Posts tagged with fantasy
From a High Tower, by Mercedes Lackey
There are things I admired about Mercedes Lackey's From a High Tower, but none of its virtues are enough to elevate it above B-grade pulp fiction. Everything about it, from its slapdash editing to its hokey cover art, smacks of a rush job by a competent genre writer...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Stiletto, by Daniel O'Malley
This week's Book Giveaway is Daniel O'Malley's Stiletto, the sequel to his 2012 novel The Rook, which we reviewed here. Admittedly, I have about a dozen books that I seriously need to finish, but I actually want to read Stiletto, so it's jumping the queue. Our review will follow shortly...
Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown is a mildly amusing historical fantasy novel, full of nods to Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. While her book features some ambitious ideas, Cho rarely explores them in sufficient depth...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho
This week's Book Giveaway is Zen Cho's debut novel Sorcerer to the Crown. I'm a little nervous about this book, actually. It has great reviews, but it triggers two of my rage buttons: the British get a VASTLY superior cover than we do, and I can't find a solid release date for the sequel. What if I really like it and book two doesn't come out until...
Julia Vanishes, by Catherine Egan
Catherine Egan's YA novel Julia Vanishes is better than V. E. Schwab's thematically-similar A Darker Shade of Magic series—creepier, more complicated, and inhabited by less glamorous but more interesting characters. Unfortunately, the cover art for Julia Vanishes is merely adequate, while Schwab's books look spectacular. I sincerely wish Egan's publisher had shelled out for something more impressive, because...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Julia Vanishes, by Catherine Egan
This week's Book Giveaway is Julia Vanishes, the first book in Catherine Egan's new Witch's Child trilogy. The plot description—involving magic, orphans, thieves, and serial killers—sounds pretty exciting, so I'm looking forward to reading it. A full review will follow shortly...
Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal
The back cover of Mary Robinette Kowal's novel Shades of Milk and Honey describes it as “precisely the sort of tale we would expect from Jane Austen”. That comment is... a little hyperbolic, to put it mildly, but Kowal's book has its own virtue...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal
This week's Book Giveaway is Mary Robinette Kowal's fantasy novel Shades of Milk and Honey, which the back cover describes as "like wandering onto a secret picnic attended by Pride and Prejudice and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell". That sounds like a very tall order, but hopefully Ms. Kowal's book is up to the challenge. A full review will follow later today...
The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle, by Rick Riordan
While I thoroughly enjoyed Rick Riordan's 'Heroes of Olympus' series, I was dismayed by the way the author handled Nico di Angelo, his first major gay character. I applauded Riordan's efforts to be more inclusive, but Nico seemed downright tortured by his sexuality, which—considering both modern attitudes towards sex and other, far more pressing problems in the poor kid's life—felt unnecessarily overwrought. I'm assuming I wasn't the only person to complain, because...
Night Shift, by Charlaine Harris
Night Shift, the third book in Charlaine Harris's highly entertaining Midnight, Texas series, has the same strengths and weaknesses as its predecessors. With each installment, I grow more invested in the personal lives of Harris's characters... and with each installment, I grow more pained by her idea of what serves as romantic chemistry...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Night Shift, by Charlaine Harris
This week's Book Giveaway is Charlaine Harris's Night Shift, the third book in her excellent Midnight, Texas series. (Our reviews of the first two are available here and here.) While I would never call Harris "the Mark Twain of things that live under your bed"...
With bells on
Thanks to io9, I am now aware of the existence of The Curse of Sleeping Beauty, a totally ridiculous-looking fantasy movie that makes the upcoming The Huntsman: Winter’s War film look like Spirited Away...
Arena, by Holly Jennings
Holly Jennings's novel Arena looks and sounds like a sci-fi novel, but it's really more of a near-future sports story. I'd like to think that the idea of virtual gaming tournaments watched by millions of rabid fans is pure fantasy, but apparently the future is now...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Arena, by Holly Jennings
This week's Book Giveaway is Arena, by Holly Jennings. I'd like to think that an "exciting coming-age-story [set] against the backdrop of a world where virtual competitive gaming has become the most popular form of entertainment" would qualify as pure science fiction, but I live with people who listen to livestreams of South Korean League of Legends matches. Willingly...
The Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
Reading Alison Goodman's new YA novel The Dark Days Club is a bit like eating a ten course meal: the individual elements were delicious, but eventually I found myself too full to properly appreciate them...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Dark Days Club, by Alison Goodman
This week's Book Giveaway is Alison Goodman's new YA novel The Dark Days Club. Goodman is the author of the brilliant Eon and Eona, so my hopes for this book are sky-high. Admittedly, the story loses a few points for the blurb on the back that proclaims it "Not your mother's Regency romance!" (a phrase that always strikes me as ageist and sexist; my mother is a badass and so is her taste in Regency romances), but...
Island in the Sea of Time, by S. M. Stirling
This is super, super nerdy, but I mean it in the most complimentary of ways: S.M. Stirling's novel Island in the Sea of Time is like a mash-up of Sid Meier's Civilization and Harriet M. Welsh's “Town” game...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Island in the Sea of Time, by S. M. Stirling
Today's Book Giveaway is S.M. Stirling's 1998 novel Island in the Sea of Time, the first book in his "Nantucket" trilogy. Clearly, the late 90s were not a great time for cover art, but thus far the story is Dan Simmons-level ambitious. A full review will follow later today...
In a nod to Blackadder, this is King's magnificent octopus.
Entertainment Weekly informs me that production has finally gotten rolling on a movie adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. According to the article, Idris Elba has been confirmed as the gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey will play the man in black. The film will be directed by Nikolaj Arcel...
Raging Sea, by Michael Buckley
The horror in Michael Buckley's Undertow trilogy is largely evoked via ghastly migrant camps, bigoted politicians, and intense racism. These books should have been deliciously pulpy YA sci-fi/fantasy, but considering the current political climate, large portions of them feel uncomfortably realistic...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Raging Sea, by Michael Buckley
This week's Book Giveaway is Michael Buckley's Raging Sea, the second book in his Undertow trilogy. I gave the first book in the series a very positive review last year (good sign), but I find that I don't actually remember much of it (bad sign). I'm clearly going to need to refresh my memory, but my hopes for this middle installment are high...
Dreamer's Pool, by Juliet Marillier
When it comes to fantasy novels, I usually judge books on three categories: world-building, characterization, and adventure. Juliet Marillier's Dreamer's Pool features complex, sympathetic characters and an intriguing plot, although the world she has built is an odd blend of brutality and utopia...
Weekly Book Giveaway: Dreamer's Pool, by Juliet Marillier
This week's Book Giveaway is Dreamer's Pool, the first installment in the Blackthorn & Grim series by Juliet Marillier. That's not the kind of cover that usually floats my boat (I avoid any book that looks like the author might describe someone's eyes as "cerulean orbs"), but I've been deeply impressed by Ms. Marillier's books in the past, so my hopes are high...
A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab
V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic is plastered with encomiums that make it sound like the second coming of Dune—it's described as “compulsively readable”, “ingeniously clever”, and “an exhilarating adventure”. This breathless enthusiasm struck me as distinctly overblown, but Schwab's story is undeniably thoughtful, imaginative, and action-packed...
Weekly Book Giveaway: A Darker Shade of Magic, by V.E. Schwab
This week's Book Giveaway is V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic. It's giving off a distinctly UnLunDun vibe, but I'm hoping I will like it better (or at least that it will be less pretentious). A full review will follow later today...
The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley
For a book that pretty much goes like this: infodump, infodump, action sequence, rinse, repeat, Daniel O'Malley's debut novel The Rook is astonishingly entertaining. It strongly reminds me of Seanan McGuire's InCryptid books, although I'm happy to report that I like The Rook even better...
Weekly Book Giveaway: The Rook, by Daniel O'Malley
This week's Book Giveaway is Daniel O'Malley's 2012 novel The Rook, which we recently learned is being developed as a TV series by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Meyer clearly knows what she's doing, because it's evident from the first chapter that this book is going to make for some great TV...
Maybe by 2020?
I don't actually care about this (not a Game of Thrones fan), but George R.R. Martin nerds everywhere were chagrined to learn that he has zero chance of finishing the next installment of his best-selling series on schedule...
Autumn's Kiss, by Bella Thorne (and Elise Allen)
Once again, I am staggered to find myself endorsing a novel “written” by teen actress Bella Thorne (along with co-author Elise Allen, whose name only appears in teeny-tiny font on the title page). This is totally damning with faint praise, but Autumn's Kiss, the sequel to...
Store-brand fantasy
Uh... it's news to me that anyone was working on a TV adaptation of Terry Brooks’ Shannara book series, much less that it will be MTV's first foray into live-action fantasy. Seriously, guys? If you wanted to horn in on a little Game of Thrones-lite action, couldn't you...