There is no fantasy story idea that cannot be made to contain a description of historically accurate book-storing methods.

That is all.


ETA: Still have not figured out how to use book chains. If you just wrap them around the wrists, they yank the book off the shelf, you see. Unlocking the bar, sliding off all the other chains to reach the necessary chain, then looping and spearing the necessary chain and relocking it requires a very patient, er, partner. It is a quandary.

Melusine, by Sarah Monette, is one of those books so good that I've barely started it and I already want the sequel. It's about a mage named Felix Harrowgate and a thief named Mildmay who--oh, hell, read the description, it'll do a far better job than I can. Or read Sarah Monette's site, which has generous sample chapters.

All I can say about it at this juncture is: I was in Waldenbooks today looking for last-minute presents, and I realized that the sequel, The Virtu, might be in the store. Even if I couldn't buy it right now, I could touch it, just for a moment. Oh, yes. Come to me, my Virtu. You may not be mine now, but soon I will have you, oh yes. Very soon. Let me feel the new-book sharpness of your edges, let me breathe in your new-book smell, let me cast my eyes over your saucy new characters and your dedication page. But the book was not in the store. It was denied me. I was denied. Some deep, essential part of my selfhood was denied.

So I went away and bought a bottle of water from a vending machine, which is not the same as a book and does not satisfy.

It is technically December 23rd. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I will be tied up with family engagements. On Christmas, I will be tied up in an insane asylum for trying to do something unspeakable to a near relative with a fruitcake knife. But on December 26th, I come back into the city, and Pandemonium will be open, oh yes, and they will give me a copy of The Virtu.

Well, not exactly give, per se. Money will change hands. But it will be a trifling sum compared to the value of that which I hold in my hands.

I will have it. It will be mine. We will be one and whole.

Oh yes.

From Ellora's Cave:

Planetary Passions - A Centaur for Libby

By Reese Gabriel

Perky public defender Libby Daniels has had some weird cases in her time, but an indignant centaur talking to police steeds on the courthouse plaza? The gorgeous Markos is pretty insistent, though, and the fact that he has two legs like everyone else just proves his point — he has come to Earth in disguise from his native Constellia, Land of the Zodiac Signs, to secure a lawyer for a trumped-up murder charge sponsored by his enemies, the killjoy Scorpos.

Markos' plan is simple. Get the luscious Libby into bed, addict her to his supernatural brand of lovemaking then whisk her off to Constellia for the trial. Being a true Sagittarian, he's arrogant enough to tell her this up-front. A levelheaded Libra like Libby should be able to resist, but the fact is she craves a beast strong enough to sweep her off her feet.

But... if Markos is acquitted, he goes free in his half horse form, forever separated from the woman he now realizes he cannot live without. Any hope for a happily-ever-after for these two beings from different worlds lies entirely within the magic of the Zodiac.

Crack, man. Pure, lemon-scented crack. And the writing sample's not half-bad, provided you don't mind erect centaur cock. If Markos is as much of an arrogant twathead as the blurb and excerpt make him sound, I might be in love.


ETA: I looked up Ellora's Cave because they report ebook sales that regularly top 3,000-4,000 units. They have a section of fables and fairy tales. Dude. DUDE. I feel an urge to go back to Little Red Riding Crop.

Elen Kushner is coming out with a new book set in her Swordspoint universe. With Alec and St. Vier.

The happy, it cannot be contained by any squee. I may have to resort to interpretive dance.