Category Archives: Book Reviews

Changing in the Telling

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Nathan

The Unkindest Tide, by Seanan McGuire – This book deals with the Roane, the aquatic children of the Luidaeg who had been mostly killed off centuries earlier, their skins then being used to create Selkies. The sea-witch vows to revive … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglicanism, Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Catholicism, Christianity, Fairy Tales, German, History, Islam, Magic, marissa meyer, Middle Ages, Mythology, Norse, Nursery Rhymes, october daye, Relationships, Religion, seanan mcguire, Urban Legends, Welsh | Tagged apocrypals, archbishop whateley, cait sith, cats, ceil baring-gould, curious myths of the middle ages, cursed, dogs, erlking, fairies, garden of eden, gellert, gilded, jesus, luidaeg, merrows, napoleon bonaparte, paradise, perchta, pope joan, prester john, prince llewellyn, roane, rumplestiltskin, sabine baring-gould, selkies, seven sleepers of ephesus, sherlock holmes, the annotated mother goose, the unkindest tide, titania, wandering jew, william stuart baring-gould, william tell | Leave a comment

Serious About Series

Posted on March 9, 2023 by Nathan

I’ve finished reading the latest issue of The Baum Bugle, which is largely dedicated to Kabumpo in Oz. Editor Sarah Crozter co-wrote a piece with Nick Campbell on the book and Oz as a series in general. I’ve seen a … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Book Reviews, Cartoons, Characters, Christmas, Cults, Discworld, Dr. Seuss, Families, Games, Holidays, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Terry Pratchett, Toys | Tagged allison mcbain, black gold saya, cora-lee marcus, cory in oz, curious cottabus, dinosaurs, edward eager, fabia, fumaro, garrett kilgore, glinda, halloween island, i am jinjur, international wizard of oz club, jinjur, jonathan markoff, kabumpo, kabumpo in oz, kalidahs, kaliko, kuma party, limbo, lin carter, mary austin, nick campbell, nome king, nomes, on beyond zebra, ozma, ozma of oz, ozwold, pigasus, radiation, sarah crozter, teddy bears, the baum bugle, the gnome king of oz, the green glass castle, the man who didn't believe in christmas, the tired tailor of oz, the wonderful wizard of oz, tik-tok of oz, transformation, wizard of oz, writing, wumbo | 4 Comments

Through an Uskglass Darkly

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Nathan

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke – The author’s debut novel was recommended to me because I liked her Piranesi.This book was much longer and more complicated, but I liked it. It takes place in the early nineteenth … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, British, Christmas, Comics, History, Holidays, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Relationships, Rick Riordan | Tagged adze, anansi, beagle boys, big bad wolf, bob gregory, carl barks, christmas in duckburg, donald duck, fairies, grandma duck, gyro gearloose, huey dewey and louie, jonathan strange and mr norrell, napoleon bonaparte, piranesi, rick riordan presents, rocket-roasted christmas turkey, roseanne a. brown, scrooge mcduck, serwa boateng, serwa boateng's guide to vampire hunting, susanna clarke, the lovelorn fireman, tristan strong, vampires, vic lockman | 1 Comment

Pendexter’s Laboratory

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Nathan

Today, in my ongoing look at obscure Oz books, I’m looking at the work of Hugh Pendexter III. He dives into some unanswered questions from the series and includes quite a few references, although he mostly uses his own characters, … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Greek Mythology, Hugh Pendexter, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Phil Lewin, Places, Roman, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged cap'n bill, curtis dunham, dogs, donald abbott, dorothy and the wizard in oz, dorothy gale, dr. nikidik, dr. pipt, elephants, ev, farhold island, forest of gugu, great gillikin forest, how the wizard came to oz, johnny dooit, mombi, morrow, nine tiny piglets, oz and the three witches, ozma, paul clarendon west, robots, saturn, shaggy man, silico, tales of the crocheted cat, the crocheted cat in oz, the golden goblin, the lost king of oz, the magic of oz, the marvelous land of oz, the pearl and the pumpkin, the road to oz, the sea fairies, w. w. denslow, wicked witch of the east, wicked witch of the west, winged monkeys, witches, wizard of oz, wooglet in oz | Leave a comment

Quidnunc Pro Quo

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Nathan

A Thousand Ships, by Natalie Haynes – This book dives into the thoughts and actions of numerous women involved with the Trojan War, giving their perspective on the whole thing. It utilizes a lot of sources, and gives each one … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, Cartoons, Catherynne M. Valente, Comics, Greek Mythology, Humor, Kirby, Mythology, Technology, Television, Toys, Video Games | Tagged a thousand ships, dream land, gaia, hirokazu hikawa, king dedede, kirby manga mania, kirby right back at ya, mushrooms, natalie haynes, nintendo, nintendo power, odysseus, osmo unknown and the eightpenny woods, pangirlin, pangolins, penelope, quidnunx, skadgebat, super mario manga mania, trojan war | Leave a comment

