Asian-Inspired Fantasy

Okay, hands up - how many of you have read a fantasy set in some kind of quasi-European-medieval world?  Given the rampant popularity of series like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, probably nearly everyone who reads any fantasy at all, I'm guessing.  But an interesting new trend has been making its way into English-language fantasy in the past few years, and that's worldbuilding inspired by Asian cultures instead, and I for one find it quite refreshing.  Here are a few titles to whet your appetites - feel free to add more in the comments!

Dark Heavens and Journey to Wudang - Kylie Chan

Two linked trilogies set in modern-day Hong Kong with more than a little overlay of mythic gods and demons - weekend escape, check!  Australian national Emma Donahoe is hired as the nanny for motherless 4-year-old Simone - and then all hell breaks loose (okay, okay, not ALL hell, just some of the lesser denizens - at least at first).  With ancient Chinese deities like the White Tiger popping over for tea, martial arts like they've never shown in the movies, and a host of very relatable characters populating the roles, these are highly enjoyable Australian imports that kept me flipping pages well past bedtime.


Vessel - Sarah Beth Durst

Durst is an extremely flexible writer (her previous YA title was Drink, Slay, Love - teen vampires AGAIN), and Vessel is set in what feels like a quasi-Mongolian desert society. Liyana is the Goat Clan's chosen representative to host their deity - basically meaning that her mind will die and the goddess possesses her body for the rest of its life.  Nevertheless, she follows all the rituals and preparations, yet when the day arrives, the goddess does not.  Abandoned by her tribe, she is found by a boy whose god DID arrive, who tells her that quite a few of the deities seem to have gone AWOL...  Well-written and highly enjoyable, with a side-plot that seems totally separate until they finally merge.

Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale

More Mongolian-inspired scenery here, with a side of the Brothers Grimm. Dashti, a maid from the lower (or "mucker") class, gets herself walled up in a tower with her mistress, Lady Saren, who has refused to marry - well, a jerk, basically.  Their sentence is for seven years, but after they are abandoned and forgotten, Dashti manages to get them out - and then it REALLY gets good.  This is my favourite of Hale's books (and I think I've read them all, save the graphic novels {I just don't do those}), despite it being one of the few standalones.  So very very lovely.  Go read it.

 
Lunar Chronicles - Marissa Meyer

While we're on the fairy-tale thing, how about a Cinderella story set in post-WWIV New Beijing? Except Cinderella is a cyborg, and only one of the stepsisters is horrible, and there are androids and plague and oh yeah, there's a whole society on the moon, and boy are THEY scary...  Yeah.  Try to keep up.  This is projected to be a 4-book series, the first two of which are already out (Cinder and Scarlet), each one based on a different fairy tale but part of the same story arc (Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White, if you're curious).  The worldbuilding is thorough and very believable, the pacing is fast, and even though you know how those fairy tales end, it's a brilliant ride getting there.

Prophecy - Ellen Oh

It's probably time for a side trip to Korea by now. Kira is niece to the king, bodyguard to her cousin the prince, and generally feared and loathed by the general public for her demon-slaying skills (which no one is really supposed to know about... but everyone knows about).  I really like the premise and the story (with three treasures to find, I'm pretty sure this is going to be a trilogy), but I have to say I wasn't too thrilled with the writing.  The voice was somehow too modern for the setting, and most of the obstacles they faced were overcome a bit too easily for a YA title (Young Reader, okay, but the girl is 17 here).  I'm hoping that gets fixed in the next one, because it's really quite promising, it just fell flat.

City of a Thousand Dolls - Miriam Forster

Here we have a bit of a mashup of Southern Asia and Eastern Asia, complete with a two-child limit per family and a rather novel solution to the dreaded extra-girls problem (note the sarcasm, please).  Orphaned or unwanted female children are dumped off at the City of a Thousand Dolls, and once assigned to one of six houses, they go about their lives learning what they'll need to know to be wives, apprentices, or what-have-you.  Except for Nisha - she's not a part of any house, but the Matron's assistant, who thinks she'll finally be "Redeemed" and get to leave... except wait, murder mystery time!  I do love it when my favourite genres get mixed, and this one has cats thrown in there too, so yep, right up my alley!

