Litsy

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#Roll100 September pick

Thanks @Bookworm54 for the tip to go the audio route. The narration/performance by Kyle McCarley was excellent!

I enjoyed this “Cinderfella” story only it‘s a half goblin emperor and there‘s not exactly a princess charming at the end. But it is ultimately a heartfelt and heartwarming fantasy. The reader can‘t help but root for Maia, the rejected son of the elf emperor who is unexpectedly thrust on the throne at 19.

PuddleJumper

willaful One of the books I love so much I've read it in print and listened to the audio. 3w

Ruthiella @willaful I‘m definitely putting the sequel on my #Roll100 list for 2026. 3w

PuddleJumper Sounds great! Definitely going to read it now 3w

Ruthiella @PuddleJumper I think you will enjoy it! 🤞 3w

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Robotswithpersonality

Nine Goblins | T. Kingfisher

pick

Bit of whiplash from the tone shift, but I did love the story that was told.
Not sure how much of this is really a spoiler, but covering the themes involved does mean talking about the plot.

The nine goblins truly define 'ragtag bunch':
The 'whining Nineteenth' division of the Goblin army consisting of long-suffering leader Nisilka, the female goblin sergeant; 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Murray, the genius inventor in the mix, hampering the usual odds of goblin inventions creating mass casualties by being actually good at it; new recruit twins, Mishkin and Mushkin who complete each other's sentences; Algol, who makes a regular event of ostentatious desertment including clothing removal, Blanchette, who takes advice from the teddy bear affixed to his helmet ever since the incident with head trauma, and all involved agree the 3w

Robotswithpersonality 3/? teddy bear affixed to his helmet ever since the incident with head trauma, and all involved agree the bear's judgement is preferable; Weasel, the shy, stuttering gender indeterminate one who's good with a slingshot, Thumper as muscle; and Gloober who's only role throughout the narrative is to be admonished not to insert his finger or anything else in various parts of his person. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 4/? Yeah, they're a little gross which appears to be a natural outgrowth of goblin habits from a human reader perspective, but it also quickly becomes clear the violence exhibited in conflict is a necessary part of the ongoing war, and not something that comes as second nature to the group. 3w

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? Separately we're introduced to Sings to Trees, an elf, and naturally a babe, but a bit more down to earth than the himbo variety his looks and kindness to animals might otherwise suggest. He ends up characterized as a black sheep among his own kind as he doesn't just love the pretty, delicate, nicely smelling animals, but gives shelter, care and rehabilitation to any animal, domestic or mythic that needs his help, regardless of biting, oozing, 3w

Robotswithpersonality 6/? pilfered sandwiches, or trashed living quarters and wardrobe.

A magical snafu transports Nisilka's bunch into the same neck of the woods as Sings to Trees, and just having those meet each other would have been enough story for me, but Kingfisher has more she wanted to say.
While we have adorable moments with Algol and newly rescued Wiggles the kitten, as well as Sings to Trees and the troll Frogsnoggler, 3w

Robotswithpersonality 7/? it also becomes clear as Nisilka's group navigates the land between their unexpected portal journey and Sings to Trees' cabin that something sinister is going on that's leaving a community abandoned and portions of the forest silent.

While the goblins' introduction covers the woefully familiar territory of one people encroaching on the native lands of another resulting in prolonged war, and the uselessness of military bureaucracy, 3w

Robotswithpersonality 8/? the mistaken journey via panicked wizard establishes the lore that wizardry is endemic to some humans, and is akin to a range of mental health conditions with varying power levels and abilities that they cannot automatically understand or navigate that can hamper their connection to the people around them, and may even present a danger to themselves or others, identifying a need for support and structure that is not always met in a community, 3w

