If I hadn’t been struck down yesterday by the Respiratory Bug of Suck, I would totally have gone to a bookstore today to buy Jim Hines’ new novel The Stepsister Scheme. Curse you, cold!

No, really. I enjoyed Jim’s goblin books, but this time he’s gotten away from those icky little blue guys and gone on to princesses! NINJA PRINCESSES! Which are, as everyone knows, the best kind.

Okay, so, yeah, this time he’s written a book so far up my alley it would be in my house if only I had the energy to go buy it. But if ninja princesses aren’t a big enough selling point on their own (what’s wrong with you people?), then I can also vouch for the author’s sense of humour and ability to play interestingly within the rules of the story-paradigm he’s exploring. Last time that was D&D-style fantasy; this time, it’s fairy tales, with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella going all Charlie’s Angels on their problems. I do not know yet if there are any villains as awesome as Maleficent, but if not — hey! jimhines! Get on that!

I’m tempted to just let Amazon deliver it to my door, thus saving me a trip to the bookstore, but that would be going against my own advice, so I’ll have to wait a bit longer before I can read this one. But those of you who aren’t ill? You have no excuse.