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Sep. 9th, 2014 08:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darchildreI am having myself a little Frances Hardinge binge. I read Face Like Glass this weekend, which was wonderful. And then it was over, so I decided to reread Well Witched*. And stayed up late last night to finish it, because Well Witched is so very excellent.
I love Well Witched. I keep trying to recommend it to people at the library, but the kids who want somewhat scary fantasy are put off by the fluffy and misleading cover art, which does not at all prepare the reader for the fact that the book contains, among other things I don't want to spoil, a boy who grows new eyes on his knuckles, a woman who own house nearly drowns her, and a terrifying well goddess. I mean, it's Frances Hardinge, so it is heartwarming and occasionally funny, but also gorgeously creepy in places. You should all read it.
And then you should read all of her other books. Face Like Glass is about an underground civilization where people make cheese that shows the future and perfumes that enslave the mind and everyone wears Faces instead of having expressions. Gullstruck Island/The Lost Conspiracy is about astral projection, sisterhood, colonialism, and a love triangle between three volcanoes. And it has been long enough since I read Fly-By-Night that I can't remember much about it other than it contained conmen, revolution, and a homicidal goose, but surely that is enough.
I am now reading Cuckoo's Song, which I couldn't get my library to buy, as it's only available for the kindle so far in the US. I'm only about five minutes in, so I can't tell you what it's about yet, but I'm excited about it.
*Which is Verdigris Deep in places that are not the US. Verdigris Deep is an entirely better title for the book, really.
I love Well Witched. I keep trying to recommend it to people at the library, but the kids who want somewhat scary fantasy are put off by the fluffy and misleading cover art, which does not at all prepare the reader for the fact that the book contains, among other things I don't want to spoil, a boy who grows new eyes on his knuckles, a woman who own house nearly drowns her, and a terrifying well goddess. I mean, it's Frances Hardinge, so it is heartwarming and occasionally funny, but also gorgeously creepy in places. You should all read it.
And then you should read all of her other books. Face Like Glass is about an underground civilization where people make cheese that shows the future and perfumes that enslave the mind and everyone wears Faces instead of having expressions. Gullstruck Island/The Lost Conspiracy is about astral projection, sisterhood, colonialism, and a love triangle between three volcanoes. And it has been long enough since I read Fly-By-Night that I can't remember much about it other than it contained conmen, revolution, and a homicidal goose, but surely that is enough.
I am now reading Cuckoo's Song, which I couldn't get my library to buy, as it's only available for the kindle so far in the US. I'm only about five minutes in, so I can't tell you what it's about yet, but I'm excited about it.
*Which is Verdigris Deep in places that are not the US. Verdigris Deep is an entirely better title for the book, really.
