#hardinge

[terapsina]

Let's talk books. Sorted in threes by vibes.

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I Support Women's Wrongs (murder, slaughter and body horror galore).

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How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Django Wexler - A woman from Earth is dropped into a magical realm, meant to save the Kingdom from the FoRCes of DaRKneSSss... except, unfortunately that might have been a thousand years worth of time loops ago, so it's rather time to lose one's temper and decide to become the Dark Lord herself.

Main character -> basically Deadpool (measured in sanity, humor and levels of bisexual horniness)).

Someone You Can Build a Nest In ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by John Wiswell - Shesheshen, a shapechanging monster who's rudely interrupted during her hibernation by hunters. Manages to to eat one of them, unfortunately she also gets shot by an arrow and falls off a cliff. On the bright side she meets a lovely human woman she might end up falling in love with so much... she'll want to build a nest in her (it's possible there's some Cultural Differences that need to be worked through).

Hench ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Natalie Zina Walschots - Anna's latest temp job for a villain (because even supervillains need office help) ends with her carelessly injured by a superhero, laid off and with injured mobility for the foreseeable future (because human bodies don't see much difference between getting hit by a truck and getting moved out of way by someone able to pick up a truck). Angry, disillusioned, and looking for some vengeful payback she starts compiling the statistics of exactly how much suffering gets left behind the heroes and in quick order finds a new job working for one of the worst supervillains in the neighborhood.

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Extremely Competent Women Show Up to Fix Everyone's Shit (with a whallop of romance which was actually sweet instead of irritating)

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The Witchwood Knot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Olivia Atwater - Winifred Hall was invited to the Witchwood Manor under the pretense of being the governess for a very bratty kid, but when said boy suddenly turns into a very quiet and perfectly bland boy overnight it's very obvious her charge has been stolen by faeries (and it might have something to do with the actual reason she's there). Rescue however is complicated by some factors, one, there being something terribly dark and wrong about the house (normal houses don't have screaming faces in the walls), another, the faerie man posing as the manor's butler who would very much like to make her run screaming the way so many servants had before her (unfortunately for him, she's not even half as scared of him as she is the eyes of the father of her charge).

This one's about dealing with past trauma, and otherworldly terrors paling in comparison to mundane monsters, set in a very beautiful and dark and shiver-inducing Victorian time world where the Fair Folk are very real.

(Same world as her Regency Faerie Tales trilogy that Started with Half a Soul but it's not necessary to read that one first to enjoy this one)

Keeper of Enchanted Rooms ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Charlie N. Holmberg - Merritt Fernsby inherits a house only to be immediately taken hostage by what turns out to be a very stubborn and opinionated magical house. Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms goes there to facilitate the relationship between the house and its new owner.

It's supposed to be a very simple job. Unfortunately there's a third POV character in this book (no, not the Whimbrel House, though I adore that house and *insert here the Rosa Diaz gif about her new puppy and how she would kill everyone in this room and then herself if anything were to happen to that dog*). Anyway, they're a bit... uhhh... let's go with Bad News.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Heather Fawcett - As one might expect from the title, Emily (a Cambridge scholar) wants to write the first ever encyclopedia of faeries. And she's brilliant enough to do it, what she's terrible at is people (*insert autistic character alert here*).

Someone else might then say it's lucky that a fellow scholar with a far easier time at charming people has stuck his toes in her reaserch trip into the Hidden Ones... that person however doesn't understand how irritating, frustrating and maddening her academic rival Wendell Bambleby actually is.

What follows is a story filled with winter snows, some terrible fae, some adorable fae, some not-very-secret fae, the goodest of good dogs, and lots and lots of squabbling. It's the best.

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Dark and Impactful Stories about Children Who Decide on Their Own Paths

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A Skinful of Shadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Frances Hardinge - Kate, an orphan and the illegitimate daughter of some stuffy (and evil) aristocrats runs away because being a bastard doesn't mean she didn't inherit the family magic that allows her to get possessed by the dead.

A dead bear ghost is one thing, a Get Out situation is something else entirely.

A Sorceress Comes to Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by T. Kingfisher - Cordelia isn't allowed friends or the privacy of closed doors, and whenever she's done something she shouldn't - a category too unpredictable to guard against - she's not allowed power over her own body.

Because her mother is an evil sorceress (think Regina and Cora... except somehow even worse). An evil sorceress that has found herself a Squire to lure into a marriage.

Hester is an old maid living with her brother, a Squire (well look at them coincidences), when said brother acquires a woman clearly set on his fortune. The plan is only to save her brother, except Hester can't help noticing how the woman's daughter keeps flinching in her mother's presence.

