Fantasy Books

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 393 pages
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: August 17, 2021
ASIN: B08WJS9RV8
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Raybearer duology
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 5/5 stars

“For the first time, an Empress Redemptor sits on Aritsar’s throne. To appease the sinister spirits of the dead, Tarisai must now anoint a council of her own, coming into her full power as a Raybearer. She must then descend into the Underworld, a sacrifice to end all future atrocities.

Tarisai is determined to survive. Or at least, that’s what she tells her increasingly distant circle of friends. Months into her shaky reign as empress, child spirits haunt her, demanding that she pay for past sins of the empire.

With the lives of her loved ones on the line, assassination attempts from unknown quarters, and a handsome new stranger she can’t quite trust . . . Tarisai fears the pressure may consume her. But in this finale to the Raybearer duology, Tarisai must learn whether to die for justice . . . or to live for it.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in the Raybearer duology. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed Raybearer and the sequel to it, Redemptor, is also very well done. I was immediately sucked into the story. This is very well written, and I enjoy the magic and the characters.

Tarisai sits on Aritsar’s throne; for the first time there is an Empress Redemptor. Alongside the challenges of ruling comes the knowledge that Tarisai must descend to the Underworld as part of her agreement to end future sacrifices to it. As if this wasn’t enough, Tarisai starts to be haunted by child spirits who drive her to push herself harder and harder. With her tight circle of friends driven further away from home to deal with other threats, Tarisai finds herself increasingly isolated.

This was very well done. I enjoy the characters here and the unique system of ruling in Aritsar. I like the magic and the blend of otherworldly elements (like the Underworld and ghosts) as well. This story wasn’t what I expected it was going to be; I thought most of this book would be Tarisai’s journey in the Underworld. Instead, that was a very small portion of the story. The majority of the book is about Tarisai trying to figure out how to be a good ruler to her people, protect the everyday person from injustice, and keep her found family from falling apart.

I did like that there are some intriguing social issues discussed in this book. These are primarily issues around not wanting to have children and around not wanting to have sexual relationships. There is also a lot of discussion about overworking yourself and not getting adequate rest when you are trying to right various wrongs.

My Summary (5/5): Overall this is very well written and I really enjoyed it. It is fast-paced and hard to put down. The characters are relatable, and the story and dialogue both flow beautifully. This is a book that is very engaging and very easy to read. When I saw that Ifueko had written an additional book set in this world called “The Maid and the Crocodile” I immediately put it on my to be read pile. I would recommend to fantasy fans that like some magic in their books.

Other LitStack Spots Here are a few other titles we have our eyes on, including…

The post Spotlight on “The Penguin Book of the International Short Story” appeared first on LitStack.

 

It's time to show the books Jeffe ordered for me, because I couldn't order them myself.You'll notice they have a theme ;-)
The US hard cover of Nine Goblins!Now I will confess a certain online retailer had it listed, but when I ordered it, it went in stasis for an undetermined time as is often the case when I preorder at that particular site, so I asked Jeffe to buy it for me as she was going to send a package anyway.

I confess I wanted this edition just for these end papers alone!
The other books were the Owlcrate editions of the Sworn Soldier books.Yes! I already got my trotters on the amazing US hard covers, but just look at the pictures below! I could not resist.


What Moves the Dead







What Feasts at Night

What Stalks the Deep





I can tell you T. Kingfisher got her own shelf in my bookcase by now.

I hope you enjoyed seeing so many cool book mail pictures.I promise I'll have reviews again next week

Cover Artists Cover #8 – Jimmy Makepeace  Cover #9 – Plastiboo  Cover #10 – Matej Kollár

Black Gate has been tracking the inception and growth of New Edge Sword & Sorcery (NESS) mgazine, starting with Micheal Harrington’s 2022 interview with Oliver Brackenbury (champion and editor of NESS), through 2023 with NESS’s first two magazine releases (also Greg Mele’s review of #1), and then into 2024 with NESS’s first book “Beating Heart and Battle Axes and its two-novella combo book Double-Edged Sword & Sorcery, and then in 2025 we covered NESS‘s publication of a NEW Jirel of Joiry tale! (2025) and we interviewed one of their key New Edge authors, Bryn Hammond.

Now in 2026, NESS brings us more with promises of Issues 8, 9, and 10!

The campaign to fund and expand them ends just days after this posting (March 14th )!  Hurry now to Backerkit to get some exclusives like a poster featuring live models in full S&S costume, discounted back issues, and a cover art postcard; also, backing unlocks more interior art and bumps author payments. If you miss out, or want some of the prior rewards from previous crowdfunding, get back issues and other NESS offerings in their shop, noting that print copies often have limited print runs.

So what is in the next three issues? We asked Oliver Brackenbury that, and his answer is below. And we had a feeling Jirel of Joiry would return, and we asked Molly Tanzer to provide a bit of perspective on the heroine.

Oliver Brakenbury on What’s New for Issues 8, 9, 10

“Loving the magazine as an object, we’re increasing the page count not only to make room for new features like our letters page, but to allow us to increase the white space for a reading experience that’s even easier on the eyes. Meanwhile the paper will be upgraded to something more textured, akin to classic paperbacks. Along with the letters page we’ll be introducing our first S&S film review, and are proud to include an author profile on Howard Andrew Jones penned by his own child, Caster Jones. Finally, our special issue for 2026 is called Timeworn Terra, expanding upon a science-fantasy tradition begun by Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, William Hope Hodgson, Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique stories and more to tell tales of futures so far they feel ancient; when magic & technology blur together; our home is transformed into a wondrously strange setting; where Earth’s days are short yet still we lust and laugh!”

“Jirel in the Forest of Night” Back Cover Illustration by Saša Đurđević Molly Tanzer’s Insights on Jirel

“I always have a blast writing the Jirel stories, and one thing in particular that’s been fun for me, when it comes to expanding on the original stories, is giving Jirel more of an historical context. We know from “Quest of the Starstone” that Jirel lived in France, around 1500. While I never want to take the focus away from Jirel’s magical adventures, in “Jirel Meets Death,” I give Castle Joiry a bit of attention… it was built atop a Roman foundation, and still has a Roman bath, and I added a few servants to make it feel more lived-in. In the upcoming “Jirel in the Forest of Night,” we begin the story with Jirel being annoyed by a proposal of marriage that would be impolitic for her to refuse. While this kind of stuff isn’t at the heart of the Jirel stories, in my opinion, it’s fun to put a character known for visiting other worlds into thorny situations here in — or at least in a version of — the real world. It gives, I think, a broader sense of who Jirel is — her character, her strengths and weaknesses, her desires, dreams… and nightmares, too!”

Bryn Hammond Highlights her new story

“In this story, Goatskin certainly goes further than she has gone before, into the unknown. And the unknown gets a grip on her in ways she has not faced. This story changes her.”

Recall, we interviewed her last September. To learn more about her Goatskin yarns, and her writing muses, check out: Interview with Bryn Hammond.

