Tamsyn Muir is better known for her Gideon the Ninth, winner of the 2020 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 …
It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up. Inspired by the Six Degrees of Separation Meme hosted every month at Books are my Favorite and Best.
December 2020’s book is Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume, a book that’s been around for 50 years.
Margaret Simon, almost twelve, likes long hair, tuna fish, the smell of rain, and things that are pink. She’s just moved from New York City to Farbook, New Jersey, and is anxious to fit in with her new friends—Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie. When they form a secret club to talk about private subjects like boys, bras, and getting their first periods, Margaret is happy to belong.
But none of them can believe Margaret doesn’t have religion, and that she isn’t going to the Y or the Jewish Community Center. What they don’t know is Margaret has her own very special relationship with God. She can talk to God about everything—family, friends, even Moose Freed, her secret crush.
made me nostalgic for all those vintage childhood reads about important turning points in the lives of the protagonists — and of the readers. These cherished books were published long back but ring true for every age.
is set in a world where humans co-exist with the Folk and the Other Folk. It’s not a peaceful co-existence though. The Folk, who are perennially famished, require a tithe from the humans to let their cattle and crops alone. And the indigenous Other Folk, with their magical abilities, create havoc of their own from time to time.
The Folk Keeper’s job is to help keep the status quo by overseeing the tithe. Corinna Stonewall, disguised as a boy at the beginning of our tale, is one such Folk Keeper. She has lived a hard life, and is angry, , at the world. It is no wonder then that she is so prickly, always on edge, and wants so desperately to be special, to have some power over those that have hurt her.
