SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

 

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society is the third novel from author C.M. Waggoner, author of one of my favorite books over the last few years: The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry. That novel, and to some extent its stand alone predecessor (Unnatural Magic) featured some lovable if zany characters in a fantasy world featuring magic, humans, trolls, and more to go along with fun queer romance. I'd missed that Waggoner wrote this third novel, which is set in our world with less of a fantasy touch, but immediately knew I had to buy this book when I saw it in a bookstore.

And really, the Village Library Demon-Hunting Society was exactly what I needed and was looking for - a light, fun, mix of murder mystery and fantasy with an excellent lead character in Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle. The story takes on the Murder She Wrote pastiche of having the amateur (Sherry) solve way too many murders in a small town in upstate New York for it to be normal, introduces a supernatural element Sherry must discover amidst a mystery, and brings it all together quite nicely. The book begins a little slow, but once the main story kicks in it becomes really hard to put down and is just excellent fun.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 14, 2026 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

The Dragon Has Some Complaints is the third novel by author John Wiswell, whose prior two books - Wearing a Lion and Someone You Can Build a Nest In - were incredibly fun, queer fantasy novels that dealt with family drama and abuse as well as unusual relationships between unusual beings (often non-human), and more.  They were really delightful stuff even as they sometimes dealt with some pretty serious themes (abuse, justice, accountability, etc.) and were some of my favorite reads of the last few years.  So I was super excited to get an advance copy of this third book, which was described like more of classic Wiswell: the story of a dragon who pretends to be tame in order to get care/food and finds himself frustrated by the conflict caused by his desire to eat his new eccentric rider and his need to keep that rider alive.  

The Dragon Has Some Complaints is actually quite a bit more than that, as it deals with the dragon Garrodigh becoming part (unwillingly) of the dragon-riding flying country of Kardoša, which faces besiegement from both a mysteriously powerful and tyrannical enemy and the overtures of a different puritanical and colonizing third nation.  The result is very good, although I don't think it reaches the heights of Wiswell's other two novels, as it deals with themes of fighting for freedom, the acceptance of refugees, and the relationships (often if not always queer) of those who are trying to make it in the new freer nation and trying to either live there or defend it.  And of course, as always with Wiswell, you have fun questions of humanity and what that means, even as the novel's centerpiece is actually a dragon.  

More specifics after the jump: 

Fantasy Novella Review: The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox is the 14th novella in Lois McMcmaster Bujold's Penric and Desdemona series (itself a spinoff of her World of the Five Gods series/universe).  I've read all of the series up to this one in audio, as audio reader Grover Gardner is typically excellent, and the audio narration is no less excellent here.  If you haven't heard of the series before it follows Penric ("Pen"), a low noble of studious persuasion, as he accidentally contracted a demon Desdemona ("Des") and as a result became a temple sorcerer.  Over the course of the series, we've followed Pen's life from a young man trying to figure out life (and his abilities with his demon) up through this novella, where he's a middle aged well established man respected for his skills and with three kids and several charges under his responsibility.   It's been a very enjoyable series, especially when Pen and Des get into new situations and experiences that require him to figure things out or do something new.

This Pen & Des novella is almost more focused upon two of Pen's children: Rina, his 12 year old going on 13 year old daughter who wishes she could have a demon or magical path to pursue as she reaches adulthood, and Otta, his 11 year old adopted daughter who does have a demon (see Demon Daughter) and is unsure how she wants to use it.  The result works really well as we see Penric deal with the next generation and how the next generation deals with Pen, although I'm going to be honest I kinda wish all the ages of the kids were a bit older.  

More after the jump (Again I read this in audio, so apologies for misspellings of names):