Archive for fantasy

Character Query: Get Your Gargoyle Here

emmanewman-betweentwothornsLast February I reviewed my favourite debut of the year so far, Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman. Its sequel Any Other Name, will be out on June 6th and I plan to have a review for it up soon after. However, not only is Emma going to be doing publicity for the sequel, Angry Robot decided to send out the inhabitants from the Split Worlds out to do the rounds as well. I decided to take the opportunity to sit down* with one of my favourites from Between Two Thorns, the Gargoyle. He was kind enough to answer (almost) all of my questions frankly and I can’t wait to catch up with his story in Any Other Name. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Gargoyle.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 23 May, 2013 Posted in fantasy, interview Tagged: , , | 2 Comments

Midkemia Reread: Raymond E. Feist – Magician

raymondefeist-magicianrevedAt Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician – and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever. Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm through the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun. Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilisation. Pug’s destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic…

Magician is the first book in the Riftwar Cycle. First published in the United States in 1982, it has since been republished numerous times and published in over 25 countries. It’s also been published in two parts, Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master, in a revised, author’s preferred and a special 20th anniversary leather-bound edition, one of which resides in my bookcase. The fact that I went and bought the anniversary edition, despite being a perpetually short-on-cash university student, should be telling about how much I love this book. Still, it had been at least a decade since I’d read Magician and in that decade I’ve become far-wider and well-read in the genre. I finally read The Lord of the Rings, for one, and I discovered the online genre community, which has broadened my genre horizons immensely. So, taking that into account I was quite curious to see whether the book would hold up to my memories of it. Strangely enough, it both did and it didn’t. On the one hand, I recognised much more of its influences, while on the other I recognised its influence on what today we know as staples in the genre. And tossing all that aside, I still cared as deeply for its protagonists as I did the first time I read it.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 22 May, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review Tagged: , | Leave a comment

Peter Higgins – Wolfhound Century

peterhiggins-wolfhoundcentury

Investigator Vissarion Lom, has been summoned to Mirgorod in order to catch a terrorist – and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. Vlast, a totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown terrorism with an iron fist. But Lom discovers the capital to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists.

Lom has been chosen because he’s an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone in his head . . .

Bute there is a secret hidden beneath police headquarters: a secret so ancient that only the land remembers.

And a thousand miles east, deep in the ancient forest, lies a fallen angel, its vast stone form half-buried and fused into the rock by the violence of impact. Alone in the wilderness, it reaches out with its mind . . .

Wolfhound Century is a rare beast. I’d already read some reviews before receiving my own review copy of the book and I knew I was in for an interesting read. I hadn’t expected it to be as interesting and genre-bending as it was, even though I’d been thoroughly warned. It’s both noir urban fantasy, featuring a lone-wolf detective, but also a tale of political intrigue, supernatural creatures and alien invasion. Set in an alternate world Russia, the story is both easy and hard to place. Easy because Vlast is clearly the Soviet Union and Mirgorod is a version of Moscow and the atmosphere Higgins invokes is that which is emblematic of the majority view of communist countries: grey, depressing, paranoid, and dangerous. It’s hard to place exactly because it is an alternate world version of ours and it is not really clear whether it is just an alternate history set on our planet or set on a secondary world. I’m leaning towards the latter option myself, but it is certainly debatable. Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 16 May, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review Tagged: | Leave a comment

James Maxey – Witchbreaker

jamesmaxey-witchbreakerLong ago, Lord Stark Tower – the famed Witchbreaker – nearly wiped out the witches. Today, only a handful of women still practice the weaving craft in secret. The witch Sorrow, Infidel’s fellow adventurer, has vowed to right this wrong, crushing the Church of the Book and launching a new golden age of witchcraft. In pursuit of her goal, she has bonded her soul with Rott, the primal dragon of decay, giving her near-limitless powers of destruction.

