klward

I have a new sonnet -- "Wind Phone Callback" -- in the twenty-third issue of Hippocampus Press's semiannual journal of weird verse and reviews. Edited by S.T. Joshi , 131 pp. perfect-bound trade paperback with color cover by Dan Sauer.
As usual, this issue offers a wide selection of practitioners and poetry styles, including both formalists and free-verse poets plus a good shot or two of prose poetry. There are also two reviews, both by editor Joshi, and two Classic Reprints.

For more information, TOC, or to order:

https://www.hippocampuspress.com/journals/spectral-realms/spectral-realms-no.-23

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This Penric & Desdemona novella skews heavily towards domestic concerns rather than high adventure, though it does provide much new information about the religious /magic system in Bujolds's World of the Five Gods. The ox itself -- who actually is demonic, in the Five Gods sense -- provides a central point for a nerve-wracking family exerience. Most of the reader satisfaction here is likely to come from learning more about how Pen's family is growing up, & how the various demons (no spoiler, but there are now more!) associated with them are being trained.

Bujold does a good job of placing reminders about critical past events, but readers should not come to this one cold. Many plot points assume prior knowledge, or are at least more fun for those with prior knowledge.

Recommended immediately for anyone following this series, of course.





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