Eon - Allison Goodman

Yeah, I've mentioned this one before, whatever, I LOVE IT.  Here our main mythology is inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac, each of which has an energy dragon associated with it.  It's also full of wonderful characters, a hell of a lot of gender-bending, quests and battles and DRAGONS, woo-hoo!  The cripple Eon presents himself as a candidate to be chosen by one of the dragons - except he's a she in disguise, and lo and behold, the Dragon Dragon (aka the Mirror Dragon, who hasn't been seen in centuries) turns up and chooses her.  Cue chaos.  Only two in this "series", but they're amazing.


Throne of the Crescent Moon - Saladin Ahmed

Hey, the Arabian peninsula is still part of Asia.  We've got ghuls (and the guys who hunt them), we've got thieves, we've got murder and mayhem and snotty royals and - okay, I admit it, I haven't finished this one yet (had to take my roommate out for dinner for her birthday, and I forgot to factor that in to my reading time.  Oops.).  So far, though, I'm really enjoying this tale, even if I do have the "Arabian Nights" song from Disney's Aladdin totally running on repeat through my head now.  The writing is very sensory - after I read the first chapter, I just had to go make myself a mug of chai, so be warned.  Warned is probably not the right word here - it's immersive though, which, when there's a foot of snow on the ground outside and a desert in the pages, is just fine with me!

Stormdancer - Jay Kristoff

Okay, I admit I haven't read this one yet, but I'm adding it on the strong recommendation of a trusted friend.  Besides, Japanese steampunk?  Yes please!  It starts off with a pretty polluted Japan (which is weird right off the bat), there appears to be some kind of griffin-like creature, and a kick-ass 16-year-old heroine.  Yep, sounds good to me, sign me up!  Erm, after I finish the previous one on this list.  So I got a little over-ambitious, what else is new?

Last Escape-reads of Summer

Here in my neck of the woods, today is the last day of summer vacation - tomorrow, kids start back to school, parents breathe a sigh of relief, and teachers embark upon the next round of brain-filling.  May I suggest spending the day with one of these tales?  All published since May, all fantastic reads (with awesome cover art to boot), and all a chance for one final imaginary trip.


A Confusion of Princes - Garth Nix

I'm the first to admit that science fiction is generally not my thing; I can count on one hand the number of space operas I've read.  But I've really enjoyed Nix's previous books so I figured, eh, why not?  Glad I did, because this is one amazing ride.  Prince Khemri has been raised in luxury, knowing he is being groomed as a successor to the Emperor - of, you know, the whole damn universe.  What he doesn't realize is that he's only one of about ten million princes vying for that honour - oh, and most of them will try to kill each other at the drop of a hat.  The world building is excellent, the journey (both physical and emotional) that Khemri goes on is completely believable, and I for one am kind of annoyed that the ending left little to no room for a sequel.

Widdershins - Ari Marmell

Okay, technically the first one came out in February, but the second hit shelves in June, so I'm going with it.  If you like your fantasy with a side of smartarse, you'll love Widdershins, a thief with a complicated backstory (you get most of it by the end of the first book) who, erm, kind of has a pet god. Set in a quasi-French society (definitely pre-Revolution) where the gods are demonstrably real, but there are a set number of them in the Pact - and Olgun, Widdershin's god, is definitely not among them.  His only remaining worshipper after a horrific massacre two years before the opening of the first book, Widdershins calls on his powers to help her evade capture on her thieving expeditions after he essentially crawls into her head.  Since she's suspected of having committed that aforementioned massacre, she's on the run with a new name (she's got about four, so make sure you keep up).  The satire sometimes goes a LITTLE over the top, but once again the world-building is extremely thorough and believable.  Plus my roommate keeps borrowing them, so they must be good.

Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas

At the age of 17, Celaena Sardothien was the most feared assassin in the country - until she was captured and sentenced to the salt mines as punishment for her crimes.  When the crown prince rescues her a year later with the idea of making her his champion in a contest to appoint a new royal assassin, she gets out of the mines and into the palace, which is half glass and hiding some secrets of its own.  With her identity hidden behind a false name, she begins training hard again in secret while outwardly presenting as a noblewoman; befriends a prince, a princess, and a guardsman; and stirs up some long-buried secrets on her way to her ultimate goal.  This one does look like becoming a series, and I'll definitely be reading whatever comes next!

