Feb 9 2007

Movie news

We're rarely happy about Wordcandy movie adaptations, but we've found that if we play it safe and keep our expectations very, very low, we can usually get through them without too much trauma. Un...

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Feb 8 2007

Valentine's Day options

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, and, as always, the Wordcandy staff is on the lookout for appropriate holiday reading. We understand that this is a holiday that evokes a wide array of emotion...

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Feb 7 2007

Bleagh.

I have tried to ignore this story, but I can't escape it. I am sorry to report that Del Rey is going to release a manga in conjunction with the dread Avril Lavigne. You can read the press releas...

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Feb 6 2007

Manga review

Brigid at MangaBlog has an interesting, largely positive review up of two interconnected manga volumes from the UK's Sweatdrop Studios: Blue is for Boys and Pink is for Girls. Both books feature ...

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Feb 5 2007

How To Abduct a Highland Lord, by Karen Hawkins

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Karen Hawkins had a good thing going when she began How To Abduct a Highland Lord. The story had solid dramatic potential, the characters were appealing, and she’s a decent writer. Unfortunately...

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Feb 5 2007

Further Pullman movie action

Masterpiece Theater has made a film adaptation of Phillip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke. It debuted last night, but chances are good you can catch it on repeats. The Ruby in the Smoke is not m...

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Feb 2 2007

Odds and ends.

A few reactions, some Harry Potter bits, and another anime/manga rec:1. I have now seen the first episode of the the Wallflower anime, and yes, the artwork is awful. (Plus, they chose a disturbi...

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Feb 1 2007

If you haven't already heard...

J.K. Rowling made the big announcement today: the seventh and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, will be published on July 21. Make reservations at your local book stor...

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Jan 31 2007

The Wallflower anime

Thanks to Wordcandy reader Kayleigh, I am now aware of the existence of the anime version of Tomoko Hayakawa's Wallflower series (Japanese title: Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge). This is one of my ...

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Jan 30 2007

Vivian Vande Velde

Vivian Vande Velde has written dozens of excellent fantasy novels and short stories for children and teenagers, including Heir Apparent (one of our Book of the Week picks) and Companions of the Ni...

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Jan 30 2007

Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde

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While many fantasy fans will enjoy Vivian Vande Velde’s YA novel Heir Apparent, it will resonate most with readers that are familiar with fantasy-based computer games. If you’ve ever happily played a Sierra game into the wee hours of the night...

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Jan 30 2007

Oh. My.

Well, MY eyes need bleaching. How about yours?Harry Potter mega-site The Leaky Cauldron has kindly(?) archived several "frankly gorgeous" photos from Daniel Radcliffe's upcoming play Equus. If y...

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Jan 29 2007

Fantasy geeks take note.

On January 27, NPR's "All Things Considered" ran an article on the changing image of dragons. If interested, click here to listen to Rick Kleffel talk about modern dragon PR, using evidence from ...

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Jan 26 2007

Only to be expected

The film adaptation of Annette Curtis Klause's wonderful YA novel Blood and Chocolate is out today, and the reviews are uniformly unenthusiastic. There's a lot of comments along the lines of "it'...

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Jan 25 2007

Austen sequel goodness

Margaret C. Sullivan, editor of AustenBlog, has written a sequel to Northanger Abbey entitled There Must Be Murder. Sullivan's story will be published as a serialized novella, with one chapter app...

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Jan 24 2007

Guillermo Martinez

Guillermo Martinez is an Argentinean mathematician. He teaches at the University of Buenos Aires and is the author of several well-received mysteries, including The Oxford Murders, the topic of o...

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Jan 24 2007

The Oxford Murders, by Guillermo Martinez

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It’s a good thing that Guillermo Martinez’s mystery The Oxford Murders was only 200 pages long, seeing as I had to read half of it twice (and I suspect I’m not the only one). Mr. Martinez is all too willing to embrace big words, obscure metaphors, and complicated mathematical references. Happily, his elegantly wrought whodunit is entertaining enough to hook readers, despite...

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Jan 24 2007

Manhwa for the masses

I'm currently enjoying two very similar manhwa titles: Sun Hee Lee's Neck and Neck (released through TokyoPop), and YunHee Lee's Angel Diary, from Ice Kunion. I think Ice Kunion is doing a slig...

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Jan 23 2007

Finally, covers I like!

I know that a lot of my posts tend to be about cover art that I hate. It's not that I don't find covers that I like, it's that when I see covers that are unbelievably bad or embarrassing I feel l...

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Jan 22 2007

Chin up.

According to my mother, who saw it on the news, today is supposed to be the gloomiest day of the year. The weather tends to be bad, Christmas bills are due, and most people have broken their New ...

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Jan 20 2007

The Rhythm of the Road, by Albyn Leah Hall

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Albyn Leah Hall is an author to watch, but nobody would describe her as being remotely Wordcandy-friendly. Her book The Rhythm of the Road is full of familiar images from country music: miss...

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Jan 19 2007

The Magic Pudding

The hardworking people at Dover Thrift have just released a handsome illustrated edition of Norman Lindsay's 1918 novel The Magic Pudding: Being the Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and His Friends Bi...

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Jan 18 2007

Classier and classier...

Zenescope Entertainment is offering another twist on the popular revamped fairytale genre: an R-rated comic book version! Doesn't their "Grimm Fairy Tales" series look delightful?Dude, that's ful...

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Jan 17 2007

Shojo exhibit hits DC

The international touring exhibit "Girl Power! Girls' Comics from Japan" is coming to Washington D.C. on January 30th. Curated by Dr. Masami Toku, Associate Professor of Art and Art History at C...

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Jan 16 2007

Um. Okay.

If you're an adventurous Tolkien fan, click here to enjoy a video of Gollum/Smeagol singing a Barry White song. If you're anyone else... well, click at your own peril. (And you might want to pla...

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Jan 15 2007

Must-see PBS TV.

PBS's upcoming TV adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is scheduled to air on January 21st and 28th. I have yet to enjoy a televised version of a Bronte novel, but this one looks pretty impr...

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Jan 12 2007

Holy cow--is she smiling?

Unable to get Sarah Michelle Gellar to stop looking like a wet week, Joss Whedon has turned to comic books to continue his story. Behold: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's season eight, coming soon to a...

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Jan 11 2007

Kat Richardson

Kat Richardson is the Seattle-based author of the Greywalker books. This urban fantasy series features an enjoyable blend of horror and action, and has been the subject of two of our Featured Boo...

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Jan 11 2007

Greywalker, by Kat Richardson

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Kat Richardson’s debut novel Greywalker is a rare beast: a female-oriented fantasy/horror story without a single kinky sex scene. There’s a minor romantic subplot (and the heroine encounters a few alternate romantic possibilities), but Richardson seems much more interested in her cloudy Seattle setting, her levelheaded P.I. heroine, and her tense, action-packed plot...

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Jan 11 2007

Another step backward.

First we have the new and, ah, "improved" Meg Cabot website, now we have a revised cover for the first book in Herbie Brennan's Faerie Wars series. I am not sure what our authors are thinking thi...

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