Tag Archives: fantasy

Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón’s Vlad the Impaler: The Man Who Was Dracula

The historical Vlad III, the Impaler, whose story this book purports to tell, was a voivode — “prince” — of Wallachia in the later fifteenth century. He is known mainly for his policy of independence from the Ottoman Empire, of … Continue reading

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Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day

Thomas Pynchon has long been one of my favorite American authors, ever since the local librarian in our small town objected to allowing me, all of seventeen years old (and a very skinny, gawky, naïve seventeen, at that), to borrow … Continue reading

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Steven Brust and Skyler White’s The Skill of Our Hands

Call it “slipstream”: it’s not exactly science fiction, although it could be; nor is it fantasy, although it has elements of that, in the gritty, contemporary, urban vein; and anything it takes from mainstream fiction is more from the realm … Continue reading

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Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman and Donald G. Keller’s The Horns of Elfland

Jeannine Gehrmann penned this reveiw. Any seasoned teacher knows better than to answer the question, “Who is your favourite?” in a class of children, and, so, too, does any seasoned reader feel about a good collection of fantasy short stories. Each … Continue reading

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Connie Willis’ The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories and D.A.

What can I say about Connie Willis, except that she is one of the most consistently engaging writers I’ve ever run across? The Winds of Marble Arch and D.A. reinforce that opinion: they are, in a word, terrific. The Winds … Continue reading

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China Miéville’s Kraken

Don’t let the tentacles fool you — yes, China Miéville’s Kraken takes as its starting point a tentacular god of the deep reminiscent of the stories of H. P. Lovecraft, but then Miéville adds to it the baroque psychogeographies of … Continue reading

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Elizabeth Bear’s Bone and Jewel Creatures

Elizabeth Bear’s novella Bone and Jewel Creatures takes us to a bizarre fantasy world that Bear doesn’t describe so much as imply. Bijou the Artificer is a Wizard of Messaline; she makes Artifices out of bone, wire, and jewels. Sometimes … Continue reading

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Patricia A. McKillip’s The Bards of Bone Plain

I’ve noted before the importance of music in the works of Patricia McKillip. I’ve probably also said something about the poetic quality of her writing. I know I’ve mentioned the way magic infuses her stories, context rather than event. That’s … Continue reading

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Glen Cook’s Winter’s Dreams

Glen Cook is known for his series — Dread Empire, Black Company, Garrett, P.I., Starfishers, and the like. What we tend to forget is that he has also written short fiction, which is fully up to the standard set in … Continue reading

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Elizabeth Bear’s By the Mountain Bound

By the Mountain Bound is a prequel to All the Windwracked Stars, and takes quite a different cast. It is a pure fantasy, with none of the science-fiction aspects of the latter book, and leads one to think about possibilities … Continue reading

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