Wet Magic

This time last year, my reading went through a damp patch: part genuine synchronicity, part following through a theme.

( Four books )

All this came to mind today, because I had been reading Fiona Cooper's Empress of the Seven Oceans, and only gradually realising that while this book fitted many categories - it is a lesbian romance, a feminist bodice-ripper, a piece of glorious wish-fulfillment - it is also a fantasy steeped in water magic. It's wonderfully written, with passages of lush description punctuated by sheer fun; there is darkness in it, but I realised with surprise that the single word that best summed up my impression was "cheerful".