More Book Wonderfulness From Judith Tarr

I'm so glad to see more of dancinghorse's wonderful-but-alas-out-of-print fantasy novels in ebook format. See if this one piques your interest.



In the magical kingdom of Rhiyana, peace reigns under the Elvenking. But terrible forces are stirring in the world beyond. The Hounds of God, the heretic-hunters and inquisitors of the Church of Rome, have come hunting. Their prey: the king and his immortal people. And their greatest weapon may be one of the king's own kin.


Judith Tarr is the author of over three dozen novels, mostly historical and historical fantasy. Her trilogy, The Hound and the Falcon, won the Crawford Award. She holds a PhD in Medieval Studies from Yale, and lives near Tucson, Arizona, where she raises Lipizzan horses.

A sort-of movie review

I see very few movies in theaters, and I've yet to come up with a coherent way of describing how I choose them. Greatness has nothing to do with it. Escapism, not quite but closer. Silliness, well of a particular flavor. Almost all of them are sf/f of some sort. When they aren't Austen novel adaptations. When they aren't something I could just as well wait and watch on Netflix. I have inconsistent notions of what demands to be seen on a big screen. I want it all - brilliant writing, great acting, food for thought, love story, some fabulous action/effects but not too much. I never get what I want, so I settle for a fun afternoon.

None of which explains why I saw Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. I thought the concept was cute, had read that the book was pretty dreadful but that the movie was a bit better. A couple of writers I respect said good things about it.

For the most part, I was neither surprised nor disappointed, meaning it was pretty much what I expected. Light on character and meaty ideas, heavy on special effects, intense action, scary things happening way too fast. (My poor friend who came with me had to cover her eyes in places.) Not much on depth of thought. I so, so, so wish they'd taken a small amount of the time (not to mention money) on all those fight scenes and used it to delve deeper into these people, these times, the complicated issues, not to mention what a 5,000 year old vampire might actually be like.

There was, however, one real "money shot." I won't tell you what it was, because it's a true spoiler, but I'm pretty sure you'll know it when you see it. (Hint: it's late in the movie.) Undoubtedly a cheap thrill, but it got me. And that's what's stayed with me, even though I doubt I will want to sit through the yadda yadda fight scenes again.

The one on the backs of the stampeding horses was rather cool, though, or would have been at half that length. Even if the horses had no reason for stampeding. Oh well, maybe they didn't like vampires skipping across their backs. Or something.