The Perilous Gard

Of the several Tam Lin retellings I've read, the classic YA novel The Perilous Gard is a standout. I frequently sing the praises of Pamela Dean's version of Tam Lin, while knowing full well that that novel will only appeal to a limited subset of the fraction of readers who like fairy tale novelizati......more

Books like The Perilous Gard remind me of why I love to read. Our story begins in England, summer of 1558, in an unpleasant castle where Princess Elizabeth Tudor keeps a small retinue, ever watched and harassed by her angry half-sister, Queen Mary. I knew right away that I was in good hands because E......more

8/6/19: Stayed up way too late to finish listening to the audiobook. Everything I said below still applies. 9/29/15: I actually read this twice this year because: 1) It is one of the best historical fantasies ever written; 2) I didn't review it the first time, lost the immediacy, and had to read it aga......more

I know I've read this before—some images and scenes stand out in memory. Fortunately for me, I couldn't remember much more than a set piece here or there. Which means it was like reading it for the first time, only with a pleasant tang of anticipation for spice. Not that the book needed any kind of b......more

(Review originally published at Vintage Novels). Elizabeth Marie Pope is an author (of vintage YA historical fantasy) whose books I've been waiting to try out for quite a long time. My opportunity came a few short months back when I finally tracked her books down on Open Library (which is an amazing......more