Welcome to my tour stop for 2020's must-buy travel guide!
Whether you want to search for a real wizard in Mittelvelde, or go to wizarde (no, that's not a spelling mistake) school in Whimsicalia, Floyd Watt has you covered with his comprehensive travel guide to worlds only marginally less dangerous than Earth in 2020.
From SPACE to Wastelands and everything you could possibly imagine in between, this guide will have you packing an increasingly odd collection of items into your rucksack (oil, crackers and family heirlooms are all essential) and setting off into the horizon (in any direction but west).
Ignorant, flawed and certain of his own superiority, Floyd plunges headfirst into disaster in every chapter, kept barely in check by his long-suffering editor, Eliza Salt. Along the way, he'll tell you about the climate, wildlife and people of each world he visits, letting you know what to pack, where to stay, and what time of year to visit (except for Wasteland, who will be in the midst of the apocalypse whenever you visit).
I laughed so much reading this book, and it's very, very rare that I finish something and pass it onto my husband to read next, but that's exactly what I did with Notes from Small Planets. You absolutely don't need to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all fantasy and SF to enjoy it, either. The in-jokes are brilliant when you get them, but this book is still extremely funny even if you're not sure what's being parodied.
Crowley says in his afterward that is "should be possible to enjoy a work while still recognising the assumptions and conventions - some of them pretty grim - that it sits amidst." Notes from Small Planets exposes the flaws, some hilarious, some uncomfortable, in the worlds many of us love. As a result, it gives readers plenty to think, as well as laugh, about.
Notes from Small Planets was so much fun to read and would make a superb Christmas present for SF and fantasy fans (or anyone who wants to escape from the chaos of 2020 into worlds facing disasters of a more believable kind). Thank you so much Harper Voyager for sending me a copy to review.
The tour continues all week at the blogs below. A Boy with a Book is also posting today and his review is brilliant, so make sure you check it out!
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