In The Lives of Puppets ⭐⭐⭐⭐ by TJ Klune - A family can be an android inventor, his human son (*homoromantic asexual alert*), a sadistic nurse droid, and a very emotional roomba.

And it can be a very happy family. Until one uncovers and wakes up an android that shares a very Skynet past with one's father, said father gets kidnapped, and one has to go on a journey to get him back.

(A book I like to call Sci-fi Reverse Pinocchio)

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Unraveling an Unjust System (and a hero that - on a scale from occasionally to constantly - hears a disembodied voice directly in their heads okay the connection between these three is a bit of a stretch but they're all great books so shut up)

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Hell for Hire ⭐⭐⭐⭐½ by Rachel Aaron - 5000 years ago Gilgamesh conquered the heavens, enslaved the demons and made it so that the only road to magic humanity had access, was through him.

Now, however a mercenary team made up of free demons gets hired by a Blackwood witch to protect him (and his familiar, the talking cat named Boston) while he puts down roots (literally) inside the new forest grove he's about to start so that he can stand up against the warlocks after him.

The witch quickly becomes the best client Bex and her crew have ever had (after all, warlocks under the rule of the Eternal King Gilgamesh are slavers of their kind, they are delighted at the chance to kill some).

Vespertine ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ by Margaret Rogerson - In a world where the veil between the living and the dead has been kinda broken Artemisia (*another autistic character alert*) is training to be a Gray Sister (magic nun).

Until her convent gets attacked by possessed soldiers and she has no choice but to pick up a Saint's Relic containing a malevolent revenant to protect it.

Problem. Only a Vespertine is supposed to do it. Another problem. The only one "alive" who can teach her to be a Vespertine is the revenant. Another another problem. The revenant cannot be trusted and if she loses control to it, the death toll will be counted in cities.

Terminal Alliance ⭐⭐⭐⭐¾ by Jim C. Hines - Post Zombie Apocalypse, where some aliens showed up, sort of cured the zombies and took the (mostly) cured zombies into their military.

Which leads us to Marion Adamopoulos, also known as Mops, the Leutenant in charge of Shipboard Hygene and Sanitation of the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish.

Right up until a bioweapon turns the entire crew except her crew back into zombies. Congratulations, she's the captain now.

(Space Janitors save the universe story).

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[andhumanslovedstories]

Reading A Skinful of Shadows for the podcast and I keep hitting paragraphs where I’m like Frances Hardinge, you son of a bitch you’ve done it again

[the-laws-of-physics-were-harmed]

Every Frances Hardinge book is like "Here is some funky cool worldbuilding. Here is a feral/weird teenage girl who is also the most relatable character ever. Okay, you're paying attention? Here is a criticism of the prison system/systematic misogyny/colonialism/other major issue, hidden behind even more Excellent worldbuilding and the most beautiful prose you've ever read."

[the-memeing-bookworm]

I am, as a grown woman, once again asking you to read Frances Hardinge's books

[microwave-radiation]

[howlsmovinglibrary]

...Any codependent besties want to start an eldritch underwater god cult with me? Question our loyalty to each other, while we learn about the cosmic horror underlying our universe... and the burdensome responsibility of carrying that knowledge forward, lest we let it be forgotten?

[msunitedstatesjames]

Frances Hardinge is a criminally underrated author. If you've never heard of her, I'm not surprised. Even though I'm in several fantasy book groups on Facebook with thousands of members, I've only ever seen one or two other members post about her. And yet, since I first read one of her books in 2020, I've bought every book she's published and read most of them.

Frances Hardinge, for those who've missed out, writes fantasy young adult books. Her books are extremely well written, romance free, unfailingly unique, and somewhat dark, all of which are qualities I find to be more and more rare in today's YA fantasy market (not to hate on YA, I've read tons of it). If you need a comparison, I would say aspects of her books remind me of YA/middle grade books by T. Kingfisher.

If I haven't convinced you yet, here's a little preview of some of her books that I've read:

A Face Like Glass (my personal favorite): A girl named Neverfell lives in a world where people have to be taught how to show emotion in their facial expressions. She has to wear a mask at all times because, mysteriously, she naturally shows facial expressions and if people found out they would freak. If that's not unique enough, this society is underground and produces magical artisinal goods, such as cheeses, wines, and perfumes that can do some wild things. If that still hasn't convinced you, the book critiques the privelege of the wealthy, as in this world only the rich can afford to hire Facesmiths to teach them expression, while the poor languish along with one or two facial expressions for their entire lives.

