DRAGONMOUNT

Raquel Petra has everything she could ever want - her wife Marlena, their daughter Atalanta, and a job working alongside Marlena as researchers for the Institute. Specifically, the Global Institute for the Scientific and Humanistic Study of Pocket Worlds, which investigates little bubbles of parallel reality, and the elusive points that connect them to our own. Then, with one tiny mistake, Raquel loses everything in an instant.   Time runs fast in some of these worlds, slow in others. This leads to a wide variety of imaginative uses for time dilation, which is one of my favourite things in the story. Grow crops very quickly in a fast world, then store them in a slow world so they don’t go off. Calculating how old somebody is requires keeping track of all the worlds they’ve been in.    Because the points where you enter a world can be attached to a movable physical object, which can itself be brought inside another world, you end up with worlds within worlds, and all the complexities that might imply. It’s a great science fiction concept to build the tale around, but all the other aspects here shine just as much.   This is a story anchored in the Dominican Republic. Raquel works as an archeologist, exploring the pocket worlds for evidence of the indigenous Taíno people of the Caribbean, something that becomes more relevant as things progress.   On a broader view, it is very much about colonialism, capitalism, environmental disaster, and war. But, primarily it’s about one person’s sadness, grief, and complete self-destructive refusal to let go of what she lost. Those are the parts that really stuck with me after I had finished reading. Ultimately, it’s also about hope, something I am personally very glad for, and you will be too. This story hurts in all the right ways.   Highly recommended.   Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.

When I think about what makes our Wheel of Time (WoT) community "statistically the best," people like Jordan Rannells come to mind.   Having been a part of the WoT community for over 20 years, I've witnessed first-hand the incredible creations born from the joy and love we all share for the world that James Oliver Rigney, better known as Robert Jordan, has given us.   Our community's creativity knows no bounds. From fun ribbons, games, ajah-colored bracelets, stickers, tiny knitted horns hidden around conventions, to fan websites that have been running for nearly three decades, we thrive on our love for WoT, despite the scarcity of official merchandise (looking at you, Sony & Amazon). The lack of merchandise has only driven us to be more inventive!   This brings us to the latest exciting new beginning: the 'Soundscapes' created by Jordan Rannells. After his successful project for Lord of the Rings, he initially thought he wouldn't have the time or energy for another. Thankfully, he was wrong. We are now on the brink of experiencing this incredible new addition to The Wheel of Time literary universe. Don’t just take my word for it- Michael Kramer & Kate Reading, our beloved audiobook narrators, are all about it! Jordan Rannell's passion project features professional voice acting and original scores, immersing listeners in the WoT story in an unprecedented way. I've had the privilege of listening to several samples at various stages of completion, along with those available online, and they are simply astounding. Imagine the rhythmic sound of hammers ringing against steel, lightning sizzling into Shadowspawn, or tanning on the beaches of Tanchico alongside the crashes waves- all while our favorite narrators breathe life into the pages, bringing the weaves of The Wheel of Time to life in a captivating new way.   Now, to the point! This Kickstarter project is not yet fully funded and needs our support. Even a donation of $1 can make a significant impact if enough of us contribute, and there are plenty of us. Let’s show our love for passionate creators like Jordan and help fund this amazing project!   The most exciting aspect of these Kickstarter rewards is that not only can you enjoy immersive soundscapes to accompany your audiobooks, but Jordan is also providing unique opportunities to actively participate in bringing this world to life. YOU can help decide what saidin sounds like or even lend your voice to one of the countless creatures and characters that populate these lands. This level of involvement offers a rare chance to influence and be a part of the rich, dynamic universe you love. Anyone who backs the project or increases their pledge between the posting of this article and August 11th, 2024, will have a chance to win numerous fabulous prizes submitted by Dragonmount, along with a Grand Prize from Jordan Rannells himself! Prizes will be announced Monday, August 5th during Dragonmount’s weekly Live #reWoTch stream. The drawing will take place the following Monday, August 12th, also during #reWoTch.   Let’s gooo, #TwitterofTime, and best of luck to all who contribute! The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills!  

