Marian Churchland

mark brought this over! gorgeous GORGEOUS artwork and queer as fuq with ethereal androgynous knights and beautiful monsters! also the script was... not good. the story is hard to parse, and not in a rewarding way, just not well written. incomprehensible unpronounceable fantasy names everywhere, which you don't remember because they never use them twice.

there is something to the story, but it would've been a lot better with better dialogue and the "narrator" text incorporated into the actual script or left out. the authors want it to both be a rich deep world where not everything is explained (successful especially when they just let the art speak for itself---e.g. the two crystals thing, which it took me a minute to figure out but was actually quite self-explanatory and clever) and also have a burning need to let you know that the floating unpronounceable palace is made of the unpronounceable lord's ancestor's bones. stop it!!!… (mere)

Gosh darn it, I wrote a detailed review and my computer ate it.

This book was pretty! The art was sculptural (just like the story)! The figures and facial expressions were stiff, but I'd bet Churchland has since figured out how to add expressiveness to her hyper-realistic art.

A loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, this atmospheric tale of art, love, and terror was subtle and not too pat - and best of all, it felt like a heartfelt and authentic exploration of Churchland's experiences as a young artist.

Definitely a First Novel, but a very good one despite some hiccups.… (mere)

Lady Kinga is trapped in the body of a monster, living in exile on the edges of the kingdom, and supported only by her loyal knight, Arklight. Then someone turns up wearing her old body, and using her high rank for their own purposes. She and Arclight need to return to the city and fight against an invading power to save their world. the question is, will their magic be strong enough?

This is a graphic novel, and I found the art pleasing and restful for my eyes. I especially liked the goose (sorry, any explanation would be a spoiler), and the way its personality was depicted. This is a fantasy. The goose is dead, or perhaps more accurately, undead; the Lady occupies the body of a monster; a traveling palace is made of the bones of the ancestors of the Blood House, and gets larger with every generation. I can't honestly claim the story made much sense; on the other hand, I can't honestly claim I cared. The hour or so I spent with this book was very enjoyable.

Recommended for a light, pleasant read.

I received an advance reader's copy of this book from the publisher, and am reviewing it voluntarily.… (mere)

I found the art to be wonderful, especially the pages between the four parts of the story. The story and plot, on the other hand, I found to be undeveloped, confusing, thin, and unsatisfying.

The story is that Lady Kinga, of the Blood House, has been taken over by an alien body (her mind is in the alien body). Her loyal knight, Sir Arclight, is her only companion while she is in hiding. Her body has been taken over by an alien's mind. Her body attempts to live with her husband/lover(?) Lord Franxusius Iemhum in his spaceship. Sir Arclight attempts to return Lady Kinga to her body, while she is trapped in the Deathlands and must try to escape.

We don't really know how the alien and Lady Kinga have swapped bodies. In the second part of the book, she says she must go away on a crusade but will only be gone a short time. There is some sort of magic with a "border" being who seems to be alive but dying and whom Lady Kinga puts into the body of a goose killed for that purpose - no idea what was going on there. The knights of this world have ambiguous gender identityI thought the ending was terribly unsatisfying.

I noticed that on Goodreads people either loved it or hated it. I'd put myself among the latter group. The only redeeming part being the graphics themselves.… (mere)