Category: Fantasy

Vlast and Cool and Dangerously Sympathetic

I’m about a quarter of the way through Truth and Fear (concurrent with more Discworld, The Iliad – to see whether it captures me the way The Odyssey did, and in a modern translation since I bounced right off of Chapman’s, and probably some other things that rise to the surface of the to-be-read piles), …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/28/vlast-and-cool-and-dangerously-sympathetic/

Dream Shaper by J. A. Ferguson

Disclaimer: I received this ARC (Advance Reading Copy) in Kindle format via Net Galley. The book itself won’t be published until January 31st, 2015. It’s the second book in the Dream Chronicle Series. Dream Shaper tells the story of a female warrior, Hyndla Shenvirl. Hyndla was found as a baby by the side of a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/19/dream-shaper-by-j-a-ferguson/

Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins

Sometimes it’s nice to be squarely in the middle of the target audience. Although I am not sure whether anyone would have said ex ante that the audience for a police procedural set in an alternate history Russia with fantasy and science fiction elements was much more than just me. But Peter Higgins went and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/19/wolfhound-century-by-peter-higgins/

The Raven Cycle #3: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the third book of a series that is beginning to become extremely interesting. It was good to begin with, but as the story continues it becomes even more layered, with complex plotting and characterization that a reader can really sink their teeth into. The tale involves 4 boys at a Virginia prep school …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/15/the-raven-cycle-3-blue-lily-lily-blue-by-maggie-stiefvater/

Mort by Terry Pratchett

I’ve read the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, several times, but I had never taken the plunge and dived deeper into the series. I missed them, somehow, when they were new and I was devouring almost all the fantasy in sight. Then I was overseas for a while and doing my best not …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/15/mort-by-terry-pratchett/

Shatter by Elizabeth C Mock

Oh my God, where to even start with reviewing this book? Okay, it is exceptionally, intelligently plotted. The plot twists are surprising and smart, the moral quandaries meaningful and moving. As far as story and world-building goes, Elizabeth C Mock has come up with something to rival Brandon Sanderson or Jacqueline Carey. “Wait,” you’re asking. …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/14/shatter-by-elizabeth-c-mock/

How to Train Your Dragon by DreamWorks Animation

Actors: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler Directors: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: DreamWorks DVD Release Date: October 15, 2010 Run Time: 98 minutes Special Features: Animated short film, interviews and behind-the scenes footage, deleted scenes, games This week’s review is How To …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/11/how-to-train-your-dragon-by-dreamworks-animation/

The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer

The Third Bear is a somewhat unsettling collection of short stories by Jeff VanderMeer. I’ve been trying to find a way to classify this book, and it’s defying me. The stories within range from bizarre to creepy to unnerving, and they took my mind to pictures and ideas that I wouldn’t normally have found on …

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The Cormorant (Miriam Black) by Chuck Wendig

The Cormorant is the third book in Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series. (The first two are Blackbirds and Mockingbird.) These books are intriguing and well-written, as well as entertaining as hell given that Miriam is prone to speaking her mind and she has an extensive vocabulary, as well as the power to tell when people …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/06/the-cormorant-miriam-black-by-chuck-wendig/

Never Deal With a Dragon / Choose Your Enemies Carefully / Find Your Own Truth by Robert N. Charrette

For my first review for the Frumious Consortium, I’d like to start with a bang, a triple play. Three books at once, all part of a trilogy inscribed in the same universe, all by the same author, and all uncommonly uniform enough in style and execution as to try and pass a single review as …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/02/never-deal-with-a-dragon-choose-your-enemies-carefully-find-your-own-truth-robert-n-charrette/