Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Thoughts on The LIes of Locke Lamora
Had the title been Father Chains's Big Score, I probably would have read the whole thing. I'm treating "Father Chains" as a name rather than considering the components here, by the way.
Sunday, November 16, 2025
Thoughts on the Demon Princes Series
Hey, wait a minute! I think those fellows might not have been demons at all, except in a figurative sense!
Friday, March 5, 2021
Some Notes on The Worm Ouroboros
Spoilers!
I have the impression this is one of those influential books that people know about but don't actually read. So I read it. It's hot stuff.
Some fantasy stories try to emulate logic-free fairy tales while others depict worlds unlike our own with a rationalesque style as if they were histories or biographies. This is the sort of story which gestures at the first style while standing on the second. Names like Demonland and Brandoch Daha prepare readers for the strange curses and ancient mores which do indeed follow, but at the same time the politics and generalship that drive the plot are earthly and reasonable. Much like the discussion of elven trade routes in The Hobbit that leads to the wine barrel escape, The Worm Ouroboros turns the mundane matter into adventure and uses the fantastical as decoration rather than as the foundation.
This book sure loves messenger speeches.
The only thing that contributes more to creating the fantasy world of this story than the dialogue is the letters. Every single one of those is great.
It ended weakly. The Ouroboros imagery was tied to Witchland, and associating it with Demonland or all Mercury at the end is unsatisfying. Some sort of return to the framing story might have helped as well.
I have the impression this is one of those influential books that people know about but don't actually read. So I read it. It's hot stuff.
Some fantasy stories try to emulate logic-free fairy tales while others depict worlds unlike our own with a rationalesque style as if they were histories or biographies. This is the sort of story which gestures at the first style while standing on the second. Names like Demonland and Brandoch Daha prepare readers for the strange curses and ancient mores which do indeed follow, but at the same time the politics and generalship that drive the plot are earthly and reasonable. Much like the discussion of elven trade routes in The Hobbit that leads to the wine barrel escape, The Worm Ouroboros turns the mundane matter into adventure and uses the fantastical as decoration rather than as the foundation.
This book sure loves messenger speeches.
The only thing that contributes more to creating the fantasy world of this story than the dialogue is the letters. Every single one of those is great.
It ended weakly. The Ouroboros imagery was tied to Witchland, and associating it with Demonland or all Mercury at the end is unsatisfying. Some sort of return to the framing story might have helped as well.
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