Waste Flowers and What Rough Beast? A Tale of Goatskin, written by Bryn Hammond, both with cover art from Goran Gligović Check out the Backerkit campaign by clicking here! NESS Press Release

Launching on February 12th, short story & non-fiction magazine New Edge Sword & Sorcery will be running a crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit to produce issues #8, 9, and 10 in accessible digital, classic softcover, and luxurious hardcover (w/endpage art and a bookmark ribbon!) formats. These will be released in November of 2026.

Leading the charge is JIREL OF JOIRY, returning with her third new story since the originals by her creator, legendary Weird Tales regular C.L. Moore. She was the first Sword & Sorcery heroine and, like Alice in Wonderland with a big f***ing sword, Jirel had compelling adventures in bizarre dream-logic realms, balancing a rich emotional life with terrifying struggles against dark forces! Predating Red Sonja, she & Moore were a direct influence on Robert E. Howard’s writing, and others who came after.

Authorized by the estate of C.L. Moore, “Jirel in the Forest of Night” has been written by the magnificent MOLLY TANZER (editor of Swords v. Cthulhu, author of Creatures of Charm and Hunger, and so much more).

Thirty other authors are spread across the three new issues this campaign is funding, including names like legendary S&S editor Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Bryn Hammond, and Milton Davis.

With #10, NESS looks to the impossibly far future in “TIMEWORN TERRA,” a special issue featuring stories inspired by Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe, Clark Ashton Smith’s Zothique cycle, and others. Readers unfamiliar with those names will be enthralled by futures so distant they feel ancient, where sorcery has returned or technology is indistinguishable from it, where Earth is so transformed as to feel alien…yet still humanity struggles, seeks meaning, even laughs as their home world’s clock winds down.

Every story and non-fiction piece in these issues will be paired with two original B&W illustrations as soon as the crowdfund meets its first stretch goal – Double Art. The goal after that is a fund to cover shipping discounts for backers outside the United States, and from there every stretch goal is a pay raise for contributors. These goals make clear the magazine’s values of paying creators as much as they can, and making NESS financially accessible.

The magazine’s editor, Oliver Brackenbury, promises the magazine is “Made with love for the classics and an inclusive, boundary-pushing approach to storytelling,” delivering high quality writing and art in a wide variety of styles. Sword & Sorcery can be many things and still be Sword & Sorcery.

Readers should race to back the new issues before the campaign ends on March 14th, so they can benefit from crowdfund exclusives like a poster featuring live models in full S&S costume, discounted back issues, and cover art postcards.

From Feb 12th to March 14th the crowdfund is on BACKERKIT.

 

S.E. Lindberg is a Managing Editor at Black Gate, regularly reviewing books and interviewing authors on the topic of “Beauty & Art in Weird-Fantasy Fiction.” He has taken lead roles organizing the Gen Con Writers’ Symposium (chairing it in 2023), is the lead moderator of the Goodreads Sword & Sorcery Group, and was an intern for Tales from the Magician’s Skull magazine. As for crafting stories, he has contributed eight entries across Perseid Press’s Heroes in Hell and Heroika series, and has an entry in Weirdbook Annual #3: Zombies. He independently publishes novels under the banner Dyscrasia Fiction; short stories of Dyscrasia Fiction have appeared in Whetstone Amateur S&S Magazine, Swords & Sorcery online magazine, Rogues In the House Podcast’s A Book of Blades Vol I & II, DMR’s Terra Incognita, the 9th issue of Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Savage Realms Magazine, and Michael Stackpole’s S&S Chain Story 2 Project.

 

 

Douglas Adams An Author Shoutout to Douglas Adams, born in Cambridge, England, who was known…

The post 7 Author Shoutouts | Authors We Love To Recommend appeared first on LitStack.

 

This sailboat was her freedom, her heart, her hope.On the other hand, this was a plant.
(page 65, Sea of Charms ARC by Sarah Beth Durst)

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, previously hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: - Grab your current read - Open to a random page - Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their  TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/DarkFantasy
Length: 184 pages
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: December 2, 2025
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534332690
Stand Alone or Series: 10th volume in the Monstress series
Source: Bought paperback
Rating: 4/5 stars

“The Defiled, a group of Monstra long confined to the prison planet Golga, have slipped through a rift between worlds and possessed anyone who has ever held the Mask of the Shaman-Empress–including Maika, Kippa, and Maika’s father, the Lord Doctor. Without Zinn at her side, Maika will need to partner with the most unlikely of allies to fight this invasion–or risk losing everything and everyone she loves..”

Series Info/Source: This is the 10th volume in the Monstress series. I bought this in paperback format to read.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed the artwork and revisiting this world. I still find this series a bit confusing and wonder where it is going. I keep hoping we are getting close to wrapping up the storyline, but I am honestly not exactly sure what the point of the storyline is anymore. I think I buy these mainly for the cool artwork at this point.

The Defiled have slipped through a rift between worlds and have started to posses former owners of the Mask of the Shaman Empress, including Maika herself and many of her friends. With Zinn trapped by her father, Maika is forced to find a partner elsewhere to help her push back the Defiled.

This was fine; I finished it. The artwork is amazing, and I enjoy reading about these characters. I do wish there had been more of a recap because there are so many characters that I forget where we left off with some of them. I just tried to go with the flow here, the story is very ambiguous so I feel like that’s all I can do.

I don’t really understand how the Defiled play into the larger story. I felt like they were kind of randomly thrown in to create more trouble and extend the series. Of course, maybe they do tie into some earlier story elements, and I just don’t remember those earlier story elements. I don’t own the earlier books in this series anymore (I sold them when I moved), so I can’t do re-reads of this every time a new book comes out.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked the artwork here and enjoyed reading about characters I like. I am unsure about the new Defiled invasion storyline and don’t really understand what the point is. As a result, I am not a huge fan of where the story is going, or maybe I just don’t understand where the story is going. Will I keep reading this series? Probably, I like the artwork enough just to buy the series for that alone.

I would absolutely love it if there was a synopsis about how the Defiled tie in with the broader scope of this world. The lack of any sort of summary or synopsis has been an ongoing complaint of mine with this series, but I keep reading it. I think there is just something so unique about this series and I keep being drawn back to it even if it is a bit of a mess. If you enjoy dark fantasy graphic novels, I would recommend this series as a whole.

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor Books (February 24, 2026)

Length: 535 pages

Author Information: Website

Historical horror with a generous heaping of sardonic humor. That’s the way I would describe The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan, which draws inspiration from the real-life mystery of the Beast of Gévaudan, the name given to the man-eating creature that terrorized the French countryside in the 1760s, killing more than a hundred people. This novel is a retelling of those events, with a mythical twist.

Told as a memoir written by an ancient warlock named Sebastian Grave, the main plot is a detailed account of his involvement in the hunt for the Beast. Split into two distinct timelines, one follows him in the past as he is called to the region to deal with the creature, and then the second one follows him years later, when he has been asked to return once the killings start up again. Could the attacks from these two periods be related? The story jumps between these two timelines as Sebastian tries to figure it out, reliving the past to find clues that might connect them to the present.

