Brian Jacques: An Appreciation
Chloe Smith
Brian Jacques died on February 5, 2011. He was 71, and he leaves behind him the legacy of a full and successful career: 39 published books, including 21 in his…
Chloe Smith
What Makes ‘Epic Fantasy’ Epic?
What does the term “epic fantasy” make you think of? For most people, even most well-read, card-carrying members of the fantastic-fiction-reading community, these words conjure an image of a very…
Sandman Slim: A Novel by Richard Kadrey
Vacation season is coming and it’s time to give yourself a break, stretch out by the pool or on the beach, and distract yourself with a relaxing summertime read about…demons,…
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
This is the first in a semi-occasional series that examines classic or influential YA and children’s fantasy—the sorts of books that fantasy fans remember as the stories that brought them…
Kraken: An Anatomy by China Miéville
They say there are no new stories, just tropes, myths and archetypes that appear over and over again in different guises. This is, perhaps, especially the case in genres such…
Going Old School: Re-Re-Defining Urban Fantasy
I have a confession: I have not always maintained my current, high-intensity level of fantasy fandom. There was a period (which coincided with several years of full-time school), during which…
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
The best thing about Felix Gilman’s latest novel, The Half-Made World, is without a doubt the world it introduces us to. In shape and ambiance, it has shades of the…
Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis
Although they may seem to be two separate books, Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis are in fact two halves of a massive science fiction novel released six months…