Tag: Fantasy

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/

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/

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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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/11/the-third-bear-by-jeff-vandermeer/

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/

Cold Days by Jim Butcher

One of the biggest issues with a SF/F series is in the area of character development and growth.  While mysteries require no change to the characters themselves, a series has the difficult balancing act of maintaining accessibility for first time readers, while simultaneously rewarding fans with meaningful growth and character development.  One of the tipping …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/01/02/cold-days-by-jim-butcher/

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

Blood of Elves is billed as “a novel of the witcher” and this same witcher, Geralt of Rivia, is blurbed as the inspiration “for the critically acclaimed video game The Witcher,” which tells me some interesting things right away. First, that one way to get fantasy translated into English, it helps to have a popular …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/12/30/blood-of-elves-by-andrzej-sapkowski/

Nightmare Ink and Bound by Ink by Marcella Burnard

I was hesitant about these books, to be honest. There’s so much urban fantasy out there and new ideas seem difficult to come up with, or doing the old ideas with a new twist. I’m glad that I read both books, however. Marcella Burnard has managed to take tattoos, demons, magic, and evil angels, and …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2014/12/22/nightmare-ink-and-bound-by-ink-by-marcella-burnard/