Lightlark’s novellas, ORO & GRIM, somehow ruin the series I thought I knew what this book was long before it was published. It was announced shortly after the third Lightlark book, Skyshade, was released. Alex Aster teased it as something for fans of both…

Here's the full text, up on my blog as always!
crowdefeatsbooks.wordpress.com/2026/04/17/l...

Lightlark 3.5: Novellas ORO & GRIM make everything worse YouTube video by Crow Caller

youtu.be/vUilucRyHdY

Lightlark 3.5, aka the novellas ORO and GRIM, are.... Woof, rough. Here's my 3.5 hour in depth review! Text version is up on my blog.

A "novella with some prequel and some retelling" ought to be simple. Yet. This makes the men repulsive and BOY does it hate women (xcept Isla)

Reading Crowntide, Lightlark #4, by Alex Aster! Boy, if only her publisher let her write instead of making her publish 3 books a year— I've never seen a series get so noticeably worse in prose, quality, plot, EVERYTHING. I didn't like lightlark, but at least it felt like someone tried somewhere. ☠️

I continue!! My video review of Oro/Grim (Lightlark book 3.5) should be out fairly soon. Excited to have it out— it's an absolute mess of misogyny, plot holes, and slop. At one point a war begins, 1000s die, and ends over the course of 3 sentences. This unseen war is incredibly important, apparently

I did a lot of papercraft this year too, and love the end results. Um. It was all Fallen London again, but I'm autistic okay!!

And my fav little sequence of just dunking on sol (the first and only time He has been actually named or referred directly to)

Here's just some pages from this year......

....meanwhile, my Fallen London fancomic Creatures of Heaven hit THREE HUNDRED PAGES, I finished chapter 6 a few days ago, and excited to start 7— the final chapter! :D
I did a ton I'm really chuffed by, this continues to be such a great creative exercise. You can read it without knowing FL Btw!

My art year in review for 2025 was ALL Fallen London related (a lot of anthromorphic designs for inhumans + some ocs + That Dang Crab).

What did I get for Xmas you ask. Well. Obviously. 🦀.

.....this isn't some targeted manuever against her she just has had three novels out/coming in such a tiny period of time. BC of my health issues it takes me a while to read/review them. I'd enjoy working on something else between but we will see lol

What's up:
★finished Oro And Grim, the lightlark novellas!! Will start review later
★lightlark 4 will be read after. Can someone stop making Alex Aster publish so f---ing fast. I'm behind
★...her NEXT book starside is in like march and by the time I'm done with the above, I'll read it too
★.......so

Also there's like, a huge huge plot hole introduced that is just... irreversible. It didn't used to exist but by Alex Aster going back to write these prequels she just stumbled into making the main plot simply Impossibly Wrong.

Can someone PLEASE perform CPR on her editing team. I'm worried .

Seriously though. This book is bad in an exciting new way, where it ruins characters and things I never even liked that much. It hates Oro. I hate Oro now too, because he's an obsessive entitled stalker who ends the book going "I will die and be happy about it BC I'm not endgame." It's not subtle

Grim and Oro by Alex Aster is so far.... Despite being called fanservice, woof, the characters are unpleasant, creepy, and act bizarre.

there's a kiss (the endgame, author fav couple!) that is SO gross. I don't like kissing so I ran a poll. The overwhelming sentiment I hear is "literally gagworthy"

I am truly so sad Tyra Banks never wrote more of the series, it would have been incredibly fascinating to see what she would have done considering book one has a ""conventional"" plot (ugly girl goes to model school, doesn't feel she belongs, chooses to stay and prove self). What was book 2...

Modelland: Tyra Bank's Nightmarish Fever Dream YA Novel YouTube video by Crow Caller

youtu.be/cxd3cnfqPcI
AT LAST! My 4 hour review of Tyra Banks' MODELLAND is here! Text version is linked in the video description.

Modelland is Everything to me. Modelland is Nothing to me. I don't think it's a good book but I would take a bullet for it. Modelland is... Modelland.

I'm using the dust jacket for The Golem's Eye, but underneath.... It's Oro Grimming time folks

Modelland review is......... Done!!!!!!
(Slumps over. Film soon ish. Editor very busy but hopefully out soon Ish.)

A photograph taken as if a first person video game POV, a hand holds a decorative dagger fearfully towards a copy of GRIM & ORO by Alex Aster. The book is sitting on a small chair in a dingy dungeon like basement of some sort

manifested in my house

(New #lightlark . Before the other new one comes out in... Two months. Hey, publishing industry? y'all okay?)

Wrote about 7k last week, bringing Modelland review up to 22k. I'm about halfway through coverage. Really might be my longest video yet, because there's simply.... So much to discuss. Too much to unpack. Modelland is everything and also nothing

Back at it again 🫡

Look, next video I'll get to the Correspondence and judgements and... Maybe the woods in winter and....... Maybe the White......... And...................

An introduction to the world of Fallen London YouTube video by Crow Caller

My introduction to the universe of #FallenLondon is here!

This is a 'No prior knowledge required' guide to the universe and lore of Fallen London.

I want to take your hand and drag you into the Weird Crime Cave that Victorian England fell into. It's neat. There's a crab.

youtu.be/6ZDiXUTvycg?...

Comic pages i really like for a scene i really really like :)

Me in theory: I'll use bluesky to mostly post about my YouTube work, and keep it 'semi-professional'
Me in practice: 🦀..........

Also been working on my Fallen London webcomic again, which is nearly 300 (three hundred!) pages
[You don't need to know FL to understand it, it's highly speculative pre-canon]

comicfury.com/read/suncrab...

Still existing— ever a rough time.

I have filmed my "beginner's guide to world of Fallen London" video at last, so that's being edited.

I am still chipping away at Modelland review.

I am still thinking about that damn crab

Just an alien crab freak...... In love ❤️

Modelland review update: it's gonna be like 3 hours+ and it's going to cause exciting levels of psychic damage. This book really is so so so so Much it's perhaps even The Most