Fly by Night and Fly Trap (these might have different titles depending on where you are in the world): In a world where reading is illegal and seen as revolutionary activity, Mosca Mye escapes her awful life with her aunt and uncle by forcing an infamous conman (Eponymous Clent, this world has cool naming conventions) to take her under his wing. Joining them is Mosca's only friend, Saracen, the murderous goose. Yeah, you read that right. Highlights of the series include a heartwarming found family tale, an accidental revolution, a city that literally changes its population, personality, and shape when day changes to night, and, of course, an extremely violent goose. I mean, if you've read Pratchett, Saracen the goose is basically the Luggage. There's more than one scene in these books where all hope seems lost, and Mosca is like, "I guess it's up to you now Saracen," and she just straight up lobs her goose at the enemy and he utterly wrecks their shit. If I recall correctly, this happens once during a pitched river boat battle over an illegal printing press.

The Lie Tree: Faith's father, who refused to recognize her potential as a scientist, mysteriously dies. Faith discovers a tree he kept hidden that grows when you tell lies and reveals secrets in its fruit. The bigger the lie you tell the world, the bigger the secret that will be revealed. You can imagine the chaos that eventually ensues. This book critiques gender roles and discrimination, and tackles both the dangers and the necessity of telling lies.

Cuckoo Song: When Triss wakes up after apparently falling in a lake, everything seems wrong. She's missing memories, she has an insatiable hunger, dead leaves are mysteriously appearing in her room, and her sister claims she's a monster. Triss must piece together what's happening to her before it's too late. This book deals with the complexities of life with overbearing parents, siblings who've been pitted against one another, and families that have been torn apart by tragedy.

Verdigris Deep (another one that goes by different titles): A group of friends are cursed by a well witch after they take some coins from her well. She forces them to work for her by granting her wishes. Working with the witch gives them powers, but the wishes are getting increasingly complex. Does that guy really want a motorcycle or does he want to be someone else? And if he wants to be someone else, does that mean what he really wants is not to exist at all? This book deals with issues of self worth, power and control, and toxic friendships.

She has a bunch of other great books as well. So if you're looking for a unique fantasy story with adventure and no romance, definitely check some of Frances Hardinge's books out!

[hidekomoon]

books read in 2024: Unraveller, by Frances Hardinge

[fae-sodapop]

Thanks Lost in Code AU for making me create lore for characters I dug out of Toby Fox & temmi Chang's trash cans.

Anyways, meet the skeleton family! (WIP design)

Grandma Hardinge (Redacted),

They/it/She

it's very old - it was around before the war. She isn't even a skeleton! She's a phantom (type of undead monster) & why gaster doesn't have a nose - she doesn't have a nose either. She wears a long black robe... Dress? Undecided. I don't think she has hands either, she may use her hair to manipulate things! She's a little rusty in her own font (Hardinge) so she speaks in wingdings most of the time, but she'll make an effort to refresh her mind, she wants to connect with her grandsons after all!

Grandpa Semi, Semi serif

He/him

Tired old southern Grandpa, not as old as Hardinge, definitely not, but still elderly. He was born underground & he's never seen the sun. He thought Gaster's fascination with the surface was just a dream brought about from Hardinge's stories & hopeless reminiscing but he was actually proud of him when he became the royal scientist. He doesn't have a hatred for humans, he remembers the days of the first human child that was found. They seemed like a sweet child but a little shaken, no one was really sure what to make of them - to be honest it didn't even really seem like they came from the surface.

Gaster's childhood made him sterner, dealing with a not entirely corporeal baby that can teleport & fade away at will probably does that to a person. Sans & papyrus were a bit different though. The two used to play pranks on him when they were younger, while he was grumpy he wasn't bitter, he'd join along when his old bones would allow. I'm not sure about his magic right now

W.D. Gaster

He/him

Proud father and former Royal scientist! Gaster is a phantom & a skeleton! He can go non-corporeal whenever he pleases as well as teleportation. He wears a white turtleneck and a long black robe, his hands are separate from his body and usually float near his form. He retired from the role of Royal scientist not long after having his children, though no fully as he helped tutor alphys for her new role. He moved to Snowdin with his boys when Papyrus was around 11 years old as he was looking for a fresher start than what the capital had to offer. Hardinge & Semi moved in a bit after - to get closer with their grandsons.

