Thursday, July 19, 2007

I blush...

An Amazon review, via Bluejack:

Is the world ready for Wilce?, July 13, 2007
By Bluejack (Seattle, WA)

Here's a fact: Ysabeau S. Wilce is profoundly original. If you read all the customer reviews here, you'll get the sense that this is not your formula fantasy. But let's make that point more clearly--you will never read another story like this one (unless, possibly, it's her next one, which we all eagerly anticipate).

This is the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what could, and certainly should, be the next story franchise that graduates from cult status to mainstream blockbuster. Wilce doesn't sugar coat the risks of adolescence: she dips them in ice cream, lights them on fire, and serves the reader a flaming torch of strange wonder.

Laughter and thrilling excitement are delightful companions all through this romp. The subtitle gives a sense of the former, but don't underestimate Wilce's storytelling: great characters in real trouble make for great reading, and Flora is a heroine who speaks equally to the reality as well as the ambitions of young people.

Oh yes, and while this is not specifically a unique observation, I'd also like to note that it is always refreshing to find a fantasy that does not take place in something that could pass for Northern Europe."

Thank you, Sieur Bluejack!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Man, I wish I'd said all that! I feel and think the same about your work as Bluejack does, but couldn't convey it a fraction so well.

I hope your editing is going well. I'll preorder your story today.

Spent last weekend reading Lonesome Dove, which I found at our local Goodwill. Really enjoyed it. Too much, in fact, since there were many chores left undone as a consequence. Captain Call would not have approved.

My blog-reading has been somewhat curtailed due to working at City Hall for most of the day now. (They get a little shirty about wallowing on the internet on their dime.) But yours is one I'll always check, both to track your progress and to get your referrals.

Ysabeau Wilce said...

I think Gus is a better role model than Woodrow--and I'm sure he'd approve of undone chores! I certainly do.

Have fun at City Hall--I'm glad that's the reason you've been quiet...I was getting a little worried, and was actually about to drop you a check-in email!