Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
I read 28 titles (12 up from last month, 4 up from last April)–although, it should be noted that 7 of those were Picture books, still, it was a good month.
Not the best month for the ol’ TBR pile (especially the 2026 numbers…), the danger of book events, I guess.
The Month in Reading
(thanks to Bookmory for the image)
TBR Piles
| Audio | E-book | Physical | Goodreads Want-to-Read |
NetGalley Shelf/ARCs/Review Copies |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of 2025 |
4 | 89 | 112 | 192 | 11 |
| 1st of the Month |
4 | 88 | 118 | 202 | 10 |
| Added | 0 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 1 |
| Read/ Listened |
1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 |
| Current Total | 3 | 88 | 132 | 200 | 6 |
My TBR Range
If you actually want to be able to read that, click on the chart for a larger version.
Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 23
Self-/Independent Published: 5
| Genre | This Month | Year to Date |
|---|---|---|
| Children’s | 7 (25%) | 13 (13%) |
| Fantasy | 3 (11%) | 15 (15%) |
| General Fiction/ Literature | 3 (11%) | 11 (11%) |
| Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller | 6 (21%) | 25 (25%) |
| Non-Fiction | 1 (4%) | 7 (7%) |
| Science Fiction | 3 (11%) | 8 (9%) |
| Theology/ Christian Living | 2 (7%) | 8 (8%) |
| Urban Fantasy | 3 (11%) | 12 (12%) |
| “Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western) | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) |
Review-ish Things Posted
Books of the Month
- Soul Fraud by Andrew Givler: The Devil’s Minion Went Down to a Movie Theater in LA
- Enemy of My Enemy (Audiobook) by Alex Segura, read by Michael David Axtell: A Lot of Devils in Hell’s Kitchen
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson: Survive Long Enough to Gather Power. Gather Enough Power to Make a Difference.
- True Color by Kory Stamper: The Struggle to Define Blue (and other colors)
Other Recommended Reads
- Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite: A Cozy Murder Mystery in Spaaaaaaaaace.
- Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn: Chet Searches for an Influencer Cat
- Quick-Take Catchups: The Leftovers from February
- REPOSTING JUST CUZ: Shadowed Souls edited by Jim Butcher, Kerrie L. Hughes
- REPOSTING JUST CUZ: Heroic Hearts ed. by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes: Street-wise Herculeses to fight the rising odds
- Paranormal Payback edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes: Revenge and Magic
- Electric City Switches by M.D. Presley: This Is Why Some People Can’t Go Home Again
- City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky: A Lot of Promise, Not A Lot of Delivery
- Grandpappy’s Corner: Hey, Al by Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski (Illustrator): Maybe a Little Creepy, But Sweet
Other Things I Posted
- Fantasy with Friends: How Do You Define “Fantasy?”
- Counting My Literary Chickens Before They Hatch: My April TBR
- Fantasy with Friends: Do You Prefer High or Low Fantasy?
- Fantasy with Friends: My Favorite Fantasy Subgenres
- 2026 Plans and Challenges—1st Quarter Check-In
- LITERARY LOCALS: Some Independent Bookstores and Indie Bookstore Day!
- Captivating Character of April: Baru Cormorant
- Fantasy with Friends: Today’s Fantasy Books I Think Will Become Fantasy Classics
Spotlights
Music Mondays
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Derecho Demonico” by Jack White (Live on SNL)
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Golden” by Puddles Pity Party
- MUSIC MONDAY: “Eet” by Regina Spektor
WWW Wednesdays
- WWW Wednesday—April 1, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—April 8, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—April 15, 2026
- WWW Wednesday—April 22, 2026
Saturday Miscellanies
- Saturday Miscellany—4/4/26
- Saturday Miscellany—4/11/26
- Saturday Miscellany—4/18/26
- Saturday Miscellany—4/25/26
Enough about me—how Was Your Month?
Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
Has reading a fantasy book ever inspired you to do further research into something else?
Not really–I mean, Fantasy is pretty much about beyond reality, right? I mean, occasionally, I’d do a quick web search to check for a detail or two on a notable fae or mythological figure–just to make sure I remembered them correctly. I did that with Grossman’s The Bright Sword when it came to a knight or two, and some of the characters in Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw. That’s as close as I can think of when it comes to research.
Well, I mean–there’s looking into the backlist of a new-to-me author.
This prompt did made me think of How to Slay a Dragon: A Fantasy Hero’s Guide to the Real Middle Ages by Cait Stevenson.
