snoelr

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Tamlin, Tarquin, Beron, Kallias, Helion, Thesan and Rhysand by @moonlit-sketches

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Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next Music Video

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A forgetful icon

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Bust of the nymph/naiad Herkyna in the Herkyna River in Greece

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Talk fantasy prosthetics to me.

An elf maiden dances on feet of living wood sung into shape, planted in soil and watered when she takes them off. Every year she plants the old ones and sings a new pair. (Incidentally, the pair of peach saplings from three years ago have produced an excellent crop- She makes preserves from them, and despite the inevitable jokes about “toe-jam”, they are appreciated.)

A dwarf king has a metal fist, all tiny gears and fine wires, kept wound by a mischievous mine-spirit bound to the spring as punishment- the more it struggles, the tighter the spring. 

An orc chieftaness is regularly asked for the story of how she earned the name Wyrmthrottler- she boasts of how she strangled the dragon that ate her arm, and had her shaman make a new arm from its bones, with its fangs as the fingers.

A necromancer simply re-attached his old leg bones- Sacrificing a few mice each day keeps it going.

A pirate captain lost her arm to a shark attack: a passing selkie saved her, and gave her tattoos of kraken blood. Now she has an arm made of salt-water, that grows and wanes with the tides, and swings a cutlass as well as the original. (She doesn’t sail as far these days though: she doesn’t want her wife to worry.)

A wandering swordsman was broken at the waist- his ancestral armour allows him to walk again, as long as he keeps it polished, and burns incense to the ancestors regularly.

A high priestess has an eye made from a crystal ball- to predict the future, all she has to do is wink.

A bard was struck deaf by illness- he struck a deal with the god of music. Now he wears hearing-trumpets made from his old pipes, and dedicates his every song to the god of music- the better he plays, the better his hearing. (It is said his music could make statues weep, and he can hear a mouse fart at 60 paces.)

A princess has the arm of a golem, enchanted clay with mystic words carved in- her music tutor despairs of how her harp playing has become even worse, but her calligraphy tutor is ecstatic over her handwriting.

A goblin pickpocket has an arm made of whatever he steals- no-one feels his fingers, and even if they did, they couldn’t find their possessions amongst all the rest.  

A witch has eyes made from shadow and starlight, given to her in a game with a demon. Nobody dares to ask what she wagered- they aren’t even sure she won.

A warg was born deaf and blind- his people learned of his power when the nearest birds started staring at them, and dogs pricked up their ears as he walked past.

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🔮🌙💐🍃✨🍃💐🌙🔮

emoji spell to bring good energy. likes charge, reblogs cast

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We’ve Moved! I made myself a website and it's up now with the most recent book reviews including today's post (a recap of the process so far). Check it out at www.snoelr.com. Come say hi and keep up with what's going on in my book reading life.

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Summer Reading - My Lady's Choosing

Summer Reading – My Lady’s Choosing

Ladies, this book is wonderful and hilarious. It is a choose your own romance (in the style of “Choose-your-own-adventure” books). I’ll be honest. I never read a choose your own adventure, that I really recall. Maybe once… like an R.L. Stine, one or something. But the concept fascinates me. I love the idea of meandering through pages and working with the author to tell a story. I had an idea…

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Summer Reading - Til September Petronella

Summer Reading – Til September Petronella

This is my first short story collection review for the revamped blog. If you remember my writing from before, I LOVE short stories. I think they’re incredibly fascinating for what you can accomplish in such a small space. This wonderful little book came to me all the way from England. I found out about it thanks to a friend who is attending Bath SPA University and purchased ALL the books on her…

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Summer Reading - Children of Blood and Bone

Summer Reading – Children of Blood and Bone

Can we talk about this cover? Isn’t it gorgeous and amazing? I was just completely drawn in. Didn’t even read the synopsis on the dust jacket. Just picked it up and paid for it. And then it sat on my bookshelf for several months. And then one day I picked it up and it sort of ushered in this reinvigorated phase of reading for this summer.

I think I referenced this thing about my new-ish cyclical…

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Summer Reading - The Hazel Wood

Summer Reading – The Hazel Wood

I had a different review planned for today and then I realized, it’s Friday the 13th, and this book is pretty spoopy, so here we go.

The Hazel Wood grabbed my attention on a random meander through Barnes & Noble. I rarely purchase books on a whim in a store, people. I’m an anomaly in readership that way. But again. With the cover. And the weird name. So, I purchased it. And it sat on my bookshelf…

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Summer Reading - The Magicians

Summer Reading – The Magicians

I never finished reviewing this trilogy from my initial read. The Magician’s Land was published in 2014 and I was on a blogging hiatus at that point. I think the only one from the set that was truly blogged about here was The Magician King. I’ve been trying to remember my initial reactions to this trilogy. I guess it’s enough to note that I bought all three of these in hardback. So, I liked them…

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Summer Reading - Caraval

Summer Reading – Caraval

Caraval, Stephanie Garber, 2017

For the better part of the year, I felt like this book was mocking me. I mean. Look at that cover. That title. It’s basically scientifically engineered in a lab to be a book I would love. So, I was skeptical. No way this book could really be that perfect.

You see, I’ve been burned before. The A Discovery of Witches trilogy and The Tearling trilogy really let me…

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Summer Reading - Frankenstein

My review of Frankenstein

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, 1818

Frankensteinis a Gothic Romance novel written by an 18-year-old young woman in the 19th century on a dare that arguably birthed an entire genre (science fiction). I was inspired to read this book because this year marks its 200th year as a published piece of fiction. And I’m feeling all feminist. So, go…

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Pruning. Cultivating. Planning.

Back. Again. Blogging about the books of 2018.

  So, I just spent the last hour or so archiving a bunch of old posts. I’m sort of feeling like a cleaner slate this time around. Though, I’m already second-guessing myself and might put some of the old reviews back up. I always think you need context and history. We’ll see.

In 2011, I read 75 books and I blogged reviews about most of them. I wrote about my feelings reading them and what I…

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Elephant Rock, Iceland