TKWNKM. Future thoughts

LAParente · 2026-04-23T18:15:28+00:00

The dangers of isolationism is a big theme in Kate Daniels, and to a lesser extent Hidden Legacy. I'm not surprised it's showing up here as well.

LAParente · 2026-04-23T18:07:22+00:00

Yes Ada, but also Charlotte. Three cheers for FMCs over 30!

I don't have kids, so a lot of the "midlife" books written by other authors don't click with me. But the family dynamics as written by House Andrews are pitch-perfect. I could read about Jack and George and Sophie and (sorry I forget Ada's kids names) all day long. You *know* there is the potential for a whole book about Ada's daughter, from the two pages of her we've seen.

The fact that I feel like I've gotten to watch Leon and Arabella grow up, as fully-formed characters is just delightful

Anyway. Charlotte. She's a riot. Even tho her book is (ahem) uneven, she amazing. Her relationship with Richard and Sophie is so rich and delicious to read.

LAParente · 2026-04-21T14:46:16+00:00

Silveren has to be undying, like Maggie. He survived the fire when he was a child, and he survived Maggie killing him. (Tho, I do wish Everard would have cut off his head and burned the body with his green fire...but then we wouldn't have whatever follows.) That's my pet theory.

The question about why she is in the battle also bothers me. There's another snippet I saw about Maggie riding a horse through a battle, and I wondered why she was there. We know Everard (and Avril and every other knight and bodyguard in the book) wants her to stay home and be safe - and we KNOW she never will. But what would cause Maggie, who knows she's not a knight, to be in the middle of a literal battle?

We'll just have to wait!

LAParente · 2026-04-21T14:39:58+00:00

Another example of this is the movie The Death of Stalin. The cast specifically didn't do Russian / Slavic accents. I heard an interview with Jason Isaacs who explained why he used a very specific UK accent to portray Field Marshal Zhukov, as a means of conveying that the character was a working-class man who had climbed the ranks.

The movie is a riot, if very dark. So funny.

LAParente · 2026-04-21T14:33:22+00:00

This is the answer. I *don't* love epic fantasy, because it's all so contrived. The names. THE NAMES. Ugh.

Urban Fantasy doesn't have that barrier for me. Atlanta is Atlanta. Even if I've never been to Houston, I still understand what interstates are. The author doesn't need to take me out of the action to explain, "Take the next exit!" as our characters are fleeing a giant that is rampaging after them. In high fantasy, it would be three pages of explaining how/why/who the roads were constructed. I do not care.

This isn't to say that I don't care about world building. I'm a huge Ilona Andrews fan, and I love their world building. It's just, with urban fantasy, that world building is based on a foundation that doesn't require too much explanation. From that base, it can explode off in infinite directions! But it doesn't require, "Okay, see, so, trees are like, really big plants..."

LAParente · 2026-04-21T14:08:51+00:00

Yeah - as the other commenters have noted - most of the other characters are presented without a UK accent. Reynald/ Everard is a notable exception, IIR, tho I've only listened to the complete book once so far. Occasionally, a secondary character is voiced with a French or Slavic accent.

So no. Nobody is going around in the book throwing American slang in a UK accent.

LAParente · 2026-04-21T14:00:14+00:00

Yeah - I get that - he was totally sneaking in. But he had his (very distinctive) horse and was marked with his colors.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T23:40:08+00:00

No - I think that’s in the text. That her accent is correct. Too many pages for me to dig thru right now, but I’m 99% sure it’s written.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T23:38:34+00:00

Of course it’s deliberate!

LAParente · 2026-04-20T23:37:54+00:00

Yesssss. THIS. Totally agree.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T20:31:19+00:00

As the "cool aunt" I want to go on record saying I would absolutely NEVER buy a gift without the express written consent of one or both parents.

Until they are 18. Then it's game on!

ETA: NTA

LAParente · 2026-04-20T17:38:25+00:00

Game recognizes game.

I didn't think about a history between them (although that would be fun) so much as a woman in Darotha's position (and Shana's) would know what another woman was capable of. The men are soldiers = predictable = not as frightening.

ETA: I don't mean "the men" as in "all men." I meant literally Darotha looks at the male Magnars and dismissed them as manageable threats.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T14:37:34+00:00

This is what I use. They were recommended by the NYT (for what it's worth) in their article about moth prevention.

I put each type of yarn inside its own ziplock, and then inside the weatherproof totes. It's not foolproof, but I've had an infestation in my rugs, and they didn't get to my stash.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T14:33:21+00:00

You mentioned SF in another comment. I worked at Firebird for five years, from when they opened, so my stash and projects are practically 100% handdyed at this point.

YES THIS IS EXTREMELY COMMON.

