Tag Archives: fantasy

Jane Lindskold’s Child of a Rainless Year

Jane Lindskold is one of the more adventurous authors working in the mode of speculative fiction. From her transparent contributions to Roger Zelazny’s last two books through the contemporary urban fantasy of the athanor novels through the more-or-less “classic” fantasy … Continue reading

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Patricia A. McKillip’s Solstice Wood

It seems somewhat odd, on reflection, to realize that in a genre that so often uses magic as a metaphor and/or device, so few writers actually evoke the qualities of magic in their writing. That observation is prompted by Patricia … Continue reading

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Charles de Lint’s The Wind In His Heart

The Wind in His Heart is Charles de Lint’s first adult novel in eight years. It was worth waiting for. Usually, one tries to start a review of a book by giving a sense of the set-up, the opening situation, … Continue reading

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George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois’ Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance

Anyone who doubts the pervasive and ongoing influence of Jack Vance need only look at the table of contents to this tribute volume. Many of the contributors are legends themselves (Glen Cook, Neil Gaiman, Tanith Lee, Robert Silverberg); others are … Continue reading

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Brian Froud’s The Secret Sketchbooks of Brian Froud

I suppose there might be someone, somewhere, who has never heard of Brian Froud. He was already gaining a reputation as an illustrator of books for children when his distinctive vision was brought to a wider audience through his designs … Continue reading

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Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Vols. 1-5

Gardens of the Moon Deadhouse Gates Memories of Ice House of Chains Midnight Tides I’ve been listening to Richard Wagner’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen and I’ve been reading Midnight Tides, book five of Steven Erikson’s The Malazan Book of the … Continue reading

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Glen Cook’s Working God’s Mischief

Working God’s Mischief is the fourth installment in Glen Cook’s Instrumentalities of the Night. It’s hard to know how to lead into this one, so I’m going to let Cook do it: Arnhand, Castauriga, and Navaya lost their kings. The … Continue reading

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Jane Lindskold’s Nine Gates

Ever since their exile from the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice a century ago, the Thirteen Orphans and their descendants have done their best to blend into the cultures of Earth, striving to maintain their bloodlines and protect their … Continue reading

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Jane Lindskold’s Five Odd Honors

Five Odd Honors continues the story begun in Thirteen Orphans and Nine Gates, leading the Orphans and their allies back to the Lands of Smoke and Sacrifice from which they were exiled years before. Five of the Orphans need to … Continue reading

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Jim Grimsley’s Kirith Kirin

Jim Grimsley is a successful playwright and novelist who has produced, in Kirith Kirin, a singular work of fantasy. The story revolves around Jessex, a boy of fourteen when the story opens, who narrates the tale of his entry into … Continue reading

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