Tatterdemalion, by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox

Reids Rating: Milk Chocolate Truffle w/ an Amaretto liquor center

These two authors make a powerhouse of a team that deliver a wonderfully rich story. It will in turn have you grinning at the warm fuzzies, and gripping the edge of your seat through the action and plot twists. Rich and intoxicating, and this reader gorged herself and grinned happily.

Crow & Fox weave a romantic tale that wends its way through the kinks and tangles of insecurity, cynicism, that come with age, scars, and life in general. The magical quality to it, for this reader, lies in the beauty of being willing to trust, daring to take the chance to open yourself up. To give what you have, and take what is offered, and find contentment. Often easier said than done, for many.

There are gems to be found in this one. Sentences that could stand alone and tell a story, descriptions that weave poetry from simple words and expression. At times, the detail of a scene is lacking--deliberately--leaving the reader to piece together, and imagine, for themselves what's left out. The one quality of a book, over any movie--engaging the reader, encouraging the imagination and through it the construction of imagery. It is this quality that, far from annoying, sinks the reader further into the world. Make it what you want it to be, the prose whisper. What do you see? I'd call that true magic, woven so adeptly into something as innocuous as a book.


This first installment of the Foundations of Magic series has been released in ebook since May of 2010. It's being released in paperback the first week of April, from Samhain, and the sequel, Trammel, will follow in ebook format in late May.

Can't wait and wanna taste? Get it here.