No idea how this amazing trilogy have eluded me for 2 decades!
"The best epic fantasy book I have read in a while. Tons of names, tribes, nations, cities, countries, factions, individuals clash in a massive once-in-a-millennium undertaking. What more does a bookworm need? Simply top-shelf stuff, imho. "
The shadow of New Crobuzon hangs very heavily over this story of socialist agitation in a magical steampunk city. I found this readable but not compelling. Some nice scraps of worldbuilding - why aren't there more minotaurs in fantasy? - but the characters didn't pop for me. #FinishedReading#Fantasy#Bookstodon#RjurikDavidson@bookstodon
⭐ Don't agonise over perfection – the odd typo won't make us hate an excellent story. Remember, publishers are looking for a sturdy foundation they can build upon. Your manuscript does not need to be publish-ready — it’s our job to get you there! So if you find yourself reading and re-reading your manuscript for the 999th time to catch those typos and to correct that formatting, it’s probably time to submit? [4/4]
⭐ Send us your best — If your manuscript isn’t ready to be submitted yet, we would strongly advise waiting until it is. Whilst publishers are not looking for a perfect manuscript, your submission will be assessed for writing quality and potential. Making sure your project is finished, and has been through a few rounds of feedback and edits will increase your chances of success. [3/4]
⭐ Be honest and genuine – we want to know you as well as your book! If a publishing house accepts your manuscript, you'll be working together for a year so it’s important that you are the right author for the imprint culturally and professionally. Be honest and let your personality shine through in your cover letter, you never know what might resonate with your potential publisher. [2/4]
If you'd like to discuss a quote for your manuscript, email me a query with a short synopsis, the first 1-3 full pages, and your word count: river@riverjhopkins.com
I’ve been reading the Chronicles of Narnia (publication order) for the first time since I was a child. I’m currently on The Magician’s Nephew, the part where the talking animals plant Uncle Andrew because they think he’s a tree. Ends with “and now on to more important things”. Meanwhile I studiously kill each and every one of my darlings in drafts of fantasy novels hoping against hope one day they’ll be published. 😵💫😵💫😵💫😭 @bookstodon#books#fantasy#writing#reading
‘The Invention of Morel’ (1940) by Adolfo Bioy Casares is usually classed as ‘literary fiction’ (whatever that means), but for me it’s an exemplary piece of fantastika.
HIGH TECH AND HOODOO and the powers of love, art, and community are mighty weapons in this unique adventure set in a near-future dystopian Massachusetts. Rich with the Afrofuturist spirit of funk and beautiful evocations of nature. B PLUS
I've finished the third and fourth entries of the saga.
In "The Farthest Shore" the magic is running out of the world; Ged and the prince of Enlad part in an adventure to find out what the problem is. It's a book full of adventure, visiting many Islands in the archipelago.
In contrast, "Tehanu" has a slower pace. It's a fantasy novel in which dragons and magic are not in the foreground. It answers the question How does the dispossessed, children, women, handicapped, live in a world with magic? And doing so makes you think about the power relations in the so called real world.
Finished Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee last night, completing her Green Bone trilogy. The series is excellent, bringing gangster epic storytelling to a 20th century-inspired world where martial arts film feats are a reality.
There's a lot to like about it, but maybe my favorite part is the seemingly effortless way the books adopt the POV of wildly different people with different perspectives, making all these characters feel real and worthy of empathy.
Kid: His stories are winding, convoluted, and at times nonsensical (even for fantasy). My D&D games are more fun than his books.
Adult: Tolkien was racist who promoted scientific racism. The orc is a creation born in racism against southeast Asian peoples that was later applied to black people. His elves are Aryan hyperfantasy. All of this has become a polarizing fantasy tale for white supremacists.
Was up very VERY late reading Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker. MC is a combination of Legolas and Gabriel Oak but with loads of magical power that he tries hard not to use. 🌳 #fantasy#AmReading @mastodonbooks@bookstodon
When a snake demon in an expensive, tailored suit takes an irreverent stab at American Presidential politics, the Hunter is literally forced to take a stab at him, to save the USA from getting a Demon for President!
Book #3 of Ashen Blades, Demon for President! is now available for pre-order, coming to online bookstores June 10, 2024!
@judgedread , the GAYFAG HOMOQUEER
vs. @CSB , the ASSMAD TROON CANCERRAT
This is a FULL 48 HOUR MATCH lasting the entire weekend!