WoTCon 2024 kicked off with a bang headed by the Master of Ceremonies, Matt Hatch from The Dusty Wheel, and WoTCon’s Operations Director, Nae’blis. Opening Ceremonies featured the esteemed Guy Roberts as this year’s Guest of Honor.   With a stellar lineup, including Michael Livingston, Maria Simons, and the talented audiobook duo Michael Kramer and Kate Redding, the stage was set for a remarkable gathering.     Throughout the event, the blend of serious discussion, creative exploration, and WoT knowledge created an atmosphere that was inviting and fun.   The convention was structured into panel sessions, which were categorized into tracks like Main, TV Show, Games & Fun, Book, and Creative. The track names are a bit clunky, but I appreciated the clarity. Each session was rated for spoilers, ensuring all participants could enjoy without fear of unexpected reveals, a thoughtful touch that highlighted the organizers' commitment to inclusivity for all fans.   Panels at WoTCon were a core highlight, offering a variety of topics ranging from in-depth character analyses to speculative discussions about the series’ future. The panels offered a chance to delve deeper into the aspects of The Wheel of Time and encouraged active participation from the audience, making discussions a dynamic exchange. The printed program clearly described each panel, ensuring that attendees could easily follow their interests and engage fully with the content most relevant to them.    One of the most anticipated sessions was the Season 3 Speculation & Adaptation panel, where fans shared their hopes and concerns for the upcoming television adaptation. Another fan-favorite was the WoT Ones panel- a Wheel of Timey twist on the viral Hot Ones spicy wing-eating game show. Speaking of favorites and spice- the relationSHIP panel explored potential romantic pairings within the series, allowing attendees to flex their looney theories in a spicy new way. The WoT IRL- Heroes of the Horn panelists speculated which real-life figures might be tied to the Wheel as Heroes, encouraging interesting discussions.     The WoT Fantasy Draft turned character analysis into an engaging sport, where participants chose characters as if picking a fantasy sports team, leading to lively debates and strategic thinking.    Guests imparted their wisdom with Michael Livingston providing his expert analysis of the Last Battle and content creators providing valuable advice in the Content Creation & How to Do It panel. These were just some highlights, there were plenty more- you can find the full schedule on their website.   Panels aren’t the only thing on the program for WoTCon. The con’s nightlife was definitely kicking!  Friday night's featured a special dinner for content creators, guests and those who purchased the all-inclusive event ticket. The giant sing-along and all the games in the atrium set the tone for a weekend of celebration and connection.    Throughout the weekend, cosplayers showcased their incredible talents, culminating in a vibrant cosplay parade on Saturday.   I saw Bear Elayne and also watched Shael give birth right on stage! Visit our WoTCon 2024 Photo Gallery to see more costumes in action.      The banquet (this time for everyone) on Saturday evening was a highlight, with Matt and Nae'blis providing entertainment by reading anonymous notes from attendees that ranged from heartfelt thanks to delightfully cringy WoT-themed dad jokes and even a donation challenge. We were also treated to Kate Redding & Michael Kramer's reading of "The Grave is No Bar to My Call" from The Great Hunt. It was easy to see the experience was deeply appreciated by all who attended.   Post-dinner, the room transformed into a lively dance party (with a bar!) that lasted all night. We danced so much, we would have made the Tinkers proud. For those less inclined to dance, the atrium hosted a Trivia game and plenty of people to chat with, ensuring there was something for everyone.   It wouldn’t be a Wheel of Time convention without badge ribbons and shenanigans. There were badge ribbons (and stickers!) aplenty. Maria was giving out star stickers, which is so appropriate since she is an absolute star. Creator Salts designed some adorable stickers- a sister of each Ajah, Rand, Matt, Perrin, Valda, some other guys and the cutest Mydraal you've ever seen. Callie handed out amazing Ajah-colored bracelets that everyone rocked all weekend.     Koala Sedai presented a giant-sized Uno card from her Cards of Time game to Guy Roberts, but not before she got all the backers of her Kickstarter to sign it!   The Black Tower held a pinning ceremony where they raised members to Dedicated and Asha’man, including Penny "The Cake Lady" Laspina & Guy Roberts!      Roofmistress Leigh-a presided over a ceremony where two Internet besties meeting in person for the first time became first sisters!    The con closed with an improv session that perfectly displayed the spirit of community and fun among our fandom.  This was a gathering of friends, both old and new, united by their love for The Wheel of Time.   As the convention wrapped up, the sense of community lingered. Plans were already being made for next year, with many—including myself—planning to arrive a day early to partake in the pre-con fun. WoTCon was a vibrant celebration of The Wheel of Time, its fans, and the bonds that tie us together.   I left Columbus with a heart full of memories and a renewed excitement for the series we all hold dear. WoTCon 2024 was an absolute blast, and I can’t wait to see what next year holds!   I’m going to leave you with my favorite photo of the weekend. Sparkles, bubbles, coffee, Maria, Michael, rubber ducks, cocktails, cameras, and smiles all around. It sums us right up!

