Fantasy Cafe - Latest Comments

Re: Review of A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington

Kristen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:46:03 -0000

Yes, I liked this even more than Elfland! I was also
very surprised by this. I loved the time period and what Freda
Warrington did with vampire lore, and it was a book that I never wanted
to put down. Hope you enjoy it if you do read it, and I hope you enjoy
Grail of the Summer Stars! Her writing is gorgeous,
isn't it? I love her writing style--it's beautiful. And I think she
writes quite compelling stories, too!

Re: Review of A Taste of Blood Wine by Freda Warrington

Heidi — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:12:06 -0000

You liked this even more than Elfland?! Well, I'M sold. =) I'm really excited to see that this is going to be reprinted in the US come fall after reading your review, and I've promised myself to read A Grail of Summer Stars to get a taste of her writing before them (the short passages were beautiful). I really like the themes you discussed, like immortality, science/supernatural coexisting, family, and coming into oneself--put that with a new vampire lore and I'm in!

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Kristen — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 22:48:07 -0000

Mercy Thompson is such a great series! I still need to catch up on the companion series; I've only read the first book. And I have yet to read Dresden Files. I really should pick up the first book at some point!

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Pabkins — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:46:43 -0000

The Mercy Thompson series is also one of my favorites! I love the companion series as well! That and the Dresden Files of course. But I'm sorely in need of a reread of Dresden.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Kristen — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:12:05 -0000

They're a lot of fun--very charming, witty, and often quite humorous.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Grace Troxel — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:09:32 -0000

I haven't yet, but I've been meaning to for a while.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Kristen — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:05:54 -0000

Have you read Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books? One of the reasons I'm hesitant about these is I'm afraid I'll keep comparing the two, and I LOVE Gail Carriger's series.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Grace Troxel — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:03:43 -0000

There were some things that worked for me and others that didn't (like the somewhat pointless absinthe fairy), but overall the book was a fun read. I have a hard time finding steampunk that works for me, but this one did. :)

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Kristen — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:58:28 -0000

Glad to hear you were impressed by Tankborn! I've been hearing good things and it sounds like it could be really interesting.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Kristen — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:57:19 -0000

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed A Conspiracy of Aclchemists! It's one I've been on the fence about reading since it sounds like fun but the beginning didn't hook me when I read the first few pages (but then, the early pages rarely do). Maybe I'll have to try reading more of it at some point.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Grace Troxel — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:03:00 -0000

Oooh! I just read "A Conspiracy of Alchemists" a couple months ago and enjoyed it a lot. Can't wait for the sequel to come out.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Lane Robins | Fantasy Cafe | Reviews of Fantasy and Science Fiction Books

DarkJewel — Fri, 31 May 2013 00:39:23 -0000

I love Sylvie's Personality! I'm looking forward to the next book in the Shadows Inquiries series. Keep on writin'.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

@ScrivK — Wed, 29 May 2013 17:45:25 -0000

What a great series this year, thank you so much for hosting! I simply can't wait to see the finalized list!

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Jacqueline Carey

ScrivK — Wed, 29 May 2013 15:06:16 -0000

I had to laugh out loud when I read your efficiency theory. It also feels to me (very unscientific) that female fantasy authors are less 'present' in social media such as blogging. Several male authors I follow are extremely active, while many of the female authors I follow blog irregularly or almost never... possibly because they are so busy writing? Real analysis should be done before making any conclusions, but if this is true it could contribute to a problem of 'out of sight out of mind'.

Re: The Leaning Pile of Books

Bibliotropic — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:47:22 -0000

Tankborn was a pretty decent YA novel. I was impressed with it, at least.

I'm also envious of your copy of The City. That's one I want to read when I can!

Re: A Taste of Blood Wine: Signed Book Giveaway & Story Extract

Victoria Grimalkin — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:04:05 -0000

Warington writes with glorious opulence. I pine for these books and more of her luscious worlds.

Re: A Taste of Blood Wine: Signed Book Giveaway & Story Extract

Jan DeLima — Sun, 19 May 2013 08:34:42 -0000

Since I have retired from the library world, I have been trying to cut my book review connection and not comment on other author’s books---but I simply cannot resist with this one!

This book is amazing, as is Warrington’s writing style! The way she constructs a sentence is the stuff of literary magic. Her vampire world is compelling, as are the characters and relationships within. I hunted this down after Kristen convinced me
to read Elfland, and I am so thrilled it has been printed again. I donated my copy to the library, which was then promptly stolen. So, I am putting my name in for this and will donate it a second time if I win.

This book should be shared!

