If you’re not intrigued by the title of A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, I’m not sure what to tell you. But if you think that T. Kingfisher’s pseudo-middle-grade novel can’t live up to its title, I can tell you that you’re mistaken. Whether you want humor, depth, good characters, or an interesting magic system,… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
I hadn’t heard much about Hench when it came out, but this is the time of year when an interesting premise and a couple people convinced it should be in consideration for a Hugo nomination is enough to give something a second look. And, while I probably won’t include Hench on my ballot, Natalie Zina… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
I’ve been hearing a lot of good about The Deep–Rivers Solomon’s novella, inspired by the song of the same name from the experimental hip hop group clipping.–ever since its release in 2019. And with it being spotlighted this month in one of r/Fantasy’s many book clubs, I finally decided to take the plunge. The… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Deep by Rivers Solomon
New epic fantasies always give me more apprehension than any other book. The ones that hit tend to really hit, and secondary world fantasy series dominate my all-time favorites list. But they try to accomplish so much that it’s easy to get bogged down in the setup, and I DNF epics more than anything else.… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Andy Giesler released his debut during the summer of 2019, but it didn’t hit my radar until it made the semifinals of this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. While it was not chosen as a finalist, I found its review more intriguing than the book chosen out of that semifinal group, so I decided to give… Continue reading Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel Review: The Nothing Within by Andy Giesler
I haven’t done many of these, so I’ll start with a word about my series reviews. They are not reviews of the last book. They are meant to be helpful for people who have not read the series at all, or perhaps who have started and are unsure about whether to continue. As such, I… Continue reading Fantasy Series Review: The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham
R.A. Lafferty, who died at 87 on March 18 [2002], was undoubtedly the finest writer of whatever it was that he did that ever there was. He was a genius, an oddball, a madman. His stories. . . are without precedent. -Neil Gaiman Remember those old books for science fiction beginners, the ones that said… Continue reading Science Fiction/Fantasy Author Spotlight: R.A. Lafferty
Guy Gavriel Kay, known for his exemplary prose, historical settings, and fondness for standalones, is one of those authors I’ve been hearing about for a long time. I consistently hear other authors I like (like Carol Berg, or Janny Wurts) recommend for fans of Kay. That probably works the other way as well, so I… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
I’m reading a lot more short fiction as the new year begins, and since they don’t get their own reviews, I thought they warranted a monthly round-up post. I’ll also include some notes at the end about the longer works I’ve been reading this month, but this is mostly a chance for short stories to… Continue reading January 2021 Round-up and Short Fiction Focus
I’ve never voted for the Hugo Awards before, but I’ve signed up to do so this year, so it’s time to start figuring out what I want to nominate. I haven’t found five works that I feel strongly about in any category, so if anyone wants to put in a plug for something I’ve missed,… Continue reading 2021 Hugo Award Nominations: First Draft