At the same time, running through the story are also a few side threads that gradually connect Sebastian’s backstory to the larger picture. With his body serving as a vessel for a powerful demon named Sarmodel, he has been wandering the earth for centuries, the arrangement giving him immortality as well as access to certain magical abilities. An additional narrative which unfolds in a series of interludes details the succubus Livia’s exploits as she is tasked with carrying out a mission related to Joan of Arc, then later the relic associated with her remains. All these pieces come together to give the novel a wider scope, revealing the events that helped set the stage for the beast itself and the forces driving the violence in Gévaudan.

Despite the shifting timelines, the story is easy enough to follow, though certain sections are more interesting than others. But even with its complex structure, the mystery is engaging, becoming more solid as each perspective adds more context little by little. Sullivan does a good job of dropping just enough information in each chapter to keep the reader satisfied and feeling like the developments are earned rather than rushed. However, I did occasionally find the interruptions from Livia’s interlude chapters distracting, since more than once they pulled the reader’s attention away just as the main storyline was reaching its most important moments. And speaking of distractions, this might also be a good time to mention the footnotes, which The Red Winter uses quite liberally. The book really leans into this stylistic quirk, so how much you enjoy them will probably depend on what kind of reader you are.

The book also undoubtedly falls into the horror genre and gets pretty gory and intense when it comes to the beast side of things, especially its attacks. That said, the author balances the brutality and carnage with plenty of humor, especially through the narration and those aforementioned footnotes. Sebastian is a fantastic character to spend time with, and as you might expect after centuries of life, he’s amassed a vast amount of knowledge and has at least one cynical observation to offer on just about everything. He and his demon Sarmodel provide lots of lighthearted back-and-forth, adding a much-needed layer of levity to what could otherwise be a very grim and heavy story.

For a debut, The Red Winter is genuinely impressive. Sure, there are a few pacing issues to smooth out, along with some timing hiccups and moments where the character development could have gone a bit deeper. Still, these are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, and the book remains highly readable. Sullivan clearly knows the kind of story he wants to tell, and his confident storytelling reflects that. The blending of history, occult magic, and a touch of werewolf lore results in a very distinct vibe, and it’s this creativity and overall polish that give it an edge, helping the novel stand out from your typical werewolf tale.

If you enjoy stories that mix real historical events with speculative elements like horror and the supernatural, then The Red Winter will likely be right up your alley. It’s an entertaining read packed with atmosphere, combining bloody horror with a streak of irreverent humor that helps it feel fresh even in a genre that’s already pretty crowded.

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

I’ve been receiving a great many emails of late, of a kind that I’m sure many authors are getting, and I think I should probably talk about it, because it’s all such a scam. There are several flavours of scam emails that are circulating at present, of which I have personally experienced two, so let’s talk about them.

The first and most frequent email I receive are from supposed authors who enthuse about how wonderful your book is, and how much it moved them and deserves a larger audience. Some of the emails feel like their quite detailed. It’d be easy to believe that the person sending the email had indeed read it, and loved it. Here’s an example I received regarding a book of mine.

My name is [redacting as I believe they used the name of a real author], and I am a fellow author working in emotionally driven, character-centred fiction. I recently came across your Kindle edition of Human, and I felt genuinely compelled to reach out in appreciation of the emotional restraint and moral tension shaping Aleksandar’s story.

What struck me first is how deliberately you frame power as inheritance rather than advantage. Aleksandar arrives in America not as a conquering figure, but as a custodian of collapse tasked with restoring a House already hollowed by violence and history. The political weight of the Shadow Council, and the ruined legacy of House Üstrel, create a quiet but persistent pressure that follows him into every decision. Authority, in your novel, never feels clean.

I was particularly drawn to the way you explore emotional awakening inside a character who has been trained to survive without it. Aleksandar’s connection to Alicia is not written as a sudden redemption arc, but as an intrusion into something disruptive, risky, and profoundly inconvenient to the life he is meant to lead. The feelings he thought long dead do not restore him. They complicate him. That choice gives the romance its credibility and its emotional danger.

The presence of Detective Brody adds an especially compelling moral counterweight. His knowledge of what Aleksandar is and his vow of vengeance creates a rare dynamic in supernatural fiction: one where neither man is positioned as morally comfortable. Their forced proximity under betrayal and crisis becomes less about reluctant partnership and more about confronting the human cost left behind by immortal decisions.

I also admired how you position the true antagonist not as spectacle, but as consequence. The cat-and-mouse pursuit of the kidnapper is emotionally effective because it targets what Aleksandar is only just beginning to care about. The threat is not only physical it is ethical. What happens when someone who has benefited from predatory systems is suddenly required to protect what those systems would normally discard?

As authors, we both know how difficult it is to write a story that balances political hierarchy, emotional vulnerability, and violent momentum without allowing any of them to dominate the others. Human succeed because they treat conscience as seriously as it treats danger. The tension comes not only from who might survive but from who Aleksandar chooses to become while survival is still possible.

The responses from your target audiences reflect something important: readers are responding to the emotional friction at the heart of the story. Many are not simply drawn to the vampiric world or the crime-driven pacing, but to the uneasy humanity you allow to surface inside a character shaped by power, tradition, and moral erosion.

As an author, I deeply respect books that are written not simply to entertain, but to examine responsibility inside violent worlds. Human feels shaped with emotional discipline and a genuine respect for the cost of change.

If you would ever be open to exchanging thoughts on how this novel continues to reach target audiences who value morally complex supernatural fiction and emotionally grounded character transformation, I would be glad to continue the conversation simply as one author recognising another whose work carries real depth and intent.

Sounds great on the surface, right? I mean… Holy shit. It sounds like they got it.

Except, upon further reflection, it’s clear that this is just a strung-out summary of the book, likely written by an LLM. There is nothing in there that couldn’t have been gleaned from the blurb of the book. The novel itself was never read. If a close examination of the email itself doesn’t raise any flags, that last sentence absolutely should.

If you would ever be open to exchanging thoughts on how this novel continues to reach target audiences…

There it is. A hook designed to elicit a response from the receiver that eventually leads to a request for money to “help” the book reach more people. Often times, that price can be in the hundreds, of not thousands of dollars.

Honestly, the above email might have worked on me if I hadn’t received so many like it from other sources. This was the first one that tried to build rapport by posing as a fellow author. Usually they’re “book marketing specialists” or something along those lines. Those emails I can at least respect, because they don’t hide who there are and so the reasons for their emails are obvious. Like this one.

My name is Mary Jesus, and I’m a book marketer. I recently came across your novel, The Lioness of Shara Mountain, and I want to sincerely congratulate you on creating such a gripping and imaginative story.

I was particularly drawn to the dynamic between Prince Lis and the Lioness the way tradition, duty, and rebellion collide to shape their bond, set against the vivid backdrop of Shara City and the Desert Market. Your world-building, combined with the intrigue of ancient vows and shadowed pasts, makes this story both thrilling and emotionally resonant.

I would truly love to understand more about your vision behind this work:

• What inspired you to create the Hnura’i Empire and the story of the Lioness?
• Who do you most hope connects with this novel fantasy readers, adventure enthusiasts, romance fans?
• Do you see this story evolving into a series or expanding further within this world?

As a marketer, I’ve seen that rich fantasy worlds with strong character-driven narratives have incredible potential for global engagement, particularly when positioned to reach readers who love immersive storytelling and epic stakes. I’d love to better understand your long-term vision so that any promotional approach highlights both the adventure and emotional depth of your novel.

