Browsing all articles in Reviews.
The Hollow Crown by Jeff Wheeler
Spoiler Warning: While what follows is a spoiler-free look at The Hollow Crown, discussion of the 5th book in a series and the start of a new trilogy necessarily “spoils” much of what came before. If you plan on reading Wheeler’s Kingfountain novels but haven’t quite gotten around to it yet, suffice it to say […]
The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith-Spark
As I recall, the first rumours I heard of the book that became The Court of Broken Knives was seeing the author’s lament on social media that an agent had found it too brutal, too gory, too grimdark to contemplate representing it. Nonetheless – as has happened to so many authors – one agent’s poison […]
SPFBO3: The First Five Fall…
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off officially began on July 1st! In case you missed it, here’s what Fantasy-Faction has posted so far: Our announcement Introducing round one Cover contest winners And of course you can keep track of everything relating to round one on the SPFBO page on Mark Lawrence’s blog. HUGE thanks to my fellow SPFBO judges […]
Castlevania – TV Series Review
You know, when I first heard that Netflix was doing a four-episode animated Castlevania TV series, I have to admit, I wasn’t really all that interested. I mean, let’s face it, video game adaptations don’t exactly have a great reputation these days. And, even without having actually played the games, I could tell that a […]
The Ancient Magus’ Bride by Kore Yamazaki – Volumes 1-7 Series Review
Do you like folklore? Pretty imagery? Stories reminiscent of fairytales without being a direct retelling or adaptation? If so, you should read The Ancient Magus’ Bride. The Ancient Magus’ Bride is the story of Chise Hatori, a girl who happens to be able to see into another realm. Unfortunately, what Chise often sees is frightening. […]
Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
“I’ve recently discovered that people rarely tell the whole truth.” “Is that what you’re here to do then, Kellen?” Osia’phest asked hopefully. “Tell the whole truth?” I smiled. “No, my Lords Magi, I’m not here for that.” In Spellslinger, the first book in Sebastien de Castell’s new young adult fantasy series, Kellen, a young mage-in-training […]
The Rift by Nina Allan
“Remember when we were small, Selena, the worlds we made? I was happy then, at home in the world in a way I’ve never been since. Perhaps it was my dis-ease with the world that lost me my place in it.” “No book is completely true or completely a lie. A famous philosopher at the […]
The New Voices of Fantasy edited by Peter S. Beagle and Jacob Weisman
If these ladies and gentlemen represent the future of fantasy we are in for a wild and terrific ride. All the stories have been published since 2010 so whilst they might not be technically new, their writers are blossoming, following new and different paths to their humble beginnings. Being excellent examples of their kind you […]
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys
“It’s one thing to say that humanity is ultimately unimportant in the face of the cosmos. It’s another to stand before someone who believes, deep down, that your pain is trivial.” “We’re all monsters, or related to monsters, one way or another.” H. P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936) is one of the writer’s […]
City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first two books in The Divine Cities trilogy. Read with caution if you have yet to finish City of Stairs and City of Blades. City of Miracles completes Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Divine Cities trilogy (which also includes City of Stairs and City of Blades). On the […]
Urskuul’s Reading Circle: The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first two books in the Bone Season series: The Bone Season and The Mime Order. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first two books. Good afternoon lovely people! And, for those of you who are reading this in a different time zone, […]
Wizards at War by Diane Duane
At long last, I can finally say something I’ve wanted to say since reading Wizard’s Holiday but couldn’t, for fear of spoilers: How about that cliffhanger? I haven’t seen a cliffhanger in one of Diane Duane’s books before – and given that I’ve made it through nearly a dozen, I do think I can say […]
