Tag Archives: Doppelgangers

Love in the Time of Dragons by Katie MacAlister

American Literature

Synopsis: A mom studying to be a mage wakes up and finds herself imprisoned by people who insist that they are dragons–and that she is one, too. Review: Love in the Time of Dragons is just what the title suggests–a romance novel with dragons. The dragons themselves are shapeshifters who often take human form. The dragons holding Tully tell her she’s an ancient dragon named Ysolde, and her dreams are beginning to reveal that they may be right. But her memories of her present life…

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The Fair Folk edited by Marvin Kaye

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: An anthology of short stories about elves. Review: The Fair Folk was put together in 2005 by the Science Fiction Book Club, and consists of stories written about elves and their kin from some luminaries in the field. I enjoyed each one immensely, differing as they do in style and tone. “UOUS” by Tanith Lee takes the familiar “three wishes” story and turns it on its head. An unhappy Cinderalla-esque young woman calls out three wishes, conjuring a fairy who is more than happy…

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The Bone Doll’s Twin by Lynn Flewelling

American Literature

Synopsis: To fulfill an ancient prophecy, dark magic is woven around a baby girl so that she will appear to be a boy, but the cost is the life and soul of her twin brother whose ghost now violently haunts the castle. Review: For some reason I thought The Bone Doll’s Twin was a one-off, so towards the end I got impatient when I realized that the story wasn’t going to wrap up anytime soon. I wasn’t in the mood to commit to a new…

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The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

British Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: A young man with severe amnesia comes to realize that he is being stalked by a conceptual shark (which is much, much scarier than you might think). Review: What surprised me most about The Raw Shark Texts was how fast it moved. For all its high-minded metaphysical aims and experimental underpinnings, the book has the pacing of an airport thriller or Stephen King horror book. There were some sequences in this book, such as protagonist Second Eric’s Sanderson encounter with Nobody, that were are…

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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

British Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: The destinies of two men who look almost like twins are intertwined with a prisoner of the Bastille and his golden-haired daughter, as the drums of the French Revolution bring death, destruction, and La Guillotine ever closer. Review: A Tale of Two Cities is three of five for the Classics Challenge. I don’t think I’m going to accomplish the goal, not because I wasn’t reading but because I should’ve signed up for Anna Karenina. Oh well. Dickens I have loved, and Dickens I have…

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