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

If the acknowledgments are any indication, Maas and Bardugo are friends, which gives me a good feeling about all our multiple Burrow-y endeavours.  Anyway, this time we're in a quasi-Russian landscape, in a world where a giant swath of darkness spreads across the country from north to south, cutting off most of the country from its port cities.  The Shadow Fold (as it's known) can be crossed, but as it's pitch black and filled with murderous beasts, it's not always easy - and when Alina, panicking over the death of one friend and the threatening of another during the crossing, suddenly and spontaneously emits a strong light which drives off the dark-loving predators, she is immediately taken to the Darkling, who works out a plan to spirit her away for training. You can think of him like a very powerful wizard, but he's also a descendant of the Darkling who created the Fold in the first place.  Loving this so far (yeah, just started it, oh well, it's GOOD, so it goes on here).

Seraphina - Rachel Hartman

Okay, this one is seriously my new favourite book.  It's got music, it's got dragons, the dragons all seem to be Aspies, and it is BRILLIANT.  I devoured this one, have been recommending it right and left all summer, and will be super happy if everyone who reads this goes and buys a copy so the author is properly motivated to crank out the sequel.  Seraphina Dombegh is an excellent musician, which has already won her a job at the age of 16.  Her stepmother is pleased enough to get her out of the house; she studies with her uncle, her deceased mother's brother, and as that backstory comes out you just want to shout "Well played!" at the author.  Throw in the community of dragons, who can take human form; the forty-year peace between dragons and humans which is threatening to unravel; and a collection of odd people who live mainly in her own head, and what you have is an immensely satisfying read which is a hell of a fabulous escape.

Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore

This long-awaited sequel to Graceling finally arrived back in May, and what a pleasure it was to dive back into this world.  Katsa and Po reappear, but the focus this go-round is on 18-year-old Queen Bitterblue, an ordinary girl in a world of people with extraordinary talents (the Graced, marked by heterochromia) who is trying to rebuild her country after the ravages perpetrated by her mad and evil father.  When she sneaks out of the palace and walks the streets anonymously, she discovers that her advisors have been hiding the truth of how bad things are and is determined to do something about it, so with the help of old friends and new she embarks on a coming of age adventure for both herself and her country.  The ending ties to Fire, and leaves things open for more tales from this world, which I will await just as eagerly as I did this one.


I think that's enough to choose from for this one last summer day, so what are you waiting for?  Grab one and go for it!

Delusional Anagram Thursday

Delusional.

Ledusional.

Sudinoalle.

Unload isle.

Allies undo.

Ail nodules.

A duels loin.

Lone laid us.

Dial ole sun.

Use land oil.

Sun aloe lid.

El slain duo.

La nude silo.

An oil duel.

Denial soul.


(Now sing it to the tune of "Old MacDonald"...)

In Memoriam

Assuming you're a regular visitor around here, it probably hasn't escaped your notice that we're all, erm, shall we say, Harry Potter nuts? And by extension, fantasy fans? Yeah, I figured. Well, when I was a kid, back in the pre-Potter days, I was already a fantasy fan, and borrowed and re-borrowed many of my favourite books from both school and town libraries again and again and again. Fast-forward to the three-year summer (you know, the seemingly endless gap between the releases of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix) and I was desperate for a fix. So I did what any fan would do, and returned to two tales that resided on the top of my list as a kid - namely, Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones and Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson. And you know what? They were still really good! I spent a lot of time (and money, as by this point I was actually *gasp* employed and could buy books instead of borrowing them) rediscovering some of the classics from the 70s and 80s and then catching up on what they'd released in the meantime - as I type this, both authors take up a full shelf or more each in the bookcases next to my bed (and I only put the ones I REALLY love next to my bed).

But. Sadly, both authors also passed away in the past year, each leaving one last book for posthumous release. Ibbotson's I already have; Wynne Jones's comes out next year (at least here in the US). So in tribute to these fabulous ladies and the many, many, many hours of enjoyment they have given me over the past three decades or so, I dedicate this post to the very best of the best of their output.

Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011)

Howl's Moving Castle - This had a resurge of popularity after it was made into a movie by renowned Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, although I admit I didn't see it (Japanese style not being much to my taste). I can vividly remember the copy that my middle school library had, especially since it spent a lot of time either at my house or that of my best friend at the time. The story focuses on Sophie, eldest (but still young) daughter of a hatter, who inadvertently insults the Witch of the Waste and gets turned into an old lady. All sorts of crazy things ensue, with a cast of characters including her two younger sisters, a dog, a scarecrow, the aforementioned witch, and of course, Howl the wizard (and his fire demon). It's an excellent story with two sequels (though I use the word loosely, as there are brand-new protagonists in each), Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways.

Chronicles of Chrestomanci - There are six books in this series (as well as assorted short stories), two of which were released in the past decade (I think I literally hugged the book and hopped up and down when I first saw one, if that tells you anything). The original four are Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Magicians of Caprona, and Witch Week (which is the one I read first), while the newer two are Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg. The central concept here is the many-worlds theory, where every time a major event happens (or doesn't), a new world is split off. The book's own explanation is quite simple - "Say a continent blows up. Or it doesn't. They can't both be true, so a world splits off" and the other course of history goes running merrily along. In each series of related worlds (usually numbering 9), the people are pretty much all accounted for, so one has a bunch of doppelgangers running around. In rare cases, however, for whatever reason someone's counterparts don't exist and all the lives get concentrated in one person - a nine-lived enchanter known as Chrestomanci, who is responsible for keeping an eye on the world's magic. Got that? Good, now go explore - I've read all of these many many times and they stand up to multiple readings very well indeed.

The Tough Guide to Fantasyland - An affectionate homage and send-up of the tropes in the fantasy genre, "disguised" as a travel guide, this is an invaluable resource for the fantasy author who is trying desperately to avoid becoming a giant cliché... as well as just plain funny. With its "Official Management Terms" (like "reek of wrongness") for various overused phrases, playful tone, and generally hilarious entries, it's a must for writers and fans alike. So are the two novels that take it into story form, The Dark Lord of Derkholm and Year of the Griffin. To be fair, only the former really riffs on it (the second is a bona fide storyline sequel this time), but when you've got a package tour company from our world telling a bunch of magical creatures things they absolutely MUST have (you know, like demons) or face dire consequences, it's just fun beyond belief.

The Dalemark Quartet - This is a series that I discovered for the first time during the three-year summer, though I have no idea how I missed it when I was a kid. If read in publication order, the first two are roughly contemporaneous, the third takes place in the early, practically prehistoric days of the land of Dalemark, and the fourth, well, that jumps around a bit in time, actually... The North and South Dales are two very different places, with different customs and, well, to be honest, one of 'em isn't very nice. Morrill in Cart and Cwidder and Mitt in Drowned Ammett carry the story for the most part, with an assortment of siblings, friends, gods, and villains to spice things up. Tanaqui the Weaver takes centre stage in The Spellcoats, which purports to be a transcription of the actual woven coats. The fourth volume, The Crown of Dalemark, was published well after the rest (she did tend to do that...), and has present-day Maewen traveling into the past to take the place of a character who vanished at a really bad time...

Fire and Hemlock - Having decided, more or less arbitrarily, to limit myself to five entries for each author today (hey, I know you have more to do with your life than read my rambles), I had a really hard time choosing which ones to include. I love them all! But really, I absolutely could NOT leave this one out - not least because it focuses (at least for part of the time) on something that I love so very very very much. That would be string quartets. Getting ahead of myself. Okay, so in the main this is based on the old ballads of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. Our protagonist, Polly, has two sets of memories, one with and one without Thomas Lynn in them (he's the cellist, by the way). How she works it out, how the story unfolds, and (especially) how it ends were huge topics of debate once upon a time - I've seen entire websites devoted to discussing the ending and what it all means, but rather than link you there I'm just going to say READ THE BOOK. 'Cause it's awesome.

(Note that several of her books are currently out of print in the US; however, it looks like they're reprinting many of them in March 2012.)

