God Save the Queen(s of the Stone Age)

I, apparently unlike many people, am not interested in Princess Kate’s pregnancy. I wish her all the best, but I have more important cultural events on my mind, like how Fringe has only five episodes left. How can they possibly wrap it up? How will I live without their faces? HOW? I’ve never been fascinated with real, in-my-lifetime royalty of any kind, but I do enjoy many a royal thing.

Here are some of my favorite “royals”:

“Royals” in Books

Summer Knight by Jim Butcher is the 4th book in the Dresden Files series, an urban fantasy series that is in its 14th book and has never let me down.

Queenpin by Megan Abbott. Abbott has written six very good books, the first four of which are noir. Queenpin, her third, won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.

I can’t not mention Stephen King. I’ve only read two of his books: The Green Mile and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and I enjoyed them both.

“Royals” in Films

Buttercup, Princess of Florin in The Princess Bride. There’s a certain set of people who can quote “The Princess Bride”; those are my people.

Photo source: imdb.com

Princess Caraboo. I know what you’re thinking, but I watched when I was a youngish and I remember it fondly. Plus, it’s based on an actual story and it has Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline in it.

Photo source: fanpop.com

Cate Blanchett‘s Elizabeth. This was Blanchett’s breakout role and while my Lord of the Rings knowledge is sparse, I’m pretty sure her character in those films, Galadriel, is a royal, too.

Photo source: http://kingarthur.
wikia.com

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I was fairly old when I was introduced to this telling of King Arthur and his knights which is probably a good thing because who wants a seven-year-old running around saying, “watery tart”.

“Royals” in Music

Photo source: http://www.qotsa.com

Queens of the Stone Age. They will rock your face off with subtle lighting.

Photo source: http://www.sharonjones
andthedapkings.com/

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. They will also rock your face off, but in a different way.

Prince. I don’t think this needs any explanation.

-aisha, who thinks her “royals in music” list would be a great lineup for the new royal baby’s christening

Dresden Files: Late to the Game

A couple of weeks ago I started reading the Dresden Files series of urban fantasy novels penned by Jim Butcher. Dresden Files tells the stories of Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only practicing wizard. It’s set firmly in the urban fantasy genre of popular fiction, and features the main character’s struggle to keep the darker aspects of the supernatural at bay, while still making enough money to pay his rent!

This series has been running since 2000, and I am very late to the game. Somehow, for all of that time, I have managed to avoid the spoilers. It’s not easy. There are numerous web sites with great info on the series, including a really thorough Wiki page (but beware the spoilers).

There’s also a pretty awesome pen & paper RPG coming out soon from Evil Hat Studios.  It’s already for sale in PDF for folks who aren’t averse to books in electronic format.  Since we’re discussing Dresden in other media, there are also graphic novels and a short-lived TV show.

I am on the third book, Grave Peril, now, and Butcher’s first-person narrative style has really grabbed me. I often find first-person a little constraining, but Butcher knows his character so well he’s never at loss for letting the reader know exactly what he or she needs to, while holding back certain tantalizing elements for later revelations.

It’s kind of nice being late to the game.  For a while at least, when I finish a book, I can just grab the next one in line.  I’ll catch up eventually, but my assiduous avoidance of spoilers for Dresden has paid off!

–Scott

P.S. If you’re already familiar with Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files and you’re interested in exploring other urban fantasy writers’ work, check out the Urban Fantasy Writers web site, and you can get some decent mileage out of a similar keyword search on our Catalog.

P.P.S. I have only read the first two Harry Potter books, so please don’t tell me how it ends!