I would be thrilled to learn more about your goals for The Lioness of Shara Mountain and explore how it can reach more readers worldwide.

Thank you again for crafting such a compelling and imaginative tale.

Which was much simpler and obvious. But also for a book of mine that is not yet published, so there’s that. I greatly wonder how they would know anything about “the way tradition, duty, and rebellion collide” at all.

The emails coming from supposed authors I find particularly insidious, because it frames the interaction differently, banking on creating a trust bond that will then be exploited. It’s gross, and makes me mad. It’s super underhanded. What really sticks in my throat is the thought that there are authors who were taken in by these kinds of emails. Hell, I nearly was. It’s not right.

For writers who are just now being exposed to this sneaky, underhanded way to extract money, I have but one piece of advice. Before you jump to reply to an email like this, consider if this is something you’d write to a fellow author. Should you message another author to let them know you loved their work? Of course! That would absolutely make their day. But would you do so with the intent to discuss how their novel continues to reach their target audience?

Probably not. I doubt many authors would (unless they were maybe asking for advice, and considering how few books I sell, no one ought to be coming to me for advice on how to get books in front of readers).

Image by Gaertringen from Pixabay

The other kind of email I’ve gotten frequently (though less so), are those coming from supposed book club organisers. They follow the same pattern. They’ll gush about a particular book, and then end with a similar call to action. I had one about Daughters of Britain recently that made me so sad that I deleted it, so I can’t quote it here. But this one had a different tactic. Simply put, they would enthuse about the book, and then talk about how they were an organiser of a book club, and they’d love to use the book for their next read. Of course, through the course of the conversation, you would learn that you would have to pay (something around $560.00 in my case) to have this happen.

Let me be clear — in situations like this, money should always flow towards the author, not the other way. If any book club organisers wants to use your book, and would like to organise a video conference with club members, the writer should be paid for their time. They shouldn’t pay for it. The best way to reply to an email like this is what I wish I had done. I should have replied that I’d be happy to participate, and then offer a tiered list of appearance fees.

I am extremely fortunate that I am a naturally suspicious person, and perhaps even more so that I have no money to spare. Even if I fell for these scams, I could in no way afford any of them. Silver linings, I guess.

It is an absolute minefield out there for writers both new and veteran. Nearly every single one of these predatory schemes are designed to prey specifically on an author’s desire to be successful at their craft. Near as I can tell, not one of them can deliver on the promises they offer. They’re a scam, through and through. Don’t fall for it.

With the exception of book publicists, who are usually more straight forward about their services and why their emailing (and there is considerable debate about whether these publicists actually manage to help books sales in any appreciable way), they are scams. When in doubt, follow this golden rule: money should always flow to the author, not the other way around. This includes publishing, and public appearances (yes, even book clubs).

When S.M. Carrière isn’t brutally killing your favorite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and sometimes painting. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills, and sometimes relaxing. Her most recent titles include Daughters of Britain, Skylark and Human. The Timbercreek Incident is free to read on Wattpad.

Here is LitStack’s review of The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due, daring readers to face chilling…

The post “The Reformatory” Mirror | We Dare You To Confront The Horrors appeared first on LitStack.

I got the most amazing book mail at the end of February!Jeffe sent a package with both presents and books she managed to get hold for me, because I couldn't order them myself.
First the presents!
There was an ARC of Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst.I'm reading it at the moment so check back soon for my thoughts on it.
Signed paperbacks of two of Jeffe's own books.
The UK edition of Never the Roses!(It's bigger than the US hard cover.)
And it's purple!
The Owlcrate edition of Never the Roses!
There's notes and other illustrations on the cover.
And Bad Bunny!
It has pretty painted edges.
Illustrations on the end pages.

Another bunny.And it's signed as well.
The dust cover is reversible and has gorgeous art as well.

Painted edges comparison.
And here are all my Never the Roses copies together!(In June I'll have to make room for the US paperback to join them)
Thank you, Jeffe!

Stay tuned for part 2 of this book haul.

Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Douglas Preston is the author of forty books, both fiction and nonfiction, thirty-two of which have been New York Times bestsellers, with several reaching the number 1 position. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards in the US and Europe, including a shared Edgar Award and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Pomona College. From 2019 to 2023 he served as president of the Authors Guild, the nation's oldest and largest association of authors and journalists.

Lincoln Child is the co-author, with Douglas Preston, of such highly-acclaimed thrillers as CROOKED RIVER, OLD BONES, VERSES FOR THE DEAD, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES, and RELIC, the latter two of which were chosen by an NPR poll as among the 100 greatest thrillers ever written. He has also published seven thrillers of his own, most recently the Jeremy Logan books FULL WOLF MOON and THE FORGOTTEN ROOM. 26 of his joint and solo books have become bestsellers, 3 of which debuted at #1 on the New York Times list. He lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 27, 2026) Length: 384 p Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

I’ve been following this series for years, and I’m still eager to check a new Pendergast book out whenever it appears.

Pendergast: The Beginning isn’t a continuation of his latest adventures, but a prequel. Preston & Child go back to 1994 and watch Aloysius Pendergast start his FBI career in his hometown of New Orleans. He’s a rookie agent, and, as expected, already a problem for his superiors.
Pendergast’s new partner and mentor, Dwight Chambers, believes in procedure and paperwork. Pendergast believes in Pendergast. He goes undercover without clearing it and ignores protocol when it suits him. He also solves things no one else even sees.
They take the case of a corpse with its arm surgically removed. Soon there are more bodies and more missing arms. The case covers secret university experiments, psychic research, and a killer whose motives are rather peculiar.
For me, it was extremely fun. Pendergast himself is already fully formed. Pale, impeccably dressed, sharper than others. He’s also already driving his Rolls-Royce making Sherlock Holmes-level deductions while everyone else is still staring at the body. In other words, you won’t be getting a clumsy, uncertain young version of him. He arrives on the page exactly as we know him.
The villains lean toward the theatrical. The plot doesn’t try to be deep. You can often see where it’s heading, and while I guessed most of the turns, I didn’t mind.
If you’re already a fan, you’ll likely enjoy this return to the beginning. If you’re new, it’s an easy entry point since the end of the book leads directly to the events pictured in Relic 30 years ago.

Other LitStack Spots We’ve also spotted a few other books that we’re adding to our…

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I’ve read 24 books so far this year, and 17 were audiobooks (we’ve already established I’m not going to say ‘books consumed.’ Listening and physically reading are distinctive, but they’re interchangeable here).

Of the 17 audiobooks, 15 were new. I re-read more than I read new books, but I’ve been using audiobooks to tackle things for the first time. 7 books were Clive Cusslers.

CLIVE CUSSLER

I first talked about Clive Cussler back in 2019. He would die a half-year later, at age 88. He had created an empire, with other authors carrying on his five sometimes-intertwined series’. I revisited his works last Summer. I’ve listened to 7 of his books so far this year, as I am well behind on my Cussler.