What should you ask a magic mirror? How do you outwit a genie? Where should you dig for buried treasure? Fantasy media’s favorite clichés get new life from How to Slay a Dragon: A Fantasy Hero’s Guide to the Real Middle Ages, a historically accurate romp through the medieval world. Each entry presents a trope from video games, books, movies, or TV—such as saving the princess or training a wizard—as a problem for you to solve, as if you were the hero of your own fantasy quest. Through facts sourced from a rich foundation of medieval sources, you will learn how your magical problems were solved by people in the actual Middle Ages.
Divided into thematic subsections based on typical stages in a fantastical epic, and inclusive of race, gender, and continent, How to Slay a Dragon is perfect if you’re curious to learn more about the time period that inspired some of your favorite magical worlds or longing to know what it would be like to be the hero of your own mythical adventure.
Were I the sort to be inspired, I think that many of the questions I’d want to research were touched on by this book. Honestly, I was disappointed in the book–I really didn’t think it lived up to the premise. But still, there were some entertaining bits. Obviously, your results may vary. It wasn’t research per se–but it’s me looking into various and sundry fantasy tropes.
I’m really looking forward to some of the other posts in response to this prompt, if only because I expect a good recommendation or six.
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
Does reading do us any good?—”Stripped of easy moralising, literature makes us relish the search for truth in an age when many believe truth to be dead.” This is one to chew on.
MAGA Is Confused About Animal Farm—it makes for a good headline, but Wired suggests it’s not just MAGA that doesn’t.
2026 Edgar Allan Poe Awards—were announced this week. I really dig a lot of the choices here (especially Best Novel)
If it’s Edgar’s season, it’s also time for CrimeTime’s “State of Crime Novel” series, something I look forward to. Part 1: Routines, Problem-Solving, and Faithful Companions and Part 2: Issues and Recommendations
So you want to read digital comics—Fantasy Book Nerd has put together a nice round-up of some of the bigger apps for them.
Indie Blog Off Remnants (IBOR) released their Round 1 Champions—If they’re all in the same class as the two of these that I have read, I don’t envy the judges (well, it looks like they’re in a good time reading, but a hard time in judging)
My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
Uncle Victor died the way he lived: running from the provincial highway patrol with a car full of weapons, because his car wasn’t made to be quite that airborne, and it definitely wasn’t made for the impact of hitting the ground. —“A Serious Track” by by Krystle Matar, from The Book of Spores
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
There Will Always Be a Max by Michael R. Underwood—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
The Absconded Ambassador (Audiobook) by Michael R. Underwood, Mary Robinette Kowal—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
Off to See the Wizard by Clay Johnson—Nunc hoc in marmore non est incisum
And I mentioned the releases of Arf by Spencer Quinn and The Worst Night Ever by Dave Barry
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper—This is just fantastic. I’ve been trying to write something about this since Tuesday, and…words are failing me so far. Don’t wait for me to get my act together, just go get it.
Crownfall by Michael Vadney—”The gritty underworld and razor-edged found family of Six of Crows collide with the mysterious magic and sweeping intrigue of The City of Brass, all against the vivid industrial backdrop of Arcane in Michael Vadney’s nobledark fantasy debut.”” I’m eager to see what this is.
Ms. Mebel Goes Back to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto—”A nearly divorced trophy wife enrolls in culinary school to win back her husband, only to find a fresh start in the unlikeliest of places.” Which really doesn’t sound like a book to necessary appeal to me. But when you say “Jesse Q. Sutanto”…
Jen & Gary’s Infinite (Quantum) Entanglements by Nick Gregorio—”Gary Leslie broke the universe… by confessing his love to his best friend, Jen Scott. Now he’s tumbling through the multiverse, waking up as everything from a tyrannosaurus to a murderbot, a sentient island with volcanic ex drama, a mooman (that’s moose-man, obviously), and even a coffee mug. In every reality, one thing stays the same: Jen…. Wildly funny, heartbreakingly human, and utterly bizarre, Jen & Gary’s Infinite (Quantum) Entanglements is a romantic comedy where love takes on infinite forms… and destroying reality might just be the easy part.”
A Murder Most Camp by Nicolas Didomizio—a “fun, twisty mystery following a spoiled nepo baby forced to work at a struggling summer camp who stumbles into a real-life murder mystery he has no choice but to solve”
Sure, what better day for this than May 1?
