Terry Pratchett – The Compleat Ankh-Morpork [REVIEW]

April 15, 2024
Authors P-T (By Surname)Fiction

Title: The Compleat Ankh-Morpork

Author: Terry Pratchett

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 130

Rating: 4/5

This book is basically another one of the supplementary books that sits alongside the Discworld and provides an extra little something something. In this case, it’s basically a guide to the city of Ankh-Morpork, consisting of everything from a full map of the city to a directory listing of things like hotels and restaurants.

Obviously, you can’t actually go and pay the visit a city, but if you could then I’m sure this would be a super useful guidebook to have with you. Just make sure that you don’t go into The Shades, especially at night, and remember where all of the guardhouses are. Oh, and have fun!

Learn more about The Compleat Ankh-Morpork.

Madeleine Miller – Circe [REVIEW]

April 11, 2024
Authors K-O (By Surname)Fiction

Title: Circe

Author: Madeleine Miller

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 337

Rating: 4/5

This is my first brush with Madeleine Miller, although I also want to read The Song of Achilles, and I have to say that I’m pleasantly surprised. I like mythology as much as the next man, but I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly au fait with it. But then I guess that makes me exactly the kind of person that the book was written for.

Circe is a minor goddess and a fascinating character to read about, because while she’s often overlooked in her early years, she’s able to take her destiny into her own hands. That doesn’t always work out so well for her, but it’s super empowering to read about a female lead who manages to find her own agency in a patriarchal world.

When I started reading Circe, I was a little worried that it was going to be over-written and that I was going to struggle to enjoy it, but it soon becomes apparent that Miller got the balance just right between modern storytelling and ideas that are thousands of years old. It’s actually surprisingly easy to read.

The result is a cracking story that I think anyone would enjoy, whether they’re a fan of mythology and the classics or not. Circe as a character, along with the struggles and growth that she enjoys, make her a feminist hero of a sort that’s increasingly popular in modern literature, and with good reason.

I also particularly liked her superpower, if you can call it that. She’s basically a witch, with the ability to play around with plants and herbs and to make them magical. That magic sometimes works against her or in ways that she doesn’t expect, but that’s just the sign of a good magic system.

And so all in all, when it comes to the question of whether or not I’d recommend reading this, I think the answer is fairly obvious. Go get it.

Learn more about Circe.