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I found great value in your thoughts here, Marianne! And I subscribed! I didn't realize you have a channel!

Great review! You’re making me want to reread it! I love how you described Piranesi’s decision like a Neverland scenario. That is exactly what it felt like reading that part! I love that the house remained a bit of a mystery. I read this book with my mom a few years ago (there’s an old video of us discussing it on my channel), so that made it all the more special. If you do watch reviews, I highly recommend Mark Vernon’s analysis.

Thank you, Marianne, the spoiler filled videos are my absolute favourites. I wish it was longer! I think of Piranesi the character a lot and like you mentioned, also that third, new person that emerges at the end. For me it's a beautiful story about healing from trauma. How a childlike and kind part can come in to protect the wounded part, and in the end, healing doesn't mean losing either of them, but how they can take eachother's hand and go forward together, creating a resilient space that is informed by both perspectives. I also wonder how much Suzanna Clarke's experiences with chronical illness have informed the story. All in all such a rich story with so many facettes and ways to infuse it with our own experiences of the world!

Awesome video, glad you liked it! I really liked the way it started out whimsical and strange but then got more sinister as we learnt more about the real situation surrounding Piranesi. I didn't know they were making a movie for it, that will definitely be a must see.

My poor poor TBR

Yeeeessssssss - I loved book one and after your comment on my video the other day I’ve been excited to re-enter the series. Great video, love to see people gush over books they love!

You did a great job describing that feeling when a book compels you to pick it back up. The books that gave me that feeling were Red Rising, The Will of the Many, and Dungeon Crawler Carl.

I have been thinking of evaluating the series of which I've started one or more books and making a plan of what I want to continue. I read through very slowly.

I would recommend the Elric series after LPQ. Each installment is much shorter (in comparison to a lot of fantasy books), but I would also recommend just reading the first two volumes of those new bind-ups. Although The Dreamthief’s Daughter of my favorite out of the entire series-it’s the first book in the third volume-the last two books soured the series/Moorcock for me.

I'm so bad at leaving series open. I think it comes from growing up and always reading them right when they come out, so waiting a year or two between books. The individual BOTNS books are actually pretty fast reads and super rich.

Your first book discretion makes so much sense to me 🤯 I’ve snoozed a few series if book one didn’t grab me, and then when I got back to it, the conclusion wasn’t much better.

That's a pretty good stack! LPQ is definitely in your wheelhouse if you're more into character/political driven stories. After that, the next one that will probably work best for you is The Grace of Kings. Personally, unless I straight up disliked the first book, I'll be continuing on, even if the first book was an okay read. Lots of fantasy series were written (not so much modern ones) with the assumption the audience would read all the books to get a complete story, so the older it is the more leeway I usually give it.

I love your approach to analyze how you're feeling about the series and using that judgment to decide if you need to finish the series or not. I used to read series straight through before booktube then I let too many buddy reads get in the way. I really try to not let more than 1 month go by before I continue a series I really want to read. Sometimes I fail but that's my usual plan unless I feel the need to pick up the next one right away. I'm also not doing as many buddy reads and following my mood much more closely which has really invigorated my reading life.

Thank you so much for including The Way of Edan among these great series that are in your reading plans, Marianne! The Wickwire Watch is indeed gas lamp fantasy, or you could call it steampunk, like The Books of Babel. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy LPQ more than Susan did . . . I bet you will!

I'm bad at finished series, but I think that's because I like beginnings more than endings. I recently got interested in the Elric saga. It sounds really interesting but I don't know when I'll get to it 😅 Grace of Kings sounds like something I would love, but the page count is intimidating. I am hoping to read LPQ next year!

Great review, just finished the series and loved it. I also saw all of your and Evie discussions videos, always fun to hear other people thought and hear things I didn’t pick up on

Armadale is amazing. It's such an underrated Wilkie Collins. Gene Wolfe is on my radar, and I hope to pick up his work soon.

