Reader discussion: St. Elmo

Public reader discussion about St. Elmo in the WeRead Catalog by Augusta J. Evans.

First Book Bingo!

By stanzasummer

I figured I’d drop this after a year, but somehow I actually made it through, Hard Mode and all. I ended up loving most of what I read for this, and a bunch of it I probably never would’ve picked up without the challenge. Keeping it spoiler-free. Knights and Paladins Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Strong recommend. I went with the Simon Armitage version, but I’m planning to try the Tolkien translation too now because I got completely hooked by the story and the alliterative lines. It feels ancient, but it still reads really smoothly and I tore through it, then listened to the audiobook after. If long classics scare you, this really isn’t one of those. Hidden Gem Letters from a Shipwreck in the Sea of Suns and Moons - Raymond St Elmo. Strong recommend. I found this through St. Elmo’s posts and ended up loving it. The writing is gorgeous and the mystery has that odd, Piranesi-adjacent vibe, even though this came out years earlier. The story jumps around a lot and I kept flipping back to catch the links, but it all fit together really well. I honestly wish more people had read it. Published in the 80s Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel. Strong recommend. I’d seen the movie a few years back and thought it was weird in a good way. The book doesn’t really fill in much more than the film does, since the movie is super faithful, but the spare, understated writing makes everything feel even stronger. Tita’s unexplained magic is probably the best part of a sad, ordinary, hopeful family story. High Fashion Juniper - Monica Furlong. Not for me. A couple caveats: I’m not the intended reader here, and I also hadn’t read the earlier book this prequel goes with. Even so, I found the conflict too small, the pace too slow, and the characters too thin to keep me interested. Down with the System The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North. Recommend. Time travel usually isn’t my thing, but the Cronus Club setup pulled me in, and I got attached to Henry’s voice pretty quickly. The whole idea of these people repeating their lives was really interesting. I also just like stories that aren’t told in a straight line. Impossible Places Piranesi - Susanna Clarke. Highly recommend. Even though Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is still my favorite novel ever, I waited five years after this came out to read it. I guess I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to it. It absolutely did. The House felt magical and made me want to wander around in it myself, and the narrator’s amnesia was handled so beautifully that it only made me more invested. A Book in Parts A Warning About Swans - R. M. Romero. Not for me. I really liked the look and feel of this book, but not a whole lot else. The prose was probably fine, but the plot and characters kind of dragged it down. Maybe I’d try it again in a few years. I listened to it, so maybe print would hit differently. Gods and Pantheons Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon - Wole Talabi. Not for me. I wanted this to work so badly, but a lot of it felt half-finished, and the whole pantheons-as-corporations thing was too on-the-nose for me. I was most excited for the heist stuff, since I love a heist, but there was barely any of that. The Nigerian culture and mythology parts were the real highlight. Last in a Series The Book of Merlyn - T H White. Hard to say. This came out a few decades after The Once and Future King wrapped up, and I’m not sure it really needed to exist. A big chunk of it is basically lifted word-for-word from The Sword in the Stone, which was a little annoying. Some of it does seem better suited here, I just wish the author had sorted that out while he was still around. It reads a bit like one long goodbye to Arthur more than a true final book. If you do read the series, and I do think the series is worth it overall even if it’s dated in places, keep that in mind. Readalong Book The Sign of the Dragon - Mary Sue Lee. Highly recommend! This was my favorite book of 2025. Lee is a really strong poet, and she built this huge story through verse in a way that sometimes felt Arthurian to me after the fact. If poetry in novels usually worries you, this one is very clear and direct. I can’t recommend it enough. Parent Protagonist Kaikeyi - Vaishnavi Patel. Highly recommend. I didn’t know the source myth, The Ramayana, before this, but now I really want to read it because of this book. Patel builds the setting really well and everyone feels like they belong in it. I especially liked how the feminism felt rooted in the world instead of being dropped in from a modern perspective. It also made me happy that the other women in Kaikeyi’s life actually had real relationships with her and each other, instead of the usual fake rivalry stuff. Epistolary The Screwtape Letters - C S Lewis. Recommend. Lewis is funny, and the letter format is a good time. The preaching gets pretty heavy though, and the extra material in my edition, added later, was even more conservative, more openly political, and kind of absurd. Published in 2025 Anji Kills a King - Evan Leikam. Not for me. I pushed through this one just to fill the square. Since it’s a debut, I tried to be fair, but the characters were really flat and the plot barely moved for most of the book. It’s basically just desert travel with random encounters. The writing was clunky too. I really wish I’d set it aside and picked something else. Author of Color The Salt Grows Heavy - Cassandra Khaw. Recommend. A solid novella with some mermaid horror and nice prose. It moved well, it was well thought out, and it was worth the time. Small Press The Hands of the Emperor - Victoria Goddard. Recommend. I usually like my characters and politics a bit more grounded, even when the world itself is wild. This is definitely not that, since the main character basically runs a bureaucracy that improves the whole world through his decisions, and somehow it still worked for me. It also has issues: it repeats itself a lot, runs longer than needed, and has more typos and grammar slips than I could keep track of. It won’t be for everyone, but I really loved the plot, the world, and especially the characters. I’m absolutely reading the sequel. Biopunk Frankenstein - Mary Shelley. Recommend. This was a reread, and I’m glad I did it because I came away liking it way more this time and feeling a lot harder for the tragic characters in it. Elves/Dwarves The Silmarillion - J R R Tolkien. Recommend. I can’t really say I fully conquered this monster since I listened to it and definitely tuned out here and there. But even with all the complicated worldbuilding, there are still some gorgeous myths in it, like Beren and Luthien, and those really stick with you. LGBTQIA Protagonist The Spear Cuts Through Water - Simon Jimenez. Highly recommend. Jimenez’s writing feels like it has a spell on it, the kind that pulls in the thoughts of strangers, objects, ghosts, all of it. That gives the whole thing so much extra depth and wonder. On top of that, the prose is beautiful and the layers of story are really rich. Five Short Stories Christmas and Other Horrors - Ellen Datlow. Recommend. Holiday horror is fun. Some stories worked for me more than others, but it was still a nice thing to read around Christmas. Stranger in a Strange Land Exit West - Mohsin Hamid. Highly recommend. Hamid’s prose keeps rushing ahead of itself and tripping over itself, but somehow that turns into this strange dance with the story. I loved it for the heartbreak and beauty on every page, and for how sharp and painful it is about refugees. Recycle a Bingo Square (Book that Made You Laugh) Orconomics - J Zachary Pike. Highly recommend. It’s not Pratchett, because who is, but Pike handles the humor and satire really well. The quest setup, the drama, and the jokes got me out of my reading slump. Cozy SFF Howl’s Moving Castle - Diana Wynn Jones. Recommend. This was different from the movie in a way I really liked. Sophie felt more interesting to me here, and I loved getting more depth from Howl. His backstory totally threw me. Generic Title The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson. Highly recommend. The prose was a little tough for me, but it paid off a lot. Anderson was around the same time as Tolkien, but his elves and his idea of a mythical British past go in a very different direction. It felt old and new at the same time, like a legend or fairy tale. Not a Book The Labyrinth - Movie. Recommend. Very 80s, very camp, very fun. A girl trying to rescue her brother from Goblin King David Bowie. Pirates All Systems Red - Martha Wells. Highly recommend. Not sure what else to say that hasn’t already been said. Murderbot is great, and I’m kind of out of energy now.

