I really like what I've read of John Wiswell so looked forward to this one. And it was intriguing enough to read all the way to the end. But I gotta agree with the reviewers who found Shesheshen's therapizing and take on humanity both unreal in a way that's hard to handle (I mean it's fiction, it's not supposed to be real) and in some ways patronizing. You could sort of imagine how Shesheshen would acquire a take on humanity by way of ingestion, and what she does with ingested parts. But since she only seems to eat bad people (at least during the events of the book) I would think she'd have a pretty evil orientation if she's literally absorbing their attitudes. And she is basically good. Unlike her mother that somehow got more instruction and knowledge about how to be a monster (Shesheshen often laments her lack of ethnology on how to be a monster, as though in other circumstances she could have done better). Homily and Shesheshen make a very human pair, in the end. Now I know what cozy horror is.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons, by Peter S. Beagle
This is a fun little book. Peter Beagle is an accomplished storyteller at this point, and this story absolutely delivers. The characters follow familiar growth arcs to become more fully themselves. I agree with others that this is a YA-accessible story, definitely beneficial for a young reader. Maybe not enough depth to blow away a seasoned speculative fiction reader like me. At the end Robert's denial of his true interest and destiny gets a bit wearing. The description of how dragons take up residence in a home makes me think of highly intelligent cats. The royal castle in the story has become a kitty house, something that happens regularly to elderly people living alone. And the process to remove those cats gets sad in just the way described in the book.
Overall a pleasant read though.