Robotswithpersonality 9/? that some decide they'll find in the army.
In the course of uncovering the mystery, the reader is exposed to just how tragic an end can result from unchecked power/unmanaged health concerns without anyone to understand or guide.
Sings to Trees is a one-elf argument for animal welfare, and his hen-mounting, crowing hen is a sparkly bit of a challenge to gender normativity. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 10/? The stumble between species, goblins and elves and humans, to identify gender at first sight in the groups they initially see as other also makes me happy - let's normalize not deciding you know someone else's gender identity as soon as you clap eyes on them! And obviously, tensions and prejudices between groups thanks to a history of conflicting interests is a given human analogy present in most settings with fantasy races. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 11/? The hope for better relations in the future without requiring a big torrid romance to draw people together, this works for me.
I think the shift from: 'bodily function humour-agents of chaos -they mean well' goblins who really don't want to fight a war wandering into 'cozy but lonely' elf property and being able to communicate and accept best intentions on both sides to; 3w

Robotswithpersonality 12/? 'this is the terrible human cost of young people without support acting out and your war isn't helping, even though apparently volunteering to fight in it provides structure to some who need it' felt pretty jarring, even if Kingfisher was true to her group of characters throughout. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 13/? I'm glad it was a novella, though I can't help but wonder if the transition would have been smoothed out if more time was taken to establish the human/wizard side of things. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 14/14 I did this audio only, so if my spelling is off for any character names, that's why! Did this at regular 1x speed with a bunch of chores and it was the perfect accompaniment. Kudos to Johnathan Johns for navigating that many character voices and keeping them distinct.

⚠️Animal abuse, animal death, child death, ableism? (not sure how neurodivergent readers may receive the analogies present in this text) (edited) 3w

11 likes13 comments

JuliaTheBookNerd

The Blacktongue Thief | Christopher Buehlman

#Thief 💛🤍🖤

#CharacterCharm 👸🏻🤴🏽🕵🏻‍♀️👩🏻‍🔬👩🏼‍⚕️🧑‍🍳👨‍🌾👨‍🎨👨🏻‍⚖️🧝🏻‍♀️🧚🏼‍♀️

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

Eggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Excellent 🙌🏻 2mo

Eggs Beautiful 🧡🥰👏🏻 2mo

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humouress

A Market of Dreams and Destiny | Trip Galey

9781803363691
Intriguing concept, though I‘m just starting this. I like the way everyone shouts their wares in rhyme in the Untermarkt and the bells sing their messages to rhyme with their names (as in ‘Oranges and Lemons‘ say the bells of St Clemens)

Author‘s name is Trip Galey (gaily?) but copyright is Powder Thomson

Lyrical descriptions

I like Aurelia.

It started picking up for me around ch 9 (of 52) despite some delightful ideas earlier on

humouress Ch 1:
Did you hear? Did you hear? rang the Bell of Auld St. Cyr. The Merchant Shade did disappear!
Pish and tosh! Pish and tosh! rang the bell near Merchant Kosh. He‘s simply gone to do his wash!

the Untermarkt stepped in to tempt him.
‘Prose spelt in poseys! In pansies and roseys!‘
A single voice leapt out at him, clear above the clamour. Right on cue. The Market couldn‘t resist an unspoken desire. (edited) 2mo

humouress Ch 2:
‘Why does it have to be so complicated? What‘s wrong with plain money for stuff, no tricks?‘
‘It‘s boring,‘ Deri answered without thinking, ‘and what would most of us do with a bunch of dead metal anyway? It‘s easy enough to get, in Faery. The last blush of innocence, though, that‘s truly rare. That has lasting value.‘ Deri bit his tongue before it spilled any more freebies.
‘I‘d not thought of it that way,‘ Owain said.
⬇️ (edited) 2mo

humouress ⬆️
‘Most mortals don‘t need to.‘ Deri glanced around at the crowded market.

Ch 3:

the incense smelled of his favourite meal – fish and chips –

Ch 9:

Silvestra ignored both the verbal barb and the needlessly complex idiom. Aurelia waxed sesquipedalian when stressed.

