#The Doctrine of Labyrinths

[ravelqueen]

Realising once again that it's just so relaxing and nice to read books with GODDAMN ADULTS as protagonists which is so extremely rare in fantasy so if you have any recs to throw my way it's appreciated

[fallloverfic]

THE DOCTRINE OF LABYRINTHS BY SARAH MONETTE/KATHERINE ADDISON IS BACK IN EBOOKS IN FULL!!!!

All four books will release same day, July 11, 2023! They're now under the Katherine Addison name and the covers are new! You can pre-order them now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google, and Kobo!!!

[linovadraws]

Beloved! Beloathed!

[commandercoriandersalamander]

The transition from Doctrine of Labyrinths to Goblin Emperor and Cemetery of Amalo is so funny to me. The editors were like, "Sarah, you're so smart, you're so talented, but your branding is off; we want you to change your name to reflect the new you and leave behind all the incest graphic rape, and unlikable (affectionate) protagonists." And Katherine looked them straight in the eyes and was like "okay, sounds good, but you will pry my ritualistic mazes and fancy earrings from my cold dead hands." Love her.

[veliseraptor]

@stripedroseandsketchpads replied to your post “make me write ✍🏻”:

⛓️ PLS 👀👀

I bobbed my head in a nod, carefully keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t know what might make Malkar angry, and I didn’t want him to change his mind about teaching me. 

“We’ll begin,” Malkar said, “with how to make light.”

[make me write ✍🏻]

[sheepydraws]

Mildmay: I'm so stupid and ugly I don't know why women like me sometimes

Mildmay: *built like an olympic gymnast, brooding demeanor, heart that won't quit, SICK-ASS facial scar*

Felix: Yeah, I don't get it either.

Felix: By the way, are we ever going to fuck?

[nimblermortal]

you’ve read the elemental logic books? can I ask you for content warnings? because I tried reading the first one but put it down when I realized that the tribe that was described as destroyed on the book flap wasn’t destroyed yet and that this meant it was probably going to happen on page. but it also has the vibe of 80s fantasy *and* is queer, so I kind of want to try again

specific triggers I would like to know about (beyond the usual): graphic depictions of the aftermath of disasters (man made or natural), betrayal, amnesia, time travel/dimension travel

thanks!

Hmmm. @spiritintheteapot, @slipperyliz, @hello-delicious-tea, care to weigh in?

I'm not great at triggers because I tend to be a bit sociopathic about disasters, so I'd like a second opinion.

-aftermath of disasters man made or natural: the entire series is about the aftermath of war and colonialism. They are extremely idealistic and hopeful books, but brutal things happen to people. The narration is not going to dwell on it, but these things do happen. There's also a plague sequence because, y'know, what happens when you murder all the physicians in a population, but it's in the context of 'oh well I guess our overpowered mages will go deal with this for a time then'. (I find the plague sequence underwhelming.)

The destruction of Zanja's tribe does happen on page, and does happen in flashbacks. Again, the narration is not going to dwell on this but neither is it going to shy away.

-betrayal: technically Zanja's tribe is betrayed by a practically nameless character. Technically one of the core people is a traitor but it's definitely a good thing. Technically the plot of the entire first book is people choosing to betray their people and their cause for the sake of peace, and hope, and love.

-amnesia: in the second book Zanja deliberately does a ritual that causes complete memory loss for a significant chunk of the book. There is a later ritual that restores her memory, and she is... the sort of person who just sort of makes room for the time in her life that was occupied by another person?

-time travel/dimension travel: in the third book there is time travel to give greater historical significance to the present day. There is no dimension travel.

I don't really know what 'the usual' is but these are books about war, and ending its tragedies, and those will include things like death and maiming and destruction of libraries and a long plot arc about drug abuse and its use in war. And forced prostitution of children. Wow, I am surprised by the number of atrocities in these books, they really stick in your head as more 'and then Garland shows up and bakes apple pie and kicks someone out of his kitchen for not plating the whipped cream properly' kind of books, for what that's worth.

So, in sum: Yeah, kind of ticks off all your boxes! I'm tempted to argue that it's one of the gentler ways you could approach these topics, but you should take care of yourself, and you know best what you can handle.

If you want to give it a try, I could always give you a summary or offer you pages to skip?

[vinelark]

I love how I get both fanfiction recs AND published fiction recs from following your blog and that is so very special. On average in a week how much time do you spend reading? Just curious!

i’m glad you think so! i’m not very good at reading as a solitary activity, so being excited about things here or in dms/groupchats is part of the process 😅

i spend at least a few hours a day reading, if not more! i have no idea where to begin doing the math for an average weekly amount. 30 hours? 35? some days my job is very reading-heavy, and almost any downtime i have in between activities i’m reading either fic or books. (i’m often bad at finishing things i read for various reasons, which is where talking about them helps.) but other days i don’t get to read until i get home, and sometimes not even then, so it’s kind of inconsistent.

that said, while reading fic piecemeal between activities is doable for my brain, it’s really hard for me to read books (for fun) that way. i’ve been trying to prioritize reading-for-fun time on evenings/weekends this year.

