Sage Blackwood lives at the edge of a large forest, with thousands of books and a very old dog, and enjoys carpentry, cooking, and walking in the woods of New York State.Blackwood's latest novel is Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded.
Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:
Well, I've just started another Diana Wynne Jones binge. This one began with a copy of Charmed Life found at the book exchange barn at the local dump. (All dumps should have these! The only thing I don't love about dump book exchanges is finding my own books there.)Visit Sage Blackwood's website.
Jones is sublime. The deftness, the sheer economy and humor. And her willingness to let heroes quibble over the little things. Too often fantasyprotagonists —especially in children's literature— are so good and pure and noble that if there was only one brownie left on the plate, the protagonist utterly wouldn't care if he got a piece of it, because his mind is fixed on Higher Things.
I go through Jones's entire children's fantasy ouevre every three years or so. I think I'll read The Homeward Bounders next, probably her most structurally impressive novel. Then on to Drowned Ammet for the character development, and… oh, all of them! She was so good.
After that I'll probably read Terry Pratchett's whole oeuvre from 1991 onward; I do that every few years too.
The Page 69 Test: Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded.
--Marshal Zeringue
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