Author Archives: fiveducks

About fiveducks

Canadian writer/artist/hermit. The raccoon living in your basement.

savannah’s book reviews: I will never emotionally recover (realm of the elderlings: farseer trilogy)

One of these days, I’ll write a review for a recent, relevant book, and it might finally get half as many clicks as me shitting on RF Kuang (I’m so sorry, Rebecca). I’d actually been sitting on plans to review The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi for a good year now. Trouble is, the more books and series I read like Book of The New Sun and Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings, the more my grading system gets thrown out of whack, because they push what I consider a 5/5.

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lucky sevens: escape to pinède

What a year, eh? I’m going to fall back on my favourite strategy of ignoring real life for a while and talk about my current fixation. On Christmas, Cammy put out marfGH: Volume 1 (yes, I’m plugging here, too!). Just … Continue reading

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savannah’s book reviews: my syntax will never recover (the book of the new sun)

This is the craziest shit I have ever read. Continue reading

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beta readers: the terror and joy of being known

Hello from a cheap hotel room in Winnipeg! I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been working on Desertbound, my debut novel (coming 2026?). Consider this a bit of a sequel to that post. Continue reading

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savannah’s book reviews: the long way to a small, angry planet

Hey! I’m packing for a trip to Winnipeg (not a frozen shithole currently, but it is on fire) but I’ve got some time, and by that I mean I’d rather write a book review than pack. I read The Long … Continue reading

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savannah’s book reviews: get me out of rf kuang hell

I think I mentioned in my last post I’ve been reading loads recently. The Somnolians end up suffering through me liveblogging reactions to books I read, particularly those I don’t like (which has been a grand total of two). And Letters is due for a post. Continue reading

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writing about writing

Hey! Two posts from me within a month of each other? Unheard of. Suppose I’ve got a writing itch and I’m all out of Gold Bond. Continue reading

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the number of the bulb: i don’t know how i got here

Hey! Been a minute, because it’s always been a minute when I write these. Can you believe it’s almost 2025? I guess I can. Merry late Christmas and happy New Year.

I have to say I’m doing alright, despite the fact that the sun sets by 4 pm. As always, I had set a vague goal and then didn’t reach it and instead did something else. Wisp hasn’t been published yet, fwd 2.0’s still missing some content, I totally said I’d post that novella and then I didn’t.

I’m not too bugged about it, though. I’d like to think I took an unexpected turn and am going down a different street, and I’ll get back to whatever I was doing later.

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touching grass

Hey! So 2024’s about three quarters of the way over and I fell off the face of the Earth again. My bad. Continue reading

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happy five years: a seat at the table

Hey! This year went by insultingly fast. I’m going to ramble about 2023, entering your mid-20s, collaboration, and goals. Continue reading

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