The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Richard Bray
As a fantasy reader who makes his living in marketing and communications, I am perhaps more jaded than most when it comes to books that are compared to some of…
historical fantasy
A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly
Joie
Think 1920s Prohibition, except alcohol is not what is illegal. Magic is. Enough damage was done by past magic users that any and all evidence of magic is shunned and…
Yseult by Ruth Nestvold – SPFBO Review: And Then There Were Five
Laura M. Hughes
The SPFBO team are making steady progress in our search for a finalist. To avoid cruelly stretching things out, we’ll be posting individual reviews for those who don’t make it…
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
Eric Christensen
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal presents an alternate World War I where a soldier’s duty doesn’t end when the shell falls or the bullet finds a target. Spiritualism is…
MJ-12: Inception by Michael J. Martinez
Dan Hanks
Michael J. Martinez first hit our shelves with the incredible Daedalus series, which dazzled critics and fans alike with 18th Century battleships in space and multi-dimensional plotlines. It was a…
Medusa’s Web by Tim Powers
Jonathan Thornton
“The past,” she repeated, “it is always out there, isn’t it? I hate now. I hate that whenever you look at a clock, it shows a different time. What’s the…
The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston
The Shards of Heaven is the debut novel of professor and Writers of the Future winner Michael Livingston. It’s a historical adventure fantasy that asks how heirs to Julius Caesar—already…
Dead Man’s Reach by D. B. Jackson
Jo Niederhoff
The ending of a series is almost always rather sad, but sometimes it is necessary. There are those series that seem to go on for far too long, and what…
Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal
Victoria Hooper
Of Noble Family is the fifth and final book in the Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal, set in an alternate version of the Regency period with magic in…
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Episodes 1 – 3
Wei Ming Kam
It feels like fantasy for adults has almost become respectable of late. Game of Thrones keeps raking the viewers in, while the adulation for the BBC’s lush adaptation of Susanna…
His Fair Assassin series by Robin LaFevers
Rebekah Loper
There are really only two words to describe this series. Assassin. Nuns. That’s all you need to know. Or, well, that’s all I needed to know to pique my interest.…
Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier
Lucy Hounsom
I’ve long been a fan of New Zealand-born author Juliet Marillier. I read the first book in her Sevenwaters series, Daughter of the Forest, many years ago and have followed…