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Tag: RIP V Challenge

I will never catch up on reviews

Published 1 Oct 2010 by Gin Jenny

…if I don’t do a bunch of short ones all at once. Thus: The Golden Mean, Annabel Lyon I checked this out on Gavin’s recommendation and because I love Alexander the Great. Your claims that he was a psychotic alcoholic have no effect on me because in my mind he is exactly the way Mary Renault writes him in Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy. The Golden Mean is about Aristotle when he comes to Macedon to tutor young Alexander. Though Lyon was clearly influenced by Mary Renault’s books, she gives a more nuanced picture of Alexander, showing a…

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Review: The Exception, Christian Jungersen

Published 27 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

Buried in Print posted a review of Diana Wynne Jones’s Charmed Life the other day, and as I was preparing jubilant remarks in my head to comment on the post, I saw that there was already a jubilant-remarks comment on the post, by Jenny, and I was like, Whoa, did I comment on this post in a fugue state? It freaked me out, so I hastily clicked “Jenny” and that is how I found….British Jenny! Hooray! (Hi, British Jenny!) British Jenny had just read a book that was translated from the Danish (I am trying to read more books in…

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Review: Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve

Published 10 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

All right, I give up. Philip Reeve isn’t for me, and Arthurian stories may not be either. Here Lies Arthur is the story of Gwyna (if you are expecting her to turn out to be Guinevere, like I was, revise your expectations now and save yourself some confusion), who is taken in by Myrddin, a healer and wise man traveling with conquering soldier Arthur. At once Gwyna is caught up in Myrddin’s quest to make Arthur a legendary king capable of uniting all of Britain. It’s my favorite kind of story: a story about stories. And yet, and yet. One…

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Challenges and a request for advice

Published 6 Sep 2010 by Gin Jenny

As you have probably all heard, the R(eaders) I(mbibing) P(eril) Challenge has returned! September and October are the months for the blogosphere to be reading books that are spooky and mythic. I have made up a tentative list of books for myself, and I shall pick the best ones to read this month and next month. On Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta Tooth and Claw, Jo Walton The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve (does this count? I can’t decide) Affinity, Sarah Waters Blue is for Nightmares, Laurie Faria Stolarz The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos…

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