Tag: 10-rated

Mask & Dagger Series by Teresa Edgerton

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date April 17, 2021
19 Comments on Mask & Dagger Series by Teresa Edgerton

Books 1 & 2: Goblin Moon / Hobgoblin Night by Teresa Edgerton
Genres / Tropes: 18th Century Alternative History, Fantasy, Alchemy, Search for Atlantis and Philosopher’s Stone, Zorro-like Vigilantes
Published: 1991 / 2015
Similar Books: Sorcery & Cecilia by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Books by Georgette Heyer, Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater, The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells, The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens, The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
Rating: 10 of 10. Highly Recommended.

The Plot:

Two alchemists try to raise a dead magician who may know how to make the Seramarias Stone. Two women try to flee a vengeful fairie halfling and her troll minions. A secret glassmakers guild plans to raise a submerged Atlantis-like island. A half-mad, sleepdust-addicted Zorro-like vigilante risks all to expose black magic cartels and the slavers’ trade. And no one can make sense of the homunculus and the golem out in the world. Clearly, a lot happens!

Tags #histficreadingchallenge, #Mythothon, 10-rated, action-adventure, book-tropes, fantasy-fiction, favorites, Gothic, historical, reading-challenges, SFFgenre, the Fae

Best of List Memes Watchlist

Wednesday Weekly: 20 TV Shows I Binge-Watch(ed)

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date March 31, 2021
32 Comments on Wednesday Weekly: 20 TV Shows I Binge-Watch(ed)

I discovered a cool meme recently, The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge, hosted by Long and Short Reviews. The topic for March 31 is TV Shows I Binge-Watch(ed). Here they are, and maybe you’ll find something new-to-watch here!

1 / Jessica Jones (Season 1)

Why I binge-watched: the “neo-Noir” tones, a Marvel Comics hero rediscovering confidence, great friendships, Krysten Ritter as Jessica, David Tennant as Kilgrave, and Melissa Rosenberg’s screenwriting.

2 / Stranger (Seasons 1 and 2)

Available on Netflix. A public prosecutor teams up with a cop to fish out the corrupt, while their two departments remain at loggerheads. Realistic but still marvelously uplifting.

Tags 10-rated, animation, favorites, Funnies, kdramas, listmania, mysteries, period dramas, SFFgenre, shows, Wednesday-Weekly

Books Recommendations

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: A Tough Scifi Must-Read

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date March 26, 2021
13 Comments on The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell: A Tough Scifi Must-Read

^{Not one sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.}
Matthew Ten, Verse Twenty-Nine

I read The Sparrow some time back, but I am reviewing it here only now. The book raises some uncomfortable questions about our perception of and our (according to the book, unfounded) expectations from God. Mary Russell does a spectacular job of blending science and religion in this book. For both agnostics and believers alike, this is a story that will send you reeling.

The Sparrow is set in the future, and revolves around Emilio Sandoz. Emilio is a devout Jesuit priest and a good man whose friends love him. Sandoz’s biggest strengths are his self-awareness, and his faith in God which can move mountains. But that faith is about to be tested.

Tags 10-rated, first contact, science-fiction, SFFgenre, theology, Top101

Art & Illustration Books Music & Poetry Starred Recommendations Watchlist

More Japanese Recs: Folklore, Haiku & Anime

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date March 23, 2021
8 Comments on More Japanese Recs: Folklore, Haiku & Anime

This is the final month for the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge, so I really had to hurry up with this one. I had two main recommendations for this month: Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa, and an anthology of Japanese Haiku poetry compiled by Yamamoto and Addiss. And although not “literature”, also the superbly mind-bending scifi anime, Paprika.

Tags 10-rated, animation, fantasy-fiction, folklore, Japanese Literature, poetry friday, reading-challenges, science-fiction, SFFgenre

Books Starred Recommendations

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date March 18, 2021
10 Comments on Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs

Wild Sign Gifts from Santa — Wild Sign is Book #5 for Cloak & Dagger 2021

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs was like water after a reading drought! I was half afraid that the series would have lost its charm, but I needn’t have worried. Happy to report that this was an awesome read.

Tags #CloakDaggerChal, 10-rated, mysteries, SFFgenre, Urban Fantasy, Weres

Books Starred Recommendations

Princess Floralinda & the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date February 22, 2021
11 Comments on Princess Floralinda & the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

Tamsyn Muir is better known for her Gideon the Ninth, winner of the 2020 Locus Award for Best First Novel. Princess Floralinda & the Forty-Flight Tower is a novella in a very different universe, and is just absolutely wonderful.

A witch has locked up Princess Floralinda on the 40th floor of a tower. Floralinda now just has to sit there patiently till a prince comes along to rescue her. Except to do that, he has to battle out a monster on each of the 39 intervening floors, starting with the diamond-scaled dragon on Flight One. Floralinda agrees to wait.

And waits. And waits …

Tags 10-rated, comic fantasy, coming of age, cozy-fantasy, droll-wit-humor, fantasy-fiction, favorites, SFFgenre

Memes Starred Recommendations

Top Ten Literary Crushes

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl. This is Valentine’s Day week — so, a good time to think about my top 10 literary crushes over the years.

Tags 10-rated, listmania, OTPs, top10tuesday

Books Recommendations Watchlist

Shit, Actually by Lindy West: ROFL Funny Book

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date January 21, 2021
9 Comments on Shit, Actually by Lindy West: ROFL Funny Book

I recently read Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West — and it was just what I’d been looking for! Hilarious relook at old blockbuster movies, with tons of punchlines thrown in. Nobody is spared (not even the movie Fugitive, which as per West is “the only good movie“, haha) and every single movie trope and trick is held to the microscope for a close and hysterically funny analysis.

Trust me, this book makes you laugh like crazy. Pick it up on one of those downer days, and watch your gloom evaporate.

Tags 10-rated, essays, favorites, Funnies, non-fiction

Art & Illustration Books Memes Recommendations Watchlist

Japanese Mythology Recs: Ogiwara, Mononoke & Moribito

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date January 14, 2021
16 Comments on Japanese Mythology Recs: Ogiwara, Mononoke & Moribito

Lately, I’ve been consuming speculative fiction centered around Japanese mythology / Shinto creation mythology. Putting up a few reviews here as part of the Japanese Literature Reading Challenge 2021.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara

This book is part of the Tales of Matagama series but you can also read it as a standalone. Saya lives in the village, with no memory of the past. She finds comfort in her worship of the God of Light and his children. But the God of Light has been at eternal war with the Goddess of Darkness, and only the Water Maiden can wield the Dragon Sword and bring that war to an end. Saya’s world comes crashing down when she discovers that she is that Water Maiden.

Tags 10-rated, 8-rated, 9-rated, animation, favorites, historical, Japanese Literature, JDramas, mythology, SFFgenre

Best of List Books Music & Poetry Starred Recommendations Watchlist

Best of 2020: Yearly Round-Up

Post author By Lexlingua
Post date January 1, 2021
6 Comments on Best of 2020: Yearly Round-Up

Finally, 2021 is finally here, and hope this year is better for all of us! Happy New Year to everyone, well-deserved, I say. But before we close this chapter of our lives, it’s also time to recount some of the bright spots — the best of 2020.

Note: Some of these have been discussed in my previous Favorite Books of 2020 list too — so do check out that list as well!

Tags 10-rated, best-of-year, favorites, listmania, wrap-up