Tansy Rayner Roberts
Author of Cranky Ladies of History
About the Author
Tansy Rayner Roberts was born on May 22, 1978 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. She is a graduate of the University of Tasmania with a Bachelors of Arts (Honours) and PhD in Classics. Her first novel entitled Splashdance Silver was published in 1998. Some of her other books include Liquid Gold, Ink show more Black Magic, The Creature Court trilogy (Power and Majesty, The Shattered City, and Reign of Beasts), Love and Romanpunk (short stories), Musketeer Space, Cookie Cutter Superhero, and Of War and Wings. Her work has received awards. She won the 2015 Ditmar Awards Best Collected Work for her editing, along with Tehani Wessely, of Cranky Ladies of History. She also won a 2015 Ditmar Awards Best Fan Publication for Galactic Suburbia, along with Alisa Krasnostein and Alexandra Pierce. In 2018, she won the 2017 Aurealis Award for the category, The Convenors' Award for Excellence, with her work, The Fictional Mother. Her novella, Girl Reporter, won the 2017 Aurealis Award for the Best science-fiction novella. And she was awarded the 2018 Ditmar Award for best novella, for Girl Reporter. Her nonfiction includes 50 Roman Mistresses: scandal, virtue and womanhood in Ancient Rome, Rereading the Empire trilogy, and other works. She also writes crime fiction under the name Livia Day. Her first mystery novel was A Trifle Dead. She is also a podcaster and blogger and is the overseas regional director of SFWA. . (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Livia Day is the crime pseudonym of fantasy author Tansy Rayner Roberts.
Image credit: photo taken by Andrew Finch 29/01/06
Series
Works by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Pratchett's Women: Unauthorised Essays on Female Characters of the Discworld (2014) 33 copies, 1 review
AustrAlien absurdities : comic tales of science fiction, fantasy & horror by Australian writers (2001) — Editor — 13 copies
Curse of Bronze 6 copies
Tomb of Brass 5 copies
Team Queen 5 copies
A Wicked Blade 3 copies
Teacup Magic: The Second Collection 3 copies
Salon Faerie 3 copies
They Keep Killing Astra: a cookie cutter superhero story — Author — 3 copies
House of Gargoyles 3 copies
Saucers and Sorcery 3 copies
From Baby Brain to Writer Brain: Writing Through A World of Parenting Distractions (Writer Chaps) (2021) 3 copies
Dance and Macabre: a triptych — Author — 3 copies
Fairy Godmother Express 2 copies
Bonnets at Dawn 2 copies
Hotel Charybdis 2 copies
Cooking with Cobwebs 2 copies
A Taste for Skulls 2 copies
Fleshy 2 copies
Crimson as a Ruby (was the heart) 2 copies
Girls Who Read Austen 2 copies
Gentlewomen of the Press: Essays 2 copies
Ray Guns for Ladies 2 copies
Super Spy Science Secret Santa 2 copies
Death at the Dragon Circus 2 copies
Echo and Narcissus 2 copies
Eating Dormice 2 copies
Feathers — Author — 2 copies
Witchy Ways: A Gamebook 2 copies
The Fictional Mother 1 copy
Hags, Portents & Parasols 1 copy
Garments of the Dead 1 copy
The Alchemy of Fine 1 copy
Romancing the WWW 1 copy
Relentless Adaptations 1 copy
Rosebuds 1 copy
Fruit and Mirrors 1 copy
Prosperine When It Sizzles 1 copy
Roman Revels 1 copy
Poets Behaving Badly 1 copy
The Bluebell Vengeance 1 copy
Lucky Tart 1 copy
Caesar & Cleopatra: A Playlist — Author — 1 copy
Death by Snow 1 copy
The Year of Critical Rolls 1 copy
Delta Void and the Stray God 1 copy
New Ceres Issue 1 1 copy
Charm or Dare 1 copy
Weddings for Peacocks 1 copy
The Spellcracker Papers 1 copy
Associated Works
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction (2012) — Author — 160 copies, 4 reviews
Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories (2014) — Contributor — 123 copies, 6 reviews
Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who (2012) — Contributor — 103 copies, 3 reviews
Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction for a Time of Pandemic (2020) — Contributor — 35 copies, 3 reviews
Companion Piece: Women Celebrate the Humans, Aliens and Tin Dogs of Doctor Who (2015) — Contributor — 34 copies, 2 reviews
Heiresses of Russ 2014: The Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction (2014) — Contributor — 28 copies
Dukes of Magic: A Limited Edition Paranormal Historical Romance Anthology — Author, some editions — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Roberts, Tansy Rayner
- Other names
- Day, Livia
- Birthdate
- 1978
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- author
- Nationality
- Australia
- Places of residence
- Tasmania, Australia
- Disambiguation notice
- Livia Day is the crime pseudonym of fantasy author Tansy Rayner Roberts.
