“Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. ”

With a description like that things can only get better. This little book was one of the best finds I’ve had in a while. Ms Carriger writes a very tongue in cheek account about life as a spinster during the Victorian age.
Carriger has created a character that I can relate to. Alexia is an outsider, but at the same time embraces her outcast situation and is proud of her differences. She copes admirably for someone without a soul and if it wasn’t for that pesky vampire without manners that attacked her, life would have gone on as always.However, since she managed to kill the vampire, Queen Victoria sends her investigator to clear up the matter. It’s amazing what a young lady can do with a parasol!

This book blends old time Victorian attitudes with steampunk and modern day urban fantasy into a lovable quirky story that is hard to put down. I devoured the rest of the books as quickly and am about to go and get the 5th book for my Kindle. Can. Not. Wait.

If you’re looking for a light hearted steampunk fantasy, I can recommend this series. You will not be disappointed.

Grin Factor:

I have been looking for an excuse to add some robots to my portfolio and this little guy may become a permanent fixture. He’s only in the beginning stages but he is showing a lot of promise. Check out the robot love below:

My favourite site of them all is LemonAid Crutches. The company was started by Laurie Johnson. She was involved in a plane crash in which she lost her husband and son and sustained severe injuries. After a year on crutches her sister helped her to cheer them up by giving them a custom paint job and adding the covered pads. Laurie’s first hand experience has helped her develop an unique product and it’s well worth visiting her website if you’re going to be on crutches for a while.

The flamingo crutch designed by Can Guvenir seems like the most comfortable option of them all. I can’t tell from his blog whether these are in production or whether this is a design concept. The crutches are designed to solve common usage problems one normally encounters with crutches, such as sore hands from being limited to one grip method. This design allows for multiple holding positions and the crutch height is adjustable too.

As you can see, apart from being practical, these crutches are just plain beautiful. I do hope they see the light of day as a product.

The last item on my list is a pair of crutches, or crutch chair, from  designer Yong Rok Kim.  The two crutches can be put together to form a  chair for the user to lean on when he / she is tired from hobbling. You won’t believe what hard work crutches can be if you’re not used to them, so I think this is a great idea.  As an added bonus these crutches don’t look too shabby either. You can go view all the images over at Yanko Design.

Fortunately I have found some completely fun and trashy literature to share. Even though I promised to read all the deep and heart wrenching novels all my friends insisted on lending me (sorry guys).  Enter the dragon. Well, Dragon Actually by G.A. Aiken. The cover should tell you a lot about this book

The story revolves around the warrior maiden Annwyl the Bloody. Not her favourite monniker, but one she was stuck with while battling her mad brother’s army.

We are introduced to Annwyl when she is once again fighting for her life against an impossible number of foes. Fortunately for her, she happened to be doing that right outside the kingdom’s grumpiest dragon’s lair. Lucky girl. Fearghus, as the dragon is known, decides to rescue her on an impulse and with the help of his sister, nurses her back to health.

The byplay between the obstreperous Annwyl and the continually puzzled Fearghus is well written and very amusing. I couldn’t put the book down and the rest of the household went hungry last night as a result. However, as the cover suggests, there is a fair amount of erotica in the story, so if you’re thinking of buying this for your teenager, don’t. If you’re looking for a fun, easy read with dragons, this is definitely the book for you.

There are two stories in the book and judging by the first, I’m going to enjoy the second story. Aiken’s writing style is easy and her sense of humour infectious . I’m definitely going to be adding the next book to my library too.

Grin Factor:

 ★★★★½ 

He works in bronze and resin and produces incredibly detailed work in both mediums. It doesn’t hurt that the bulk of his work falls squarely in the fantasy genre. I found a DeviantArt page for Mark where you can go view more of his current work. The pics are from his portfolio website, here.

I’ve posted all my favourites; the flowing underwater imagery is mesmerising and the portraiture sublime. The detailed work draws one in and doesn’t let go. Each time you think you’ve seen it all, another bit of detail jumps out and grabs you. I’d love to view these sculptures in person!

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The work that enthralled me the most was his suits of armour for cats and mice. The details added to each suit of armour are exquisite. His suits range in style from traditional medieval plate armour to Japanese Samurai armour, all executed beautifully. For those of you that are interested, there is a photo library on how to design a Samurai cat. Oh, and if you’re looking at his website, go have a look at his space stuff too – totally awesome ^-^
I’ll stop waxing lyrical now and leave you with some eye candy.

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This was a particularly good trip with many close encounters, including some with the local hyenas that have claimed the camp as their territory. One often sees them skulking around the camp fire at night in the hopes of  a morsel or two. In our case, the morsel ended up being the number plate from the car, which they decided to steal one night. Unfortunately it was too dark for any decent photos, but I did get a good one of the number plate we recovered – they bit right through it o_0

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