Audely Bensen Writes

Earlier this year, in a fit of rage and grief over not being able to wander through bookstores and pick out my next read, coupled with panic at my TBR shelf growing too short, I bought a stack of recent-ish adult fantasy novels from my local used book store .  One of the books I bought was Cate Glass's An Illusion of Thieves , which follows a Romy as she tries to protect her younger brother, make a life for herself, and then to help the man who caused all of her problems.  I want to like this book. It had it's moments--scenes where my heart was racing, dialogue that made me laugh, my favorite learning-how-to-use-a-weapon tropes.  However, I really had to drag myself to finish this book. From an analytical standpoint, the pacing was all off. For the first half plus, Romy is focused on staying alive, and on getting her brother under control. Life happens, and we see Romy react to it in the best way she can--but her decisions are small-scale. Where to live. How to work. She'...

Over the last few months I've been trying to read more adult fantasy. In theory I want to read recently published fantasy, but at the same time, my physical TBR shelf calls me. I've had Kushiel's Dart on the shelf for a couple months, but with everything going on in the world didn't feel able to focus for that long (910 pages!).  With the dawning of November, I finally felt like I had the headspace to dive in. Plus, it's finally gotten cold. Last winter I slowly read Sara Douglass's Darkglass Mountain series over the winter, so the return of the icy weather had me craving something similar.  Despite the fact that Kushiel's Dart is huge, I tore through it in 4 breathless days. I understand now why it's a classic. The character is endearing, the world is fascinating, and the political machinations! The treachery! I loved it.  As I read I tried to focus on what made it so enjoyable.  1. The world.  The world of Terre D'Ange is so interesting. I'm s...