Emily Devenport

Emily Devenport has written several novels under various pseudonyms including one which was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick award.

Devenport's new novel is Medusa in the Graveyard: The Medusa Cycle (Volume 2).

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Her reply:

I have a full time day job, a household to run, a writing career to (mis)manage, and an odd collection of other pursuits that relate to all of the above, so my reading can be a bit spotty. Fortunately, there are audio books to help me multitask.

I just finished listening to Paper Son, by S.J. Rozan, the latest Lydia Chin/Bill Smith mystery. Lydia and Bill are very different people, who are sort of in love with each other but are also really good private investigators who discover quite a lot of culture and history along the way. Should anyone decide to give these two their own TV show, I am so there.

There are some superstars in the audio field, and one of my favorites is Robert McCammon, currently most famous for his Matthew Corbett books, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. The most recent of these is Cardinal Black, which seems to be taking this historical series in some decidedly eldritch directions. That may not surprise anyone who has read McCammon's other titles, like Boy's Life, Swan Song, Stinger, and The Border. No one writes the Great American Post-Apocalyptic novel like Robert McCammon.

I was happy to discover a new installment of another one of my favorites, the Matthew Shardlake series: Tombland, by C.J. Sansom, narrated by Steven Crossley. Matthew is a lawyer trying to practice his trade in the dangerous court of Henry VIII. Henry has recently died, and the shark-infested waters in which Master Shardlake finds himself are getting choppier by the minute. Brilliant, compassionate, and stubborn, Shardlake is easy to root for – and he needs all the help he can get.

I can't talk about audio books without mentioning one of the best I've ever heard, Circe, by Madeleine Miller, narrated by Perdita Weeks. I am now a devoted fan of both Miller and Weeks. A lot of people have been comparing Miller to Mary Renault, and she certainly has the classical chops to rise to that sort of comparison – but Madeline Miller is also a fantasist par excellence. This book was one of my Hugo nominations.

Most of my reading these days is the audio variety, but I've got plenty of printed matter around the house too (in fact, far too much). Lately I've been reading Gleanings in Buddha Fields, by Lafcadio Hearn and The Book of Yokai, by Michel Dylan Foster. These books deal with subjects both whimsical and spooky, and I can recommend them to readers with a passion for Japanese culture and/or monsters.

Visit Emily Devenport's blog.

The Page 69 Test: Medusa Uploaded.

My Book, The Movie: Medusa Uploaded.

My Book, The Movie: Medusa in the Graveyard.

The Page 69 Test: Medusa in the Graveyard.

--Marshal Zeringue