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I have finished The Silver Gryphon, the third and final book of The Mage Wars Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

I have finished The Silver Gryphon, the third and final book of The Mage Wars Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey.

Frankly nameless terrors have always given me a rash, but thanks to recalling what Wintermoon and Skif encounter two millennia hence in the Pelagirs I had an idea about just what might be stalking Tadrith and Silverblade in those unexplored rain forests. And I was right, but Star-Eyed strike me the Cataclysm certainly whipped up trouble even so close the Western Coast and Haighlei lands! But "no disaster without some benefit" as the Shin'a'in say (or will say), and now at last Tad and Blade have found peace with being the children of Skandranon & Zhaneel, Amberdrake & Winterhart, and with it the peace and freedom to be themselves with their parents.

Alas that I will never hear more of their stories (except in history, perhaps)! For thus ends this lovely saga that answered many questions I had about the Mage Wars, Urtho, the Black Gryphon, Ma'ar, the Kaled'a'in in general and Clan k'Leshya specifically. For when I see Clan k'Leshya next it will be two millennia hence again, back in Valdemar with Elspeth, Darkwind, yet more k'Leshya Gryphons, and of course Kero and the rest of everyone. All dealing the same thing Skandranon and Amberdrake did: the impacts of Cataclysm, the Mage Storms.

My father and I just finished The Map of Stories, Book Three of Anna James' Pages & Co. series

My father and I just finished The Map of Stories, Book Three of Anna James' Pages & Co. series.

I have heard of binding books before, but this is ridiculous. Still, sometimes you have to follow intuition, a leap of faith, a series of clues, and a literal breadcrumb road through a paper forest to find what you are looking for...even if what you seek is regarded as a myth by the smartest and most decent of people. But Tilly and Oskar have not been wrong yet, so to save the British Underlibrary, bookwandering, and imagination and books period, that means traveling deep into Story itself to find the fabled Archivists. Along the way asking to right questions about the true Source of the problem and ultimately the real meaning, power, and purpose of Story magic. To quote Will Shakespeare, "we are such stuff as dreams are made of." Which closed the book, also literally, on two rather detestable siblings and brought their tired old quest for power and immortality to its inevitable ending.

Yet the journey is not over yet, for a favor is still owed to the owner of a certain and very unique clean-energy train.

Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

How...HOW did I not know about this before?!

Apparently every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R.Tolkien’s children. Inside would be letters from Father Christmas to the Tolkien household, all written in spidery handwriting with beautifully colored drawings.

Of course, Tolkien himself wrote the letters... because leave it to him to think of Santa writing to children instead of the reverse. Thus we have the book Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R.Tolkien, filled with "wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas’s house into the dining-room; how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden; how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house!"

How this book's existence eluded me all these year and why I have never seen it in book stores I have not a clue, but in my mind the Lord and Founder of Modern Fantasy just got even more amazing.

Quote of the month

"Each of you is a separate, individual you. You are a unique person, with wild ideas about what's truly important. Each of you has a gift that only you can bring to the world. A way you can help that others couldn't. And the way you express that gift is to hear this: trust yourself. Trust your gift." - Chandra Nalaar

Fire Emblem Heroes: Book IX

Remember when Askr's Order of Heroes defended itself from mortal armies? Me neither. Jokes asides, after dealing with the Vanaheimr gods and Gullveig, followed up by the Yggdrasill family, looks like the Ásgarðr gods have dropped in again and are not playing anymore.

My father and I just finished The Lost Fairy Tales, Book Two of Anna James' Pages & Co. series

My father and I just finished The Lost Fairy Tales, Book Two of Anna James' Pages & Co. series.

We all know and love fairy tales... but Little Red Riding Hood wielding a giant axe (a woftcutter instead of woodcutter, as it were)? Prince Charming being anything but and Rapunzel not needing or wanting rescue? Obviously something is wrong with fairy tales, and things are not much better at the British Underlibrary. Leaving Tilly, Oskar, and the rest of the Pages & Co. crew to sort out plots both literary and otherwise. But tis the two blended that is the real threat to book magic and British bookwandering, and when things take a turn for the worse it is time to find help. Fortunately, that is what maps are for, and Britain's is hardly the only Underlibrary out there.