Katie Bachelder

Writing Towards Compassionate Connection

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  • Setting Study: Monsters of Verity and the Fringes of Genre

    Victoria Schwab’s Monsters of Verity duology is one that walks two tracks: it follows some unwritten rules of genre writing while carving out a completely new niche in the specific subgenre of Fantasy. In today’s post, I’m going to attempt to extrapolate what, exactly, might make a book feel more of a genre book rather…

    Katie Bachelder

    June 25, 2021
    setting study
    book review, books, dystopia, Fantasy, Genre Fiction, Our Dark Duet, reading, setting, setting study, this savage song, world-building, writing
  • RBR: The Fires of Vengeance, Wings of Ebony, Our Dark Duet, etc.

    I’m excited to say that, after half a year of waiting, I’ve finally finished the second books of two series that had me hyped last year. Those being: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter, part of a four-book series called the Burning; and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab, the conclusion to the Monsters…

    Katie Bachelder

    June 18, 2021
    Reading Reflections
    book review, books, evan winter, Fantasy, historical fantasy, Natasha Ng, reading, The Fires of Vengeance, urban fantasy, V. E. Schwab, Wings of Ebony
  • Setting Study: Wings of Ebony and Hidden Worlds

    To many fantasy readers, there is something alluring about the idea of a magical world hidden from view, the possibility that it could be ours to use if we just know how to pierce that veil of secrecy. You see it in the likes of Harry Potter, Three Dark Crowns (although that is actually high…

    Katie Bachelder

    June 11, 2021
    For Writers: Builder’s Theory
    book review, books, Fantasy, fantasy writing, Ghizon, J. Elle, magic, magic systems, setting, setting study, Wings of Ebony, world-building, writing
  • 2021 Mid-Year Reading Check-In

    As we head into June, I figured now would be as good a time as any to take a quick glance at my 2021 reading goals and see how we are doing. I’m going to refer back to my Setting My 2021 Reading Goals post for the books that I wanted to get to this year,…

    Katie Bachelder

    June 4, 2021
    For Fun :)
    book blogger, books, Ciannon Smart, Fantasy, goodreads, Holly Black, Leigh Bardugo, Lev Grossman, maggie stiefvater, R. F. Kuang, reading, reading challenge, storygraph
  • Asexuality in SFF: A Ramble

    For no logical reason, I found myself thinking about Katsa from Graceling again. I know I’ve written innumerable blog posts about Kristin Cashore’s works. I’ve mentioned my adoration for the romantic subplots in the series. But today we’re going to focus less on the romance and more on one character, at least to start off…

    Katie Bachelder

    May 28, 2021
    On Stories and Ethics, Reading Reflections
    ace, books, Emily Victoria, Fantasy, Graceling, Hank Green, Katsa, Kristin Cashore, Neal Shusterman, pride, science fiction, Scythe, SFF, This Golden Flame
  • RBR: Tell The Truth and Shame the Devil, Malice, Call Down the Hawk, The Gilded Ones, The Magician King

    Welcome to another rapid book review. It’s been about a month since I’ve done one of these so I have several books to get through. The first one was an audiobook. The rest were physical copies. All but the audiobook were fantasy novels, so if you’re looking for some fantasy recommendations, you’re in luck. We…

    Katie Bachelder

    May 21, 2021
    Reading Reflections
    book review, books, Call Down the Hawk, Fantasy, Gilded Ones, Lev Grossman, Lezley Mcspadden, maggie stiefvater, Malice, Michael Brown, Namina Forna, The Magician King, The Magicians
  • Goodbye, Goodreads. Hello, StoryGraph?

    Everyone loves to hate on Goodreads, and for good reason. Amazon bought the website several years ago, and ever since then, there haven’t been any substantial updates to how the site looks or operates. It just feels old. That, plus all the ads, the Book Awards amounting to nothing more than a popularity contest, and…

    Katie Bachelder

    May 14, 2021
    Uncategorized
    book review, books, goodreads, reading, reading challenge, storygraph
  • Let’s Talk Tropes: Minions

    No, we’re not talking today about the little corndog shaped creatures from Despicable Me. Or, more accurately perhaps, it’s not all that we’re talking about today. When it comes to combat, there are two options for making the protagonist struggle: conflict of wit or conflict of number. That is to say, outsmarted versus outmatched. Is…

    Katie Bachelder

    May 7, 2021
    For Writers: Builder’s Theory
    Christopher Paolini, Fantasy, Lord of the Rings, minion, nameless henchmen, Robert Jordan, Throne of Glass, Tolkien, tropes, Wheel of Time, world-building, writing
  • Book Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

    Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle was one of those formative fantasy series that really began my obsession for the genre. I remember seeing that blue dragon on the cover way back in middle school, and it drew me in the same way that the bow and arrow drew me in for Kristin Cashore’s work. Like Cashore’s…

    Katie Bachelder

    April 30, 2021
    Reading Reflections
    book review, books, Christopher Paolini, inheritance cycle, science fiction, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, TSiaSoS
  • Rapid Book Review: Fate of the Fallen, Scythe, This Golden Flame

    Well, we are long overdue for a few book reviews, I think. But even though I finished Scythe a few weeks ago, I wanted to have This Golden Flame finished before I did another RBR. And, for reasons you’ll find below, it took me a little longer than anticipated to get through the book. So,…

    Katie Bachelder

    April 23, 2021
    Reading Reflections
    book review, books, dystopia, Fantasy, Fate of the Fallen, Kel Kade, Neal Shusterman, Scythe, steampunk, This Golden Flame, utopia
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