Book review: Barnaby The Wanderer by Raymond St. Elmo

By rainy-falcon2004

I’m a big fan of Raymond St. Elmo, so I went into this one expecting more of his usual magic—fantasy + magical realism, with snappy, funny observations. And honestly, the writing is still there. The whole thing feels like it’s playing with Epic Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery tropes in a fresh way. The book is *really* long though—over 800 pages—and that’s where I start getting unsure. At times it feels a little unfocused and it kind of wanders, but I did still end up enjoying the ride. Barnaby is the start point: miller’s son, sort of a village fool, then he goes on a journey. He ends up with some odd-but-interesting companions too—like a cat tutor and a brooding ghost—which makes it fun right away. They’re dealing with stuff like a giant rat that writes bad poetry, and then later the cast expands and it gets more layered. In the second half it shifts focus from Barnaby to the whole group and their big quest, including a cursed tower. I also love how clearly you can tell it’s his voice. But I’ll say this: he messes around with language a lot, and sometimes it starts to feel like the storytelling itself is taking a backseat to the way he tells it, plus a bunch of asides. That wouldn’t be a dealbreaker in a shorter book… but in something this size it definitely makes the pages feel longer than they need to. Still, I ended up liking most of the characters a lot, and they feel memorable and they actually grow as things go. Barnaby’s naivety and empathy are pretty hard not to like. Even the cat tutor stuff is great, and the dialogue can be wild in a funny way. So yeah—long, could probably be tighter, and the focus slips sometimes, but it’s imaginative, has witty writing, and there’s some real heart in it too. If you want an old-school vibe, it’s worth a shot. 🙂