Roland in the Deep

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Nathan

I think I first heard of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso in a blurb about C.S. Lewis comparing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings to it. Well, they do both have a magic ring that makes people invisible, and a monster … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Arthurian Legend, Authors, Book Reviews, British, C.S. Lewis, Characters, Christianity, French, Greek Mythology, Islam, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Video Games, William Shakespeare | Tagged amazons, andromeda, arimaspoi, astolfo, atlante, avalon, basil of caesarea, battle of roncevaux pass, beowulf, chanson de roland, charlemagne, childe roland to the dark tower came, cortana, durendal, elijah, fairies, faleero, falerina, ferragut, giants, griffins, halo, hector, hell, hippogriffs, holga danske, horses, hugh capet of france, huon of bordeaux, jesus, john the apostle, king lear, lethe river, lord of the rings, ludovico ariosto, matteo maria boiardo, merlin, moon, morgan le fay, ogier the dane, orcas, orcs, orlando furioso, orlando innamorato, paladin, penthesileia, pliny the elder, prester john, rinaldo, robert browning, roland, roland the headless thompson gunner, ruggiero, st. denis, st. peter, stephen king, swords, tristan and isolde, virgin mary, warren zevon, water of oblivion, weapons | Leave a comment

Been a Long Time Since I Rinkitinked

Posted on January 18, 2023 by Nathan

I’ve previously reviewed the 2016 Oziana, which consists of fifteen different alternate endings for Rinktink in Oz. I thought I should say a little more about each one, however, so here we go. Susan Johnson starts out by going in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Dennis Anfuso, Eric Shanower, Food, Humor, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jared Davis, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson | Tagged a child's garden, aaron solomon adelman, andrew heller, baruch adelman, bilbil, christopher m. diket, dorothy gale, eggs, eleanor kennedy, ev, fix city, flattown, george van buren, gilgad, goats, high faluting city, how to be good, invisible inzi of oz, jackdaws, james bond, john w. kennedy, karen diket, king anko, king gos of regos, king rinkitink, kuik blackbab, maggie lockett, magic belt, mariah b'forre, mermaids, musicton, nikobob, nome king, nome kingdom, ouija board, oziana, ozma, ozma of oz, ozmapolitan, patchwork girl, pearls of pingaree, prince bobo of boboland, prince inga of pingaree, puns, queen aquareine, queen cor of coregos, rinkitink in oz, robin hess, roodnite, sarah hadley, scarecrow, susan johnson, the gnome king of oz, the lost princess of oz, the magic of oz, the royal book of oz, the runaway of oz, three trick caverns, toto and the cats of oz, tune town, virginia and robert wauchope, walkingbury, water of oblivion, wizard of oz, wizards, zog | 4 Comments

What Is a Neighbor?

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Nathan

The Ogress and the Orphans, by Kelly Barnhill – This is a children’s fantasy that seems very relevant to recent events, and it looks like that was done on purpose. The villain is a very Trumpish sort in many respects. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Authors, Book Reviews, Comics, Current Events, Edward Einhorn, Eric Shanower, Greek Mythology, Jasper Fforde, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Plays, Politics, Prejudice, Relationships, Rick Riordan, Thursday Next, Video Games | Tagged agamemnon, age of bronze, artemis, birdo, boogeyman, crows, dragons, el cucuy, euripides, human sacrifice, iphigenia, iphigenia in aulis, kalchas, kelly barnhill, king bowser koopa, koopalings, larry koopa, ludwig von koopa, nintendo power, ogres, paola santiago, paola santiago and the sanctuary of shadows, rick riordan presents, shy guys, super mario bros., super mario bros. encyclopedia, super mario maker, super mario odyssey, tehlor kay mejia, the ogress and the orphans, trojan war, zeus | 1 Comment

Mazes, Memory, and Magic

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Nathan

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke – This is the first thing I’ve read by this author, and it was pretty fascinating. The protagonist and narrator is called Piranesi after the eighteenth century Italian artist and archaeologist (not that he knows that), … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Discworld, Final Fantasy, Games, Magic, Terry Pratchett, Video Games | Tagged andrew lloyd webber, dungeons and dragons, final fantasy viii, gaston leroux, guyal of sfere, jack vance, les miserables, mazirian the magician, piranesi, rincewind, susanna clarke, the colour of magic, the dying earth, the phantom of the opera, tunnels of doom | 3 Comments

All the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Nathan

My Oz reading recently has been a bit slow, both because I’ve had other things to read and because I was a little embarrassed to reread my own “Prince Pompadore in Oz.” I did like it, but I didn’t want to read … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Board Games, Book Reviews, Characters, Chris Dulabone, Games, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Magic Items, Melody Grandy, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Toys | Tagged charlene gretski, corinne morris, dagmar in oz, danica libutti, david rose, deadly desert, dolls, dorothy and the magic belt, doug morris, dr. angelina bean in oz, dr. nikidik, elves, emerald city, fleas, frogs, jeremy steadman, joy marie morris, lunarr and maureen in oz, mombi, noyzy boyz, oziana, ozma, peter morris, prince pompadore in oz, ruth morris, scoodlers, scrabble, snakes, susan saunders, the flying bus in oz, the lost king of oz, the road to oz | 4 Comments

Category Archives: Book Reviews

Changing in the Telling

Serious About Series

Through an Uskglass Darkly

Pendexter’s Laboratory

Quidnunc Pro Quo

Roland in the Deep

Been a Long Time Since I Rinkitinked

What Is a Neighbor?

Mazes, Memory, and Magic

All the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise

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