Hello again!

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Written by Emma Engel

So it’s been a while.

I spent a couple years writing for another site, added a couple of kids to the family, did a lot of reading, less writing, and a whole lot more thinking. Now, as I circle back here, I think I have a clearer idea of what I’d like this place to be.

Previously I focused pretty much entirely on reviews of either fantasy or science fiction books. My reviews tended toward – peppy, shall we say. I don’t know if its age or just the last few years, but I think one of the big things that will change here is the tone. I certainly don’t want this to become a criticism blog full of me hate reading things for the drama. But I’d like to try for a more balanced approach, both for my readers and for myself. Sometimes, a book needs to analyzed, and sometimes it’s okay to love it just because.

Things I hope will take shape are an ongoing conversation on thinking reads vs. feeling reads. A general rating on a scale of “I’m okay with having spent time on this book” to “I’m enraptured with this and now all the other people must read and love it too.” Also, expect a lot of round ups for books I feel are worth tossing out for someone’s library list but don’t really need a lot of analysis.

And with four kids in the house, I want to start making space for more kids’ books here on Myrdan. I rather doubt there will be a lot of deep discussion around them, but I have run across some exceptional stories I’d like to give a shout out to.  I suspect these in particular will lend themselves more to round up posts than actual reviews.

Finally, I think many longer or ongoing series will be getting overall commentary on why I value them instead of individual reviews of each new installment. I ran into this while reviewing before. There’s a point where gushing over each new book in a series for pretty much the same good qualities starts to sound insincere. Hopefully a big picture look at the entire work will do a better job of explaining my passion without the repetition.

So here’s to a new start for Myrdan Creation!

The to-read pile will be with you. Always.