Unfortunately, this power has cost Sorrow her humanity, leading her to a desperate quest to find the greatest witch of all time, Avaris – rumoured to still be alive after hundreds of years – in hopes of mastering her dark magic before it destroys her. But she’s not alone in hunting Avaris, as fate throws her into an uneasy partnership with a man who wants to be the new Witchbreaker. Can either of them survive their mutual quests when their journey leads them into battle with Tempest, the primal dragon of storms?

Witchbreaker is the third in James Maxey’s Dragon Apocalypse series. I tremendously enjoyed the previous two books, Greatshadow and Hush, and I was really looking forward to this book, which I thought was the concluding volume. The good news is that Witchbreaker is just as fun as the other books; the bad news is that although it is the last volume, the story ends on an open-ended note. It makes for a dissatisfying ending to a fabulous series and I’m hoping that Maxey will return to this world in the future to give us the rest of the story. Before it sounds as if I’m being overly critical, let’s jump into the review and you’ll understand my reasoning.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 13 May, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review Tagged: | 2 Comments

John and Carole E. Barrowman – Bone Quill

barrowman-bonequillA faceless stranger is close to finding the key that opens Hollow Earth: a supernatural place that holds all the monsters ever imagined.
Twins Matt and Emily Calder have special powers – they can bring art to life. But can they find their missing mother and protect the key – an ancient bone quill – even if it means travelling back through time? Then Matt takes a fateful decision, one that forces him to make a terrible choice.

Save his family? Or save the world?

Last week I reviewed the first book in the Hollow Earth series, which I really enjoyed. The second book, Bone Quill, was just as big a treat as the first book was, perhaps even more so as some of the elements I enjoyed in the first book had a larger role in this book and we got to see more of the adults and their history. As this is book two in a series and this book starts where the previous book leaves off and deals with the fall out of that earlier book, it is impossible to discuss Bone Quill without giving spoilers for Hollow Earth. If you want to remain unspoiled it would be wisest to not read any further.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 10 May, 2013 Posted in children's books, fantasy, review Tagged: | Leave a comment

John and Carole E. Barrowman – Hollow Earth

barrowman-hollowearthTwins Matt and Emily Calder have imaginations so powerful that they can make art come to life. Their powers are sought by villains intent on accessing the terrors of Hollow Earth – a place where all the devils, demons and monsters ever imagined lie trapped for eternity. If Hollow Earth is breached, the world will be plunged into chaos. If Hollow Earth is breached …

… the twins are good as dead.

When I first was approached about reviewing Hollow Earth and its successor, Bone Quill, what first struck me was the name John Barrowman. Someone I only knew from British television as a musical star and the star of Torchwood, I was surprised to find he was also a writer. The book is co-written with his sister – which wow, I think if I tried that with my siblings we’d have probably done our heads in after two chapters, so kudos for that – and is in fact more middle grade than YA, but even if I don’t read and review them as often I really enjoy well-written children’s books, so here we are. And I’m glad to be here because I spend an entirely enjoyable afternoon in the company of Matt and Em and the rest of the cast immersed in an adventure that feels like an modernised version of what I hazily remember of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books – it’s been a few decades since I read her work – and has an exciting supernatural component.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 3 May, 2013 Posted in children's books, fantasy, review Tagged: | 1 Comment

Richard Ford – Herald of the Storm

richardford-heraldofthestormWelcome to Steelhaven…

Under the reign of King Cael the Uniter, this vast cityport on the southern coast has for years been a symbol of strength, maintaining an uneasy peace throughout the Free States.

But now a long shadow hangs over the city, in the form of the dread Elharim warlord, Amon Tugha.

When his herald infiltrates the city, looking to exploit its dangerous criminal underworld, and a terrible dark magick that has long been buried once again begins to rise, it could be the beginning of the end.