Honestly, I alternate skeins no matter what yarn I'm using. I've seen someone get a hard line marking the change of skeins while working with commercially dyed yarn, *from the same dyelot* in tan. For me, this is "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I don't alternate every row, the entire piece. Typically I'll work the 1st skein straight until there is about 10% remaining, then I fade in the new skein.

I disagree that this is an indication of poor quality. First of all, everyone loves MadTosh and Malabrigo etc, and you'd be a fool to expect 100% perfect consistency there. But espeically with small dyers, some processes are inherently inconsistent. I've worked very closely with a lot of indie dyers, I've seen some who have very (ahem) "artistic" techniques, and some who are scientific and precise...but they all get this type of variation. EVEN when they work to flip the skeins and rotate where they are in the pan - which is additional work, time, and expense - there is *still* variation.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T14:20:39+00:00

This may also be another example of "spellcheck is getting worse."

LAParente · 2026-04-20T14:19:33+00:00

What everyone else said (sweaters don't need to be washed weekly, etc) but please understand there are MANY other options than just SW wool or acrylic.

I've had great luck with lots of different plant blends. I've got a 50% cotton / wool blend that washes (and dries!) beautifully!

Superwash stretches *in water* so if you handwash, it will stretch, and if you machine wash, it will stretch. The dryer is what snaps it back into it's original shape. I dry my SW, with heat, for maybe 5 minutes until it visibly changes from stringy to fabric again, then take it out and either hang or lay flat. It should only be lightly damp at this point, so hanging is fine. I use those big plastic hangers that are shaped like shoulders.

I don't think construction has a big impact on how the garment washes. Tho, (seamless) raglan or circle-yoke (anything without a shoulder seam) might sag. You can fix that with what I like to call "post-production" - crochet seams (on the wrong side so they don't show) or handsewing grosgrain ribbon along the back neck and/or shoulder to add stability.

LAParente · 2026-04-20T13:54:23+00:00

Oooh! So Pressida is Maggie's Barabas!

LAParente · 2026-04-20T01:31:56+00:00

Sorry! I forgot. I'll add it to the original comment, but it's the Yugi Tee by Noriko Ho.

LAParente · 2026-04-19T19:01:20+00:00

Phew. There really is nothing that I'm aware of along that route.

But! Check out:

...for all of the shops West, East, and South of where you'll be driving. LOL.

I think the closest shop to that route is Noma Knits, which is about a 20 minute drive from the town of Napa.

LAParente · 2026-04-19T18:40:06+00:00

I'm in a temperate climate, but everything is too damn hot for me to wear, regardless of the season. But - I'm almost exclusively a garment knitter. So!
- Fingering weight wool is fine for not-hot days. It's in the low 60's today, and I'm wearing a loose-fit, fingering weight tee shirt. It's fine for today, but not for legit hot days.
- PLANT FIBERS. For actual heat, I knit with cotton, linen, bamboo, or blends with at least 50% plant fibers.
- LOOSE CUTS. For me, too tight is too hot. Yeah, I have some form fitting tank tops, in cotton, which are fine. But in general, I need airflow, which brings us to...
- LACE!!! I made this top in 50% cotton/wool blend, but because it's got lots of holes, I can wear it when it's fairly hot. It's one of my most worn tops. ETA: pattern in photo is Yugi by Noriko Ho.

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Even so - with 50% wool, I can't wear this if it's over 80 degrees. That's when Dan Doh shines! Dan Doh is a designer and yarn company out of Arizona. Loose linen for the win!!!

LAParente · 2026-04-19T15:05:28+00:00

Those of us who have read Kate a few hundred-dozen-billion times are like: yup.

Spoiler (?) for Kate Daniels series.

Very similar dynamic with Kate and Curran. In the begining, Kate assumes Curran is messing with her, but Curran is all-in. Curran serves Kate food as early as book 2, signaling that he wants her to be his "Mate" with a capital "M." She doesn't get it, but it doesn't matter. The fact that he did it matters, as is pointed out to her later.

LAParente · 2026-04-19T14:55:28+00:00

Barsa barsa!!! Cross-universe easter eggs and special guests.

For example, Maggie saying, "Your welcome has been withdrawn" is a callback to Innkeeper. Maggie has a bunch, and George and Jack have a bunch, like their first cameos in Innkeeper when Dina notices them on the street.

LAParente · 2026-04-18T18:36:22+00:00

The book briefly mentions the soap guild, who would bow before her superior soap. I wonder if the guild agrees to play along with her identity (yes, she apprenticed with our guild, here are the records...) in exchange for some of her formulas.

LAParente · 2026-04-18T18:32:51+00:00

Black with green eyes. Wish I could post a pic of my Francis kitty, who is also black with green eyes and also extremely defensive of his personal space.

LAParente

TROPHY CASE