The Tombs of Atuan: In Which I Venture into the Unknown

I survived (and enjoyed) my reread of A Wizard of Earthsea. Now I’m striking off into the wilderness. The Tombs of Atuan is the second book of the Earthsea Cycle and the first of the cycle I haven’t read. I know nothing about it beyond what the back-cover blurb says. It will be fun to see Ged […]

Past Kari (23) vs. Present Kari (43): A Wizard of Earthsea

I’m not sure exactly how old I was when I first read Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, but 23 seems like a decent guess. I was definitely under 24, as I read it when I was still living in Burnaby. I have no memory of why I read it. Maybe it was recommended […]

A Wizard of Earthsea: Let’s Get This Reading Party Started

Last week, I posted about how I was planning to do a read-through of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle. I wasn’t quite ready to start at that point, but now I am. Moreover, I’d like others to join me. Whether you’re an Earthsea newbie or an Earthsea devotee, grab a copy of The Wizard of […]

Kari Reads Stuff She Should Have Got Through in Her Teens: The Earthsea Cycle

As we learned earlier this week, the wonderful Ursula K. Le Guin died on Monday. Her influence on science fiction and fantasy is hard to quantify, and there’s been an outpouring of grief from people who love her books and stories. Amidst all this, I do have one small confession to make: I never made […]

Oh, Look, It’s 2018

2017 was the most ridiculously busy year ever. It was so ridiculously busy that paradoxically, I feel as if I got nothing done in it. One of the things I definitely didn’t get done was proper maintenance of this blog. Therefore, I’ve given it a bit of a New Year’s facelift. The old cramped style […]

Over Easy

My friend Derek Fisher and I have, in honour of the release of Weave a Circle Round, arranged to post a couple of parallel short stories. Derek’s website includes a page dedicated to flash fiction. Today, he has posted his tiny story, “Twins,” on that page. Mine is written on the same prompt (which I’ll reveal […]

Book Birthday: WEAVE A CIRCLE ROUND Is Born

Well, this is it: the day Weave a Circle Round, my weird little book about the mysterious neighbours and the teenage girl who would like them to stop breaking the laws of physics now, please, makes its way into the world. Existential terror is fun. I haven’t been posting much here lately because “I should be […]

Kirkus Starred Review for Weave a Circle Round

Exciting news, everyone: Weave a Circle Round has received a starred review from Kirkus. I am currently doing a bit of a happy dance. Warning: the review does give away a fair chunk of the plot, so reading the first two thirds is not recommended if you want to read the book and be surprised by […]

Unboxing Video: Weave a Circle Round ARCs

I got my Weave a Circle Round advance reader copies in the mail today. I’ll eventually have to figure out fun things to do with them, but for now, here’s an overly long video of me unboxing them and reading stuff from the cover (and a short passage from the book). I get a bit excited […]

The Princess Has Left the Tower: The Active Fairy-Tale Heroine as the Norm

I teach a university-level class on fairy tales. I enjoy it a lot, and I think many of the students do too. However, one of the hardest things I have to do in this class is convince my students that the passive fairy-tale heroine is not the norm. You know the one I mean, […]