Shadow and Bone: Netflix vs. the Books
JC Kang
The book isn’t better. With one huge caveat. Sucked in by the Grisha with their magical powers and vibrant worldbuilding equal to Game of Thrones, I binged Netflix’s adaptation of…
YA
His Dark Materials – Season One Review
L. A. Young
Back in 1999, it was announced that both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were becoming film franchises. There was both excitement and apprehension. Excitement because fans were…
Unsouled by Will Wight
The Monkey King meets Up. For a novel entitled Unsouled, Will Wight’s prototypical story has a lot of soul. I’d picked it up a couple of years ago, but each…
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
“Tagline Intentionally Left Blank” One of my favorite parts of writing reviews is coming up with a snappy tagline that compares the book in question to iconic stories. The publisher…
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
Toby Frost
In January 1986, 15-year-old Nick is told that he has cancer. He begins chemotherapy and struggles to maintain as much of a normal life as he can. But a girl…
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver – Series Review
Pippa
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is a six book historical fantasy series by British author, Michelle Paver. The series consists of Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker, Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker and…
Soul Render by T. L. Branson
“Stormbringer in a stone.” Middle school marked the rebirth of my interest in fantasy, and after reading heroic fantasy stories like Dragonlance and Dragonriders of Pern, I was taken aback…
Sowing by Angie Grigaliunas – SPFBO #4 Finals Review
Geoff Matthews
*Disclaimer* Writing and reading is a subjective art. What some folks will absolutely love, others will dislike. It is a bit like Marmite in the UK—normal people dislike it intensely,…
The Son of Summer Stars by Meredith Ann Pierce
S. H. Paulus
Spoiler Warning: Minor spoilers for The Birth of the Firebringer, Dark Moon and The Son of Summer Stars. “Little unicorn,” he answered mildly, “attend. We gryphons are not the ones…
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Jessica Juby
Sometimes trips to the local charity shop can be a bust. There are however rare occasions where you’ll find a gem. For me, that gem was Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard…
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
If GRRM wrote a mix of The Incredibles and Avatar, with a necromancer heroine. Last year, Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone came in second to RF Kuang’s The…
Gryphon Riders Trilogy by Derek Alan Siddoway – Series Review
My first recollection of gryphons in fantasy literature was in Dragons of Winter’s Night. In a world where dragons and their riders were in the spotlight, I was enamored with…