Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review of Four Young Adult Children's Fantasy Selections by T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon by Karen S. Wiesner

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review of Four Young Adult Children's Fantasy Selections by

T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon

by Karen S. Wiesner 

Beware: May contain unintended spoilers! 

 

Finding A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking was rapturous serendipity for me! T. Kingfisher (the pen name of Ursula Vernon) is a versatile author, illustrator, and artist. Unbelievably, I'd never heard of her before reading this book, despite all the awards she's won for her eclectic body of work. She came to my attention when I bought an immaculate (used) hardcover book by her called "What Feasts at Night" (which I'll review in the coming weeks). I wasn't very far along before I decided to look up the author on my Libby library app and see what else she had to offer. One of the few audiobooks of hers available immediately was something called A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. Literally, this one had me at the title. 

In this 2020 young adult fantasy novel, a 14-year-old named Mona, who possesses a sly, dry wit and "bread magic", discovers a dead body in her aunt's bakery. It isn't long before she realizes those who possess magic in her town are being targeted. There are other wizards set in this unique fantasy world, but none quite like Mona. When she was younger, she'd created (accidentally in the first case) 1) a sourdough starter "familiar" that eats mice when it can't get flour (really, what bread eaters don't know won't kill them) and 2) animated gingerbread men for the customers to fawn over (move over Shrek's Gingy!). Little did Mona realize her most loyal gingerbread man would soon become the commander-in-chief of a gingerbread army Mona has to bake up in order to save the city from a corrupt wizard and his invading army. And that doesn't even get into having to concoct the right kind of shoes for doughboy golem soldiers. 

One of the selling points of this story for me was the realistic portrayal of those in power who shouldn't necessarily be. In this case, the ruler meant well and was willing to do anything to help her people. Also, the heroine is the last person who might be considered a champion. By virtue of the fact that she had the skills (though she didn't realize it at first, of course) and stepped up to use them, she was able to save the day. I'm probably in the minority as one with no interest in reading about a superhero flying in just in time to rescue the entire city. I tend to root for worthy underdogs, and Mona is appealingly that. 

 

Illuminations was a 2022 release. Ten-year-old Rosa comes from a family of illuminators who are the greatest magic painters in the city, but their fortunes have fallen on hard times. Rosa excels at painting fanged radishes. Unfortunately, this art doesn't seem particularly useful when their studio is known for paintings that keep the city safe and running smoothly. Wanting to find a way to be useful to her relatives, she instead accidently releases a vicious monster and then has to figure out how to put it back in the box she foolishly opened. 

I assume the author, who's also a skilled artist, wondered what it would be like for her work to come to life, just as authors wonder what it would be like to step into a world created within a story. This was a cute and very fun story with a hilarious, three-dimensional heroine searching for her place in the world she's been born into and wanting very badly to join with her own legitimate skill. 

 

I'm reviewing A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and Illuminations along with Minor Mage. Though all three of these books have like covers, they aren't part of a series. They do, however, share a similar subject matter hinging on young adult protagonists that possess some form of magic they use to change their own world (and possibly the world at large, or at least their section of it). Also, of course, all the books in this trio are written in Ursula Vernon's pseudonym T. Kingfisher. A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking and Illuminations wonderfully lended themselves to audiobook "readings"--I'm not sure I would have enjoyed them quite as much as I did if I'd read them as ebooks or paperbacks. Both were available as audiobooks through my two library apps (either Libby or Hoopla); Minor Mage wasn't immediately accessible from either at the time I was writing this review. A month or so later, I managed to gain access to the ebook of Minor Mage. I wish I'd been able to get an audiobook copy. It would have been a bit easier to get through. This isn't saying Minor Mage is bad--not in the least. I just enjoyed the way the previous voice actors read Kingfisher's always off-the-cuff, fun stories so much, it was hard not to miss that aspect in my quiet, uninspired reading of it via ebook. 

In the 2019 Minor Mage, 12-year-old Oliver only knows three spells that he taught himself. His training was sporadic and dicey, to say the least, as his predecessor was very old and decidedly senile and had taken to wearing underwear on his head in his final days. Nevertheless, after the former mage passed a few years ago, the village has mainly accepted Oliver as their community magician. Oliver's managed to find what he needs in books to perform the tasks required of him in the time since then. However, when rain isn't forthcoming at a critical point in the season, he's called upon to fetch rain from the Rainblade Mountains. This is certainly nothing he's had to deal with before and he hasn't received the slightest bit of training in this regard from his mentor. Accompanied by his snarky armadillo familiar (who also has a few point of view scenes), he sets off, hoping he can find a way to do what his duty requires of him, with all those in the village counting on him. No pressure, right? Naturally, the journey is fraught with dangers and unforeseen challenges like ghuls (zombies) and bandits for one with very little practical knowledge of magic combined with frequent self-doubt. 

