Browsing all articles tagged with historical fantasy.
Angry Robot Purchases Dan Hanks Debut
Today we are thrilled to announce that our own Dan Hanks is to be published by Angry Robot Books! Dan has been with our team since 2012 and we can’t wait to read his debut novel, Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire! In post-war 1952, the good guys are supposed to have won. […]
Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn – Series Review
Japanese Game of Thrones. I was first drawn to Japanese samurai stories as a nine-year-old, when the miniseries based on James Clavell’s Shogun graced the little screen for five straight nights. Besides being the first time I ever saw suggestion of the hanky-panky happening on television, what struck me the most was the exotic customs […]
A Ritual of Bone by Lee C. Conley
The land of Arnar is menaced by a vicious plague, a tribe of savage cannibals and a growing tide of the living dead summoned by a dark ritual. Warriors, hunters, nobles and ordinary folk will all have to become heroes if their home is to be saved from the cursed hordes. That’s A Ritual of […]
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
When we last left our intrepid heroines, they had just received word from Mina Murray, Mary’s governess, that their help was urgently needed for one Lucinda van Helsing. That’s right. If Dr. Seward and Renfield appearing in the previous book weren’t enough, it’s official. We’re in vampire territory. A quick update for those who either […]
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
First, a disclaimer: This book draws heavily on various Victorian and pre-Victorian speculative fiction, as does its sequel (which I will review next month). I was a very precocious teen and actually read all the novels referenced in this book during high school, so I can’t say whether or not the book would be as […]
Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
“So desperate are you to speak to us that you see us everywhere. You look across your borders, your walls, and instead of your neighbours, you see us. As your ships sail further and countries and continents discover each other, you see not each other. You see us. You want to see us.” Jeannette Ng’s […]
Seven Deadly Swords by Peter Sutton
For every sin, a sword For every sword, a curse For every curse, a death Reymond joined the Crusades to free the Holy Land from the Saracens and win glory for himself. Instead, with six others, he found himself bound under a sorcerer’s curse: the Seven Sins personified. Doomed to eternal life and with the […]
The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden – Spoiler Free Review
This is the third and final book in The Winternight Trilogy. It resumes directly after the events of the second book, The Girl in the Tower. As with the previous books, this sequel is influenced by Russian folklore and is partly set in Moscow. Once again, we follow Vasilisa “Vasya” Petrovna, a young girl trying […]
Peter Haynes Interview – The Willow by Your Side
Peter Haynes’ debut novel The Willow by Your Side has just been published by Unsung Stories. It is a haunting exploration of British folklore, mythology and landscape set after World War I, and follows the journey of a boy into the magical woods to find his missing sister. Peter Haynes was kind enough to speak […]
Frances Hardinge Interview – A Skinful of Shadows
Frances Hardinge is one of the finest fantasy authors around. Her inventive and beautifully written YA novels, the most recent of which is A Skinful of Shadows (2017), are widely loved by readers of all ages and have received many awards. They run the gamut from richly invented fantasy worlds populated by homicidal geese or […]
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
Today is May 4, coincidentally the 99th anniversary of the first popular protest in China’s history. Due to the somber tone of The Poppy War, I am eschewing my usual levity in this review. In my review of Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon, I proclaimed to be an avid student of Napoleonic History. If there’s […]
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay
Under Heaven is the first book in the Under Heaven duology. It is set in a fictionalized version of the Tang Dynasty of 8th Century China and contains a masterful story of family, intrigue and power. “The world is not something to be understood. It is vanity, illusion to even try.” This was my first […]
