Daily Archives: May 11, 2008


His Majesty’s Dragon (Naomi Novik)

His Majesty’s DragonNaomi Novik I waited a bit too long to write this review to have a completely detailed memory of this book, but maybe I’ll reread it and fill out this brief sketch later. The thing that stands out most about this book is, of course, the style. It’s written with the dialect and rhythms of the period (beginning of the 19th century, the Napoleonic Wars), which is a bit off-putting (unless you read a lot of classical work, I suppose) until you get used to the flow. It’s very convincing, which helps – I can’t remember any anachronistic […]


Companion to Wolves (Monette & Bear)

Companion to WolvesSarah Monette &Elizabeth Bear I wasn’t sure what to make of this book till the very end. I began with the awareness of the underpinnings of social commentary, having read various discussions online about the idea of Isolfr taking on a woman’s role, and thus emphasizing the artificiality of gender constructs. However, as I went through the actual journey of the book, that point never really came to the forefront for me. I enjoyed the fluid writing style, and was fascinated at the eleventh-hour involvement of the svartalf… it was a strange, sparkly sort of thing to find […]