Isaac Bell is a turn-of-the 20th Century private eye for the Van Dorn Detective Agency. Justin Scott co-wrote the first 10. Jack Du Brul (who had been co-writing The Oregon Files), took over for the next 5. Though I liked it, for some reason the series hadn’t resonated with me in paperback. They were slow reads through the first 5. But Scott Brick reading them aloud worked for me, and I’ve listened to books 6 through 9: The Striker, The Bootlegger, The Assassin, and The Gangster. I like listening to Bell. So, audiobooks have me invested in a series that I wasn’t into in print. I will continue on. This series has run from 2007 through 2025.

The Oregon Files are the only techno-thrillers I’ve ever gotten into. I’ve not read a single Tom Clancy book. Craig Dirgio ‘co-wrote’ the first 2, succeeded by Jack Du Brul for the next 7. Boyd Morrison took over for 7 books, with Mike Maden having written the last 4 in this 19-book series. I’m still in the Morrison phase, listening to books 12 (Typhoon Fury) and 13 (Shadow Tyrants). These are different from any other series I read, and I like them. I’ll continue on. This series has run from 2003 through 2025.

The Fargo Adventures feature married treasure hunters named Sam and Remi Fargo. These feel a little less intense than the other series’. As with Isaac Bell, listening to the books works better for me than actually reading them. Grant Blackwood wrote the first 4. Thomas Perry took over for the next 2. Russell Blake then wrote 2, and Robin Burcell has written the last 6 in the 13 book series. I listened to book 5 (The Mayan Secrets). This is my fourth-favorite series, just below Isaac Bell. But it’s WELL above Dirk Pitt. I’ll check out Russell Blake here soon. This series has run from 2009 through 2023.

My favorite series of them all feature Kurt Austin and the NUMA Files. There are 21 books, and I’ve read somewhat over half. I haven’t listened to any this year, but I should try to get caught up some on those, as well. I enjoy reading Austin in book form and will likely do that again. This series has run from 1999 through 2024.

As I’ve said before, I don’t read Cussler’s foundational series, featuring Dirk Pitt. There have been two movies from it, with Matthew McConaughey’s Sahara a big screen action flick. There have been 27 novels.

Starting with book 18, his son, Dirk Cussler, began writing them. He’s not as bad as Anne Hillerman (whose last name is the only qualification she has for continuing father Tony’s Navajo Tribal Police series. She is SO bad I quit mid-book and abandoned the series. She’s a disgrace), but I read the first two Dirk Cussler books, and gave up. I might try the next one after I’m 100% caught up on the other series’, but I doubt it. I didn’t enjoy them, and there’s too much good stuff out there to read and re-read. Including the earlier Dirk Pitt books. This series has run from 1973 through 2023.

Scott Brick narrates the books from all four series,’ which is unfortunate. There are multiple characters in each one, including a large team for The Oregon Files. Having the same person reading all the books kind of runs together. Brick is okay in each, but some variety would be nice.

JAMES LEE BURKE

Back in 2022, I talked about my favorite audiobook narrators, and Will Patton was one of them. He was the perfect choice to read James Lee Burke’s Cajun Noir featuring Dave Robicheaux. I am well behind, and I just read 20210’s The Glass Rainbow in hardback. Burke is a superb writer. One of the best of my lifetime. I’ve got 6 to go to get current, with the latest just having come out last month. I wrote about Tommy Lee Jones’ labor of love to bring Robicheaux to the screen.

Unfortunately, most of the Patton audiobooks still available are abridged. I’m not an abridged fan. Most of the books are now read by Mark Hammer. I don’t like his recordings at all. I re-listened to book 1 (The Neon Rain) -which I had by Patton – while I read The Glass Rainbow. Then I tried to listen to Hammer reading book 2 (Heaven’s Prisoners) and I simply quit, moving on to a Firefly audiobook. He just sounds like a boring old man. I won’t be listening to any more Hammer readings. It was disappointing. Wish I still had some of my Will Patton cassettes.

NIKKI HEAT

I talked about Castle, and Nikki Heat, back in January. I listened to books 7 (Driving Heat), 8 (High Heat), 9 (Heat Storm), and 10 (Crashing Heat). 8 and 9 were definitely the low points of the entire series, but it recovered in book 10 to close things out well enough. Overall, worth reading. As I said in the prior post, a female narrator would have made a lot more sense.

CASTLE PERILOUS

And back in February, I talked about revisiting this whimsical eighties fantasy series by John DeChancie. I listened to books 4 (Castle War!) and 5 (Castle Murder), then dove into Clive Cussler. I’ve got the rest of the series, from the 2025 Audible Big Sale, so I’ll listen to more.

MISC

I listened to some Douglas Adams (Life, the Universe, and Everything), and the two ‘radio play readings’ of Red Dwarf, by Chris Barrie. He does a really good job, and they’re as good as the audiobooks of the novel. Sadly, co-creator Rob Grant died on February 25.

I listened to the ten Firefly audiobooks a few years ago. They’re a mixed bag: some are good, some not-so-much. One of my favorites is book two, The Magnificent Nine, which is a Jayne story. And essentially a Firefly version of The Magnificent Seven. This was written by Sherlock Holmes – and Conan – author, James Lovegrove. James Anderson Foster sounds kinda like Nathan Fillion, and I think he was a good choice. I’d start your Firefly listen with this one. Lovegrove had to use a ‘story concept’ by someone else for book one, and it’s a weaker entry. Four of the first five are among the best in the series. I’m not as keen on the succeeding authors.

Prior Audio Posts:
What I’ve Been Listening To: November (II) 2025 (Dictator, Don’t Panic, Mistletoe Murders, Sword of Shannara)
What I’ve Been Listening To: November, 2025 (Conspirata, Stacy Keach, Gideon Lowry)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2025 (Middlebridge Mysteries, Unlicensed, The Big Lie, 64th Man)
What I’ve Been Listening To: June, 2025 (Eve Ronin, Thieves World, SPQR, Egil & Nix, the annual sale)
What I’ve Been Listening To: February, 2025 (Isaac Steele, Sharpe & Walker, SPQR, Steven Saylor, The Trojan War)
What I’ve Been Listening To: November, 2024 (Mistletoe Murders, The Caine Mutiny, Mr. Rickey Calls a Meeting)
What I’ve Been Listening To: September, 2025 Desert of Souls)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024 (Part II) (Leaphorn and Chee, Tony Hillerman, Eve Ronin)
What I’ve Been Listening To: August, 2024 (Egil & Nix, Caleb York Westerns, Malazan)
What I’ve Been Listening To: July, 2024 (The Black Company, SPQR, Charles Willeford, Thieves World)
What I’ve Been Listening To: September 2022 (Robert R. McCammon, Ian C. Esslemont, Dirk Gently)
May I Read You This Book? – (My favorite audiobook narrators)

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.

 

FORMAT/INFO: The Book of Fallen Leaves was published by Orbit Books on March 17th, 2026. It is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Nearly two decades ago, the Gensei clan was nearly wiped out after their failed attempt at rebellion. Prince Sen, one of the only survivors, managed to barely escape due to the help of Rui and her peasant family. Now new tensions are stirring in the imperial court as two factions try to usurp power from the weak hold of the current emperor. Sen is soon forced to choose between remaining neutral with his adopted clan or joining an army intent on war and avenging the Gensei household. But the most pivotal person in the coming conflict may be the peasant Rui, who is slowly realizing that the gods are using her to enact schemes of their own.

