And on to part three!
A Stark and Wormy Knight, by Tad Williams
A mother tells a bedtime story to her son, but there’s a twist: they’re both dragons.
This one is very weird, stylistically. The dragons have a very non-English vocabulary and grammar, using a ton of invented or corrupted words. But it’s remarkably readable, and a good bit of fun.
None So Blind, by Harry Turtledove
An empire sends explorers into the un-mapped jungles, with the goal of determining if the old maps are right when they say “here be dragons.”
This one plays with a lot of themes regarding mythology and colonial perceptions of native myths, but it does it without being obnoxiously preachy, which is a neat trick. Ending’s a bit predictable, but the story works all the same. A couple points off for low dragon content.
JoBoy, by Diana Wynne Jones
A story of the events surrounding a destructive event near London. And that’s what the story tells you in the first line.
This one is hard to talk about without spoiling things. Lots of interesting ideas played with from a world-building angle, some interesting metaphysical structures, and a very healthy amount of dragon involved. It’s very much worth reading, and I won’t get much more into it.
Puz_le, by Gregory Maguire
A young woman is stuck in a vacation home with nothing to do on a rainy day, other than keep herself busy with some used puzzles.
This is not a bad story, but to me, it’s one that mostly focuses on imagery, and that just doesn’t work for me stylistically. There are some interesting glimpses of the wider setting at the end, but still, I’m left wanting more.
After The Third Kiss, by Bruce Coville
A princess turned into a dragon by her evil stepmother is rescued by her brother’s kiss, but the kingdom’s problems are far from over, and the princess begins to miss what she once had.
At its surface, this is a retelling of the Laidly Worm fairy tale, but there’s a lot of extra layers that get added here. Pretty much none of the major players are everything that they seem. Again, spoilers, but this one is very solid, with some strong characterization and a satisfying ending.
Of the lot, JoBoy and After The Third Kiss are the definite standouts. The others are fine, just not as notable. We’ll see what next week brings us!
The Library of Scales 