Along the way, Oliver meets up with a bard mage with the questionable ability to make harps (and the occasional fiddle) from the bones of murder victims. While he's actually had a few grieving people request his services in order to discover who murdered their loved one, even those lacking forethought soon regret it once they're forced to endure the screaming, shrieking harp seeking justice for crimes endured in life. Not surprisingly, Trebastian has few friends and is almost always chased out of every town with pitchforks and threats. Before long, Trebastian becomes Oliver's companion and, later, an unexpected friend. 

Kingfisher's trademark blend of heartfelt humor and grave predicaments buoy every page of this book. As in the previous stories in this set, the underlying theme is that heroism is about much more than possessing extraordinary supernatural powers. Instead, it's in the choices, creativity, determination, and moral fiber of the ones wielding, perhaps, less than spectacular gifts. 

 

Another story written under T. Kingfisher's real name, Ursula Vernon, Castle Hangnail, was instantly obtainable as an audiobook, and it fit the basic motif of this review with a young adult magic user as the protagonist. I suppose Castle Hangnail is intended for children (that assessment is directly from the author on her website) because of the author's amazing illustrations filling the pages. At a whopping 372 pages, it's not what I'd generally consider a children's book. It is, gratefully, presented in the same loquacious, verbose writing style that I've come to love from this author's protagonists. This book would appeal to young adults (8 to 12 years is the recommendation though most reading kids, including those younger, would also be smitten). Like with Shriek, I can't imagine adults enjoying it just as much. 

Twelve-year-old Molly is a witch and she needs a job. Castle Hangnail requires a wicked witch, and, though the staff at the castle is uncertain that polite Molly is right for the job, they agree to give her a shot. What a hoot this story is! When I was very young, my favorite author was Ruth Chew. I loved all her good, useful witch stories. I wish Castle Hangnail had been available then. I would have adored this unique, merry, tongue-in-cheek story with a lively cast of characters you can't help but love and champion. Though the audiobook was fantastic, I did miss seeing Vernon's own amazing illustrations accompanying the story, which I previewed on a book distributor's site. Oh, and there were rumors that Disney with Ellen DeGeneres might be making this into a movie, but I couldn't find any follow-up on the initial announcement. The first thing I was reminded of when I started listening to Castle Hangnail were the Hotel Transylvania movies. Like those, this would make a hilarious, not-necessarily-just-for-kids film. 

~*~

All four of these stories were nothing less than nonstop delight. The voice actors for the first two and Castle Hangnail were exemplary, adding so much to the reading, in retrospect it would have been unimaginable to partake without their talent. It only took me a couple days to finish the audiobooks because I didn't want to turn them off. The ebook of Minor Mage wasn't quite as easy to get through yet proved to be extremely enjoyable. 

You certainly don't need to be a child or young adult to enjoy these entertaining, incredibly well written, and engaging, character-driven adventures. As I hadn't, I doubt too many will have read anything else quite like these irresistible tales. So, that about does it--sign me up! I'm a fan of this author and artist regardless of what the genre is. I expect to post many more reviews of T. Kingfisher (and Ursula Vernon's) selections in the future. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website and blog here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

RavenCon 17 (April 2024)

Last weekend, my husband, our daughter, and I attended RavenCon near Richmond, Virginia. Here's the convention's website. Information about this year's con is still up.

RavenCon

Guests of honor were editor Ellen Datlow and author Ursula Vernon, aka T. Kingfisher. Since she's one of my favorite writers, I was thrilled when I learned she'd be there. Her reading consisted of excerpts from a new "Sworn Soldier" novel -- sequel to WHAT MOVES THE DEAD and WHAT FEASTS AT NIGHT, yay! -- and a novel about an angel and a demon teaming up to solve a mystery in a small village. (She mentioned her dismay when the GOOD OMENS series premiered, after she was well into the book.) I watched part of her interview later, fascinating background information about the origins of her writing career.