Head Fake by Scott Gordon
“In moments like this, Shay, we realize how funny life is. We must get the joke. We have to.”
Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett
Freedom, Alabama, wasn’t really the middle of nowhere. We had big fields and the woods, sure, and horses and cows, but if we drove half an hour to Auburn we had a mini-golf course, a mall, and both a Waffle House and a Red Lobster. We had a bowling alley and the water park, even if the water park had been closed last summer, and we had the second-largest zoo in Alabama. It wasn’t like we were Laura Ingalls Wilder or anything.
I’d figured out by now that death never makes sense, no matter how someone dies: murder, accident, old age, cancer, suicide, you’re never ready to lose someone you love. I decided death will always feel unexplained; we will never be ready for it, and you just have to do the best you can with what you have left.
I wondered how many world records had gone unrecorded. How did you really know yours was the world record and not just the only one someone had bothered to write down?
City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky
There was no treasure more precious than a man’s unstretched neck, after all.
Her name was Lemya. She was fresh out of the provinces. She was, Ruslav could tell, one of those who de/ieved in things. She’d already spent a night in the cells because some idiot students had refused to leave some idiot place when the Turncoats had told them to. Not even Occupier patrols, just the locals in their uniforms that were literally a pale imitation of the Pals’. Ruslav knew about that, because he’d been in the cell across the way after being too slow to get out of a punch-up. He heard her and her idiot friends arguing about morals and ethics and other things you couldn’t eat or stab someone with.
In the Pallesand Archipelago, there were no executions. That would imply criminal acts, and everyone knew that the Palleseen were sailing into their Thousand Years of Perfection. Even the persistence of the Temporary Commission of Ends and Means was entirely focused outwards. Of course, plenty of people disappeared across the Archipelago. They just weren’t there, and all reference to them was removed. Their name would only ever be found in one place, a carefully curated list of all the people who didn’t exist and should not he mentioned. The list was necessary when prosecuting anyone gauche enough to mention them, because you had to have something to refer to, to know what it was to which nobody was permitted to refer. But these weren’t executions. This was just the operation of perfection. Outside the Archipelago, however, the officials of the Sway tended to retain the crude local forms of punishment.
Her look suggested she saw through him as though he was no more than the evaporating fog…
He didn’t think of the war anymore. Which wasn’t true. He woke from dreams of it, fighting his blanket. The gas, the wire, the hungry dark that descended at midday. The shrill scream of demon artillery, the bellows of monsters in torment. But he didn’t think about whether it still raged on (doubtless it still raged on) or who was winning (nobody was winning).
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Thoughts are ephemeral, they evaporate in the moment they occur, unless they are given action and material form. Wishes and intentions, the same. Meaningless, unless they impel you to one choice or another, some deed or course of action, however insignificant. Thoughts that lead to action can be dangerous. Thoughts that do not, mean less than nothing.
If you’re going to make a desperate, hopeless act of defiance, you should make it a good one.
Falling didn’t bother me. I could fall forever and not be hurt. It’s stopping that’s the problem.
Surely it isn’t illegal here to complain about young people these days? How cruel. I had thought it a basic part of human nature, one of the few universally practiced human customs.
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
It wasn’t that she didn’t like people, it was only that she liked books more. They didn’t fuss, or judge, or mock, or reject. They invited you in, fluffed up the pillows on the couch, offered you tea and toast, and shared their hearts with no expectation that you’d do anything more than absorb what they had to give.
She didn’t really know anything about running a shop, or magic, or jam. “But I do know books,” and that meant there was nothing she couldn’t know…eventually. That was a magic in and of itself.
Opening the notebook, she stroked the smooth, crisp, blank page. There was something so very beautiful about a notebook without a single note in it. It felt like touching pure potential.
Return to Sender by Craig Johnson
“Nobody smiles anymore.”
“Excuse me?”
“Have you noticed? Nobody smiles anymore.” Mike adjusted himself in the tiny postal Jeep, setting his back against the passenger-side door as he sat on the floor beside Dog so no one would see him in the September early morning light. “Remember when we were growing up how you were taught that when you walked down the street and you met a stranger, that you smiled or said hello?” He sighed, staring at the plethora of mail and packages in the back as if it were a weight he could no longer bear. “People don’t do that anymore.”
Mike Thurman, my late wife’s cousin, was in a bad mood, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a point.