- Associated Place (for map)
- Tasmania, Australia
Members
Reviews
I helped kickstart this but at the time I could only afford the e-book and because I am a bear of very little brain I kept forgetting to download it (and when I remembered, the tablet battery was flat). So I was glad to be able to snaffle a print copy off Tansy at Continuum this year.
It's GREAT and it's QUEER and there's NON-BINARY REP and it's about a WRITER (well, she's one of the main POV characters) and there's THEATRICAL SHENANIGANS and I yummed it down on my commute today and now I show more want to reread the main trilogy plus like a whole bunch more of these novellas because it's such a strikingly well-built universe and the characters feel so real and just *grabby hands*. show less
It's GREAT and it's QUEER and there's NON-BINARY REP and it's about a WRITER (well, she's one of the main POV characters) and there's THEATRICAL SHENANIGANS and I yummed it down on my commute today and now I show more want to reread the main trilogy plus like a whole bunch more of these novellas because it's such a strikingly well-built universe and the characters feel so real and just *grabby hands*. show less
Adored so many things about this book. The world building -- the complexities of how the gods work, how magic works, the absolutely batshit details of the River Divine -- Roberts has added layer upon layer of detail to make a shining whole.
There are so many interesting, well fleshed out characters, and the way that they interact with each other and the story (for this is a story of Destiny, of being marked) had that feeling of there being Something To See all the time, that if I blinked I show more was going to miss an important detail (and there are definitely some hidden details. Including one that was kind of telegraphed, but I think only because I've read so many of Tansy's stories that I've started to see which direction the surprises are likely to come from).
I also really liked the way that compulsion magic was explored - what it meant to have a compulsion that overtakes an existing commitment, and other details that I think are potentially a little spoilery. show less
There are so many interesting, well fleshed out characters, and the way that they interact with each other and the story (for this is a story of Destiny, of being marked) had that feeling of there being Something To See all the time, that if I blinked I show more was going to miss an important detail (and there are definitely some hidden details. Including one that was kind of telegraphed, but I think only because I've read so many of Tansy's stories that I've started to see which direction the surprises are likely to come from).
I also really liked the way that compulsion magic was explored - what it meant to have a compulsion that overtakes an existing commitment, and other details that I think are potentially a little spoilery. show less
This retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in a world in which patrons are actually dragons, and society is divided into hoarders, who care for dragons and their hoards, and dragon hunters.
The Iverwold family’s dragon has remained in hibernation for many seasons, leaving the family without her patronage and guidance. Dimity Ivorwold worries that this leaves her brother Chambrey vulnerable to making unwise decisions, like hiring a house in the country or falling in love with a pretty show more daughter from a hunter family.
I wasn’t certain how much I would like this – I have enjoyed other books by Roberts’ (like her Teacup Magic series) but Austen’s Caroline Bingley is not a character I particularly want to spend more time with. However, I liked Dimity, and I found I enjoyed not knowing how closely the story was going to follow the events of P&P – and not being entirely sure who was going to end up with whom!
The Season of Dragons was entertaining and it became all the more so as the story progressed and dragons played a bigger role in events. I wasn’t surprised that Mr Rackham’s sister Tatiana is delightful, because she’s this story’s version of Georgiana Darcy, but I was surprised to discover that Lady Beautrice de Bramble’s dragon daughter, Quartz is equally so.