The Blood Tartan by Raymond St. Elmo: RAB Book Club Mid-Month Thread

By HiddenSwan6

So RAB is a monthly book club that basically picks books from fantasy authors who are active here, and the mid-month post is just a reminder to jump in (like, it’s never actually too late) plus a place to talk about first impressions and ask any questions. This month’s pick is **The Blood Tartan** by **Raymond St. Elmo** for July. You’ve still got time to read it before the final discussion, which I think starts on **July 28th**. From the synopsis, it sounds like Rayne Gray is this big cheerful guy who’s still pretty philosophical about all the violence in his life, and somehow even when things go sideways he’s still trying to look after others. Then the whole situation flips and he ends up dealing with this really dangerous, kind of crazy “Family” of clans. Also there’s a mention of him being basically one step from death, so I’m guessing it won’t stay chill for long. For the bingo list, I noticed: self-published, small scale fantasy, vampires, and it’s a book club book of the month pick. Also the author is local to Texas, which is neat. I’ve got a few questions I’m curious about: - What does everyone think of the cover? - Did the start grab you right away? - Are the characters interesting, or are they kind of flat? - What’s the tone like so far? - Do you have a solid mental picture of any of the characters yet? - Any guesses on what themes it’ll hit? The full discussion thread will be up later on the **26th**.

Review: To Awaken in Elysium by Raymond St. Elmo

By HiddenSwan6

So I just started To Awaken in Elysium and the vibe is already kind of “of course this is weird.” It opens with this stormy-night car chase—thunder, lightning, pouring rain—and then things start getting strange in a way I honestly wouldn’t expect anything less from this author. Elysium is supposed to be this sleepy little farm town, but it’s got a darker side and, yep, a bunch of graveyards. The new art teacher, Cora, thinks she’s going to have a boring job… and instead she ends up getting involved with a ghost. Meanwhile the new English teacher, Trey, takes poetry really seriously, and his students are not buying it at first. What I liked so far is that they both give their classes basically the same kind of assignments, but with their own twist—Cora has them do something like painting clouds, and Trey has them write stories about what they see up there. There’s also this whole thing about writing by hand being “better,” which is kind of funny but also a little sweet. The book has a lot of characters—some living, some not—and everyone feels like they’re there for a reason, like they’re supposed to teach the characters something or help them figure out some truth. It’s also philosophical and romantic and funny, which is a weird combo that totally works here. There are a ton of quotable lines, and it plays with stories inside stories too (one of the teachers is… definitely not normal). The plot isn’t super “high stakes” or super tight, so if you want nonstop action I’m not sure it’ll hit. But it’s still lighthearted a lot of the time, and there’s also this sad/nostalgic feeling underneath. And the ending is this poetry slam where a living poet goes up against a dead poet. I mean… what. Also, yes, it’s got some ghost stuff (and even ghost sex, apparently), plus vampires are mentioned, and there’s even a tiger in Elysium? So it definitely doesn’t keep things restrained. Overall I’m having a lot of fun with it, even if it’s not going to be for everyone. Next I’m trying to figure out whatever the weird, unexpected side of Theory is, since that’s supposed to be the last of the forgotten Central Texas cities in the series.

The House of the Spirits

By kettleglade

Wow, this is a masterpiece. I read it a long time ago and I remember thinking it was good, but I didn’t realize it was this good. Maybe when you get older you’re just more able to really appreciate stuff like that. This novel genuinely made me laugh, then cry, and even get mad at times. The writing is really strong, and it’s easy to get pulled into the story. I read it in Spanish too—my (and Isabel Allende’s) mother tongue—and now I’m kind of curious how it comes across when it’s translated into other languages, like if it still feels authentic or not. Have you read it? What did you think? Also, I think it’s magical realism. It totally reminded me of *A Hundred Years of Solitude* by Gabriel García Márquez (which is still my favorite book of all time). The whole thing has improbable stuff that somehow fits right into everyday life. It follows the Trueba family across four generations, starting in the early 1900s and going up to the 1970s, and it touches a lot on Chile’s post-colonial history. I won’t say more—I don’t want to spoil it. Enjoy reading!