ToDo“GLOW” wrestles with character issues B2

Author Slaughter to sign copies of newest book Aug. 28 in Denver

Karin Slaughter, the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, will appear in Denver on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. Slaughter will discuss and sign copies of her latest novel, “The Last Widow.” Tickets for the event are $27.99, which will get you a copy of the book and a place in the signing line. For more infor-mation, visit www.tatteredcover.com.

Oak trees have many usesOaks are an important source of hardwood timber for lumber, fuel, barrels and railroad ties. All oaks produce acorns, an important source of food for wildlife. Acorns are edible to humans too, but are bitter and require a lot of processing to leach out the bitter compounds before they are palatable. The most common oak in the central Rocky Mountains is the shrub, Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii).

– Courtesy Cheyenne Botanic Gardens, www.botanic.org

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 2019 WYOMING TRIBUNE EAGLE SECTION B

of newest book Aug. 28 in DenverKarin Slaughter, the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, will appear in Denver on Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Book Store, 2526 E. Colfax Ave. Slaughter will discuss and sign copies of her latest novel, “The Last Widow.” Tickets for the

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By Ellen FikeWyoming Tribune Eagle

C.J. Box is quick to let people know that there will be a new Joe Pickett coming out next year.

He’s asked about his famous sheriff regularly at his book sign-ings. But the questions about Pickett have ramped up lately, due to the fact that he’s releasing the latest entry in the Cassie Dewell series.

“There are some people who come to my signings that are more into Joe Pickett and some prefer the standalones,” he said. “I’m ba-sically working on two series, which I didn’t plan on doing. But I’m about a chapter and a half away from finishing the next Joe Pickett novel, so people who ask me about that at the signings can start anticipating it.”

Fans of Box’s writing (and he has plenty of them, especially in the Front Range area) can get the chance to hear him speak and ob-tain a signed copy of his latest novel, “The Bitterroots,” on Aug. 20 when he will appear at the Laramie County Library.

This is the fourth novel in the Cassie Dewell series, but as men-tioned earlier, Box didn’t intend to create a second series. Howev-

er, he enjoys writing about Cassie so much that he likes to return to her stories every couple of years.

She first debuted in the 2013 novel “The Highway.” While Box figured that book would just be a standalone title he penned in the midst of working on one of the many Joe Pickett ones, the recep-tion from readers was over-whelmingly positive.

“People seem to really like her, which is one of the reasons I enjoy coming back to her,” he said. “I

probably will write another book in her series, but it’s still a lit-tle too early to say. I’m fo-cused on writing another Joe Pickett book at this moment.”

“The Bitterroots” follows Cassie starting her own pri-vate practice after getting out of police work. After an old friend contacts Cassie, asking for help to exonerate a young man who’s accused of assault-ing a woman from an influen-tial family, Cassie heads to the Bitterroot Mountains of Mon-tana to dig up the truth.While the book is a part of a se-

ries, that doesn’t mean you need to have read the other three sto-ries to pick this one up. However, Box did admit that if you’ve read the other books in Cassie’s series, the experience will be richer.

He intentionally writes both Cassie and Joe’s series for new readers to be able to come into the story and understand what’s going on. Many times, a new fan will check out his current new story, then go back to the beginning.

To make sure he did as much as he could to perfect the story, Box went up to the Montana moun-tains to do research. While he was going to create a fictional place, he still wanted to make

sure that his readers could recog-nize the area, especially if they were from there.

While his wife and daughters are always his go-to first readers with all of his books, Box credited them for helping him shape Cassie into a well-rounded character.

“If I got something wrong about being a woman, they’re going to tell me,” he joked. “I defi-nitely have to get into a dif-ferent mindset when I’m writing Cassie’s books, though. But I wanted her to be different from Joe. She’s a bit of a bulldog. She’s a single mother. She gets to travel around the west, whereas Joe is a state employee. I want to make Cassie both sympathetic and real-istic.”

Ellen Fike is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s features editor. She can be reached at 307-633-3135 or efike@wyomingnews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @EllenLFike.

Wyoming author to hold signing at Laramie County LibraryIf you goWhat: Wyoming author C.J. Box will speak and sign copies of his new book, “The Bitterroots.”

When: Aug. 20, 7 p.m.

Where: Cottonwood Room, Laramie County Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave.

Cost: Free admission

Phone: 307-634-3561

Online: www.lclsonline.org

BOX IS BACK IN TOWN

Cassie starting her own pri-vate practice after getting out of police work. After an old friend contacts Cassie, asking for help to exonerate a young man who’s accused of assault-ing a woman from an influen-tial family, Cassie heads to the Bitterroot Mountains of Mon-tana to dig up the truth.

Wyoming

sign copies of his

Library, 2200 Pioneer Ave.

By Todd MartensLos Angeles Times

The drama comes quickly in “Fire Emblem: Three Houses,” the latest in Nintendo’s wonderfully weird, soap op-

era-worthy sword-and-sor-cery fairy tale franchise.

A teacher introduces her medical practice by also noting that she’s single and ready to mingle. A stu-dent lays the groundwork for doubting that you’re truly your father’s daughter. An academic administrator says, “We try to avoid discrimination based on so-cial status,” but, well, you know how the upper class can be, so get used to it.

And then there’s the professor who can’t borrow a book without returning it full of crumbs and grease stains.

Who has time for what may or may not be an oppressive religion, a tenuous peace agreement that threatens to send an empire into a war and a ghost-like creature who randomly appears to re-wind time, a female specter who is keeping you alive even though she in-

troduces herself by essentially saying she isn’t sure why she’s even bothering?

No wonder one of the first characters you meet offers this warning: “Is your calendar clear? This will take awhile.”

Part “Game of Thrones” and part “Harry Potter,” with way more comi-cally disastrous rom-com elements than either of them, “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” can be a lot to manage. But it’s the best sort of overwhelming – a romance that’s also a high school drama that’s also an incredibly complex fanta-sy strategy game that also provides a sly dose of political commentary.

There’s no shortage of members of the establishment who seem to like the way things are, which gives the game an underlying generational tension that mirrors our own political discourse. But regardless of age, the most likable characters in “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” are those with the idealistic belief things can get better, repeatedly reminding us that the old way of doing things isn’t necessarily the best way.

“FIRE EMBLEM: THREE HOUSES” IS NINTENDO AT ITS MOST FLIRTATIOUS

“Fire Emblem: Three Houses” explores romance in a sword and sorcery setting. Nintendo/TNS

GAME REVIEW

See “Three Houses”, page B3