urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brithwen Brithwen Tattercoat Brithwen Tattercoat 2005-01-23T17:41:59Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brithwen:835 2005-01-23T17:41:59Z 2005-01-23T17:41:59Z I have the flu. (Nasty nagging cough, fever, swollen glands, full-body ache, the works.) So if I'm slow in responding to things -- well, now you know what to blame it on. ;) urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brithwen:349 2004-12-09T06:42:05Z 2004-12-09T06:42:05Z I've been on a kick of rereading childhood favorite books. They're delightful: quick reads and generally pretty light, the perfect thing to be plowing through during end-of-semester blues. (Yes, yes, I know, sensible people don't read books at all in the crunch time; what can I say? I'm a bloody addict, that's all.) <br /><br />Yesterday it was <i>Wren to the Rescue</i> by Sherwood Smith, which was an entertaining romp with one of the more endearing of the spunky-girl archetype of young adult protagonists. Today I've started a re-read of two books I loved and read to pieces: <i>Juniper</i> and <i>Wise Child</i> by Monica Furlong. They are historical fantasy at its best: set in the real medieval world (Cornwall and Wales in the former case, Scotland in the latter), with magic that seems just plausible, in a didn't-happen-but-could-have sense. (In fact, modern-day Neo-Pagans might argue that it did happen that way, or much that way.) I can say as a medievalist that the feel is just right; the 'castle' of <i>Juniper</i> is a Cornish hill fort, a refreshing change from the default of Germanic castles.<br /><br />In other news: working on a fansub Dark Ages: Fae supplement article, "Faerie Hounds and Faerie Steeds." In general, I quite like the way DA:Fae handles sprites, but faerie animals seem to me a slightly different issue... and worth a serious look.