skygiants | (no subject)

So Becca, you may ask, is everything you've read recently gay?

To which I respond: no, not at all! The Door at the End of the World, an ARC of which was passed onto me due to its DWJ-reminiscent qualities as determined by respectable DWJ experts

aamcnamara and

bluestalking, is the kind of solidly charming middle-grade book that exists in a pleasant liminal space full of nifty magic and devoid of any sexuality whatsoever.

The plot: undistinguished adolescent Lucy Ebersley is a minor bureaucratic functionary working at one of the intersections between a collection of linked worlds, of which Earth is one (large and ignorant), Lucy's world is another (tiny, largely irrelevant), and six others fill various positions (has magic! has super technology! has a lot of beautiful scenery and is great for vacations!)

(In Lucy's world, adolescents have already gotten all their schooling, taken civil service exams, and are ready to serve as minor bureaucratic functionaries. We roll with it.)

Unfortunately, Lucy's boss has mysteriously disappeared, leaving Lucy alone to cope with a broken world-door, an amiable but hapless Earth teenager named Arthur who took a wrong turn and can't get home, and a collection of intelligent magical bees.

Like any good minor bureaucratic functionary, Lucy promptly attempts to escalate the problem to the proper officials! Alas, this is the kind of book where, it turns out, the proper officials cannot at all be trusted, leaving Lucy and her sidekick Arthur to solve the collapse of the multiverse with only the tools at hand: Lucy's organizational skills, Arthur's cheerful willingness to roll with anything, some chance-met connections in the inter-universe smuggling underground, and, of course, the bees. A solidly enjoyable middle-grade read; the bees are a delight and I support them in all their endeavors.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Unfortunately, Lucy's boss has mysteriously disappeared, leaving Lucy alone to cope with a broken world-door, an amiable but hapless Earth teenager named Arthur who took a wrong turn and can't get home, and a collection of intelligent magical bees.

I see why the DWJ comparison, but I also feel there may be Diane Duane DNA.

I am glad it is charming.

I would not be at all surprised to find that it was so, although the pragmatic first-person voice is definitely more DWJ than DD (I think DD has written first person but maybe only in the cat books?)

(The cat books aren't first person either! I'm trying to think if she's ever written first person that I've read, and if she has it's only in short stories. Most of the ones I can think of are close third.)

However, this does sound super charming, and very DWJish! And depending on the execution very possibly DDish also. Both excellent writers to be comparable to.

(I haven't read everything Diane Duane has written, not by a long shot, but I can think of one short story Diane Duane has written in first person, and it's a special case: the narrator is a writer who, though unnamed, is heavily implied to be Diane Duane.)

(Why did I think the cat books were first person? Maybe because if I was trying to write from a cat's POV I would DEFINITELY write in first.)

PREORDERED

I hope you enjoy! :D

That sounds most EXCELLENTLY DWJ. Off to ask the library to order it!

I'm always so pleased to be reminded that I'm not the only one for whom "reads sort of like DWJ" is an automatic gimme.