Thank you for the review. Im currently in the middle of the audiobooks (book 2) and it's one of the most imcredible works of art Ive ever read. I may be ruined on other reading now. 😅

Great review! Just finished reading it and I loved it!

i've been going to the british library a lot lately coz my local library doesn't have the books i want, and sometimes i like going to their shop and browsing the whole Weird collection on the shelves together... whoever came up with the idea is a genius 👻

There is nothing - and I mean NOTHING - like this series. It is absolutely not for everyone: the prose is dense and Peake flies off on tangents, but if you stick with it it is incredibly rewarding. It also allows him to set scenes that no-one else could get away with - the scene in Gormenghast when the Countess goes to see Dr Prune and her cats accompany her is extraordinary - absolutely ridiculous when one thinks about it, but it fits into the world and is dark and deep and perfect.

Ohhh I'll check these out. I've been coming to love short stories!

My favourite from this collection is FromThe Depths which is tales from the sea. Very fun read. Another collection I enjoy although very different is Clice Barkers Books of Blood, highly recommended.

So cool, I'm tempted to look into the one with the creepy woods. But I just can't get into short stories, I'm such a deep commitment kinda reader and the thought of the story ending before it started just puts me off. This is probably a really unhelpful and unfair mindset. But then again: there are endless amounts of novels I want to read and why shouldn't I just continue sticking to them if it works for me?

I'd love to start collecting, but there are so many! I followed along with them polling fan favorites and the top ones were: Our Haunted Shores Holy Ghosts Cornish Horrors Evil Roots Queens of the Abyss Minor Hauntings

Super interesting, I've never heard of this collection line before. I havent read very many short story collections but my favorites are definitely in the classic horror realm - I'll have to check this out. Great video!

I agree, it felt really flat to me. Not bad or awfully written, just meh. I saw what she was trying to do but it felt too heavy handed. I would love to hear what you would recommend for good cosmic horror novels!

Excellent review Marianne!

I am sold, thanks for the review! I found the part about the feeling of futility very meaningful, especially when I compare it to what is currently happening in the world and my feeling of helplessness. That's why I love the therapeutic effect of stories, because we get a closed arc and a completion that we seldom get in real life. It helps to stay sane-ish... I found your channel very recently and am really happy about that! Looking forward to all the future goodness coming our way ❤

I've only read the first, but it was amazing 🔥

Excellent review! It has definitely moved up my TBR.

I haven’t yet read Engine Summer (though I have it on my shelves). I did write a chapter of my MA thesis on Crowley’s most celebrated novel, Little, Big, which is the most gorgeously-written book I’ve ever read. It certainly touches on a couple of similar themes as what you found in ES, though from very different angles. The Translator, his 2002 novel, is also wonderful, though too rarely read.

Stop giving me other books to read, death will find me before i ever see the end of my TBR list on the horizon...

Glad you did a video on this, Marianne! The language is excellent. Some of my favorite prose tbh. I can't write elaborate descriptions like that, at least I don't try to lol. The soul of fantasy is shown through this book, and I don't think there are many fantasy series that equal it (perhaps the Books of Babel? Lol).

You explained and described everything so much better than I ever could! Fuschia still is sticking with me. I love her character and her arc so much.

Oh wow, I was so obsessed with this series as a kid! You've definitely inspired me to go dig them up for a reread; thank you so much!

What a great list wow!

The Gormenghast trilogy is on my radar for so loooong ! You motivates me to finally give it a try ☺️ your edition is so pretty btw 😮 🌸

I just came here to see how long it would take you to mention Babel 😂

You should be a producer with these ideas! Diana Wynne Jones plays with tropes so much, I think switching up animation and live action could work. And we should just have Robert Eggers direct everything.

I liked the excerpts you shared. I think there's a lot to learn as a writer from his style, insofar as postmodern books go. I may have to pick it up sometime; I'm still on that search for an author who shares a similar style to me, lol.

Excellent review! The storytelling theme does sound like it could lean meta. I’ve heard of John Crowley before, but I couldn’t tell you of a single book, so great job bringing attention to this one. Sounds like a worthwhile post-apocalyptic read!

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Never heard of any of these! Thanks so much for the unique recs!

This makes me so happy that you got to meet him and with the entire experience! 💜