But that fits this narrative so well! This is a story focused on Dimity, i.e. a version of Caroline Bingley, and Anne de Bourgh is another young woman who doesn’t get a chance to take centre stage in Austen’s narrative. But here she gets to be a dragon and to come into her own, and that’s very satisfying
The Iverwold family’s dragon has remained in hibernation for many seasons, leaving the family without her patronage and guidance. Dimity Ivorwold worries that this leaves her brother Chambrey vulnerable to making unwise decisions, like hiring a house in the country or falling in love with a pretty show more daughter from a hunter family.
I wasn’t certain how much I would like this – I have enjoyed other books by Roberts’ (like her Teacup Magic series) but Austen’s Caroline Bingley is not a character I particularly want to spend more time with. However, I liked Dimity, and I found I enjoyed not knowing how closely the story was going to follow the events of P&P – and not being entirely sure who was going to end up with whom!
The Season of Dragons was entertaining and it became all the more so as the story progressed and dragons played a bigger role in events. I wasn’t surprised that Mr Rackham’s sister Tatiana is delightful, because she’s this story’s version of Georgiana Darcy, but I was surprised to discover that Lady Beautrice de Bramble’s dragon daughter, Quartz is equally so.
But that fits this narrative so well! This is a story focused on Dimity, i.e. a version of Caroline Bingley, and Anne de Bourgh is another young woman who doesn’t get a chance to take centre stage in Austen’s narrative. But here she gets to be a dragon and to come into her own, and that’s very satisfying
All around the country, our cave-dwelling aunts and godfathers and patronesses stretch their wings, yawn and hurl themselves into flight.
Why would you wish to be anywhere else?
Summer is for hunting and autumn is for hoarding. Winter is the long rest: for dreaming of next year’s invitation lists and dinner menus and theatrical commissions. But spring…
Spring is the season of dragons.
I was going to miss it all. My foolish twin had got it into his head that being a Gentlemen of Significance with full access to his money meant this was the occasion to hire himself a country house in the middle of nowhere and ruin my life.show less
Part Our Flag Means Death, part Regency Romance, and part Alice in Wonderland, this is a fun fantasy romp where magic goes awry, no one is who they seem, and the good guys get the girl in the end.
(Disclaimer: I haven't watched Our Flag Means Death yet, but everyone says it's a queer pirate show and that fits this story to a tee.)
I really enjoyed this wrap up to the Teacup Magic series. (At least, I think this is the final book in the series, though Rayner has indicated plans for a companion show more series.) It did a great job of bringing the series arc around and ending with a nice closure to the wedding plot that started book one, and while there is still plenty of mischief to get up to, all of the series threads have been nicely finished up here.
The characters were great, and I loved getting to know all of the very loyal, very queer pirates—sorry, privateers—onboard the Caliban. It was a nice touch having many of the main characters from prior books make a cameo appearance as well, though now I want to go back and read the first three books again because there wasn't enough of Basil (the glass hedgehog) in this one.
If you're looking for a fun pirate romp with topsy-turvy Alice In Wonderland-style logic to its magic, this might just be the book for you. show less
(Disclaimer: I haven't watched Our Flag Means Death yet, but everyone says it's a queer pirate show and that fits this story to a tee.)
I really enjoyed this wrap up to the Teacup Magic series. (At least, I think this is the final book in the series, though Rayner has indicated plans for a companion show more series.) It did a great job of bringing the series arc around and ending with a nice closure to the wedding plot that started book one, and while there is still plenty of mischief to get up to, all of the series threads have been nicely finished up here.
The characters were great, and I loved getting to know all of the very loyal, very queer pirates—sorry, privateers—onboard the Caliban. It was a nice touch having many of the main characters from prior books make a cameo appearance as well, though now I want to go back and read the first three books again because there wasn't enough of Basil (the glass hedgehog) in this one.
If you're looking for a fun pirate romp with topsy-turvy Alice In Wonderland-style logic to its magic, this might just be the book for you. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 129
- Also by
- 44
- Members
- 1,417
- Popularity
- #18,146
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 125
- ISBNs
- 120
- Favorited
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