispin gives novel, art, and film suggestions for each card so that the reader can immerse herself in the “feel” or “mood” of them. That was a lovely touch and different from any other book on tarot cards that I’ve read.

Photo by Anna Tarazevich on Pexels.com

Mainly, the books that I’ve picked up have been about tarot card theory and how the cards tie in to the Tree of Life. It’s a complex system and can only be talked about in metaphors.

Imagine my relief to read a book about just the cards themselves and not an arcane “theory of everything.”

A.E. Waite was the co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot. He had some interesting thoughts about the tarot card reading qabalists, many of whom wrote books like the ones I’ve mentioned above.

A.E. Waite’s beliefs, which Crispin includes in the chapter entitled, A History of the Tarot, were: “Waite believed that the magical systems (tarot) of the Golden Dawn and other systems were not about imposing your will on a situation… or about telling the future… He believed they were for elevating the soul and for bringing what is unconscious conscious.” pg 7.

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I believe that too. But, if you can’t explain the system in a way that makes sense, then what’s the point of writing a beginner’s manual. There can be no “elevation of the soul” if the beginners can’t understand the first thing about reading tarot cards.

Thankfully, Crispin’s interpretations are simple and clear. This is a book that will see some use, not become another expensive paperweight.

I liked Crispin’s description of Temperance: “Temperance is an easily misunderstood card, as it has become associated mostly with abstention. Not drinking, not participating, denying yourself something. But that breaks away from the origins of the card, which traditionally portrays a hermaphrodite blending two cups of water- one hot and one cold- to create something in the middle between these two extremes.” pgs 76-77

Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels.com

Temperance is about finding the middle way, not skirting along the edges from one extreme to another. Kind of ruins the idea of a “temperance movement,” doesn’t it.

I also liked this blurb about the Tower: “Remember that scene in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, where Amy throws Jo’s stories into the fire? That’s the feeling of the Tower: the realization that all is lost, and you will have to start over from the beginning.” pg 83

Yes, I’m a bookworm. Yes, Little Women is one of my favorite books. I think Crispin nailed the card’s description with that scene.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I thought this description of The Moon was brilliant: “The Moon rules our dreams, and that’s a good way to think about this card. They don’t make sense on a logical level, but on a personal level, on an emotional level, they do. The location in a dream will shift without warning; dead people will walk beside the living; your mother will show up, say something nonsensical while wearing a jellyfish on her head, and then stab you in the heart. And you wake up and think, “Oh, of course, this is about that incident that happened when I was five.”

My dreams are just like that. In fact, I had that exact dream last night. 🙂

The tone in The Creative Tarot is very friendly and conversational, as if you asked your best friend to teach you a little bit about her favorite hobby- tarot cards. Highly recommended for artists, dreamers, and aspiring tarot card readers.

Its only weakness, in my opinion, is that I wanted more… more stories, more examples. I understand that we’re dealing with 50 plus cards and they can’t all receive extremely detailed treatment, otherwise we’d get the George R.R. Martin version of Tarot card books, but a girl can dream.

Jessa Crispin has modernized a system that seems to want to stay inaccessible to the beginner. I wish more of the books about the tarot were like this one.

Thanks for reading!