Browsing all articles by Nicole Singer.
iPods in Narnia
Okay, so there weren’t iPods in Narnia…but there are in ancient Egypt. Sort of. If you read Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles. A lot of fantasy writers find it tricky to balance the more fantastical elements of their world with the myriad of cool, real-world gadgets their characters can access these days. Riordan is one of […]
Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley
I was a little surprised how much I liked this book. A race of birds? Songbirds that fly in and out of people’s lungs? Sky vessels and squallwhales? There’s plenty of quirkiness to go around, and while it might catch some readers off guard, I found it utterly charming and entrancing! The worldbuilding was fresh […]
Two Characters Walk into a Bar…
What is it about bars, pubs and taverns that makes them so darn fun to read about in fantasy? I don’t know about you, but I get a gleeful little kick when authors create the perfect watering holes where characters can wander in and grab a drink. The right bar setting can become iconic: Mos […]
Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith
Karina Sumner-Smith’s debut novel is an edgy tale of friendship and the dark economies of magic. She twists traditional fantasy elements in utterly unique ways and creates an overall enjoyable read. Xhea lives on the rough streets of the Lower City, below the floating towers of the City where those with innate magic trade and […]
My Favorite Lessons from Independence Day
This weekend is the Fourth of July holiday here in the States, and while that doesn’t mean squat for the rest of the world, it does give us all the perfect excuse to revisit an old-school sci-fi favorite: Independence Day. A major summer blockbuster of 1996—can you believe it’s almost 20 years old?!—it introduced sci-fi […]
Friendships in Fantasy
While there’s something to be said for great romances in fantasy (trust me, I love ‘em), it’s really the genre’s deep, unswerving friendships that drive it forward and keep us all scrambling for the shelves. It’s hard to turn around without bumping into classic examples like Sam and Frodo, or Harry, Ron and Hermione. Throw in […]
Second Olympus by K. A. Stewart
Dozens of authors have tried their hands at variations on Greek gods-themed storylines over the years—so much so that these stories often start to feel a bit stale—which is why I was thrilled with K.A. Stewart’s wholly fresh spin on it in SECOND OLYMPUS. Let’s look at the plot first. Here’s the jacket blurb. The […]
A Genre for the Ages
Think back to the first time you picked up a fantasy book. What was it? How old were you? For most of us, the answer is probably pretty young. I remember Sherwood Smith’s Wren To The Rescue and Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle In Time series were some of my earliest favorites. Some of the other middle […]
This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Last year, I unexpectedly fell in love with the YA space opera THESE BROKEN STARS, so I was excited to see where Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner took the story next in THIS SHATTERED WORLD. The story introduces two new main characters, Jubilee “Lee” Chase—a stone-cold military captain at age 18—and Flynn Cormac—the peace-desiring leader […]
Beloved Fantasy and Sci-Fi Movies of the 80s
Ah, the 80s. A decade of big hair, shoulder pads, and questionable movie soundtracks. I don’t know about you, but I have great memories of 80s fantasy—granted, some of those memories are the “I-love-it-and-love-to-make-fun-of-it” kind. Others are pure excellence that still holds up after all these years. Here are some of the throwback classics of […]
The Start Of All New Things
With the New Year not long gone in our rear-view mirrors, it’s a perfect time to ponder “fresh starts” in fantasy. Usually, they signal a momentous turning point in the plot or in the development of our beloved characters. And those starts can come in many forms. Reigns Power switches or coups are popular in […]
Fantasy Makes History Cool
I’m a history major at heart, so one of the things I love seeing in fantasy is how authors draw on real-world history to fuel their worlds. Whether it be historical events, people or cultures, it always keeps me intrigued. Fantasy, perhaps more so than any genre besides historical fiction, has a chance to delve […]