There’s a part of I-80—or, as the locals call it, the Snow Chi Minh Trail—that’s spoken of as the Highway to Heaven that, when atmospheric conditions are right, gives the appearance as though the Interstate goes straight up into the heavens. But that wasn’t the part that I was on. I was on the soul-leeching part that seems to go on forever; a life-eroding slab of concrete that tears the very hours from your life at an excruciatingly slow pace.
Or maybe that’s just me.
The Highway to Heaven between Evanston and Lyman doesn’t go to heaven but rather to the Bridger Valley, which is pretty nice.
So, maybe it was just me.
(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)
Hey, Al
by Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski (Illustrator)
DETAILS:
Publisher: Square Fish
Publication Date: May 01, 1989
Format: Hardcover
Length: 32 pgs.
Read Date: April 18, 2026
What’s Hey, Al About?
Al is a janitor, and Eddie is his faithful dog. They do everything together–work, leisure, you name it. They live in a cramped apartment in New York. And the quarters might be a little too tight for the two, even as close as they are (Eddie, in particular, seems to want more).
One day, a giant bird offers them a way out–he offers to take the two of them somewhere to get away from all of their lives. That’s a bit much for Al to take in, and he resists. But Eddie puts his foot down, so the next day this giant bird takes them to its home–a floating island in the sky.
Because, of course, it is.
This island is populated by all sorts of various birds best described larger-than-they-should be, and the life seems idyllic.
But, as everything does, there is a cost to this. And it’s not long before the pair learn what it is. Is it too much?
Let’s Talk about the Art for a Minute
Oh, it’s just great. Apparently, Yorinks and Egielski work together a lot–and they should. Egielski’s illustrations are just dynamite. They perfectly capture the story–and they’re attention-grabbing enough that a young reader might not really care about the text, as long as they can flip through the book to look at the illustrations.
The birds are fantastic–and that island (gravity-defying as it may be) looks gorgeous. The emotions–positive and negative–of Al and Eddie are conveyed perfectly.
It’s just great.
How is it to Read Aloud?
It’s fine–there’s nothing dazzling about the text, it’s a solid story that the grown-up reader will be able to make it through just fine while looking at all the art with their younger audience.
So, what did I think about Hey, Al?
Honestly, it seemed a little dark for a couple of pages, given the audience. But I remember kids’ books don’t need to make everything too exciting and happy–kids can handle a little darkness (especially if there’s a happy ending–and spoiler alert, there is one.)
This is just a wonderful book read–full of imagination. It’s one to get your hands on (even if you’re a little “too old” for it).
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Music Monday's originated at The Tattooed Book Geek's fantastic blog and has shown up hither, thither, and yon since then.
Fantasy with Friends is a weekly meme hosted by the good people over at Pages Unbound. Fantasy with Friends poses questions each Monday about fantasy, either as a genre as a whole or individual works.
This week’s prompt is:
What fantasy books do you think will be classics in the future?
This question is making me stumble. That’s not Pages Unbound’s fault. It’s just the way my brain works.
First, I’m stumbling over the idea of “contemporary.” Are we talking about the last couple of years, the 21st century, or something else? And, yes, I’m certain that the way this question is phrased is that it’s up to me to decide for the purpose of this post. I’m sticking with this century, although I’m squeamish about calling it contemporary.
For the purposes of this post, I’m not going to define classic as anything more than “you know it when you see it.”
The other problem I’m having with this question is that I don’t know how many people can predict what’ll become a classic. How many people e reading about that band in the Mines of Moria back in 1954 were thinking, “There will be an entire genre that’s largely defined by people reacting to/reacting against/building from this book?” Did Peter S. Beagle’s editor know the impact that little book about a unicorn would have on countless readers for decades?
Who knows what effect the events in the world and what’s being published are going to have on the aesthetics of generations to come? It’s so hard to guess what books will be read in 2060, what books that writers of 2090 will resonate with. How many of those things we’re throwing awards at will be punchlines to our great-grandkids?
Isn’t that part of the fun? Reading something and having no idea what people who aren’t on social media are thinking about it? What’s going to get passed on to a child/grandchild—and what percentage of that will actually get read? (I know full well what my kids do with the books I give them, but that doesn’t stop me from trying). I love it when I stumble onto someone younger than me stumbling onto The Prydain Chronicles and feeling what I felt in elementary school. I imagine a lot of Tolkien’s early fans felt a sense of satisfaction and surprise seeing his work captivate their children and grandchildren. I’m eager to look around in my dotage and see what I recognize on bookstore shelves—or the shelves in people’s homes (I’m one of those people who spend half their attention as a guest scoping out the titles on my host’s shelves to really understand them)
And lastly, I know that no one is going to bring up my guesses in 25 years to point and laugh at me. No one is going to Nelson Muntz me. (Will anyone in 25 years know Nelson Muntz?) This is, of course, assuming I live to my mid-70s. (get your mockery in early, folks—you don’t know what this sedentary lifestyle is going to do to my longevity).* Still, I hate giving an answer I can’t feel reasonably sure is correct.