Epic fantasy is my first love and even if I’ve since broadened my scope and fallen in love with other subgenres, a good epic tale will always catch my eye. The description for Richard Ford’s Herald of the Storm in Headline’s spring catalogue certainly jumped out at me and I was really pleased to be sent an ARC earlier this year. I’d read Ford’s previous novel Kultus last year and while I had some issues with it – largely due to some really foul language and some uneven world building – I really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to seeing how Ford would take on epic fantasy. And I have to say, I really liked Herald of the Storm. There were some elements that didn’t completely work for me, but Ford’s clearly grown as a writer and Herald of the Storm is a totally different sort of book than Kultus was.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 2 May, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review Tagged: | Leave a comment

Kate Forsyth – Bitter Greens

kateforsyth-bittergreensCharlotte-Rose de la Force, exiled from the court of the Sun King Louis XIV, has always been a great teller of tales.

Selena Leonelli, once the exquisite muse of the great Venetian artist Titian, is terrified of time.

Margherita, trapped in a doorless tower and burdened by tangles of her red-gold hair, must find a way to escape.

Three women, three lives, three stories, braided together in a compelling tale of desire, obsession and the redemptive power of love.

My three-year-old is obsessed with Disney Princesses and her favourite is Rapunzel. This means I have to launder her Rapunzel shirt at least twice a week and we’ve seen Tangled in both Dutch and English at least fifteen times. Luckily enough, I rather like the story of Rapunzel and Tangled is a pretty fun film – don’t get me started on the Pocahontas phase she had earlier this year – so when I was offered a review copy of Bitter Greens I was readily primed on the subject matter and inclined to say yes. Add to that this ringing endorsement by CW Gortner, whose The Queen’s Vow I’d just really enjoyed, and I was jumping out the gate. However, I got far more than just a retelling of Rapunzel in Bitter Greens, I got a glimpse of the intriguing life of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, one of the first female writers of literary fairy tales, and the glittering court of Louis XIV, the Sun King of France and a look at 16th-century Venice through the eyes of both an innocent and a jade. An intricate story within a story, a curious blend of historical fiction and true fairy-elements. And it has to be mentioned, all of this is delivered by Allison & Busby in a stunning package. It’s a beautifully put together book, with gorgeous cover art, black flyleaves, a black ribbon and yellow ends in the spine.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 30 April, 2013 Posted in fantasy, historical fiction, review Tagged: | Leave a comment

Lee Battersby – The Marching Dead

leebattersby-themarchingdeadFind the dead a King, save himself, win the love of his life, live happily ever after. No wonder Marius dos Helles is bored. But now something has stopped the dead from, well, dying.

It’s up to Marius, Gerd, and Gerd’s not-dead-enough Granny to journey across the continent and put the dead back in the afterlife where they belong.

Last year Lee Battersby’s The Corpse-Rat King was one of the first books to come out of Angry Robot’s first Open Door month and I was excited to see what could come out of such a process. While I did have some problems with the book – difficulties connecting to the main character and some pacing issues – I quite enjoyed the story and I was left wanting to discover how Battersby would finish Marius’ story. In The Marching Dead I found a great return to this story. I liked that we return to a Marius who has what he wanted at the end of the last book and he’s bored to death. He wasn’t made for the peaceful, quiet country life. So the sudden reappearance of Drenthe, the soldier who dragged him to the underworld last time, while shocking, is as much a relief as an annoyance.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 20 April, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review Tagged: | 1 Comment

Martha Wells – Emilie and the Hollow World

marthawells-emilieandthehollowworldWhile running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

In the three years I’ve been blogging, I’ve seen several enthusiastic reviews for Martha Wells’ adult books. Consequently, Wells has been on my radar as an author to check out at some point. Of course, my list of authors-to-check-out is about a mile long, which means that I hadn’t yet gotten round to reading her Books of the Raksura series, which looked quite interesting. When Strange Chemistry announced they’d signed her in a two-book deal for a YA series, I decided that here was my chance to finally sample Wells’ writing. Emilie and the Hollow World was a treat and was very entertaining.

Continue reading »

By Mieneke Published 19 April, 2013 Posted in fantasy, review, YA Tagged: | 2 Comments

Swedish Greys - a WordPress theme from Nordic Themepark.