Ry Herman's Blog

Just as many fairytales can be traced back to origins in Greek Mythology (such as Beauty and the Beast stemming from the story of Cupid and Psyche), the legend of Jason and the Argonauts is clearly the origin story for Marvel’s The Avengers.

Many characters made the transition relatively unchanged — such as Atalanta/Black Widow, Heracles/The Hulk, and Jason/Captain America. Hawkeye is obviously a version of the archer Poeas, with his Hydra-blood tipped arrows.

Iron Man, of course, is only a slight adaptation of Talos, the man of bronze who protected Crete, moved from being an opponent to a member of the crew (which makes it interesting that the divisions in Civil War turned him back into Jason’s foe; the original myth is still remembered.) Thor was, perhaps, brought in from a different mythological tradition along with Loki, but that’s not uncommon as stories travel away from their point of origin and are retold in other places.

But the real key is the similarity of intent. Both stories are essentially, “Hey, remember all those people from all those other stories? WHAT IF THEY TEAMED UP?”

One more week until the book launch event!

I really do live in an incredibly beautiful city.

First sighting of This Knight Topples Empires in the wild!

This Knight Topples Empires is one of Autostraddle’s most anticipated books for November!

Meanwhile, I just finished organizing my in-depth, color-coded editing notes for Draft 3 of the next book. They are 96 pages long.

I could publish my editing notes as a novella.

Lots of exciting news about THIS KNIGHT TOPPLES EMPIRES!

It’s been named one of Book Riot’s 10 must-read LGBTQ books of November! And Vocal Media has named it one of their most anticipated books of November, too!

“It sounds like a more comedic take on a fairy tale, and I want a book that can give me a laugh this fall season. I am secretly hoping the meddling sisters play a big part in the story. I am always fond of a story that contains family antics.” –Vocal Media

I also have an interview with The Nerd Daily, and a short piece I wrote about adapting queer fairy tales on Lit Hub.

THIS KNIGHT TOPPLES EMPIRES is out today from Dial Press!

Lit Hub has named THIS KNIGHT TOPPLES EMPIRES one of November’s best sci-fi and fantasy books!

Vampiric Broodmothers, Gig-Economy Ghosts, and Medieval Abortionists: November’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

Happy Halloween! Nothing about this post is especially spooky, but I did read three wonderful standout books that have nothing whatsoever to do with the holiday:

WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy

During Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, Pierre Bezukhov yearns for spiritual fulfillment; meanwhile, Prince Andrei Bolkonsky leaves his family behind to fight in the war, and young Natasha Rostov struggles with temptation.

OK, first things first, this book absolutely deserves its reputation as a masterpiece, despite its flaws. And it does have flaws: mainly, whenever Tolstoy starts to lecture the reader — and he loves to lecture, whether it’s a sentence or two of moral scolding or full chapters explaining his philosophy of history — he gets a bit insufferable. But Tolstoy is a keen observer of human psychology, sometimes uncomfortably so for anyone who has ever been young and stupid, he can paint a vivid picture with words, and there are few better depictions of the confusion and horror of combat. And since that’s what takes up about 337 chapters of this 361 chapter book, it stands as one of the great novels of world literature.

CHARITY AND SYLVIA, by Tillie Walden

The month is February in the year 1807. The place is Weybridge, Vermont: small, cold, lonely, and beautiful. Sylvia Drake is exhausted. As an unwed woman with few prospects, she is residing with and caring for her sister’s rambunctious family. Today the house is abuzz awaiting a guest—Charity Bryant. A friend of the family, she is most known for her elegant letters, with their swoopy and evocative penmanship and carefully chosen prose. But Charity’s visit is a guise, she is coming to Vermont to start over after heartbreak and rumours—so many rumours—that have grown too loud back in Massachusetts.

This was beautiful, in every sense of the word. I think it can reasonably be called Tillie Walden’s masterpiece (at least so far!) And I was already an admirer of her earlier work. It made me cry. More than once.

A SNAKE AMONG SWANS by Hannah Kaner

Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land. To unite the people and finally stop the bloodshed, she marries the aging warlord, King Liran. Her duty is to bind their nations and bear him a son. But the swan king’s court is dangerous. Tilde is a threat to the claim of Liran’s older sons, who will do whatever it takes to remove her.

It’s brilliant. A bloody tale of magic, revenge, court intrigue and the gradual loss of any moral compass necessitated by seizing power. It’s feminist, it’s queer, and it has nods to King Lear, The Six Swans, and the historical religious wars in the early medieval British isles. I loved it.

Other great books I read this month were LETTERS FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY by Theodora Goss, THE REVERSE CENTAUR’S GUIDE TO LIFE AFTER AI by Cory Doctorow, SEARCHING FOR DRAGONS by Patricia C. Wrede, THE BARON IN THE TREES by Italo Calvino, VICTORIOUS by V. E. Schwab, and SHE’S A DOLL by Barbara Truelove (and OK, the last two books actually are on the spooky side of things!)

THIS KNIGHT TOPPLES EMPIRES comes out November 3!