Book #36 of 2017: The Reader by Traci Chee (Sea of Ink and Gold #1) I was intrigued by the notion of a world with practically no written language, but I wish that the author had committed more fully to exploring the implications of that premise instead of just making reading be a form of …
Tag Archives: fantasy
Book Review: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
Book #37 of 2017: The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (The Masquerade #1) A fascinating character and culture study, most reminiscent of Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch books. Baru Cormorant is a young woman whose homeland gets annexed by an expanding empire, after which she privately vows to rise through her conquerors’ ranks to take …
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Book Review: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection by Brandon Sanderson
Book #30 of 2017: Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection by Brandon Sanderson A great collection of short stories and novellas in the cosmere, the larger setting that links many of Brandon Sanderson’s individual book series like Mistborn and The Stormlight Archive. Sanderson plans for these series to eventually intersect directly, and there have been growing …
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Book Review: The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman
Book #25 of 2017: The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (The Magicians #3) An improvement over the first two novels, and a satisfying end to this loose adult fantasy trilogy. Both protagonist Quentin Coldwater and writer Lev Grossman feel like they’ve grown up a lot for this novel, and both approach their tasks here as …
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Book Review: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Book #22 of 2017: Inkspell by Cornelia Funke (Inkworld #2) I have mixed feelings on this one. Exploring the “Inkworld” that the characters in the previous story came from is a smart move on writer Cornelia Funke’s part, and I like that Meggie has grown as a character from the plucky kid in Inkheart to …
Book Review: The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller
Book #20 of 2017: The Awakened Mage by Karen Miller (Kingmaker, Kingbreaker #2) A definite improvement over the first book, although at the cost of a few narrative threads and characters that are unceremoniously dropped in the transition. And I still don’t understand how Asher earns the love and devotion of so many other characters …
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Book Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time #1) For the most part this first book in Robert Jordan’s massive Wheel of Time saga feels like a paint-by-numbers retelling of the Star Wars / Lord of the Rings monomyth. There’s some occasional flashes of originality, but it’s mostly just the same …
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Book Review: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Book #14 of 2017: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns #1) I loved the atmosphere in this book, which is set on a secluded magical island slowly gearing up for its sacrificial rites – a tradition that no one really questions, which is delightfully eerie in a Shirley Jackson kind of way. …
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Book Review: The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip
Book #11 of 2017: The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip (Riddle-Master #1) Like the best of fantasy, The Riddle-Master of Hed reads like a beautiful dream. And the reluctant warrior at its center, fated to be a powerful figure of prophecy despite all his wishes for a quiet life back home, makes for …
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Book Review: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Book #9 of 2017: Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #8) This early Discworld novel introduces the character Sam Vimes and the rest of the City Watch, although it’s clear that author Terry Pratchett was still figuring out who they would be at this point. Here the Watch investigates the sudden appearance of a dragon …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 