This novella has quite a different setting from Aliette de Bodard’s recent Xuya books, but it’s an equally fascinating place.   Việt Nhi is a lowly member of the Rooster clan, one of the four opposed navigator clans who help guide ships through the Hollows; another space entirely that is used as a shortcut to achieve faster-than-light travel. As with many shortcuts, there is a slight catch. The Hollows are also home to a form of life known as the Tanglers; large unknowable creatures with deadly intangible tendrils that love to feed on the travellers who cross through their realm.   The navigators are not defenceless however—they can project their life energy into a form known as their Shadow; a force that can tear open holes in the universe and protect their ships from harm. Sometimes though, Nhi just uses it to give herself a nice hug when she is feeling stressed out by life.   And Nhi is certainly stressed. Not only has one of these eldritch horrors escaped from the Hollows intent on devouring everything in its path, not only is she being sent to find and catch it, but she will have to work with delegates of the other three clans to do so, accompanied by an aloof imperial envoy intent on keeping everybody in line.   Nhi does not do well with people. They do not always make sense to her, and she finds social interactions particularly wearing. Plus, all the clans barely tolerate each other at the best of times, so this will be quite the challenge of teamwork. To complicate matters even further, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to another member of the team…   With a queer and neurodivergent main protagonist, and a band of lovably broken outcasts, this is a fun tale inspired by xianxia-style martial arts, but rooted in science fiction with an undercurrent of romance. It does a lot of world building despite the short length, and I hope we will get to see these characters again, or at least have more stories set in the same universe.   Definitely worth your time.   Thanks to Tor Publishing for the early review copy.

I was incredibly excited to read The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman, whose work I first discovered last year when browsing for audiobooks by top rated performances. Buehlman had read his own book, The Blacktongue Thief, and I was intrigued. In theory authors should be the perfect people to narrate their own books—they will get all of the pronunciation correct, and any intended inflections or emphases will be realized—but this is seldom actually the case. Voice acting is a talent and a skill that takes training to develop, just as writing is, and most folks pursue one path or the other (well, most folks pursue neither but we’ll forget about them for now). Buehlman defies this by turning in an excellent and accented performance of The Blacktongue Thief, deftly introducing readers to the characters and lore of his grim fantasy world.   The world of “Blacktongue,” where the duology (and I hope there are more books to come) is set, was not always grim. The Blacktongue Thief takes place several years after the goblin wars, a series of invasions by goblins that required increasingly desperate measures and alliances to be repelled by the kynd (the humanlike [humankynd?] races). The first invasion, known as the Knights’ War, was easily won by knights on horseback who outmatched the shorter goblins. The goblins responded by introducing a plague that devastated the horse population nearly to extinction, and the second invasion, called the Threshers’ War, required the conscription of farmers in order to hold out against the goblins. The humans won but paid a high price in blood and sons, and when the goblins came again, they had to call upon their daughters to march to war.   This “Daughters’ War” is where this second book takes us, from the perspective of Galva dom Braga. Galva, who was a grizzled veteran who worships the god of death in The Blacktongue Thief, is now an untried soldier marching to war as part of an experimental unit of women soldiers matched with war corvids. The corvids are magically bred, oversized, intelligent ravens that are trained to kill goblins. Readers of The Blacktongue Thief will know that the war corvids did indeed turn the tide, driving the goblins to an uneasy truce and leaving nearly the entirety of Manreach with a severe case of PTSD.   The Daughters’ War takes place during the war of that name, but the book is really about one daughter’s war: Galva dom Braga. Her three brothers are also marching to war, each in different capacities, and the story follows the dynamics of the dom Braga family in tandem with the battles against the goblins. The eldest brother and heir is a drunk who has been given a mostly symbolic rank and spends his war drinking and carousing with other ignoble nobles. The next brother has earned his high rank and sits on the senior war council. The youngest brother is a sort of assistant apprentice to the powerful and slightly mad wizard who created the corvids. Then there is Galva, the third eldest, who has trained at the elite sword academy and is paired with two deadly war corvids but has not yet been tested in a real fight.    Each dom Braga sibling will be tested in this war—against the enemy, against each other, and against themselves—and some will do better than others. Galva also experiences love and friendship, all against the backdrop of a terrible war that can suddenly and painfully introduce loss into any relationship.    And the war is brutal. Readers of The Blacktongue Thief will recall the legacy that the goblin wars had on the lands and their people; readers of The Daughters’ War will experience that trauma directly. These goblins are not the lesser cousins of orcs that populate many fantasy worlds. These are terrifying monsters whose primary reason for invading is simply that they want to eat people. Being eaten by monsters is not an unusual threat in fantasy (who can forget the infamous trolloc cookpots), but there is something particularly terrifying about the matter-of-factness with which these goblins pursue it (Buehlman has also written several horror novels). People are farmed, dumbed with drugs, herded, butchered, and savored. The goblins are intelligent, but in a nonhuman way. They build siege engines and execute strategies, but they also swarm like zombies, piling over themselves to overwhelm adversaries. There is an inevitability to the goblin invasion that permeates these pages. That is why the farmers, and now the daughters, have been called to fight.   I applaud Buehlman for creating this menacing adversary, and I applaud him further for making this book about the people who are fighting more than about the fight. There are fights aplenty, but the impact is felt more on Galva's character than on the battlelines. The book is, after all, a prequel, so a prepared reader will know more or less how the war itself goes. What is far more interesting is the path that Galva takes from a green soldier to the hardened, no-nonsense soldier that we meet in The Blacktongue Thief. We also see Galva meet the Infanta Mireya, whose usurped throne is a point of some consideration in The Blacktongue Thief, but whose relationship to Galva is the point of consideration in The Daughters’ War.   Perhaps the thing that impressed me most about this book is the change in tone from The Blacktongue Thief. That book is told from the perspective of the titular thief, full of exaggerations and swagger, willing to do most anything to seize an advantage. This book, from the perspective of the upright soldier Galva—for whom lying is a cardinal offense and to whom death is preferable to dishonor—feels entirely different. Even the verbosity is dialed back, from a skilled linguist who clearly enjoys his way with words to the laconic soldier who will not waste breath nor ink on anything that does not need to be said.   The Daughters’ War is a masterpiece in evoking the readers’ full range of emotion. This book made me stay up past my bedtime, made me cry, made me laugh (a little—there is little humor in war), and a certain character made me absolutely furious. I cannot recommend this book enough, and we can all hope that Christopher Buehlman continues to write in this world. The Daughters’ War is released on June 25; thank you to Tor for the advance review copy.

