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This was my second read-through of Tevinter Nights, the short story collection released for Dragon Age; the first came in 2020 not long after it was published. I wasn't super impressed with it at the time, but I was eager for any updates on the Dragon Age franchise, so I ate it up anyway. Having played through the latest game release, Veilguard (review here), it seemed like a good time to revisit Tevinter Nights, conceived undoubtedly as a way to keep fans interested and engaged with the coming story when, six years after the release of the last game, Inquisition, there was still not a crumb of news about the next game. I stand by my original assessment.
First, let me say this: if you are not already a fan of Dragon Age, this book is unlikely to have anything remotely interesting for you. It is steeped in its own lore, which it assumes the reader's familiarity with, and the quality of the works are simply not worthwhile if you are not already invested in this world.
Tevinter Nights is emblematic of so much of Dragon Age's writing. That is to say, it's deeply uneven in quality, with parts that are genuinely exciting and emotional, that give you exactly what you're looking for on your hunt for fantasy adventure; and parts that leave you scratching your head about how this cleared quality control (and whether the people writing it are familiar with the worldbuilding of their own franchise).
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Recipes from the World of H. P. Lovecraft: Inspired by Cosmic Horror
Hardcover – July 25, 2023
by Olivia Luna Eldritch
This cookbook draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. In addition to photographs of delicious food, it also features a lot of eldritch horror illustrations, some black-and-white, some full color. There's also a good deal of information about Lovecraft, his writing, his eating and hosting preferences. So there's an interesting mix of actually eldritch-themed recipes and others that are inspired by things he liked or his home territory. The chapters are Breaking Fast, Lighter Bites, Strange Feastings, Toothsome Sweets, Potions & Concoctions.
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Hardcover – July 25, 2023
by Olivia Luna Eldritch
This cookbook draws inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. In addition to photographs of delicious food, it also features a lot of eldritch horror illustrations, some black-and-white, some full color. There's also a good deal of information about Lovecraft, his writing, his eating and hosting preferences. So there's an interesting mix of actually eldritch-themed recipes and others that are inspired by things he liked or his home territory. The chapters are Breaking Fast, Lighter Bites, Strange Feastings, Toothsome Sweets, Potions & Concoctions.
( Read more... )
- Mood:
accomplished
The Dragon Queen by Rod Espinosa
The Courageous Princess book 3. Spoilers ahead for the first two.
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The Courageous Princess book 3. Spoilers ahead for the first two.
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The Unremembered Lands by Rod Espinosa
The Courageous Princess book 2. Spoilers ahead for the earlier volume
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The Courageous Princess book 2. Spoilers ahead for the earlier volume
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The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial China by Mark Elliott
A study of the practices of the Qing dynasty with regard to the Manchus, as conquerors, and the Han whom they ruled. Not that it was ever that simple. There were Mongols in the Eight Banners system all along, and Chinese bannermen were only briefly dispensed with. (Someone had to wrangle the artillery.)
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A study of the practices of the Qing dynasty with regard to the Manchus, as conquerors, and the Han whom they ruled. Not that it was ever that simple. There were Mongols in the Eight Banners system all along, and Chinese bannermen were only briefly dispensed with. (Someone had to wrangle the artillery.)
( Read more... )