Tag Archives: fantasy

The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear

Abandoned February 2023 Recommended for fans of purple prose I like Elizabeth Bear, but I’m discovering that I like her in the same way I like lilies: in small doses and from a distance. She does elaborate things with language … Continue reading

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When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

Read January 2023 Recommended for fans of stories ★    ★   ★   ★    Once upon a time Nghi Vo wrote a series of novellas about Cleric Chih, who collects stories as part of their life’s work. In this particular … Continue reading

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Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Read January 2023 Recommended for fans of Pratchett, MMOG ★    ★   ★   1/2 It all depends on your definition of ‘cosy,’ I suppose. I’ve been wrapping up George Saunders’ A Swim In a Pond In the Rain, in which … Continue reading

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The Long Game by K. J. Parker

Read December 2022 Recommended for fans unreliable narrators ★    ★       Sadly, a miss. A first person, unnamed and quite likely unreliable narrator has to finesse a situation with demon and a traveler from a possibly mythical land. … Continue reading

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The Essential Peter S. Beagle Volume One

Read December 2022 Recommended for fans of fantasy shorts ★    ★    ★   1/2   I’ve long been a fan of Peter S. Beagle. I’ve read all of his fiction and most of his short story collections, but this was … Continue reading

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Cage of Souls by Tchaikovsky

Read August 2022 Recommended for fans of old-timey literature   This, then, is where I think I close at last my weary eyes, lay hand upon my brow and reflect on how it is I came to this place. Many … Continue reading

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The Border Keeper by Kerstin Hall

Read March 2022 Recommended for people that like show over substance and dreamstate ★   ★   ★   1/2 Evocative imagery, inexpert execution. Any time one talks borderlands, one starts to invoke folk tales and myths, the stories about edges between life … Continue reading

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The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

Read March 2022 ★   ★  ★ Reminds me very much of early adolescence; earnest, sincere, and very awkward. I have no doubt that some will love it’s wholehearted embracement of the exploration of identity and I absolutely wish them enjoyment … Continue reading

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The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein

Read February 2022 Recommended for fans of the scientific method ★   ★  ★  1/2 This is one of those books that I wish I had found when it was published in 1989, or even in the following decades. I would … Continue reading

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The Iron Khan by Liz Williams. Or, Sheer Gold.

Read February 2022 Recommended for fans of Chinese mythology ★   ★   ★   ★       1/2 Currently the last in the Detective Inspector Chen series. It deserves more than this partial review, but I am, after all, on vacation, so … Continue reading

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