We join Maddileh on an ill-fated quest to recover the Fireborne Blade. The King himself witnessed her punching Sir Allerbon in the face, but I can assure you that he really did deserve it. So, retrieve the ancient sword, regain her honour. A simple enough proposition. Of course, the slight catch is that this weapon happens to be located deep in the lair of a legendary dragon, known as the White Lady.    The story slowly takes us towards their final confrontation, through pockets of dangerous magic and the ghosts of those who had fallen attempting the same journey. Her useless and argumentative squire Petros is also present.   Most of the world building comes in the form of academic papers on the nature of dragons, which are interspersed between the chapters of Maddileh’s story. Typically, these are records of previous encounters, which usually end in gruesome fashion for the knights involved. Even in death, dragons are still to be feared.   There are also some flashbacks to her preparations beforehand, notably getting some equipment from a mage, Kennion, and his suspiciously knowledgeable assistant Saralene. Perhaps the only thing worse in this world than a woman who wants to be a knight, is a woman who wants to wield magic.   I really enjoyed this book. The path down to the dragon is filled with twists and turns, both literally and literary. Even though it is brief at 176 pages, it paints a vivid picture of Maddileh’s world, and I quickly came to love the characters. Well, some of the characters, at least. It leaves things in such an interesting place that I hope I can read more of their adventures to find out what happens next.   Recommended.   Thanks to Tor Publishing for the early review copy.

Rebecca Thorne would be the first to admit this book was initially inspired by Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes (check out Ola Aleksandra Hills’ review here) . It’s a (mostly) cozy romance in a fantasy setting about two women who open up a shop, grow to be part of the local community, and have pasts that eventually catch up to them. On the surface, that sounds like the same story, but it really isn’t; think of it more as a familiar framework to hang something new on.   Reyna is great at her job as a royal guard, but does not particularly enjoy dispatching the increasingly frequent assassins who threaten the throne. It is not, however, a role you can easily leave with your head still attached, as the Queen frequently demonstrates.   Kianthe is the Arcandor; the most powerful mage in all the land. She’s a magical troubleshooter, called in to deal with big (and frequently fiery) problems. But there’s a lot of stifling politics around the role, and many layers of ineffectual men trying to tell her what to do.   The two have also been secretly dating for years, and have a shared dream of running far away together to open a tea shop that sells books. Or, perhaps, a bookshop that serves tea. An incident at the palace makes their dreams suddenly a lot more real, and they end up incognito as small business owners in a forgotten corner of the world. There is just the small matter of Reyna committing treason against the Queendom, and Kianthe hiding from the Magicary, but I’m sure that won’t come back to bite them later (it will).   It’s worth keeping in mind that this is not quite as cozy or small scale as Legends & Lattes is. There is an underlying dragon-shaped mystery about their new town, which leads them into more adventure, and indeed more mortal peril, than you might anticipate. The two of them don’t always make the best decisions, particularly in terms of self-care and self-preservation. But this is an established relationship, and they are both supportive of each other throughout, which is certainly refreshing.   “Tomes & Tea” is planned as a four book series, and books two and three are already written. So, it will not be too long until we find out what is next for our couple, and I personally can’t wait. In fact, since the first two books were originally self-published before being picked up by Tor, I don’t actually have to wait; those two are currently available in ebook form. The physical books look very nice however, and I suspect I will pick those up for my shelves as they are released.   A fun tale, recognisable in some ways, but still very entertaining. Another sapphic shopkeeping success!   Thanks to Tor for the early review copy.