Browsing all articles by A. M. Justice.
The Blighted City by Scott Kaelen
The Blighted City begins with a quest and ends with a beautiful contemplation of filial love, loyalty, duty, and grief in a story that blazes a trail out of standard epic fantasy into a really fresh, original science fantasy narrative. The novel starts with an engaging first chapter in which Maros, a retired mercenary and […]
Between the Shade and the Shadow by Coleman Alexander
Between the Shade and the Shadow has a haunting, fast paced narrative that kept me enchanted from beginning to end. A gripping coming-of-age story about a rebellious adolescent girl and her wolf companion, it’s Island of the Blue Dolphins meets The Golden Compass meets The Hunger Games, except in this case, the heroine isn’t human. […]
Wraith Knight and Wraith Lord by C. T. Phipps – Double Book Review
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for book one of the series. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish Wraith Knight. When Wraith Lord, the sequel to C. T. Phipps’ outstanding Wraith Knight, opens, protagonist Jacob Riverson has a few problems: 1. He has two wives, and they’re mad at each other. […]
El Ministerio del Tiempo (Ministry of Time) – TV Series Review
I am a sucker for costume dramas. If a show involves somebody wearing farthingales, I will give it a try, and I’ll usually hang in there even if it’s not that great. Usually on the stationary bike, I’ll pedal along, admiring fashions, upholstery, and candelabras. I’ve watched my share of mediocre historical dramas and fantasies, […]
Warriors by Erin Hunter – Series Review
When I hear my twelve-year-old weeping, I know one of two things is happening: a) she’s reached the climax of another Warriors book, or b) there’s been another tragic death in a Warriors book. This massive series has been my daughter’s singular book obsession for roughly a quarter of her life. She occasionally takes a […]
Temporal Anomalies: Timekeeping in Fantasy
Humans are OCD about time. We obsess over birthdays and anniversaries and are ruled by the work week. We live for the weekend and look forward to holidays with either joy or dread, depending on which relatives are coming over. We count the seconds until midnight on New Year’s, and we count the billions of […]
Great Fantasy Films From Yesteryear
Before I begin, as I wrote this title I thought, “How did the 1970s become yesteryear?” I have to keep reminding myself that there are adults out there—many of them friends—who were born two decades after my childhood years. So yes, Amanda, your own lifetime includes yesteryears and bygone eras. But let’s get to it. […]
Jordskott: Seasons 1 and 2 – TV Series Review
How far would you go to protect your child? Would you destroy a community? Commit genocide? Kill another’s child? On the Swedish urban fantasy crime drama Jordskott, the answer to these questions is often yes. Jordskott could be described as The Killing meets Trollhunter. It begins when Eva Thörnblad (Moa Gammel), a troubled police detective, […]
Annihilation – Movie Review
Spoiler Warning: This review contains minor spoilers for the movie Annihilation. Please read with caution if you have yet to see the movie. You can find our review of the book Annihilation, on which the movie is based, here. Annihilation is one of those rare films where the writer/director tossed a whole lot of science fiction […]
The Problem with Abandoning the “Strong Female Character”
Yet another descriptor has been caught in the verboten term net. Recently, several essays have appeared arguing that people should stop using the term “strong female character” (SFC) or “strong female protagonist” because a) The SFC has become just another trope in speculative fiction, providing authors with another cardboard token with which to people their […]
La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
How many times have you read something that made you gasp aloud? I’ve cried pretty liberally over events—Dobbie’s death and burial (HP and the Deathly Hallows), the duel between Ammar and Rodrigo (Lions of Al-Rassan), Frodo’s departure for the Blessed Lands (Return of the King)—but I can’t remember gasping aloud at a single word uttered […]
Beren and Lúthien by J.R.R. Tolkien
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Beren and Lúthien contains echoes of Romeo and Juliet, Rapunzel, and the Orpheus and Persephone myths. In it, Lúthien—a demigod elf princess whom Tolkien refers to both as a “mere maid” and “the greatest of the children of Iluvatar”—singlehandedly defeats Morgoth, the Big Bad of the First Age of Middle Earth. The story […]
