The Blue Blazes by Chuck Wendig
Eric Christensen
The Blue Blazes was my first exposure to Chuck Wendig’s writing outside of his blog, TerribleMinds. I expected an urban fantasy novel full of hard, broken edges and bloody knuckles.…
urban fantasy
Written In Red by Anne Bishop
Joie
Being unfamiliar with this author, it was a pleasant surprise to find myself thoroughly impressed with this book. Namid is an earth world dominated by the Others, creatures almost as…
Stray Souls by Kate Griffin
Steff Humm
If you have any doubts about the ethereal nature of urban living then you need to be reading Kate Griffin. The often brilliant Matthew Swift series, starring a formerly dead…
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Victoria Hooper
Lauren Beukes is probably best known for her wonderful Clarke Award winning book Zoo City, an urban fantasy set in Johannesburg. Like Zoo City, The Shining Girls can be loosely…
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
CptNemo
This review contains spoilers for the previous Dresden books. Read with caution if you have yet to read Ghost Story. Cold Days is the latest installment in the bestselling Dresden…
Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
Hierath
Emma Newman is, in the nicest possible way, crazy. I’ll tell you how crazy she is. She’s spent the last year writing recording and uploading a short story on a…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part Two: Nostalgia and the New
In the previous article we looked at the idea that science destroys magic through encouraging disbelief, and how this has influenced fantasy stories involving magic, folklore and fairies. The first…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part One: Particles and Pixie Dust
For a long time we have separated magic and science, drawing a line between fantasy and science fiction, associating magic with the past – usually a pre-industrial society – and…
Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
Idlewilder
Think you know fairy tales? Think again. Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill is initially the story of Jared and Tiffany Thatcher and their life together, from high school…
London Falling by Paul Cornell
London Falling, the first venture into dark fantasy for acclaimed Doctor Who and Demon Knights writer Paul Cornell, certainly lives up to the dark promise on display in “The Family…
Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
Magic is closer than any of us could imagine; hidden but powerful, existing parallel to our own world. Perhaps even in your own living room, only a thin veil away.…
Minding the Gaps: The Dresden Files Books 1 – 6
Zachary A. Matzo
Author’s Note: This is the first in an intermittent series of articles covering fantasy series that I probably should have read much sooner. As I cross a particular series (or…