The Book of Fallen Leaves makes a valiant attempt to be the next great dark political fantasy, but is just too slow and muddled to succeed. I usually avoid comparisons to Game of Thrones at all costs, as it is a highly overused comp, but you can definitely see the touchstones here. There's a huge cast of characters, multiple clans and vassal clans forming alliances and plotting betrayals, and a splash of mystical elements in the background. And when the story finally gets going in the back half of the book, a lot of those elements really clicked and came together.

Unfortunately, it takes a very long time to get there. The first half of the story spends a significant amount of time with Sen and Rui, two characters who I ultimately did not really care about. We spend a lot of time getting to know them as they go through a year of events, watching lots of angst as they grapple with their futures. We don't spend nearly enough time in the first half of the book with characters who are actually influencing the diplomacy and politics of the empire.

The writing style itself was very flowery. On the one hand, there were definitely some beautifully written sequences that painted the scene of the dawn on the day of a big battle or as a character is making a pivotal choice. On the other hand the prose tended to refer to characters indirectly, using titles or descriptions, or by having a character obliquely talk about them in reference to some past event. This all made it hard initially to understand the faction alliances, even with a hand character list at the front of the book.

I'm all for authors making me piece together a fantasy world through context, but understanding alliances and factions in a political fantasy is key to enjoying the story. If I can't track who is working with who (or supposed to be working with who) then the impact of the political maneuvering fails to land. Once I had untangled those threads, the story worked a lot better for me, but it took far too long to get there.

Lastly, the magical fantasy elements of the story were a bit haphazardly used. No one uses magic in this world; instead, there are gods and supernatural creatures that roam and have their own agendas. But after an initial intriguing opening chapter with such a creature, the supernatural elements vanish from most of the story. When they finally re-enter the scene, they talk in riddles and never give a direct answer, to the point that for some of these beings, I never figured out what their agenda was. At least one god had a use for Rui, but I honestly can't tell you if Rui fulfilled her destiny in this book, or if it's a reveal in the sequel.

At the end of the day, The Book of Fallen Leaves had a lot of potential, but just couldn't suck me in. I will say that the back half of the book was significantly more engaging than the beginning. By that point, however, my overall frustration couldn't be surmounted. I wish this was a story I wanted to recommend to people, but ultimately I can not.

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: 393 pages
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: September 30, 2025
ASIN: B0DQJ76DMG
Stand Alone or Series: 19th book in the October Daye series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“Something is rotten in Faerie. In the aftermath of Titania’s reality-warping enchantment, things are returning to what passes for normal in the Kingdom in the Mists—until it’s discovered that the royal vaults have been looted, and several powerful magical artifacts are missing. None are things that can be safely left unsecured, and some have the potential to do almost as much damage as Titania did, and having them in the wrong hands could prove just as disastrous.

At least the theft means that Sir October “Toby” Daye, Knight errant and Hero of the Realm, finally has an excuse to get out of the house. Sure, she’s eight and a half months pregnant, but that doesn’t mean she can’t take care of herself. But with the sea witch offering to stand godmother to Toby’s child, maybe there are greater dangers ahead for Toby and her family than it appears….

Old enemies will resurface, new enemies will disguise themselves as friends, and Queen Windermere must try to keep her Hero on the case without getting herself gutted by the increasingly irritated local King of Cats. Sometimes, what’s been lost can be the most dangerous threat of all.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 19th book in the October Daye series. I got this on ebook through NetGalley for review.

Thoughts: I liked this book better than the last couple books in the series, which isn’t saying much. The previous couple of books have felt like filler. While it still feels like McGuire isn’t quite sure where this series is going, this book does progress the story some. I ended up finishing it even though I skimmed some of the exposition.

Toby is back at home and much more pregnant than she expected to be because of everything that happened in the previous book. Tybalt is driving her a bit crazy with his protectiveness, especially since she still has a couple weeks before her due date. Tybalt and Toby are called to court to testify against Titania. While there, Arden pulls Toby aside to ask for her help; some very dangerous items from the royal vaults are missing…including a Hope Chest. Arden would like Toby to investigate.

I continue to love the world and the characters here. I enjoyed watching our characters find happiness and family amidst all the craziness going on.

However, there was a lot I struggled with here as well. Over half this book is exposition; McGuire spends way too much time recapping and too much time rehashing thoughts in the characters’ heads. While reading this, there were huge sections that I noticed myself skimming through so I could get back to dialogue and characters actually doing things. I felt like this book needed some serious editing; it would have been a better story at half the length.

I also struggled with both everyone’s over-protectiveness of pregnant Toby and with Toby’s irrational decisions. The characters seemed to be making decisions that were very…well…out of character. Even Arden asking Toby to do this investigation this late in Toby’s pregnancy felt weird to me; it was explained away as Toby being the only knight in the realm who could do it. However, given the size of the realm, that makes no sense. It didn’t feel like something Arden would normally do as a character either.

For many, many years, McGuire was a go-to author for me. The last five or so years that has tapered off. I am not sure what changed, me or her as a writer. I feel like no one edits these books and makes sure they are tight and well paced. McGuire’s writing has gotten slower, the pacing more drawn out, and she spends way too much page space on both exposition and re-running thoughts through her characters’ head. Readers are smart; they don’t need this much over-explaining.

There is a nice novella at the end that dives into Simon’s return to the Undersea. It was nice to get some insight into Simon’s thoughts and feelings and get a look at how his new home is treating him.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall I was happy that this was a bit faster in pace than the last few previous books but still frustrated by how wordy and over-explained things were. For the last four of five books, I have felt like this series is getting tired and needs to be wrapped up. I hope this book is on the way to doing that. I almost didn’t picked this up to read at all, but I have been reading this series forever so decided to give it a chance. I am even more on the fence now about whether I will pick up future books in this series.

From beside the queen Gawain
to the king did then incline:
‘I implore with prayer plain
that this match should now be mine.’

Somehow, I’ve never read Prof. Tolkien’s, let alone anyone’s, translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th cent.), an English poem written by an unknown poet. Thinking on it, I  know there’s a cheesy looking movie, Sword of the Valiant, from the eighties starring Miles O’Keeffe and Sean Connery, but it was only David Lowery’s 2021 The Green Knight and its critical acclaim that made me think it was maybe time to read the poem. Now I have. Additionally, and most valuable to me wrestling with my understanding of the poem, I’ve also read the professor’s 1953 WP Ker lecture on work.

The poem recounts the temptations of Sir Gawain, youngest member of King Arthur’s Round Table, as he attempts to meet the suicidal obligation he accepted when he entered a contest with a mysterious green knight. More precisely, as told, it’s about the conflict between chivalrous virtues  of honor and courtesy and, specifically religious, morality.

Gawain was written in Middle English, the evolution of the language used between the Conquest in 1066 and the late 15th century. Gawain, son of Morgause, one of King Arthur’s half-sisters, is a major figure in many of the assorted Arthur tales. His roots descend back into older Welsh tales, where he was known as Gwalchmei. Pre-Christian elements, including the Beheading Game and the Wild Hunt, are integral parts of the story, despite the tale’s overt Christianity. The Beheading Game is a recurrent motif that tracks back to at least the Irish tale Fled Bricrenn featuring the hero Cú Chulainn and the Wild Hunt occurs across various Northern European myth cycles.

