Author Archives: Daniel (@MKNN)

Reading Well: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Posted on April 18, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Susanna Clarke‘s Piranesi (2020) is a quirky, engaging novel. Part whodunnit, part meditation on mental health, the novel follows its protagonist through an alternate space, a massive mansion containing a nearly infinite network of rooms, situated by a shattered seaside. … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Posted on April 11, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

We’re back with some more Helen Oyeyemi (see Boy, Snow, Bird and Ginger Bread) with 2009’s White is for Witching as I move throug the rest of her output (some of which I read before I started these little web … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Jade City by Fonda Lee

Posted on February 24, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

One of the beautiful and frustrating things about genre writing is that a single magnificent idea can carry an entire work. For me, such is the case with Jade City (2017) by Fonda Lee. The setting is a pseudo-Asian metropolis, … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Sofia Samatar‘s A Stranger in Olondria (2013) stands out most of all for its literaryness, it you’ll allow the word. This is a fantasy novel that reads more like historical fiction, like a finely detailed account of lives lived a … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

{I’m always in a bit of a quandary on what to do with books in a series. I’ve sort of settled on reviewing the first book, then waiting and completing the rest of the series as a group. But I’m … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Burntcoat by Sarah Hall

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Y’all know I love me some Sarah Hall (see my writeups of Daughters of the North, The Electric Michelangelo, The Wolf Border, and her short story collection, Madame Zero). 2021’s Burntcoat is no exception for me. This book is likely … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

There are so many sub-genres out there … The Goblin Emperor (2014) by Katherine Addison is clear fantasy, set in a world of elves, goblins, and mixed offspring of the two. But it is what might be called something like … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Daniel (@MKNN)

T.J. Klune‘s The House in the Cerulean Sea is, through and through, a very sweet novel. That’s not an adjective often used in fantasy writing, and even less so as you move out of the explicitly YA entries. So it’s … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Daniel (@MKNN)

After Never Let Me Go, Klara and the Sun (2021) is the second novel by Kazuo Ishiguro exploring the relationship between humanity and technology. The titular Klara in the novel is a highly sophisticated robot, and the novel traces their … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Daniel (@MKNN)

There’s something incredibly impressive and incredibly satisfying about a well-done trilogy. Even the most skilled of authors run the risk of either fading at the end, or proving unable to contain themselves, and seeing the work either feel incomplete or … Continue reading →

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