Book #44 of 2019: East by Edith Pattou (East #1) I’m unfortunately underwhelmed by this retelling of the Scandinavian fairy tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon. There’s promise here in the idea of prophecy and birth directions, but the setting is not particularly distinctive and none of the characters have much …
Tag Archives: fantasy
Book Review: The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
Book #37 of 2019: The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty (The Daevabad Trilogy #2) As with its predecessor The City of Brass, this sequel displays super-immersive fantasy worldbuilding inspired by #ownvoices Islamic folklore, but not much of an overall plot. There’s a whole lot of political intrigue in Daevabad, but much of it feels …
Continue reading “Book Review: The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty”
Book Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
Book #36 of 2019: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children #3) I always worry that these novellas about children who miss their adopted fantasylands are going to get formulaic and stale, but somehow author Seanan McGuire keeps coming up with new variations that I find endlessly enchanting. I’m not sure if this …
Continue reading “Book Review: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire”
Book Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
Book #33 of 2019: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Rebel of the Sands #1) Theoretically, this should be a wildly fresh Young Adult fantasy novel, with a setting that blends Middle-Eastern mythology with a gunslinging western. In practice, however, it leans far more towards the latter influence than the former, and the worldbuilding …
Continue reading “Book Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton”
Book Review: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao
Book #30 of 2019: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao (Rise of the Empress #2) The first book in this East Asian-inspired fantasy duology remains a fascinating look at a complex antiheroine, but author Julie C. Dao makes the disappointing choice for its sequel to reduce that character to a more conventional …
Continue reading “Book Review: Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao”
Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Book #28 of 2019: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik This pastoral winter fantasy novel initially seems like it will be a straightforward retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin myth, and I was already drawn in by the idea of setting that story in a medieval Slavic kingdom with a Jewish heroine. As it develops, however, author Naomi …
Continue reading “Book Review: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik”
Book Review: Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Book #25 of 2019: Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne (The Tales of Pell #1) This novel aspires to be a tongue-in-cheek fairy tale sendup a la Discworld or Shrek, but it doesn’t have anywhere near the heart or cleverness to pull that off. Instead it reads more like just …
Continue reading “Book Review: Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne”
Book Review: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
Book #24 of 2019: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale (Princess Academy #2) Much like the first book, this Princess Academy sequel seems like a great title for readers transitioning between the middle-grade and young adult publishing categories. It’s a tough act to balance the atmosphere of class consciousness and fermenting revolution against a lighter …
Continue reading “Book Review: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale”
Book Review: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander
Book #22 of 2019: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #4) I like the section near the end of this book when the hero apprentices under a series of artisans who sneakily give him life lessons along with crafting skills, but as a whole it’s a bit too meandering for my tastes. …
Continue reading “Book Review: Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander”
Book Review: Circe by Madeline Miller
Book #20 of 2019: Circe by Madeline Miller I’m not well-versed enough in Greek mythology to recognize everywhere this novel diverts from the traditional versions of the title character’s story, but it’s nevertheless clear that this presentation of her life on her own terms is something special. Much like Wicked, it’s a feminist reclamation of …
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 