I appeared on panels about Writing Believable Characters and Geeks Parenting Geeks. The latter especially was a lot of fun, the whole session filled with memories and anecdotes about introducing our children to the worlds of fantasy, SF, and horror, plus the works our kids turned us on to. My husband took part in discussions on Writing with a Partner and Writing a Series. Together we appeared in "How Will Religion Change in Space?" Well attended, that was lively and thought-provoking but slightly chaotic. In our opinion, the moderator opened the floor to questions too soon. Eager audience participation is always desirable, but people kept prematurely derailing topics in progress. I never did get to say much about Mary Doria Russell's THE SPARROW, one book I especially wanted to delve into, but anyway it was a worthwhile and memorable panel.

The most heavily attended session I watched, surprisingly, was a lecture with slides proposing that the folktale of "The Smith and the Devil" is the "world's oldest fairy tale." The room was packed, with people sitting on the floor and leaning against walls -- at 9 p.m. on Friday. An interesting late-night presentation I watched only part of was called "Ask a Necromancer," by a licensed mortician answering questions about her profession. On Sunday morning, a slide show about angel lore in myth, fiction, and film mentioned some works new to me that I may watch on video streaming. I brought up C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, strangely (from my viewpoint) omitted from her book list even though she cited several other things that sounded rather peripheral to the topic.

At the Saturday evening masquerade contest, even though I recognized hardly any of the costumes, I marveled at how impressively elaborate most were. Even the "cosplay showcase" of people who didn't enter the official competition featured many dazzling outfits. One I did recognize immediately -- the Queen of Hearts, complete with flamingo, with the equally regally dressed King of Hearts hovering in the background.

Fortunately for getting to events on time, the hotel restaurant offered buffets at all three meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Not so fortunately, we had to fend for ourselves at Friday dinner in the only food venue open, the bar. With the resulting crowd, we didn't get fed until half an hour after ordering, when the opening ceremony had already started. Aside from not being present for the self-introduction of guests, though, we didn't miss anything vital.

We drove there and back uneventfully. We arrived home on Sunday afternoon to find the house and the cats in good condition.

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.

Becoming a Dark Lord/Lady

Is it possible to be a good Dark Lord (or Lady)? The term "good" in this context is ambiguous. It can mean competent, skilled at certain tasks, fit for his, her, or its purpose. Or it can mean morally and ethically virtuous. We could call Shakespeare's versions of Macbeth and Richard III "good characters," meaning they're well constructed, believable, and entertaining. But we wouldn't label them morally good. A character could be a good Dark Lord or Lady in the sense of a convincing example of a powerful villain (from the reader's viewpoint) or an expert in ruling villainously (within the fictional world). Could a dark ruler be morally good, though, or is that concept self-contradictory?

I recently read THE DARK LORD'S DAUGHTER, by Patricia C. Wrede. Fourteen-year-old Kayla is snatched from our world, along with her adoptive mother and brother, by a man who informs her she's the only child of the late Dark Lord of a realm reminiscent of the fantasy worlds in her brother's favorite movies and video games. To Kayla's dismay, everyone seriously expects her to deal with opposition and assert her power by exiling, torturing, or executing people on the slightest pretext. How can she hold her unwanted position (while working to learn enough magic to return herself and her family to Earth) without transforming into a villain? Surprisingly even to herself, she comes to care for some of the people under her nominal rule and can't just abandon them without trying to fix the more dysfunctional features of the lair and throne she has inherited.

THE DARK LORD'S DAUGHTER reminds me a bit of Ursula Vernon's CASTLE HANGNAIL, whose heroine, Molly, isn't drafted into her position but deliberately applies for it. She answers an ad seeking a wicked witch to take over a castle in need of a master or mistress. The minions of Castle Hangnail, desperate for someone to rule the estate so they won't lose their home, gradually warm to this twelve-year-old girl who does have magic but otherwise barely qualifies. To become the castle's permanent custodian, she has to check off a lists of achievements, including such tasks as smiting and blighting. Some people deserve a mild smiting, and blighting weeds in the herb garden qualifies as a dark action without crossing the line into true evil. Along those lines, Molly manages to fulfill the "wicked witch" role without becoming a bad person. Just when she's on the verge of approval as the official sorceress of Castle Hangnail, though, an unexpected visitor exposes the deception she perpetrated to get over the threshold in the first place -- but no more spoilers!

In case by any chance you've never read the Evil Overlord List, here's that exhaustive inventory of things a supervillain should never do:

Evil Overlord List

Margaret L. Carter

Please explore love among the monsters at Carter's Crypt.