Reviews :: Book Genre :: Fantasy :: Page 2

TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEAS might well have started with “Once Upon a Time” because it has much the same tone as any fairytale–original or modern. Tress is our main character, a teenage girl with simple wants, who also happens to be in love with the duke’s son, Charlie. But when his father discovers their budding romance, he takes the boy to court and attempts to marry him off to a young woman with more status. However, the duke underestimates the strength of Tress and Charlie’s friendship, and Charlie successfully bores the noble girls away (I know this sounds weird, but this is Sanderson and he loves his goofy camp). Unfortunately, his punishment is to be sent to fight the infamous sorceress of the Midnight Sea, which results in his capture.
And this is where Tress’ adventure begins.
Set in the world of the Cosmere, this standalone novel still has much of the same flavor as MISTBORN (with a little Terry Pratchett thrown in), but on a more […]Read the rest of this review »

When I saw the announcement for this anthology, I was totally on board. After my experience with SHADOWED SOULS (EBR Review), which was also edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie Hughes, how could I *not* immediately want to read something new from them? Granted, yes, it has a new Dresden Files story, and I am absolutely a sucker for anything Dresden these days, but even outside of the Dresden story in SHADOWED (which was AWESOME), nearly every story in that group was simply great reading.
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In THE LAST GRADUATE, our hero El and the students from the Scholomance have all survived graduation–except one. I know this is a spoiler, but you had better not come here without having read book 2, because I literally cannot talk about this book without giving spoilers. So go read it. Now. It’s totally worth it.
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In A DEADLY EDUCATION, we met Galadriel–better known as El–our heroine with an affinity for destructive magic. As a young witch, she’s a senior attending the Scholomance, a school of magic that is meant to prepare children for a world of deadly monsters. Unfortunately, over the years, the deadly monsters have decided that the Scholomance is the best hunting ground for tasty snacks (i.e.: the students). El, along with her allies and newfound friend Orion, have decided that this is the last year of the Scholomance and make a plan so over-the-top only El could have come up with it: make it so everyone can graduate. And they mean everyone.
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Jonathan Maberry is another one of those authors that just seems to put out good stuff, over and over and over again. Joe Ledger, Rot & Ruin, thrillers, stand-alones, short stories… the guy is a writing machine and seems to knock it out of the park at every turn. So when I heard he was finally going to give Epic Fantasy a go, I could hardly contain myself. Automatic pre-order, check. Anticipation extreme, you better believe it. And then, in the midst of a bunch of truly bummer reads, in swoops one of my favorite authors to save the day!

What do you think? Over-selling it a bit? Yeah, I thought so too. I mean, I know you can see the rating I gave this one from here. Ugh. Is this string of disappointments from my core favorites ever going to end?
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Tara Abernathy grew up in a village desert away from the big city. Now that small-town girl is one of the strongest users of the Craft, the law and rights-based magic which can transform bodies, compel gods, and shape the world. But today she is returning home to attend her father’s funeral. Knowing magic doesn’t make her popular with the local villagers, she’s concerned about her reception. But the village and Tara soon discover that her arrival is the only thing that will help the villagers survive.
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I’m an unabashed fan of Daniel Abraham’s work. He’s one of those for which I will literally buy anything I can get my hands on. He has a way of telling stories that resonates with me. Whether it be through epic fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction, or anything else, it consistently feels as if the man can do no wrong.

He’s said before that with each project, he sets forth with a certain goal in mind, and I can’t say that such goals have ever seemed to be at the forefront of his prose, for me. I think that’s one of the great things about his work. I can read them and enjoy the story and the characters without having to understand the author’s purpose. If he has a purpose, great. I don’t necessarily need to know what that is.

This time around however, the read left me wondering for the first time, what his motivation might have been when sitting down to pen this new novel of fantasy. Because, whatever it was, I kinda don’t get it.
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Once upon a time, there was a boy named David, and he did everything to keep his mother alive. So begins THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS by John Connelly, the story of a 12-year-old boy who tries to escape a life of trauma and disappointment only to discover that fairytales aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
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There are a lot of things someone could say to me to which my likely response would be, “Yeah right. That’ll never happen.” As of about a year ago, the possibility that another Dragonlance book would not only be written, but that it would be released as part of an entire new series, was one of those very things. I don’t know if I can properly articulate just how excited I was at the time. Dragonlance is the very first series of books that I can remember reading. The book that started it all, DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT, was the first book that I ever laid down my own personal funds to buy, on the recommendation of my good friend, Scot. That very paperback sits on my shelves today, possibly a little worse for the wear, sporting a blue squiggle from Tracy Hickman himself. The characters and stories created by those authors about the world of Krynn and its inhabitants, are all a very deep part of my childhood. Big nerd here, but you probably already knew that. 🙂
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When I watched the season of “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” I loved it. I loved how weird it was, the strange characters, the fascinating and crazy story. Totally my speed. So when my book club decided to read another of Susanna Clark’s books called PIRANESI I was on board. And like her previous books, it is just as weird and mind-bending.
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