Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

September 27, 2024

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

In the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, Arthur Parnassus, magical adult and caretake of a group of magical children, petitions to adopt the children in his care, rather than just supervise the group home where they live. With his partner Linus Baker, they work to thwart the bigoted government agency that is attempting to force their beliefs on the world by gaining control of one particular magical child: Lucifer, aka Lucy, spawn of Satan, age seven.

While I loved revisiting the characters from the first book, there is a certain amount of lecturing here, with more emphasis on politics. In addition to being a fantasy, it is also a parody of the current issues on gay and transgender rights. A certain percentage of the population believes that anyone who is different from them, is a lesser life form and not entitled to the same rights as a human being. Gorgeous cover art. It's still worth reading. Recommended for fantasy readers everywhere.

A phoenix, like Arthur

Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore

May 16, 2020

Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore

(Yes, I know, another Shakespeare book.  I read them in the order that they are going to be published and try to stay ahead of the pub date.  The next one will be historical fiction.)

This is the 3rd outing for Christopher Moore's Pocket the fool/jester in this parody of one of Shakespeare's plays..  This time, he finds himself shipwrecked just outside Athens, where he soon encounters Robin Goodfellow (the Puck) and the rest of the cast of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  Mayhem ensues when Puck is killed by an arrow and Pocket is arrested for the crime (even though he doesn't have a crossbow).  To save himself and his apprentice Drool, Pocket agrees to carry out tasks for the king, the Amazon queen, the night king and the fairy queen (quite a lot of tasks) while trying to unravel who murdered Puck.

After parodying first "King Lear," and then "The Merchant of Venice," Christopher Moore takes on what is probably Shakespeare's best-loved play.  It is fun and witty with lots of references to Shakespeare's plays, good escapist fiction if you're tired of hearing about the pandemic, rising grocery prices, unemployment, etc.  Moore does use the f--- word at least once a paragraph, as well as many sexual references, so be aware in advance if you are offended by obscene language or vulgar references.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.