Wash: I mean, I'm the one she swore to love, honor and obey. Mal: Listen... She swore to obey? Wash: Well, no, not...

'War Stories'


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."


Calli - Aug 29, 2009 5:08:35 pm PDT #9885 of 28385
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

Yes, Charles de Lint was writing back in the late 80s. I think of him as the granddaddy of the movement. His Moonheart caught me at just the right time—I read it to bits.


DavidS - Aug 29, 2009 5:56:09 pm PDT #9886 of 28385
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Emma Bull's War For the Oaks came out in 1987. That was my first exposure to the genre. That and the Bordertown books edited by Terri Windling. (Bull and Shetterly were both contributors to those books.)


§ ita § - Aug 29, 2009 6:34:51 pm PDT #9887 of 28385
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I think of Bull and Shetterly first when I think of the genre. I don't try and think of Shetterly so much anymore.


Fay - Aug 29, 2009 8:43:45 pm PDT #9888 of 28385
"Fuck Western ideologically-motivated gender identification!" Sulu gasped, and came.

Oh, Moonheart! I loved the hell out of that book. That (er, and Sting's song Englishman in New York, with its whole idea of being a legal alien) is what prompted me to go to Canada for a year when I finished High School.


Typo Boy - Aug 29, 2009 10:21:50 pm PDT #9889 of 28385
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.

Another vague memory. Can anyone remember a fantasy which featured the phrase "Earl owl of owl hall"?

A google book search reveals that this phrase was mentioned in

The Nesbit tradition: the children's novel in England, 1945-1970‎ by Marcus Crouch. But they not only don't display the page, they don't tell the page number the phrase is found on. So still don't know the book or the author (Nesbit tradition is pretty vague - could be lots of authors)


DavidS - Aug 30, 2009 8:58:26 am PDT #9890 of 28385
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Hey P-Cow (and others), there's a new Lorrie Moore book out.


Polter-Cow - Aug 30, 2009 9:51:35 am PDT #9891 of 28385
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

I HEARD ABOUT THAT A FEW WEEKS AGO AND FLIPPED OUT. I hope it's good.


DavidS - Aug 30, 2009 10:00:20 am PDT #9892 of 28385
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

I hope it's good.

Both reviews in the NYTimes rated it as her best work yet. Deeper, richer, more ambitious.


StuntHusband - Aug 30, 2009 6:50:50 pm PDT #9893 of 28385
Electromagnetic candy! - Stark

Typo Boy - I'm 80% certain that "Earl owl of owl hall" is from the first of the Gormenghast books, "Titus Groan", by Mervyn Peake. (Specifically, after Earl Sepulchrave goes barking bonkers and starts sitting on the mantle of his chambers, hooting like an owl.)

I might be wrong; I don't own a copy to use for research.


Polter-Cow - Aug 30, 2009 8:48:31 pm PDT #9894 of 28385
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!

Speeeeaking of urban fantasy, my friend Seanan's debut novel comes out on Tuesday, and it's very good! Plus, it's set in San Francisco. I urge all Buffistas to check out Rosemary and Rue.

And I will probably be sending out an e-mail or posting in Press later too, but for all SF-istas, she's doing a reading at Borderlands this Saturday. Come on out!