It’s been another lean month, book-wise – but in other areas, it’s been rather exciting! Let’s look back at March…

#ADayeAMonth

This month, the online group read saw us taking on one of my favourite of the October Daye novels so far – An Artificial Night. Between giving us some important character development for Toby and throwing in some of the kind of dark, creepy fae mythology I love most, it was always going to take a top spot for me, easily. And I get the added pleasure of having my Twitter DM inbox more or less inhabited daily by Alex (@runtimeregan) flailing and fangirling and pondering things I can’t tell them about yet. If there’s one thing I love more than revisiting a favourite series, it’s getting to share it with people who are reading for the first time. And it only gets better from here!

The Vela

Serial Box launched a new title in their awesome-looking 2019 lineup this month, and so far I am enjoying reading this space opera/mystery/buddy cop drama immensely. I got the first two episode reviews up before a bout of mild(ish) depression sucked my energy into a black hole and messed up my reading plans, but I’m working on catching up now. Can’t let this one slide. There are things I need to know!

You can check out my reviews for The Vela here.

Los Nefilim

I didn’t read much in March, but I did make time for one of the novels I’ve been anticipating since its release was first announced: T. Frohock’s first (and hopefully not last!) Los Nefilim novel, Where Oblivion Lives.

I fell head over heels in love with her trilogy of novellas (available in omnibus form as Los Nefilim), and could not wait to get my hands on the follow-up novel.

From the thrilling period setting of Civil War-era Spain, to the noir-ish mystery and dark magic elements, to the central relationship between Diago and Miquel, and by extension the (complicated) family bonds they share with their band of Los Nefilim spies – I loved everything about this book. I ate it up and wanted more, and if anything I’ve mentioned here sounds like your cup of tea, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I have not forgotten this trilogy, and in fact I am beginning to consider picking up where I left off next month, when Wyrd & Wonder kicks off, to finish the trilogy in glorious nerdy-community style.

Speaking of…

Wyrd & Wonder

It’s coming back! We are now ONE MONTH away from kicking off our second annual celebration of all things fantasy, and plans are taking shape. We’re also very much enjoying having gathered even more fantasy fans under our banner than last year, which is naturally quite encouraging.

imyril and I have scheduled a pair of read-alongs, which you can find the details of on her blog. Just leave a comment to let us know you’re interested, if you’d like to participate!

And while we’re on the subject of Wyrd & Wonder, I am still seeking fantasy authors/bloggers who’d like to contribute a guest post here, discussing favourite fantasy tropes!

Sometimes tropes get criticised for being lazy, but let’s be honest: what book doesn’t make use of them in some way? Either played straight or subverted, interpreted through the writer’s own lens – tropes have always been there. I want to know which ones tick your boxes, which catch your eye when considering whether to buy a book, which ones you live for and why.

If you’d like a guest spot here on this topic, let me know! You can use my site’s contact form, or email me directly: [email protected].

Dungeons & Dragons

My second home game session happened a couple of weeks ago, and remember how I mentioned we were left on a cliffhanger involving a wall of sentient darkness? Well, the sentient darkness turned out to be A MASSIVE SWARM OF BUGS.

Transformer-like bugs that formed a humanoid figure and attacked us and despite rolling TWO natural ones in a single turn (I blame the creep factor and so does Naivara) we pretty much got out unscathed. Which is good for our DM because she would not have heard the end of it if we actually got bugs all over us.

On the upside, we hit level two after that fight, and now I get to transition my (soft) tank girl from a scrappy fighter into a Paladin. But I’m not going down the traditional greatsword-and-plate-armour route. Oh, no. I have plans. Badass plans.

Also on the upside – though our DM may well dispute that – we got to meet a mysterious druid who is Up To Something (the general theme of our campaign is There’s A Mysterious Plot Afoot) and somehow recognised my character on sight despite us never having met before(!!). This led to another player admitting her character is hopelessly queer and quite fancies the formidable and mysterious druid (with the pet wolves, by the way, because she just wasn’t impressive enough already), and by the end of the session we had fan-fiction ideas bouncing around.

#HowlingAtTheMine

— Lisa (@deargeekplace) March 24, 2019

We’re sorry, M. (We’re not sorry.)

I feel like we’re doing this right?

Over The Hill

Elsewhere in Dear Geek-land, I took some time away from the internet (mostly) this past weekend as my little brother celebrated his 30th birthday. WHEN DID HE GET TO BE AN ADULT. I have feelings about this, guys.

On the other hand, now I get to warn him about all the things that are going to start going wrong. I wrote “WELCOME TO HELL” on his birthday card, and I was only half-kidding. BUT. He is a smart lad and he’s got a good life going on, and I know he’s not reading this (he isn’t a reader, I swear he was adopted) but I am exceedingly proud of him. Happy birthday, Boy.

 

So! That’s it from me for another recap. Bring me April. Bring me more books!