Ch 34:

Aurelia took a deep breath of the clear country air and nearly choked on the smell of manure 2mo

humouress 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ☀ / 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ✨ (edited) 2mo

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Doppoetry

Snuff | Terry Pratchett

so-so

This also started off really fresh and different, but fell apart towards the middle, and the last 2 hours really dragged. There was still very good commentary about racism, exploitation, drug abuse, slavery, and prejudice. The “dehumanization“ of the goblins really rustled my feathers. The humor in this really struggled and was very low-brow, relying too heavily on 💩, especially because Pratchett is known for his humor. It's a very weak ending.--

Doppoetry -to the sub-series as a whole.

I was pleasantly surprised by how different Willikins was by the end of the sub-series; he became one of my favorite characters in fact. Seeing him develop from just a butler to a deadly and cunning individual, and seeing Vimes as an equal and not as just an employer, is delightful. 2mo

4 likes1 comment

Doppoetry

Snuff | Terry Pratchett

Somehow the casual misogyny keeps popping up

julesG But keep in mind, just because the character is misogynistic doesn't necessarily mean that the author is too. 2mo

Doppoetry @julesG it also doesnt mean that he isn't. 2mo

julesG You're right. But I just had a very lengthy discussion with someone about whether the author of a book was racist, because one of the characters was racist. And yes, it doesn't mean that the author isn't, but it's also no proof that the author is. 2mo

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Doppoetry @julesG It's okay to have your own opinions, I didn't imply TP was a misogynist at all, but we also can't keep excusing problematic things because it's “in character“ or putting our own opinions into dead authors' mouths. 2mo

julesG I'm absolutely fine with calling it out. Guess that discussion about racism ruffled my feathers. 2mo

Doppoetry @julesG There are clear themes of prejudice and racism in these books. I wouldn't say that TP seemed like he was racist, as much as he was criticizing the casual racism that citizens might have, consciously or otherwise.

2mo

4 likes6 comments

Doppoetry

Snuff | Terry Pratchett

There was this earlier scene where Lady Sybil and Vimes were over to this noblewoman's house, and Vimes started telling these young women that they should just get jobs and not rely on finding a rich man to marry. While I get the sentiment, I also fundamentally dislike it when ignorant men tell young women what to do.

Normally, Sybil corrects him when he's being like this, and yet she just sat there smiling. It doesn't sit well with me.

Doppoetry I wonder if TP even understood the whole reason that Austen poked fun at these types of arrangements.

Let's ignore the Discworld for a second and realize that: Women didn't have many rights; marrying rich was expected of them, and unless they wanted to be in poverty, they had to either marry above their station or aim for equal to their own station.

Discworld has a slightly more progressive view of women, but we more often see the lower class- 2mo

Doppoetry -struggling and trying to stay above the poverty line. than we see any sort of upper-middle class.

We still get a lot of gender politics, and see how men have it better than women.

We also see it in all the times where 'Sybil signs off her property to her husband because it's traditional.' 2mo

Doppoetry Tl:dr: Austen made her commentary for a reason, and it's not just a “haha woman write romance novel“ let's actually understand why her books work and her commentary is relevant even today. ESPECIALLY for women 2mo

3 likes3 comments

Doppoetry

Snuff | Terry Pratchett

Just started this and I'm cakling so much at the P&P references

4 likes

BookishGirl06

Wintersong (Wintersong #1) | S. Jae-Jones

My next read

53 likes

lil1inblue

Outside Over There | Maurice Sendak

💙 Indoors - We had elaborate Barbie play. Big family trees, backstories, lots of drama, VERY soap-operatic. Outdoors - CAPTURE THE FLAG! So many great memories of playing this in our neighborhood.
💙Book - Someone got me a copy of Outside Over There when my sister was born. It had quite an impact, but also creeped me out! Movie - The Wizard of Oz. I loved when it was on TV once a year - we always made it a big event.
#wondrouswednesday @eggs

Eggs This hits close to home for me: Barbie extravaganza in the backyard with neighbor girls❤️And watching Oz once a year, oh my!! Thanks for waking these memories 😻 3mo

lil1inblue @Eggs 🤗🤗🤗 3mo

25 likes2 comments

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