Introduction to Judge Dread:
"Is self explanatory. Boomer ex-cop, atheist, GOP armchair analyst, and his life revolves around consooming. He spends all day posting "woke Disney is so bad" type essays. Nigga. Who the fuck cares. He once spent 3 days filling the timeline with a series of essays on how he would "fix" the Disneyland Starwars Galaxy's Edge rides. And he thinks he's smart for doing this. Mega cringe!" - @lonestarr
This is the man who inspired the tournament! Yes, CMD looked at Judge Dread and said "I believe that a fair, open, and honest democratic system would call Judge Dread the biggest faggot on fedi," and that is why you are reading this today.
Judge Dread is basically the posterboy for "Gab refugee who cannot and will not assimilate to fedi culture properly." His utterly trash opinions range from "Gab is more important than church history," "I think 'Team A' and 'Team B' are excellent descriptive names for groups of people," and "here is an essay about Disney and why it matters." If you're here, you're probably blocked by him for disagreeing with at least one of these takes.
What has he done to push himself all the way into the final match of the faggot tourney? When he came over to fedi, he brought with him a group of the most obnoxious pieces of shit, started blocking everyone who mildly disagreed with him, and then used his followers to screech at everyone he has any mild disagreement with! Of course, on the anime-loving, Disney-hating, majority-Christian poast, that ended up being a lot of people!
If he'd just up and blocked everyone at once, then he'd be in his own echo chamber and things would be fine. However, that's not what he did: he makes a point of blocking someone new most days, then bragging about being a thin-skinned blockfag. We have the following hellthread most days:
Poastie A:"Why was I blocked by Judge Dread?"
Poastie B:"He's a thin-skinned faggot, you probably just disagreed with him about something."
Gablin A:"YOU are just SAD because you didn't follow the secret JUDGE DREAD RULES OF ENGAGEMENT and are now BLOCKED BY THE WONDERFUL JUDGE DREAD."
Poastie A: :aniwhat:
Gablin B: "LMAO look at this SAD guy COMPLAINING INTENSELY about being BLOCKED."
Gablin C: "HAHA HE ASKED WHY HE WAS BLOCKED. Obviously Dread is free to block whoever he wants and blocking everyone but mods is beyond criticism no matter what."
Other Fedi A: "Wow you dread fans are massive fags."
Other Fedi B: "Lmao what a bunch of thin-skinned losers."
Gablins: Quote Repost the thread 20 times
He's tried to distance himself from this tournament - a wise choice, but not one that's helped him out in the slightest! His opponents so far have been:
-The tournament organizer himself!
-PonyPanda, a man notorious for posting nigger dicks for several hours straight!
-Tomato, another notorious homosexual known for wanting to fuck trannies!
That's right, Judge Dread is gayer than nigger dicks, trannies, and...even OP! Dread's faggotry is so intense that it shatters iron-clad internet rules, what an incredible and unbearable faggot!
Introduction to CSB:
"The punching bag of NAS" - @dj
"he literally likes drawing crude gross man ass." - @leyonhjelm
"I will concede that he may just be bad at drawing" - @leyonhjelm after having been asked to prove the above.
"NAS rules state that it is MANDATORY that at every opportunity...remind CSB that he is a fucktard, faggot, cunt, jew (preferably dirty) or other slur..." - @fuknukl
CSB, what have you done? You were under the radar completely at the start of this tournament, and your repeated insistance to be removed from it and constant threats to block people who vote for you and intense lockfaggotry have propelled you to the finals!
You have managed to show yourself to be a bigger faggot than:
-Every third tranny on the internet
-A groomer tranny who shoves dead possums up their ass to masturbate and hangs out with pedophiles - one whose poor behavior has got them kicked off of 109 instances!
-A beloved rat who was genuinely trying to win as a joke
THAT is what you have been a greater faggot than, despite having every advantage possible to get yourself out of this tournament early! At every single junction, the tournament organizer wanted you to lose: your faggotry has forced his hand each and every time. You rallied up NAS hard enough that they put you past Paulo. You went into the thread and pissed off so many people that your actions caused you to beat Maija. You carried this momentum into the match with Ratposter, who was actively trying to win by posting the gayest things he could think of in the thread. That is right - you are gayer than what someone imagines to be the gayest thing they can post.
Well, this time you're up against the guy that the tournament organizer made the tournament to mock. CSB, winning this would be a major feat of faggotry - and you will have only yourself to blame. Can you please shut the actual fuck up for long enough that CMD can convince people to vote for Dread? Look, NAS is even pulling a punch here: I gave them a shot to write this chunk of this post, and they apparently decided that you're such a giant faggot that they can let someone sympathetic to you write it. Just go away from the internet for a weekend, please. dread_vs_csb.png dread_2.PNG dread_3.PNG dread_1.png dread_4.PNG csb_2.png csb_3.png csb_1.png