The Crooked Pen

Category: Fantasy

  • Thoughts on “A Natural History Dragons” by Marie Brennan (Spoiler-Free)

    Summary: All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the […]

  • My TBR For 2022

    I failed miserably by not uploading a blog post last week, but I resolve to make up for it with a small one until I’m able to crank out this monster I’ve been meditating on all weekend. Summary: Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; […]

  • W.I.P Novel Draft 2- Electric Avenue: The Emotional Stakes Are Higher

    Writing the first draft for a novel is hard. Writing the second draft is harder. As a notorious quitter with a graveyard of W.I.P.s on her laptop, I was surprised when I actually wound up completing the first draft of my passion project. Considering how often I become overwhelmed by the prospect of cramming all […]

  • Words are Wind: A Depressing Update for “The Winds of Winter” by George R. R. Martin

    It has been two years since I wrote about The Winds of Winter and its slow progression towards release. I heard some time ago that 2020 was a productive year for Martin, inspiring words considering how long this novel has been in the works. The last installment, A Dance with Dragons, was published in 2011 […]

  • Love at First Sip: New Release

    Some friends of mine just put out an awesome new anthology. For those of you that are into romance, check it out! Thirsty takes on a new meaning with nine romantic tales of love and happily ever afters. The spark might begin with a drink, but these relationships develop over many more to come. From […]

  • Thoughts on “A Feast For Crows” By George R. R. Martin

    Warning: The following contains spoilers for the book and series of Game of Thrones. Yes, I am one of the 12 people that still cares about Game of Thrones and enjoys talking about it in spite of its dumpster fire ending. So today I was wanting to discuss my thoughts and feelings about one of […]

  • What the Backlash of “Twilight” Taught Me

    The Twilight series is something I have been wanting to talk about for some time now, but lacked the courage to do so. It is potentially one of the most openly hated books to come out of the 21st century (a position only recently overtaken by 50 Shades of Grey) and is still mocked to […]

  • Unpopular Opinion: Why Zuko and Mai Don’t Work As a Couple

    I would be lying if I said I didn’t see some logic behind pushing these two characters together. From my own experience, people have the proclivity to seek out romantic partners who make up for what they lack either intentionally or otherwise. That being said, I’ve learned there is a limit to how “opposite” you […]

  • Unpopular Opinion: Why Katara and Aang Don’t Work As a Couple

    When Netflix announced they would be adding Avatar: The Last Airbender to their streaming platform, I literally squealed. Avatar is not only one of the best cartoon shows ever to air, but one of the best shows in existence period. The way it is able to tell stories with such mature themes like war, death, […]

  • Opinion: Thoughts on “Destiny” in Fiction

    In preparation for my own novel, I’ve been reading quite a lot of fantasy novels to get me in the right headspace. As such, I’ve been exposed to the normal trappings of fantasy lit i.e, magical creatures as racial allegories, repurposing of traditional folk-lore stories and, of course, the concept of “destiny.” Destiny gets a […]

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