Books: Ponies, Swords, Women

Daring Do And The Marked Thief Of Marapore by G.M. Berrow (writing as A.K. Yearling)

A My Little Pony spin-off, this is a pulp archaeology adventure, notionally written by a character from the show, and set in the same universe. Daring Do must track down three magical relics that have protected three villages from the neighboring volcano -- but who would steal them, and why? Fun, and it hits the right pulp notes, but it hasn't prompted me to seek out the others in the series.

The Journal Of The Two Sisters by Amy Keating Rogers

Another MLP spin-off, half of this is the diary of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the time before Nightmare Moon, as they built their castle and grew into their power. My headcanon says that Celestia is more into pranks than this text suggests, but otherwise it's solid. The second half is the Mane Six writing about their adventures after Twilight Sparkle leveled up, with some interesting hints sprinkled in. Again, fun, but not scintillating.

Flashing Swords v1 & v2, edited by Lin Carter

Two original anthologies of sword & sorcery fiction, written in the 1970s. Contributors include Leiber, Vance, Anderson, De Camp, Moorcock, Norton, and Jakes. There's a fair amount of variation in quality, and how well they have aged over the past 40 years. (E.g., there's some sexual assault by the heroes.) While it's a genre for which I'm nostalgic, the best of these stories I have in other volumes (e.g., the Elric and Fafhrd-Mouser tales), and the worst are not worth keeping. I suspect they'll go into my giveaway shelf in short order.

The Mammoth Book Of SF Stories By Women, edited by Alex Dally MacFarlane

Exactly what it says on the tin, amounting to 500 pages and 30-odd stories. Contributors include Fowler, Le Guin, Okorafor, Kress, Hopkinson, Bear, Cho, and more. While the "Mammoth" series books tend to be churned out like sausage, it's nevertheless a solid anthology, and recommended.

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamone Shirahama

A manga series, up to three volumes in America, about a young girl who stumbles onto the secret of magic, and into a nesting series of magical conspiracies. The magic system is intelligently developed, and since magic is all written with fancy pens and ink, will appeal to a Certain Sort. Recommended.