They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Melissa Caruso, who — if you haven’t heard — is our featured author for May. We’re reading The Tethered Mage for the book club this month, and we thought it’d be wonderful to have her join us and share her favorites!
What does Melissa love when she’s not writing about magicians conscripted into weapons? Spoiler alert: an interdimensional library, gourmet fantasy, a gorgeous Remake of a fan-favorite game, a manga that keeps you on your toes, and a heartfelt animate show. Curious? Read on to learn more!
I tend to love stories with great pacing, characters I want to spend time with, and a story that’s not so grim and gritty that I can’t see the light of hope. Current circumstances have me craving the delightful even more. Here are some things I’ve been enjoying recently that lift my spirits and get me excited just thinking about them!
If you haven’t yet read The Invisible Library and its sequels by Genevieve Cogman, this bingeable fantasy series is like a box of great chocolates and is perfect quarantine reading. Irene, the main character, is a delightfully pragmatic world-hopping spy in service to an interdimensional library whose wit, competence, and impressive abilities get her out of all sorts of narrow scrapes but keep landing her in even more trouble. This series has it all: action, mystery, magic, great characters, steampunk monstrosities, dragons, a Great Detective, and fae who are literally powered by personal drama, which is my favorite worldbuilding idea I’ve seen in years. These books are just incredibly fun.
A couple of very different but equally beautiful fantasy books which each have their share of darkness but leave me feeling exhilarated by the end are Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. Both have very cool cosmology & magic, have a literary beauty to them, and have fantastic characters I loved and rooted for. Both follow arcs of reclaiming power from powerlessness, and have very satisfying endings. The Ten Thousand Doors of January makes all your forgotten childhood magic real and achingly present in a book for adults, and will leave you expecting to find another world in the back of your closet. Empire of Sand weaves worlds from the dreams of sleeping gods, rich with history and romance. Both are top-notch fantasy reads as fulfilling as a gourmet meal.
Speaking of rediscovering old magic from long ago, my family has been playing the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII Remake together, and thus far it’s everything I hoped it would be and my daily obsession. This game is gorgeous on every level — the characters, the backgrounds, the music. I feel like they really nailed the characters, and I love all the new interactions between them they’ve added. I came in with high expectations and high standards — Sephiroth is one of my favorite villains of all time, and the whole cast are old friends — but thus far, they’ve been met or exceeded. I’m impressed with how they’ve risen to the challenge of both capturing what made the original game so special and at the same time creating something new. We’re only partway through it, and I’m eager to see the rest!
My favorite manga are usually character-focused shonen manga, and my top faves (including Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist, the most perfect manga ever created) often tend to be authored by women. Right now I’m really enjoying Blue Exorcist by Kazue Kato, which is that very rare thing: a shonen manga with good pacing. The plot keeps moving along, avoiding stagnation with interesting twists that clearly were carefully planned rather than improvised for drama, which I really appreciate. The manga follows Rin, a half-demon who becomes a demon-fighting exorcist — which I know isn’t the newest concept, but it’s got some nifty worldbuilding, cool action scenes, and compelling core mysteries. It’s very character-driven despite copious action, with a supporting cast just as important and developed as the main character and a focus on the relationships between them. It definitely keeps me turning pages, and I only wish the volumes would come out faster!
If I’m talking about fun stories with impressive pacing, I have to talk about Steven Universe. I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I’m just discovering this amazing show now, courtesy of my teen daughter. It has good pacing in a totally different way — the episodes are barely over ten minutes long, but somehow they feel like they last half an hour. They have moments of quiet, and take the time to dig into character; there are scenes where you can feel a lazy summer afternoon passing by in, like, twenty seconds. It never feels rushed, but packs a huge amount of plot, worldbuilding, and character development into each episode. Plus, the characters are fantastic, with incredible voice acting and designs for the lead Crystal Gems. I’ve been enjoying its sweetness, its heartfelt-ness, as well as all the adventure and fun. (Disclaimer: my teen is being my guide here and skipping over filler episodes, so my experience of the overall series pacing may be different than if you’re watching the whole thing through. But the episode pacing is excellent.)
I hope you’ve got some good books and games and shows to lift your spirits and light your enthusiasm! Stories are the best balm in troubled times.
Melissa Caruso is the author of fantasy books of intrigue, magic, murder, and explosions, including the Swords & Fire trilogy from Orbit Books (The Tethered Mage, The Defiant Heir, and The Unbound Empire) and her forthcoming new trilogy, Rooks and Ruin, which begins with The Obsidian Tower (coming on June 2, 2020). Melissa’s debut, The Tethered Mage, was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2017. Melissa loves tea, adventure, and the great outdoors, and has been known to swordfight in ballgowns. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two superlative daughters, three cats, and a Labrador.
Author Photo by Erin Re Anderson
Would you like to write about YOUR favorite things for Speculative Chic? Check out our guidelines and fill out the form here.
There are so many things I love about this post, but I greatly appreciate the mention of Fullmetal Alchemist and Blue Exorcist. It makes me super excited to check out more of your work!