4.0 stars
When he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night…
—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Seanan McGuire has really broadened my appreciation of Shakespeare. I mean, I love Shakespeare, but when you’re reading his plays for school, sometimes you can’t see the trees for the forest.
At least, I couldn’t. Or didn’t. Whatever.
The Point: one of the many, many things I love about this series is reading whatever quote McGuire has chosen to kickoff the book, short story, etc. and taking a moment to appreciate an individual tree in Shakespeare’s great forest of work.
The story itself was bittersweet.
The blurb asks if you’ve ever wondered what King Gilad was like as a young man, and I can honestly say that I haven’t. Unless my memory is worse than I want to contemplate (which, admittedly, is possible), King Gilad is a stick figure. I’m not up-to-date with October, so it’s possible that he’s made a reappearance since I got sidetracked (book 7 or 8ish), but as far as I know, he’s just the guy who ruled in the Mists before that crazy lady. *shrugs awkwardly*
It was fun learning about him though. Made me lament his stick figureness. He may have begun as a Wild Thing, but under the tutelage of another (formerly royal) Tuatha Dé, he showed promise.
And if a British prince can marry an non-royal American, an fae prince can marry a non-royal fae, am I right? #merica
Now that makes me wonder about King Gilad.
I’m hoping he has made that reappearance. Aspersions have been cast on the legitimacy of Queen Crazy Lady’s claim to the throne in the Mists, and then there’s the whole escalation of her craziness, so something‘s gotta give on that front. The return of the true king would definitely get rid of her.
SO. Get to know the maybe once and future king in the Mists. If you’re one of Seanan Mcguire’s Patreon supporters, that is. Unfortunately, this is a patreon-only story. But don’t despair: for a mere $1 a month, you too can read IN LITTLE STARS, as well as all previously posted stories, AND get an all new story the first of every month. #drinkthekoolaid #savethomas
What do you guys think about small monthly contributions to your favorite authors in exchange for MOAR of the characters and worlds you love? Fair trade? Abuse of power? Indifferent?
My name is Jessica and I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’m trying my hand at writing, but mostly I read. My favorite genres are Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and the YA versions of those genres, but if there is a book of a different color getting lots of buzz, I’ll read it too, just to be informed. If I’m not reading or writing, I’m probably on Goodreads or Pinterest or baking blueberry pies because I love them.
I didn’t realize that there were setups where the author could charge a monthly fee for parts of books. I don’t know how I feel about it. I guess you’d have to be pretty dedicated to that author and their stories. A novella is normally around $2.99 or less, and just a one time fee. I think I’d rather do that.