-- Character dialogue if Hero chooses to interact w/ them! --

Breaking the barrier:

Semi, "The surface? BAH! What's the point? These old bones don't see no point in leavin' the caverns. Why go up there, I heard the temperature can change on a whim! If I wanna be boiled I'll go to hotland. But... Suppose' I can't be to stubborn. Good job yougin'."

Hardinge, "I... Am glad....I...can see...the...Sun....again...a thousand...years...is a....long....long time..."

Gaster, "Amazing! I can't believe we'll finally see the surface, do you think they'll be interested in my theories? What kind of technology do you have up there? I should stop rambling... Good job, human."

[alderdixon]

A lot of media lately about birds as symbols of death... I've enjoyed the overlapping themes! Herons specifically have been featuring as witnesses of guilt, curses and duty. I wonder if there's a mythological precedent for birds to be used this way? Perhaps flight and the realm of the sky inspires us to think about things beyond...

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[grammarpedant]

Ohhh. The gods to their priests are like abusive partners, aren't they. A parallel to Hark's relationship to Jelt.

[the-laws-of-physics-were-harmed]

Why you should read Frances Hardinge's books:

Most of them have little to no romance (I hate amatonormativity)

She is really good with words? Like idk how to explain it but the way she uses them is... idk how to describe it

A lot of her protagonists can be seen as autistic or having ADHD if you autism hard enough /hj

The book covers are always absolutely gorgeous

Some of my story Under a Golden Moon's worldbuilding originated because of Deeplight (I will not elaborate for reasons of Spoilers)

Her social media is full of things like this:

which is just. Relatable.

I occasionally make references to her books. I don't think I've made any here but there's a first time for everything :)

Her worldbuilding is so cool like seriously

The first book of hers I read was A Face Like Glass when I was about eight or so (I think?) I got it for Christmas last year, and it's somehow better than I remember?

She's definitely influenced my writing style a lot because her writing is just ridiculously good???

I think I've read most of her books, if not all

[fools-and-perverts2]

tagged by @greencloakedfae thank you so much!!!!

~list 5 topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material~

BBC Merlin. i absolutely love to hate to love that show in all it's flaws and complexities. i could discuss the writing, especially the female characters and how they either break or adhere to tropes of women in period dramas from the late 2000s to early 2010s. i could talk about the queerbait of it all, and the way that it ABSOLUTELY contributed to superwholock culture and that is not discussed enough in fandom. i love it so much.

the crane wives. i could analyse those lyrics all day, like the way they make connections between songs as the same story from two different perspectives (Mad Dog and The Hand That Feeds being a documented example, but my personal theory I've never seen discussed is Nobody and Tongues & Teeth as two sides of the same relationship) or their consistent use of natural imagery and how that has influenced my own writing and even worldview I'm certain.

queer representation in fiction. especially of nonbinary/genderqueer, lesbian or asexual characters because those are identities i have experience of and naturally a lot of thoughts on. i could talk about the complex trope of nonbinary as non human, and the negative impacts it has by way of mystifying or even dehumanising us in the eyes of cis binary audiences but also the empowering angle some genderqueer people ourselves see it through.

face like glass by frances hardinge. i love that book so much to this day and it is my dream to one day adapt it for screen. if you know the book you know how hard that would be, but i have so many ideas. i could talk about the extremely clever and intricate story and how i relate to it in my own life, and everything i love about the worldbuilding and the class commentary that's genuinely pro revolution and overthrowing ruling class oppressors

cabaret (the musical). i've seen it twice on the west end and i really loved it. i love the deep symbolism and the ways it sets itself up as innocent and carefree and all of a sudden holds a mirror up to the audience and criticises you. i could talk about the extremely relevant politics of it, and the pretty much perfect timing of it's 2021 London revival. i could talk about the queerness that inspired it and becomes more and more prevalent in it each iteration

thank you so much that was genuinely really fun and now i want to do all of those presentations! tags if you want no pressure, + open to anyone who would like xD

@big-bad-boink @frenchgirltalya @deuxiemedunom @they-thespian666 @a-storm-of-moss-and-rats

[andytheoverthinker]

i am in desperate need of a frances hardinge fandom, please more people need to read those books

[tea-cake-and-sarcasm]

Ok I've been reading unraveller (Frances hardinge) and it's so good? Why have I never heard of her before??? It has great queer rep and I mean the whole murderous bog witch that will respect your pronouns and then drown you regardless (she only drowns men but that does include trans men) and its written so well with (get this) male and female protagonists who don't fall in love and just idk look after eachother it's absolutely wonderful

I am crying because there is no fandom but if anyone is out there hello I am racing to finish it (I've found like two semi related blogs and that's all ;-;)