European Dragons: From the North and East
Leo Elijah Cristea
Our final destination on our worldwide dragon journey is Europe. I know, I know—not very exciting, is it? But wait! Having looked specifically at Chinese dragons last time, it’s only…
fantasy
Fantasy Book Club – February 2014: Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
Lisa Taylor
For February, our book club has selected The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. I have heard so much praise for Kay’s books and that his prose is just…
Beauty by Sarah Pinborough
Phil Norris
Beauty is the retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale; all the elements are here, the impenetrable forest, the cursed princess and the handsome prince. This final story in Sarah…
Fandom and Creativity
Fandom is a funny thing. It’s also a complex thing with practically a life of its own; an organic organism that has taken on a different meaning besides stereotypical lines…
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
Karl Wolfenden
Get ready to enjoy your next bite of Steven Erikson’s bountiful feast, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, when you tuck into book two of the series, Deadhouse Gates. Deadhouse…
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
CptNemo
This is one of the tenderly beautiful children’s books that is written with wit and an elegant simplicity for all ages. A close comparison that I’m sure many of you…
A Dance of Mirrors by David Dalglish
Nicholas Schmiedicker
A Dance of Blades was much the same as A Dance of Cloaks, in fact, as I mentioned, it wasn’t different enough, in my humble opinion, to warrant an entire…
The Whatnot by Stefan Bachmann
Dan Hanks
I can only imagine that after writing an astonishing debut novel (and one of Fantasy-Faction’s best of 2013), it would be difficult to maintain such high quality in any subsequent…
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Steff Humm
It’s been a year since Peter Jackson took us back to Middle Earth and Bilbo Baggins set out on An Unexpected Journey. After mixed reviews, the consensus seemed to be…
Banished by Liz de Jager
Hierath
Liz De Jager’s debut novel, Banished, is set in a world where the borders between the realm of Faerie and our own world, the Frontier, are thin and porous. It’s…
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
KJ Braxton
This review contains spoilers! Please read with caution if you have yet to finish The Wise Man’s Fear. When readers have been waiting more than a year for a sequel…
The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar
Alister Davison
Let me start by admitting this is the most difficult review I’ve had to write. It’s taken me a few weeks to analyse my thoughts and bring them into coherent…