The poem begins with a recounting of Britain’s founding by Brutus of Troy. Noble as he was, young King Arthur of Camelot was nobler still. One Christmas season, as Arthur’s knights were celebrating with a games and contests, a strange figure entered the hall.

For hardly had the music but a moment ended,
and the first course in the court as was custom been served,
when there passed through the portals a perilous horseman,
the mightiest on middle-earth in measure of height,
from his gorge to his girdle so great and so square,
and his loins and his limbs so long and so huge,
that half a troll upon earth I trow that he was,
but the largest man alive at least I declare him;
and yet the seemliest for his size that could sit on a horse,
for though in back and in breast his body was grim,
both his paunch and his waist were properly slight,
and all his features followed his fashion so gay
in mode;
for at the hue men gaped aghast
in his face and form that showed;
as a fay-man fell he passed,
and green all over glowed.

Even his stallion is green. He has arrived at Camelot, he declares, to see how brave the knights of the Round Table really are. Not in combat, though, as they are “but beard less children.” No, what the Green Knight wants is to strike blow for blow with his great axe anyone brave enough to accept his challenge.  For playing along, he will let that person keep the axe.

When no one steps forward, King Arthur, himself, raises his voice to take on the Green Knight, himself. At once, Gawain steps in to put himself between the king and any harm that might befall him. In a sharp bit of commentary, Gawain calls out his own weaknesses even while upbraiding his fellow knights for their apparent cowardice.

For I find it unfitting, as in fact it is held,
when a challenge in your chamber makes choices so exalted,
though you yourself be desirous to accept it in person,
while many bold men about you on bench are seated:
on earth there are, I hold, none more honest of purpose,
no figures fairer on field where fighting is waged.
I am the weakest, I am aware, and in wit feeblest,
and the least loss, if I live not, if one would learn the truth.

If his the knight’s green cast hadn’t hinted that strange things were at hand, it’s made abundantly clear once Gawain delivers his blow and lops the challenger’s head from his shoulders. Just because he’s headless, it doesn’t mean Arthur’s champion is off the hook. Never faltering, the Green Knight reaches for his head and holds it aloft to the king and his household.

For the head in his hand he held it up straight,
towards the fairest at the table he twisted his face,
and it lifted its eyelids and looked at them broadly,
and made such words with its mouth as may be recounted.
‘See thou get ready, Gawain, to go as thou vowedst,
and as faithfully seek till thou find me, good sir
as thou hast promised in this place in the presence of
these knights.
To the Green Chapel go thou, and get thee, I charge thee,
such a dint as thou has dealt — indeed thou has earned
a nimble knock in return on New Year’s morning!

One might think Gawain would set forth as soon as able, but he doesn’t, instead remaining with Arthur until All Hallows. As he prepares to leave, the poet provides a detailed description of the young knight’s livery. On both his baldric and his shield is a pentangle, a five pointed star.

First faultless was he found in his five sense,
and next in his five fingers he failed at no time,
and firmly on the Five Wounds all his faith was set
that Christ received on the cross, as the Creed tells us,
and wherever the brave man into battle come,
on this beyond all things was his earnest thought:
that ever from the Five Joys all his valour he gained
that to Heaven’s courteous Queen once came from her
Child.

Tolkien describes this as instrumental to understanding the poem’s Christian context, as it represents the highest Christian ideals, the things Gawain aspires to embody and uphold:

For the significance that the pentangle is to bear in this poem is made plain — plain enough , that is, in general purport: it is to betoken ‘perfection’ indeed, but perfection in religion (the Christian faith), in piety and morality, and the ‘courtesy’ that flows therefrom into human relations; perfection in details of each, and a perfect and unbroken bond between the higher and lower planes.

For nearly two months, Gawain roams the land in search of the Green Chapel and its lord. Traveling across the wild countryside in search of the Green Chapel, his adventures, while extensive by any hero’s standard, are described in only a few sentences. They are merely something Gawain endures prior to the real struggle he must face in fulfilling his obligation to the Green Knight.

At every wading or water on the way that he passed
he found a foe before him, save at few for a wonder;
and so foul were they and fell that fight he must needs.
So many a marvel in the mountains he met in those lands
that ‘twould be tedious the tenth part to tell you thereof.
At whiles with worms he wars, and with wolves also,
at whiles with wood-trolls that wandered in the crags,
and with bulls and with bears and boars, too, at times;
and with ogres that hounded him from the heights of the fells.

Only a few days before New Year’s Day, Gawain comes across a castle, “the castle most comely that ever a king possessed,” deep in the wild forest. He is welcomed there by the lord and his wife. Aside from the lord and lady and their servants, there is a mysterious ugly old woman in the castle, whom everyone treats with great respect.  They are honored and pleased to welcome such a notable as Arthur’s knight. On hearing of his quest, the lord tells him nearby is a path that lead to the chapel which is only two miles away. He also suggests that Gawain rest and recover until New Year’s Day, an offer the knight readily accepts. The lord also proposes a bargain; he will go hunting while the knight rests. At day’s end, the lord will give him whatever he catches in return for whatever gift the knight might receive during the day. Again, Gawain accepts the offer.

The poem continues the next morning with a detailed accounting of the lord’s hunt for deer in the forest. Tolkien points out that this is a realistic portrayal of a lord’s necessary activity during the winter as well as a providing a realistic reason for him to be away from the castle. That is important for the next part of the Gawain’s story.

It is on the very next morning that the real nature of Gawain’s struggle is revealed. What follows are three days of escalating temptation for Gawain. He is awoken by the castle’s lady with clearly lascivious intent. Her servants and maids are still asleep, and she’s “the door closed and caught with a clasp that is strong.”

To my body will you welcome be
of delight to take your fill;
for need constraineth me
to serve you, and I will.’

He is able to hold her off, though he finds doing so without being discourteous difficult. Nonetheless, he resists her persistent ardor and she retreats after giving him a single kiss. He dresses at once and proceeds to Mass.

She was an urgent wooer,
that lady fair of face;
the knight with speeches pure
replied in every case.

‘Madam,’ said he merrily, ‘Mary reward you
For I have enjoyed, i n good faith, your generous favour,
and much honour have had else from others’ kind deeds ;
but as for the courtesy they accord me, since my claim is not  equal,
the honour is your own, who are ever well-meaning.’

The lord returns from his hunt with supply of venison which he gives to Gawain. When the knight gives him a kiss in return, he asks him “where you won this same wealth by the wits you posses.” Gawain responds ‘That was not the covenant,’ quoth he. ‘Do not question me more.”

This is the template for the remaining two days, but in each, the risk for Gawain increases. The lady becomes more forward and direct with each new morning. The young knight finds it increasingly difficult to hold off her advances, again, remaining courteous, faithful to the lord’s hospitality, and true to Christian values.

