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ClareR (5726 KP) rated Odette in Books

Jan 5, 2019

Odette

Jessica Duchen | 2018 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A charming story

A lovely, magical book about a swan that crashes through Mitzi's flat window during a storm, and then at dusk turns into a young woman. This is a reworking of the Swan Princess/ Swan Lake, or rather a 'what would happen if her spell lasted for over 100 years'?
The Princess, Odette, is naive, even though she is over 100 years old (being a swan for half of your time and living in the woods on your own, will do that to a person, I suppose), and adjusting to life in the modern age is quite hard for her. She is adamant that she needs to find a man to love her to break the spell, and Mitzi just wants to protect her and help her where she can.
I really enjoyed this story, which is rich in magical realism. The contrast of old magic and modern British life, made it on the whole quite believable, really!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for the chance to read this story on their social platform!

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated I Walked with a Zombie (1943) in Movies

Jan 8, 2020 (Updated Jan 8, 2020)

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

1943 | Horror, Romance

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

One of the granddaddies of the modern zombie movie is almost unrecognisable as such: no blood to speak of and the plot is derived from a novel by Charlotte Bronte. Nice young nurse goes off to morbid, doomy Caribbean island to care for the creepy wife of her employer (can't speak, has no will of her own following strange 'fever'); finds herself falling for her boss (though God knows why, he's so disagreeable). Perhaps the local voodoo spirits can help cure the afflicted woman?

A zombie movie in the traditional sense, and all the creepier for it. The plot is rather melodramatic, and the gentility of the film is quite amusing to the modern eye (male worshippers at a voodoo ritual all turn up in suits and ties), but it scores hugely for atmosphere, though, and there are some genuinely eerie sequences. Usual studied ambiguity and lack of overt 'horror' you often get in Lewton movies, but this just adds to the sense that this is a classy piece of work.

Kudos

Emily (1430 KP) rated A Madness of Angels in Books

Feb 14, 2020

A Madness of Angels

Kate Griffin | 2009 | Science Fiction/Fantasy

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Refreshing to see the use of electricity and technology in modern day magic, instead of the usual trope of magic interfering negatively with tech. (0 more)

Enter the world of the Urban Sorcerer. Gone are the days when magic was solely the realm of those connected with nature, new technologies have meant new magic. For where there is life, there is magic, and that magic has been born out of the everyday lives of those living there. From the summoning of mythical bin lorries to combat a giant litterbug, to the use of the symbols and regulations of the London Underground as a warding spell, this breathes a whole new, modern life into the world of magic.

There is a shadowy evil stalking London. Almost all the sorcerers there have been killed. Matthew Swift had been one of them, but now he's back, this time with with the angels of the telephone wires on his side. (Or so he hopes, the situation is... complicated.) And he's not about to go down again without a fight.