Mastodawn

Big fantasy worldbuilding, excellent mystery/thriller plotting, accessible and atmospheric prose, weirdo Sherlockian vibes...: Robert Jackson Bennett's The Tainted Cup.

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/06/09/159-the-tainted-cup-by-robert-jackson-bennett/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

159. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Big fantasy worldbuilding, excellent mystery/thriller plotting, accessible and atmospheric prose, weirdo Sherlockian vibes… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remai…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke 3d ago

Virgin goddesses and eroticism, a strangely winning combination in K. Arsenault Rivera's latest mythologically inspired novel.

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/06/08/158-daughter-of-the-hunt-by-k-arsenault-rivera/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

158. Daughter of the Hunt by K. Arsenault Rivera

Virgin goddesses and eroticism, a strangely winning combination… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support o…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke 5d ago

Michelle Sagara's Cast in Blood and Juniper Butterworth's The King in the Forest, in very brief.

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/06/06/157-sagaras-cast-in-blood-and-butterworths-the-king-in-the-forest/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

157. Sagara’s Cast in Blood and Butterworth’s The King in the Forest

I’m not having as shit a physical time as I was a couple of weeks ago, but I’m still not so thrilled with the conditions of my embodiment. Here’s two books, very briefly. The vast…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 27

An excellent set of case studies, with excellent use of scattered evidence...

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/27/156-harriet-i-flowers-intellectual-property-learned-slaves-and-educated-freedmen-in-republican-rome/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

156. Harriet I. Flower’s Intellectual Property: Learned Slaves and Educated Freedmen in Republican Rome

An excellent set of case studies, with excellent use of scattered evidence… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, you…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 26

Priests, nuns, assassins, Church councils, the undead and the Forces of Evil: here's a novel with a lot going on...

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/26/155-sister-svangerd-and-the-not-quite-dead-by-kj-parker/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

155. Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead, by KJ Parker

Priests, nuns, assassins, Church councils, the undead and the Forces of Evil: here’s a novel with a lot going on… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 25

154. The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders

My sympathies lie more with the demi-monde than the upper ten-thousand...

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/25/154-the-secrets-of-wishtide-by-kate-saunders/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

154. The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders

My sympathies lie more with the demi-monde than the upper ten-thousand…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 18

Bujold is brilliant again, but I'm not too sure that This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me isn't a bit too solipsistic for me...

New post over on my wordpress blog and on Patreon:

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/18/150-darksight-dare-by-lois-mcmaster-bujold-and-this-kingdom-will-not-kill-me-by-ilona-andrews/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

150. Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold and This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

Bujold is brilliant again, and I’m not too sure that This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me isn’t a bit too solipsistic for me… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and wil…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 15

Read this book immediately. I mean it. Bloody hell. WOW.

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/15/149-to-save-and-to-destroy-writing-as-an-other-by-viet-thanh-nguyen/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

149. To Save and To Destroy: Writing As An Other, by Viet Thanh Nguyen

This book. Read it. Read it now. The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy these sorts of posts, your support on Patreon or as a paying subscriber th…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 11

Who gets to make money in early medieval Europe? Rory Naismith can tell us that, and a lot more...

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/148-rory-naismith-making-money-in-the-early-middle-ages/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

148. Rory Naismith, Making Money in the Early Middle Ages

Who gets to make money in early medieval Europe? Rory Naismith can tell us that, and a lot more… The vast majority of my writing here is free to read and will remain so, but if you enjoy thes…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries

Liz Bourke May 8

arrister Gabriel Ward KC never wanted to be an amateur sleuth. But the grand high panjandrum of the Inner Temple has threatened to evict him from his rooms if he doesn't solve a problem...

https://lizbourke.wordpress.com/2026/05/08/147-sally-smiths-gabriel-ward-mysteries/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

147. Sally Smith’s Gabriel Ward mysteries

Barrister Gabriel Ward KC never wanted to be an amateur sleuth. But the grand high panjandrum of the Inner Temple has threatened to evict him from his rooms if he doesn’t solve a problem&#823…

κῆπος τῶν βιβλιοθηκῶν | a garden from the libraries