Book reviews/battle: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey vs. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik

My good friend suggested (let me make it clear: it was not a recommendation) that I check out Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. He had just started reading it, and as I later found out, he wanted someone with whom he could share the rage, disgust, and bafflement. I should say now that I have other good … Continue reading →

The challenges of writing medieval romance

Along with A is for Alibi, I picked up a romance novel on a whim — not by an author I’d read before, though Goodreads indicates she’s quite prolific. I did not finish the book, so I’m not going to name it (because this is going to be pretty critical, and it doesn’t feel fair to … Continue reading →

Book review: Longbourn by Jo Baker

This past week I finished Longbourn by Jo Baker. Pretty much every rave review you may have heard about this book, including the NYT review, is justified. I won’t try to write a better review than so many others have done, so I’ll just summarize what makes this book (::cough:: a published fanfic, by the … Continue reading →