Book #5 of 2023: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn (Legendborn #2) The plot in the middle of this YA fantasy sequel picks up a little, but the beginning spends too long reiterating the overall premise — a Black teenager from North Carolina finds herself the unlikely inheritor of King Arthur’s magical powers, which she must use …
Tag Archives: fantasy
Book Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Book #2 of 2023: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with this author.] Fantasy author Brandon Sanderson, already one of the more prolific members of his field, realized in the pandemic lockdowns of 2020-2021 that his canceled public appearances and associated travel left him with a lot of …
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Book Review: Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
Book #1 of 2023: Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea #4) The second book in a row to be marketed as the final volume of Earthsea would ultimately, of course, prove not to be that at all. Author Ursula K. Le Guin just kept discovering new things to say about the fantasy setting and …
Book Review: The Night-Bird’s Feather by Jenna Katerin Moran
Book #199 of 2022: The Night-Bird’s Feather by Jenna Katerin Moran [I read and reviewed this title at a Patreon donor’s request. Want to nominate your own books for me to read and review (or otherwise support my writing)? Sign up for a small monthly donation at https://patreon.com/lesserjoke today!] I don’t love every part of …
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TV Review: His Dark Materials, season 3
TV #61 of 2022: His Dark Materials, season 3 This adaptation has long struggled to capture and distill the complex themes of Philip Pullman’s classic fantasy trilogy, and this final season faces the additional hurdle of navigating the events of its most complicated volume, The Amber Spyglass. Theoretically, it’s a pretty faithful representation! The series …
Book Review: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb
Book #198 of 2022: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb My shorthand pitch for this debut novel would probably be something like “Good Omens meets The Golem and the Jinni“: a tale of the early twentieth century, richly steeped in #ownvoices Jewish elements, in which a friendly angel and demon who …
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Book Review: The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson
Book #193 of 2022: The Lost Metal by Brandon Sanderson (Wax and Wayne #4 / Mistborn #7) [Disclaimer: I am Facebook friends with this author.] Despite retaining its fantasy wild west trappings, the remainder of “Mistborn Era 2” has never lived up to the sheer entertainment value of The Alloy of Law for me, and …
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Book Review: Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott
Book #190 of 2022: Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott It’s apparent early on that there are two opposing threads in this story, and while I hoped they would eventually align and synergize, the narrative never really gets there for me. The stronger element is the #ownvoices presentation of Russian Jewish history, specifically concerning the pogroms of …
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Book Review: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
Book #189 of 2022: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin (Earthsea #3) The Earthsea Cycle was originally presented as a trilogy, published from 1968 to 1972, and in that context, I think this concluding novel is a bit of a disappointment. It’s heavy on mysticism but light on plot or detailed worldbuilding, and …
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Book Review: The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
Book #187 of 2022: The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard (Lays of the Hearth-Fire #1) A wonderful warm hug of a novel, and probably my top read of the year. It’s rare for a 900-page fantasy tome to feel so cozy, let alone to forgo any significant romance or acts of violence throughout …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 