Eva Ibbotson (1925-2010)

Which Witch? - Still a favourite, after all these years. The wizard Arriman is getting tired of the whole "smiting and blighting" gig, and a prophecy has told of his successor - so clearly he needs a son, right? Except he doesn't even have a wife yet... Enter the witches of his hometown, Todcaster, and oh what a bunch of hags they are, too... except for the white witch Belladonna, but he can't marry a white witch, not if he wants a dark son... Yeah. It's totally fun. Chickens, bottomless pits, the obligatory evil-but-beautiful-and-oh-yeah-mysterious competitor - really, what's not to love?


The Secret of Platform 13 - There's a platform at King's Cross Station that's only open at certain times... Erm, no, not 9 3/4. At least not this time. This is Platform 13, which opens for 9 days every 9 years, and leads to a peaceful island inhabited by both magical and normal people and creatures. Disaster strikes when the young prince is kidnapped during a journey to London, and during the nine years they must wait before they can get back through to rescue him, a very unusual team hatches a very unusual plan. A giant, a fey, a wizard and a hag (just a young one) venture forth into London in search of their lost prince...


The Star of Kazan - This is one of Ibbotson's books which draws upon her childhood in Austria before the Second World war. A baby is abandoned in a church and discovered by two women, who "adopt" her and bring her home, to the house where they are servants to three eccentric professors (all siblings). As the baby grows into a girl, she befriends an elderly woman, who later leaves her a trunk of jewelry which she thought was fake... and then things get REALLY interesting. Frauds and friends and oh yeah, some pretty lovable animals too, all figure prominently in the resolution, about which I will tell you (as usual) nothing at all. Go read it yourself. :-)


Journey to the River Sea - A departure from Ibbotson's usual settings (the UK and Austria {or analogues}), this tale is set mainly in the Amazon basin in Brazil. Maia, a girl living in a British orphanage, is told that they've finally found some relatives for her to go and live with in Brazil, so off she goes, accompanied by a governess. Along the way they meet a boy actor, Clovis; her horrible twin cousins, Beatrice and Gwendolyn; and a half-British, half-Xanti boy named Finn. Set around the turn of the twentieth century, it explores racial and class prejudices as well as being a darn good book - it won the Smarties Prize in 2001 (yep, during that three-year summer).

The Great Ghost Rescue - What's a ghost to do when they're turned out of their haunting grounds? Find a human ally, of course. When the castle a family of ghosts has been haunting for ages is purchased by living humans who want to turn it into a resort, Humphrey the Horrible (who's actually quite nice) teams up with a schoolboy named Rick and some other ragtag ghosts they pick up along the way. There's politics and skulduggery and double-crosses and botched exorcisms for all to be had here, but this makes an excellent introduction to her work, not least because it was her first published novel.


Oh yeah, and if you hadn't guessed already - we're back! Summer hiatus is over and, if we've all got our acts together, you should once again see a new post up every weekday. We've mucked about a bit with the topics again, but it's the same crew of nutters you've come to know and love, so see you back here tomorrow !

Awesome Aussie Fantasy

Let's get one thing clear right at the beginning here - I live in the (not-so) United States, and therefore have a generally northern-hemisphere outlook on the world, in regards to things like when seasons occur (as in, it's spring, not autumn, at the moment) and getting colder as you go north, and stuff like that. Most of what I read was written in the States or in Europe as well, so no prizes for guessing that they just reinforce all that. However, there is some amazing world-building going on Down Under (okay, and in New Zealand too, but that didn't have the nice assonance for the title) that more people up here on this half of the globe should go and read! As usual, I'm heavy on the YA stuff, but I'm still insisting that when it's done well, categorizations be damned - just read it!

Eon/Eona - Alison Goodman

I've talked about this one before, but the sequel does look like it's actually going to come out quite soon now (19 April, at least here in the US) and this makes me very excited. In addition to the extremely cool zodiac-based dragon mythology and general world-building (which feels like a pre-industrial Asia, kinda), there are all kinds of characters that are generally absent or marginalized, especially in books written for kids; just for starters, the main character is crippled (and in disguise, and cross-dressed {at least at first}), one of her close confidants really is transgender, and one of the eunuchs has a tendresse for her while we're at it. Well-written, nicely original, and I for one will be showing up for work early on the 19th so I can get a jump on reading it before the store opens!