This, Tolkien explains, is the real heart of the poem and Gawain’s challenge: “The author is chiefly interested in the competition between ‘courtesy’ and virtue (purity and loyalty); he shows us their increasing divergence, and shows us Gawain at crisis of the temptation recognizing this and choosing virtue rather than courtesy, yet preserving a graciousness of manner and a gentleness of speech belonging to the true spirit of courtesy.” He fins this made clear in the following lines.

for she, queenly and peerless, pressed him so closely,
led him so near the line, that at last he must needs
either refuse her with offence or her favours there take.
He cared for his courtesy, lest a caitiff he proved,
yet more for his sad case, if he should sin commit
and to the owner of the house, to his host, be a traitor.
‘God help me l ‘ said he. ‘Happen that shall not !’

On the second day she is more forceful and he ends up receiving two kisses. On the third, it’s three kisses, but he doesn’t escape with quite intact. The lady presses on Gawain a green girdle she wove that will prevent any who wear it to be killed “by any cunning of hand.” Prompted as much by courtesy as fear, he accepts it. More important, he does not present it to the lord as one of the gifts he received that day, instead only giving him three kisses.

As I reach the poem’s climax, I’ve realized I haven’t said anything about my own reactions to it. I guess I’d have to say I’m swayed by Prof. Tolkien’s interpretation. In the poem’s final stanzas, it’s made clear that not only was the Green Knight’s challenge a game, but everything in the tale is a game. That is, the lady’s attempted seduction of Gawain is never real, only an effort to force him to fail to uphold his professes virtues, broken on the contradictions between his obligations to the lord, the lady, and Christian morality. It was all planned as an attack on Arthur, Guinevere, and the Round Tables and its knights. I didn’t have to be swayed very much, as the poet’s intent seems fairly clear, nonetheless, I appreciate his explication.

There’s real power in the poem, as I think is clear from lines I’ve included. The moments of weirdness serve as a connection to the deeper stories that run back to very roots of myths and legends. But there’s also a real, psychological depth to Gawain that’s often lacking in characters from fairytales and the like. There’s real anguish in his struggle to simultaneously maintain his honor and his virtue. It isn’t a simple morality play, but possessed of real human complexity. It’s not without value studying Gawain’s efforts in this parlous age.

Confessing his sins the night before, on New Year’s Day, Gawain sets out. Instead of the expected chapel, the Green Knight’s abode is a cave set in an earthen mound, with more hint of Devil than Christ to it. What follows is the direst test of the young knight as he braves the “Danish axe newly dressed the dint to return, with cruel cutting-edge curved along the handlefiled on a whetstone, and four feet in width” of his challenger.

When the Green Knight swings his axe, Gawain flinches. Reproached for cowardice, a second strike is delivered, though this stops short of touching Gawain’s neck. When Gawain demands a third, true blow, he is rewarded with a slight wound to his neck. At this point, all is revealed.

The Green Knight is none other than the lord of the castle and the whole thing was planned by the old woman at the castle. She is, in fact, Morgan le Fay, Arthur’s half-sister and Gawain’s aunt. She hoped the sight of the Green Knight’s talking severed head would scare Guinevere to death and that one of Arthur’s knights would fail to maintain his virtue. He only wounded Gawain at all because he hid his receipt of the girdle.

This last breaks Gawain. He believes he has failed, giving into cowardice and not remaining true to his promise to the lord, condemning himself: ‘Cursed be ye, Coveting, and Cowardice also I In you is vileness, and vice that virtue destroyeth.’ No one else, though, agrees. The lord laughs and rejects this as Gawain, save for valuing his life a little too much, has met the other challenges perfectly and extends an invitation to his New Year’s celebrations. On returning to Arthur, the king and his knights also reject Gawain’s self-denouncement, instead, choosing the green girdle as a reminder of Gawain’s adventure and virtue.

I need to think about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight some more and reread it a few more times before I come to anymore conclusions on in it. As with Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf, I enjoyed reading this and found it flowed and moves with a nice rhythm. There are two other poems in the collection I have, Pearl and Sir Orfeo, which I haven’t read yet, but will the next time around.

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part One

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Two – The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Three — The Two Towers by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Four — The Return of the King by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Five — From the Beginning: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Six — Bored of the Rings by Henry N. Beard & Douglas C. Kenney

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Seven — The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Half a Century of Reading Tolkien: Part Eight — The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien

Grimmer Than Grim: The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien

Talking Tolkien: Of Such a Sort Should a Man Be – Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary by J.R.R. Tolkien

Fletcher Vredenburgh writes a column each first Sunday of the month at Black Gate, mostly about older books he hasn’t read before. He also posts at his own site, Stuff I Like when his muse hits him

Remains, issues 4 and 4. Cover art by Richard Wagner

There are readers who, like me, prefer dark fiction in short form, because their suspension of disbelief is too brief to sustain — with a few exceptions — a full novel.

For people like us here’s a real treat: the new magazine/anthology Remains, edited by Andy Cox and illustrated by Richard Wagner, both well known for their previous work with the mythical Black Static magazine.

The first two issues are already sold out, but volume 3 ( published in late 2025) and the brand new volume 4 are available to entertain and disquiet.

Art for “Hiroshima Was Another Word For Love Then” by Andrew Hoo, from Issue 3, by Richard Wagner

My favorite stories from vol 3 are the following:

“Atrophy Wife” by Gary McMahon, a superb, deeply unsettling tale where two boys discover the headless body of a murdered girl

“Hiroshima Was Another Word for Love Then” by Andrew Hook, an insightful, slightly sad piece depicting the fleeting encounter between a man and a woman whose lives will be separated forever

“Gehenna” by Steve Rasnic Tem, an engrossing, moving story featuring a cancer patient riding the bus to his chemo infusions

The list of contributors includes Allison Littlewood, Danny Rhodes, James Sallis and Stephen Hargadon.

Art for “Loon” by Danny Rhodes, from Issue 3, by Robert Wagner

From volume 4 my personal choices are

“Station to Station” by Stephen Bacon, a fascinating, life-long trip in the network of London Underground in search of a friend lost forever

“Development Conversation” by Stephen Hargadon, a very unusual, fascinating piece of weird fiction set in an office where unexpected changes are going to take place

Other contributors are: Sean Padraic Byrne, Kay Vandail, James Sallis, Annie Neugebauer, Craig Bernardini, Steve Toase and John Possidente.

Copies are $10 each in the US, and a 4-issue subscription is $33. Order directly from the Remains website.

Mario Guslandi was born in Milan, Italy, where he currently lives. He became addicted to horror and supernatural fiction (too) many years ago, after accidentally reading a reprint anthology of stories by MR James, JS Le Fanu, Arthur Machen etc. Most likely the only Italian who regularly reads (and reviews) dark fiction in English, he has contributed over the years to various genre websites such as Horrorworld, Hellnotes, The British Fantasy Society, The Agony Column and many more. See all his recent reviews for us here.

The post “Little Failure ~ A Memoir” & “The Company” appeared first on LitStack.

“On Earth, they depicted justice as blindfolded and impartial, but out here on the frontier, she was red in tooth and claw.” It’s not every book that begins with the unanticipated dismantling of a planet. But that is what happens here, when people in South London watch through a telescope the disassembling of the planet…