Toddson, I share your grief at the loss of Jo Bev. And reading about that made me realize how many of my favorite authors are about her age, which while not extremely elderly is also elevated enough that they will probably not outlive me.
But? There's always a but. When this is over, can we have a big 'but' moratorium?
Fred ,'Smile Time'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
flea - May 25, 2016 7:32:53 am PDT #23974 of 28282
information libertarian
DebetEsse - May 25, 2016 8:00:57 am PDT #23975 of 28282
Woe to the fucking wicked.
Shit. I forgot to have a hard boiled egg this morning.
Polter-Cow - May 25, 2016 8:32:58 am PDT #23976 of 28282
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
YES THIS.
OKAY SO WHAT DO YOU THINK. (Massive Head Full of Ghosts spoilers follow.) Like, obviously all the coldness in the final scene is supposed to IMPLY that the demon was in her all along, but it could just be the air conditioning, right? WHO KNOWS. I want to believe there was a demon because it's more fun but would that make HORRIFYING PASTA more or less fucked up.
Volans - May 25, 2016 9:46:07 am PDT #23977 of 28282
move out and draw fire
I think that the ending was a shout-out to the only book he hadn't namechecked, which I was waiting for, We Have Always Lived In The Castle.
But I also think it implies that the demon was in her at least for a while, and that's why she had to be present at the exorcism (to get the demon handoff). I don't know if it was ALWAYS in her (breaks the trope of teenage girl) or in both of them (also not trope, but textual support in the observation that you can't tell the sisters apart).
Polter-Cow - May 25, 2016 10:03:39 am PDT #23978 of 28282
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Oh, I haven't read that but I've been meaning to!
And I hadn't thought of the demon actually being in the little sister and moving to her. HMM. Interesting!
Volans - May 25, 2016 10:16:21 am PDT #23979 of 28282
move out and draw fire
I keep going back and forth between that, and maybe the more high-concept approach that Marjorie was going crazy because of access to information. Like maybe the whole point of the story is that too much information is bad for the human brain.
But then there's the coldness, and the idea that any demon worth its salt (SPN joke) would play the long game and always keep people guessing and generally do a better job of lying than in other books.
I woke up this morning wondering if Marjorie's possession vector was texting, in parallel to Regan getting possessed via Ouija board.
Amy - May 25, 2016 2:36:26 pm PDT #23980 of 28282
Because books.
Aw, Jo Beverly. That's sad.
I just started reading A Head Full of Ghosts. I'm glad it's a discussion starter!
bennett - May 25, 2016 4:10:56 pm PDT #23981 of 28282
Roberta Gellis also died earlier this month - [link] . Not a good month for historical romance writers.
hippocampus - May 25, 2016 6:31:59 pm PDT #23982 of 28282
not your mom's socks.
Have ordered A Head Full of Ghosts... Book discussion!
Consuela - May 25, 2016 6:55:14 pm PDT #23983 of 28282
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Jo Beverly and Roberta Gelis. Oh, my. I knew Jo a little: I was on a Dunnett mailing list with her for some years. Very nice, smart woman.
In other news, I just finished Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs, which was GREAT. Has anyone read this? It reads like Kate Elliott & Alan Furst had a kid, who was then raised by N. K. Jemisin. So good.