Review: Lessons in Magic and Disaster

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this one more. I’ve been reading and enjoying Charlie Jane Anders for years, and normally I really love her work, but this one was just a bit too messy for me. Though, to be fair, Jamie, her protagonist, does confess to being quite a messy person, but those around her are often just as messed up if not more so. And I’m not just talking about the post truth trolls feeding her and her family into the ever hungry right wing outrage machine, but also about the family who continues a cycle of generational trauma, still a very common theme in fiction these days. I’d probably have liked this book more if it had focused more on the secrets of 18th century literature, because it’s clear that that’s one of Anders’s special interests, and was easily the most fascinating part of the book by light years. But this is not that book, and yet because it’s Anders, I’ll be generous and round up from 2.5 to 3 on this one.

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Review: Among the Burning Flowers

Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Samantha Shannon’s having a very prosperous year in 2025, with both this book and The Dark Mirror on tap. A new standalone story in the world of Roots of Chaos, this book is more of a deep dive into the Spanish- and Italian-inspired land of Yscalin, a lovely but volcanic place where Draconic threats are always lurking, and feeling a bit too close to home these days. I expect Shannon’s Italian research for The Dark Mirror helped fuel much of this book, atmospherically. Long enough to be a novel in its own right, but short enough to stand out compared to the massive books Shannon usually writes in this series, it’s a great intro to this world for newcomers - or those who forgot just how great this series was to begin with.

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