My big prediction is that there are going to be fewer White European Dudes (percentage-wise) in the Fantasy Canon. We’re going to see a lot of non-Europeans, a lot of Women, and read a lot of voices that will make Tom Bombadil say, “That’s a little strange.” There are plenty of future classics that aren’t making a lot of Best Seller lists here in the States/UK, and my grandkids are going to go wild over them and shake their heads at me for missing.
But that meandering is not what the question asked for. So here’s my stab at it…just a stream of consciousness here, totally not binding. I hope that The Name of the Wind will be seen with affection by a bunch of people who can’t be bothered to care about the fate of The Doors of Stone. I don’t know if I’d put money on The Lies of Locke Lamora standing the test of time, but I’d love it if it would. It’s possible that all/part of A Song of Ice and Fire will be considered a classic—see TNotW, but all of them feel less stand-alone-ish than Rothfuss’ book is, so we might actually need a conclusion. I’m sure something by Jemisin—if not her entire oeuvre—will be a classic, I don’t know that I can choose one. Brandon Sanderson almost has to have a future in the canon—if only because of volume. Terry Pratchett, too (but will people find him funny?) R.L. Kuang? John Gwynn? Nnedi Okorafor? S.A. Chakraborty?
As much as I adore some of Gaiman’s works** I’m guessing his stuff is doomed to obscurity***. I don’t know if Joe Abercrombie is going to last longer than this generation (I hate to say that, I hope he does), ditto for Seanan McGuire or Jim Butcher. I’m not trying to throw shade on the subgenres, but I don’t know that the best Romantasy or Cozy Fantasy authors are going to be remembered, much less celebrated.
I cannot wait to see what titles and authors are mentioned by the less cautious bloggers–a.k.a. those who don’t have to issue paragraphs of disclaimers before their anxiety will let them publish–have to say. Check out this post for links to the braver-than-me-souls.
* Wow, this is taking a dark turn.
** Stay with me here.
*** Deservedly.
Do you have responses to this? (either for the comment section below or from your own post)
Happy Indie Bookstore Day 2026! I hope you can get out and show your local some support.
Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
No, Books Are Not Remotely Too Expensive: Let’s Explore a Little Math—Joel J. Miller pokes at the “book affordability crisis” idea going around social media. Turns out we’re getting bargains (even if it doesn’t feel like it). I, for one, am embracing this idea today when I go celebrate Indie Bookstore Day–look how much money I’m actually saving, dear!!
Bookshop.org’s Sales Grew 55% in 2025, Sparked by Romance and E-books—Publishers Weekly reports: “Six years on, the online bookseller continues to grow at a remarkable pace”
Dragonlance: Selling the Dream—Tracy Hickman talks a little about the origins of the series. (Hat Tip: Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub
Star Wars Day 2026 Gift Giving Guide—This Dad Reads’ annual guide (I’ve yet to part with actual money after reading these posts, but I’ve mentally spent hundreds each time)
Imagining Future Book Titles by AI… The Future is Bright!!—The Organgutan Librarian gets speculative…
Monthly Manga Mania Featuring Firsty Duelist: Seven Deadly Sins by Nakaba Suzuki —The Firsty Duelist gets mildly critical…
Ten Recommended Indie Fantasy/Scifi Novels—C.T. Phipps gives a list of knock-out titles (I’ve read 2 of these, and can see why they make the list for sure)
My favorite sentence/passage/phrase (or two) that I read this week:
“There is always more after the ending. Always the next morning, and the next. Always changes, losses and gains. Always one step after the other. Until the one true ending that none of us can escape. But even that ending is only a small one, larges as it looms for us. There is still the next morning for everyone else. For the vast majority of the rest of the universe that ending might as well not ever have happened. Every ending is an arbitrary one. Everything ending is from another angle, not really an ending.”—Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie
To help talk about backlist titles (and just for fun), What Was I Talking About 10 Years Ago This Week?