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Sarah (BookwormBlues) — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:45:45 -0000

Also, I don't mean for this reply to come across as angry. I realize it probably did.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Sarah (BookwormBlues) — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:36:15 -0000

I wrote that post with every intention of engaging in an expected discussion. Since that post went up, I've gone through two emergency surgeries, two extended ER stays, some (more) cancer drama and ANOTHER surgery coming on Thursday. It's not an issue of me being rude, it's an issue of me putting my energy where it needs to be (with my health). I've had absolutely no evidence in my email that I should alter that decision. It's hard for me to focus on intricacies in discussions right now, anyway. Thats no ones problem but my own. Thankfully, my husband has helped schedule posts on my own website or that would have gone belly up, too.

I appreciate the kind, supportive email I have received. The rest of it has just shown me that I should spend energy in my health rather than trying to prove that I may/may not actually be a bitch who does/doesn't know what she's talking about.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Shan — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:55:44 -0000

I think that you should read the comments, Sarah, since they were for the most part measured - and if you bring a discussion to the table, refusing to then engage with it isn't exactly helpful. It's unfortunate that people have sent you rude emails, but if you're going to write a contentious post during the middle of a celebration of women in SF, it might be worth taking the time to listen to the public responses to it, instead of refusing to look at them. That's as rude a reaction as those emails.
As for your intentions with the post, all I can say is it reads much more hard-line than what you've posted above. Indeed, it reads as "silencing" - it reads as if you think all the people who've been talking about women in SF should stop talking about it. So it's ironic that you've now taken the role of "silenced person".
Best of luck to Kristen, however, and thank you for hosting such an otherwise interesting month.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Sarah (BookwormBlues) — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:10:03 -0000

-- This isn't geared toward anyone in specific, rather a reaction to some situations I've kept private until now --

I've been really silent during this whole thing. I expected my post to piss people off because it seems to be some talent of mine. I didn't ask for that gift; it just happens. However, the reason I haven't even read any of the comments under my post (and won't) was because my email has been FLOODED in response to what I wrote.

Look, maybe my opinions are controversial, but I prescribe to the school that discussion and differing perspectives can encourage mutual growth and understanding. By looking at things different ways, we are broadening our horizons. I talked about two very VERY specific and VERY small bar aspects of sexism in literature and my inbox has been FLOODED. I haven't read the comments, because I've been filtering my email. Might I add, I never ONCE said sexism didn't, or doesn't exist, nor did I say that it's not a problem.

Some (a very, very, very few) of the jewels from my email have been:

I'm not woman enough to read and review books. I'm a shame to my gender. I'm a short-sighted, self-centered bigot who promotes misogynistic behavior everywhere. I am a shame to science fiction and fantasy and I should be "kicked out" of being allowed to participate in the field in any way, shape or form. The fact that I have a blog is a slap in the fact to anyone with a functioning mind, and on and on and on the list goes.

Fine. Maybe that's true. Maybe I'm a shame to women everywhere, but after being hammered with this stuff over and over and over again, I'm breaking. You guys win. I'm not going to do guest posts anymore. This is a great event, and I have every feeling that it will succeed in the future (and I hope it keeps going, because it is an important topic that deserves attention and I'm glad it's hosted here), it will just have to do so without me. Sorry so many people got so upset and that I'm such a shame to femininity... or something.

I do, however, find it ironic that during a celebration of women in SFF and their various opinions and divergent perspectives, it's a woman who is hearing that she's not woman enough to participate.

- Sarah

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Kristen — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:59:26 -0000

Thank you Ana, I appreciate that.

I'm sorry if you felt guilty because of the Twitter comments, that wasn't my intention at all.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Ana @ things mean a lot — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:50:35 -0000

Thank you for clearing that up, Kristen; I do appreciate hearing from you. We all felt pretty bad after the discussion (for all the reasons Renay highlights in her post), so it's important to me that we all reassure one another that we're allies who have common goals; that we can sometimes disagree and continue to respect each other's work.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Estara — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:49:44 -0000

I enjoyed all the posts I read ^^ - though admittedly I didn't read them all, heh. Thank you for organising this and so many people for contributing.

Re: Women in SF&F Month: Final Thoughts

Kristen — Sun, 12 May 2013 15:44:20 -0000

Hi Ana,

Just to be clear, I do not blame you, Renay, Ana, or Foz for the way you responded or think that was the cause of things "getting rough". When I mention potentially silencing Sarah I'm referring to some feedback I have gotten that I shouldn't have put her post up at all, not any of the comments on it.

I really hope that people don't take that away from this discussion because that is not the point I'm trying to make and I hope you don't think I feel that way about the situation.