Pellinor - Alison Croggon

High fantasy at its highest (up to and including the preface indicating that this is simply a translation of an ancient but recently discovered work). We've got a system of magic (schools included), a big nasty evil dude, an expansive and richly detailed landscape (with map, of course!), and not least some very engaging and real characters. This is a completed series of four books; I tore through 3 of them in one sitting about two years ago on one of those "oh-my-god-I-can-NOT-get-out-of-bed" sick days and then had to basically hop up and down and wait for the fourth one (which is totally worth it). If you really want to, you can find Tolkien parallels, but seriously, let's just admit that all high fantasy owes him a debt and get on with it. You'll love this.

Dreamhunter - Elizabeth Knox

This is a lovely pair of novels (by the first of the two New Zealanders on my list here). In a country that rather resembles turn-of-the-last-century Australia, there is a place called... well, actually, it's called The Place, which only certain people can enter. Those who can, can bring back dreams, which can then be shared with others back on the outside. Teenage cousins Laura and Rose are preparing for their "try" (when they find out if they can enter or not), and as both are the daughters of famous Dreamers, have high hopes for their abilities. After that, well, things escalate into all kinds of chaos, about which I will tell you nothing at all in hopes of enticing you to pick them up. This is one of the ones that makes my head hurt a little, though, having Xmas celebrations in summer. I know, I know, Northern Hemisphere snobbery...

Margaret Mahy

I've listed a selection of her books here, as she tends to write stand-alones (this is the other Kiwi, by the way). Not all of them are readily available on these shores, but are worth putting out a little effort for. Sometimes it's straight-up fantasy, sometimes it's real-world with a side of magic, sometimes it's got some dystopian aspects, but it's well-written and (despite some quibbles I might raise about time travel paradoxes) highly enjoyable. Alchemy is a particular favourite; I could draw some parallels to Diana Wynne Jones and her Magids, but the setting (present-day New Zealand) has its own appeal as well (yes, Tara, we know all about setting things in New Zealand... ;-) ).

Emily Rodda

This is actually a step down to about the late-elementary grade level, but, well, as usual I don't really care where something is aimed as long as it has a good STORY. Rodda's main output has been based in the land of Deltora, a mythical country whose name is taken from the first letter of the protective gemstones of each of its 7 territories (namely Diamond, Emerald, Lapis Lazuli, Topaz, Opal, Ruby, and Amethyst). The world-building is very detailed (surprisingly so for a series aimed at younger readers), and the characters, who are of varying species but mainly humanoid, are good company. Rondo is another world entirely, one I quite enjoy (there are musical aspects, so big surprise); as far as I know there are two books set here.

Garth Nix

I've listed three different (very different) series here, which will likely appeal to very different readers, but they're all so good and so interesting I had to review the lot. I first discovered Nix with his Abhorsen trilogy, which explores necromancy and magic and power and royalty in a surprisingly accessible way. There's also quite a fabulous cat, which is always a bonus. The Seventh Tower, a series of 6 books, is set in a colour-coded world reminiscent of William Nicolson's or Jasper Fforde's (though I believe Nix got there first). The Keys to the Kingdom is a recently-completed series of 7 books (I admit it, I haven't read the last two yet... even I can't get to everything!) with hints of King Arthur, Dickens, and many more; I'd put it on the border between fantasy and steampunk.

Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan

The 10th and (as far as I know) final installment of this series is due to hit US shores on 19 April (just like Eona, above - gads, which one am I going to read first?!?). It's set (mainly) in a thinly-disguised alternate Europe (if you know a few native peoples or older names, you'll have no trouble figuring out what's where) and follows the adventures of (duh) the Ranger's Apprentice, i.e. Will. They're chronological except for #7, which is a flashback, and are great adventure stories with well-developed supporting characters like Halt (the Ranger to whom Will is apprenticed), Horace (a young knight), and Tug (a pony, but a damn smart one). There are numerous revelations along the way about various characters' hidden identities and affections, and though the magic is mainly of a practical variety, I'm still putting it in the fantasy category. Good to curl up with, especially during crappy weather.

As usual, I know I'm leaving some out - Catherine Jinks, Justine Larbalestier, and Juliet Marillier come to mind with no effort at all - but as noted above, even I can't get to everything... and besides, that leaves me room for a second post on this topic!