#gossamer axe

[queereads-bracket]

Older Queer Works Book Bracket: Round 3B

Choose a book:

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker

Gossamer Axe (1990) by Gael Baudino

Voting ended onJan 3

Book summaries below:

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

Classics, horror, epistolary, Victorian, gothic, invasion literature

Gossamer Axe (1990) by Gael Baudino

When her lover is imprisoned, Christa—a centuries-old harper—must set her free using the greatest weapon she possesses: music

In ancient Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen, a harper, was trained in the secrets of music and magic, but her curiosity and pride trapped her and her lover in the realm of the fairy folk, the Sidh. Chairiste alone managed to escape, and now, living in the modern world as Christa Cruitaire, a quiet harp teacher, she is all but resigned to her inability to win her beloved’s freedom . . . until she discovers that the volume and violence of the electric guitar and heavy metal might prove brutal enough to forcibly breach the barriers between the human and fairy worlds. With the aid of her bandmates—who must themselves overcome inner demons of abuse, addiction, and prejudice—Christa is determined to use her newfound musical power to rescue the woman she loves.

Audacious and heartfelt, Gossamer Axe is an entirely original hero’s journey, an ode to the power of music and the human spirit alike, charged with rapier-sharp social commentary.

Fantasy, urban fantasy, 1980s

[thedupshadove]

I watched Sinners on Mother's Day, and I doubt anyone in this corner of Tumblr needs me to tell them it was good, but what's been sticking in the back of my head ever since is. Um.

Is anyone here familiar with the 1990 urban fantasy novel Gossamer Axe?

[judgeitbyitscover]

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino

Cover art by Dawn Wilson

ROC, August 1990

A doorway between worlds opened, releasing Christa, her harp--and her quest. Imprisoned for centuries, she had escaped from the faery Sidh and the musician Orfide, weavers of spells and schemes. But the doorway had shut too quickly, leaving her lover behind in the endless captivity of a timeless world.

Now, in contemporary Denver, Christa discovers the way to her loved one's freedom--stunning and powerful electric music that can break down the walls of time. So this Celtic maiden turns rocker, her harp transfigures into an electric guitar, and her newly formed band of heavy metal warriors, called Gossamer Axe, becomes her most effective weapon. Equipped to take on Sidh and Orfide, her dangerous odyssey through a rock world of evil drugs and sex begins--with Christa and her all-girl band on the ultimate road tour to faraway realms!

[wiltking]

also really enjoying the theme of christian guilt / shame vs christa who is bound by none of those things

[siliquasquama]

Y’all need to read “Gossamer Axe” because the premise is “Immortal Irish harper leads a heavy-metal band to save her girlfriend from the fairies with the power of Rock”

[wizardsvslesbians]

It's our first retro episode! We read a book from 1990 in which a magical Irish harpist (who lives in Denver) takes on the immortal elves who have stolen her girlfriend using the power of heavy metal - and friendship. It's a hoot. Many thanks to my buddy Phoebe, AKA moltenglassheart, for providing the fresh guitar lick on the intro. If you'd like to check out her music (which features both heavy metal and space lesbians), head to https://soundcloud.com/moltenglassheart

New episode!  This book is a lot of fun, and I encourage you to seek it out if you can get your hands on a copy.

My friend and colleague Phoebe provided the opening guitar lick, as I am (perhaps unsurprisingly) not great at heavy metal.  I encourage you to check out her Soundcloud - particularly this concept album about hyperdimensional lovers in space.

Next up: EMPRESS OF FOREVER

[lesbianfantasybookreviews]

Gossamer Axe

by Gael Baudino

Author: Is a woman. She was a wiccan living with her partner who is a woman when she wrote the book, but became a quaker later. I’m not really sure how to feel about that.

Story/Plot: 5/5

A well written story with good pacing and enjoyable content.

Characters: 5/5

The main character is an ancient Celtic woman who is trying to free her lady love from the faery Sidh. She has a very fluid and non-monogamous sexuality, so it might be good to know that one of the people she has an intimate relationship with is a man. She forms a band made up only of women who are all endearing an sympathetic.

Tension/Drama: 4/5

So, there’s some intense content in this book including: the first fictional character with aids, a character who struggles with trauma from childhood sexual abuse, misogynistic and abusive me, and there are characters that die. Overall it’s a very powerful story and I think well worth the intensity.

Happy Ending?: 5/5

The lesbians have a satisfying ending.

[sapphicly-ever-after]

Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudin

Genre: Fantasy

Goodreads Description: In ancient Ireland, Chairiste Ní Cummen, a harper, was trained in the secrets of music and magic, but her curiosity and pride trapped her and her lover in the realm of the fairy folk, the Sidh. Chairiste alone managed to escape, and now, living in the modern world as Christa Cruitaire, a quiet harp teacher, she is all but resigned to her inability to win her beloved’s freedom . . . until she discovers that the volume and violence of the electric guitar and heavy metal might prove brutal enough to forcibly breach the barriers between the human and fairy worlds. With the aid of her bandmates—who must themselves overcome inner demons of abuse, addiction, and prejudice—Christa is determined to use her newfound musical power to rescue the woman she loves.