Category: Fantasy

draconian?

Posted on by Greig

Nice Dragons Finish Last

Rachel Aaron

nice dragons finish lastThis is a fun piece of urban fantasy with an enjoyable setting and characters with loads of potential.
Julius is lacking the dragon instincts of his species. He’s trapped in human form and sent out into the world to prove he can be a credit to his clan or be eaten by his Mother.
In the course of events he meets up with a human Mage called Marci and the two help each other survive of draconic malice and the interventions of rival seers.
While this is a very solid book it’s the potential of the world Aaron’s built that has me most excited. In fact I’ve already bought the sequel.

Rating: B+

elf-shot?

Posted on by Greig

A Red-Rose Chain

Seanan McGuire

a red-rose chainThe latest instalment of the Toby Daye story finds her in Portland on a diplomatic mission to avert war between Faerie kingdoms. Obviously this being Toby nothing quite goes to plan.
I seriously really enjoyed this book. I love the whole series so much. I’ve been rating them a bit harshly ever since I started because I’m certain that McGuire is capable of pushing her writing to another level but the consistent B+ rating doesn’t really reflect how much I enjoy these books. Or indeed how excited I am to read what happens next.

Rating: A-

zauber?

Posted on by Greig

A Hero At The End Of The World

Erin Claiborne

a hero at the end of the worldEwan Mao was the one prophesised to save the world. Instead his best friend Oliver Abrams defeated the magical tyrant ruling their alternative version of contemporary London. Life hasn’t quite gone his way ever since.
Five years later and Ewan is suddenly at the centre of a plot to end the world and his estranged friend is also caught up in events.
This book was originally Kickstarted as part of the start up of Big Bang Press who specialize in publishing original fiction by highly regarded fanfic authors. I bought it as part of a Humble Bundle.
I really quite enjoyed this slice of romantic and humourous urban fantasy and I particularly enjoyed the copious amounts of snarky banter between the characters. It kind of reminded me of Tom Holt or a less out-there Robert Rankin.

Rating: B+

choharo?

Posted on by Greig

The Goblin Emperor

Katherine Addison

the goblin emperorThis book has been nominated for Best Novel in the 2015 Hugo Awards.
As a Hugo voter this year I received an ebook copy of in the Voter Packet.
This is a very well written and reasonably enjoyable slice of Fantasy.
It’s very much about the intrigue behind the scenes of the imperial court of an ancient empire.
The titular character (whose real name is Maia) starts the story as a spineless ingenue. This quickly gets annoying. Fortunately he grows and gets to show some real personality and character as the plot develops.
By the end I really wanted to see what was going to happen next. It’s set up in a way that makes me think that I will find the sequel more enjoyable than this book.
I certainly recommend The Goblin Emperor if you like well-written, character led Fantasy and you’re more a fan of political intrigue than grimdark fantasy violence.

Rating: B+

durnik?

Posted on by Greig

The Belgariad

David Eddings

pawn of prophecyThis five volume series is an expertly and cynically constructed slice of epic fantasy.
Nearly every clichéd trope of the genre is trotted at one point or another but the sheer pace of storytelling stops it from becoming boring.
I’ve read this series many time but even after all this times I find myself enjoying some of the characters and rooting for the (inevitable) happy ending.
It’s outdated, generic as all hell but it’s one of my comfort reads.
If you’re looking for a quick, easy-to-read fantasy fix then this is an acceptable option.

Rating: C+

Continue reading “durnik?”

hester?

Posted on by Greig

The DUFF

Kody Keplinger

the duffThis is an entertaining YA novel about a smart and cynical teenager called Bianca who is told one day that she’s the DUFF of her friend group – the designated ugly fat friend.
The book follows her as she internalizes that idea and as she falls off from the beaten path of her regular life into chaos before finding a new kind of equilibrium.
I read this because I’m very intrigued by the film they’ve made of it. I’m going to go see it at some point.
As for the book it’s enjoyable but it’s also slightly uneven. The main characters are strongly written but the plot isn’t hugely compelling. The biggest point in it’s favour – I find myself wanting to see what the characters are up to after the story ends.

Rating: B

apples?

Posted on by Greig

Indexing

Seanan McGuire

indexingIndexing is kind of a mash up between The X-Files and Fables.
The story follows one team of government agents as they battle to prevent fairy tales from causing chaos in death when those narrative archetypes begin to impact on everyday life.
It’s quite a lot of fun and I particularly liked the characters of Henry and Sloane. Henry’s the lead agent and a perpetually ticked off almost-Snow-White and Sloane is a violent, misanthropic, permanently teenage Wicked Sister.
It feels a bit less polished and less fully realised than a lot of McGuire’s stuff I’ve read but it’s very enjoyable and worth a read if you like her brand of urban fantasy.

Rating: B

yowie?

Posted on by Greig

Pocket Apocalypse

Seanan McGuire

Pocket ApocalypseThe fourth Incryptid book and the second to have Alex Price as the lead character finds him in Australia fighting a lycanthropy outbreak.
These books are generally the frothiest of McGuire’s output but I found this particular volume to be slight by even those standards. That’s not to say that it’s anything less than entertaining it’s just all a bit too straightforward to feel inspired.
Maybe I just miss Verity. I’m definitely looking forward to her return as the lead character in the next book.

Rating: B

crack?

Posted on by Greig

The Madness Underneath

Maureen Johnson

the madness underneathThe second book in the Shades of London series is just as charming and as much fun as The Name of the Star.
Following on shortly after the events of the first book we find Rory coming to terms with the trauma of those events and the consequences of her new abilities.
It’s all really hard to talk about without spoiling, but I’ll tell you one thing – this book has a doozy of an ending.

Rating: B+

vikes?

Posted on by Greig

Search For Senna

K.A. Applegate

search for sennaThe first of 12 Everworld books this an extremely slight YA alternate world fantasy.
It’s doing a lot of expositional heavy lifting as the first book in a series but it’s still a speedy read. It consists of a bunch of teenagers scraping through one adventure after another but there’s no emotional heft to explain why these kids are putting themselves in the way of all this danger beyond misguided heroic notions.
I’m probably going to read at least one more of this series to give it a chance but it will have to be a serious improvement to keep me reading beyond that.

Rating: B-