Back in the days of Twitter, EM Anderson and I followed each other and played various indie writer games together. It was WILD to see their book in the library one day. I picked it up as carefully as one does a dream.

After the death of her son, Edna Fisher unraveled, knitted herself back together, and retired in a nursing home where nobody looks down on her for the lack of family visits. Life is boring and safe. That all changes, thank God, when she’s declared The Chosen One and shoved off on her destiny to defeat a dragon-riding terrorist. With her anxious nurse by her side, where exactly will this adventure take her?

The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher is at once a cozy finding of family, a cheerful poking of Chosen One tropes, and a serious evaluation of trauma and the choice to confront, process, and overcome. These elements are a lot to spin. The juggling isn’t always easy, but it was ultimately done well. I loved Clem and Edna, and what they both brought to, and took from, the quest. Edna felt like a strangely underpowered character–she doesn’t call back to eighty years of stories and living in a manner I associate with an older person. Then again, she also takes WAY more dings than an old person can survive, haha. That’s a power too. I was a bit disappointed with the secret reason for Edna’s Chosen One status.

It isn’t because of herself, but because of her relationship to the Big Bad.

However!!! For most of the book I was kicking my feet and giggling! The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher is a good, solid first novel and I’m excited to witness my old colleague improve their craft!