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire—I’m still talking about this book…
Life, The Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams
Fate Ball by Adam W. Jones—the title brings back near-visceral memories. This one did a number on me.
And I mentioned the releases of: The Drafter by Kim Harrison (in paperback); Dead is Best by Jo Perry; Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Brewslaw; and Almost Infamous by Matt Carter
This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen—”A starship captain and her crew face conspiracies and betrayals as they clash with various factions of a galactic civil war in a thrilling space adventure.” It’s been too long since I’ve read Mike Chen, this looks like a great way to end the drought.
Don’t Die Dave by A.R. Witham—JCM Berne vouches for this, that’s good enough for me. “A death game where the prize isn’t power or money — it’s health insurance.”
Gods & Comics by Kat Cho—about “a teen whose life is upended when the gods in her anonymous viral web comic inspired by a forgotten Korean myth come to life and the hero falls in love with her.”
It’s the last Friday of the month, so it’s time for my Most Captivating Character of the Month post. This month, I don’t think I have any choice but to select Baru Cormorant, who is likely the most captivating character I’ve read this year. She’s the protagonist from The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, I posted about it earlier today.
Please note that I said, “captivating.” Not: heroic, likeable, sympathetic, honorable, valorous, fun, or anything else. She is those at some times, but generally, “captivating” is the appropriate word. She’s also, according to the title of the book we meet her in, a traitor. Later titles suggest that she becomes a monster, a tyrant, and something to be disclosed in the title of book four. I bet none of those take away from the captivating.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
When Baru was a child, an Empire came and took over the island she and her family lived on–and had for generations. Without a lot of fanfare or violence, the Empire established its power by bringing medicine, fiat currency, vaccines, dental care, clean water, education, and a particularly strict form of morality–and all the people of Taranoke had to do was to embrace the benefits and let their culture be methodically wiped out.
Baru is an exceptionally bright child and is enrolled at a local school–despite what that does to her family–and through that education, she understands what’s happening. She decides to destroy the Empire, who “could not be stopped by spear or treaty, she would change it from within.” She’s bright and she also has a pretty good ego. And a vengeful streak wider than her body.
I’m not going to walk you through what happens after school in detail–she’s sent to another conquered land to act as the Imperial Accountant. And she does a great job of manipulating the economy to the benefit of the Empire, and does many, many other things to prove that she deserves to get close enough to the center of Imperial power that she can change it from within. She cuts herself off (almost as much as she thinks she does) from emotions, concern for others, and basic decency to accomplish her goals.
But Baru doesn’t do this through the traditional means of a Fantasy novel–she takes a quiet (at least for her), cerebral approach. The book is full of places where she’s quietly thinking by herself. The reader gets to know some of her thoughts and feelings–but not all of them (especially her thoughts). She seems always to be a few steps–if not miles ahead–of her opponents. She has the driven focus of Darrow of Lycos and the cunning of Darrow of Lykos, Sand dan Glokta, Zhu Chongba, and Baldrick combined. That’s probably underselling it–but it’s the best I can come up with. Basically, do not cross her. Your doom won’t come from her hand–but she’ll be behind it, I can promise you.
She’s not perfect. Baru frequently stumbles–part of that is due to her (young) age and lack of experience, part of that is due to her ego, and part of it is that she frequently forgets that other people will not necessarily act the way she thinks they will or that she wants–more than once, she forgets to account for the agency of others. Watching her recover (mostly) from those moments and pivot to a new plan is really quite something.
One quick quotation from one of her biggest times of self-doubt shines a lot of light on her as a character:
The terror that took Baru came from the deepest part of her soul. It was a terror particular to her, a fundamental concern—the apocalyptic possibility that the world simply did not permit plans, that it worked in chaotic and unmasterable ways, that one single stroke of fortune, one well-aimed bowshot by a man she had never met, could bring total disaster. The fear that the basic logic she used to negotiate the world was a lie.
Or, worse, that she herself could not plan: that she was as blind as a child, too limited and self-deceptive to integrate the necessary information, and that when the reckoning between her model and the pure asymbolic fact of the world came, the world would devour her like a cuttlefish snapping up bait.
(a few pages later, and you’ll have trouble believing she ever thought this)
Now, I’ve only read one book of the three published (with at least one to come) about Baru–so I don’t know where all she’s going. But the deepness, the richness, the unique way she’s depicted all makes her my captivating character of the month.
What character would you name for last month?