[doyouknowthisdisabledcharacter]

Do You Know This Disabled Character?

Mildmay has various scarring and a permanently injured leg.

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[grassangel]

I may have watched 12 episodes of Dungeon Meshi back to back and my brain has done some very vibes based web weaving/crossovers of my other fandoms in the 12 hours after, based mostly the fact the dungeon Changes You™ when you die, the Touden siblings are very cute and I have a case of Do Not Separate for them and Marcille

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters - similarly about enmeshed siblings and the group they pick up on their way, but with way more blood and guts. Laios absolutely would sleep on the floor clutching a boot while Falin (and/or Marcille) took the bed. Laios would also take the invective to fuck his sister way better, but only because he doesn't want to fuck anyone. Also fuck yeah the brothers also learning magic.

Mélusine & The Virtu - siblings that go on a journey that changes them for the worst. Featuring plenty of ghosts and abandoned buildings left by a long ago civilisation. Also inappropriate feelings develop between said siblings (unhealthy devotion on on side, sexual attraction on the other) and everyone else in the traveling party feels awkward about this (and how the older brother is okay with doing forbidden magic though Marcille would get along with Felix because he understands that black/forbidden magic doesn't always mean bad magic). Also this series also uses witchlights and so, borrowing an element from Meduse, for the drama I feel like Marcille's should be shaped like red spider lilies when you look at them closely.

Thara Celehar - a cursed dungeon made and left by ancient elves is exactly the kind of thing Thara would stumble across. There's also the thread of that in both - being able to see ghosts means you can do magic. Also the Ethuvereise emperors are the same kind of colonising elves as the ones in Dungeon Meshi. (And I can't stop reading Thistle as having the same kind of colouring as elves with goblin heritage. Even if goblins in DM are not the same as Katherine Addison goblins.)

The House of Hollow - Siblings coming back Different and Changed, death very much involved. Much more horror, less adventure.

The Scholomance - The dungeon and the Scholomance both have the same thaumaturgical architectural feel - aka absolutely packed full of monsters that want to eat you and your mana. The way Aadhya and Senshi use the corpses of killed monsters feels similar. Laios and Orion would get along I think. El on the other hand absolutely would not like any of the adventurers because they are all dead and came back wrong and on top of that Marcille is a malificer. She does like Senshi though.

[fallloverfic]

Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths quadrilogy is being adapted into English audiobooks narrated by Shawn K. Jain, and released over the next several months:

Mélusine: August 20th, 2024 The Virtu: October 22nd, 2024 The Mirador: February 11th, 2025 Corambis: April 8th, 2025

They're all currently up for pre-order on Kobo.

Also for folks who don't know, all four books are back in English ebooks.

[linovadraws]

I think about this conversation from Corambis chapter 7 constantly and was sad that I never finished the more detailed version I had planned, so I repurposed it into a cute little experiment.

Please enjoy this bonus Felix face from the first draft. He is my favorite.

[bowen-arrow-art]

Linocut

From the Doctrine of Labyrinths series

[veliseraptor]

I just read the Doctrine of Labyrinths series and good god those books are wild (pos, mostly). Makes me wonder what kind of fanfics Katherine Addison was writing before she published… like her livejournal must’ve gone crazyyyyy

i wish i knew what sarah monette was writing back in the day if she was writing fic, i feel like i'd enjoy reading it

anyway doctrine of labyrinths was ahead of its time in a lot of ways as far as dark queer fantasy goes and should be republished (preferably with new covers), send post.

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

Have my otps broken the bed during sex

Steve/Bucky: yes, several times. They were two super soldiers getting used to their strength. They blame some of the beds on already being damaged by shelling. A priority for them in when buying bed frames in the modern era is if it can be repaired easily,

Steve/Tony: yes, once. Tony had a new bed delivered same day, with new mattress while they're in there

Maedhros/Fingon: no, too much respect for the work it takes to build it, plus good solid Noldorin craftsmanship stands up to them. Also the secrecy meant they stopped when they heard ominous creaking, rather than risk having to explain the need for a replacement.

Maedhros/Maglor: depends on how charitable your definition of "bed" is, and how much credit you give the woodworm.

Celebrimbor/Annatar: yes. After checking they were uninjured, they were too distracted by redesigning a better bed, optimized from first principles, to resume sex.

Felix/Mildmay: not together. Mildmay has broken through the slats under a mattress once, but not a bedframe. You might think Felix would have broken a bed with all his masochism/sadism but you'd be wrong - generally only one person was moving, and the other was too tied up or drugged to resist forcefully.