My usual response to reading any book by Diana Wynne Jones is: “how does she come up with this stuff?” This is swiftly followed by bewilderment (especially in the wake of Harry Potter) that nobody has ever adapted any of her work, despite the fact her stories would make for excellent on-screen entertainment.
Dogsbody (1975) is no exception. It begins by introducing the immortal Dog Star Sirius, who is in serious trouble with his peers.
August 30th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Diana Wynne Jones | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
This is a bad land for Gods… The old gods are ignored. The new gods are as quickly taken up as they are abandoned, cast aside for the next big thing. Either you’ve been forgotten, or you’re scared you’re going to be rendered obsolete, or maybe you’re just getting tired of existing on the whims of people.
Shadow, just out of prison and with nothing to go home to, is hired to be Mr. Wednesday’s bodyguard as he travels around America to warn all the other incarnations of gods,
June 11th, 2018. Kat Hooper, Rebecca Fisher and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 3, 4.5 | Neil Gaiman | Audio, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman makes no secret of his love of Norse mythology and folklore. It shows up over and over in his fiction (Sandman, American Gods, Odd and the Frost Giants to name a few); and he has mentioned his love of the stories in interviews and essays. In Norse Mythology (2017), Gaiman puts his distinctive narrative voice in service to this mythological cycle and tells us the tales of the beginnings of the Norse gods,
March 6th, 2018. Marion Deeds and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Neil Gaiman | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
MONSTRESS 2: The Blood by Marjorie Liu
As much as I enjoyed the first volume of Marjorie Liu‘s MONSTRESS , its second instalment (comprised of issues seven to twelve) is a vast improvement. The first volume was stuffed full of exposition and world-building and backstory, so much so that it was difficult to discern the actual plot. Granted, that made it exciting and complex, but I also had to read through it three times just to glean what was going on.
By contrast,
February 24th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Marjorie M. Liu | Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Warrior Witch by Danielle L. Jensen
The third and final book in Danielle L. Jensen‘s THE MALEDICTION TRILOGY picks up right where its predecessor left off: with the death of the witch Anushka and her curse upon the trolls lifted. Now they’re able to leave their city under the mountain, which is bad news for humanity since they’re led by the deranged prince Roland and his puppet-master Duke Angouleme. Their first objective is to overthrow the country and subdue all its people, and only Tristan and Cecile,
February 22nd, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Danielle L. Jensen | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen
The second book in Danielle L. Jensen‘s THE MALEDICTION TRILOGY continues the complex political intrigue between the powerful trolls who live beneath the mountain and the eighteenth-century humans who dwell on the surface. In the first book, Stolen Songbird, a truce was attempted by an arranged marriage between Tristan, the heir to the troll kingdom, and Cecile, a kidnapped opera singer. Their union was prophesied to dissolve the magical barrier that keeps the trolls beneath the earth,
February 20th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3.5 | Danielle L. Jensen | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip
The city of Numis is home to the famous Od School of Magic, founded years ago by the legendary giantess Od. She’s apparently immortal, but appears only occasionally, and therefore the school lies in the hands of the king Galin and the wizard-headmaster Valoren, who demand strict obedience from its students. Any unorthodox magic is outlawed, any student that step outside the boundaries set for them are expelled. This is especially true of any student who goes wandering in the Twilight Quarter of the city: a neighborhood that comes alive only after dark,
February 19th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher and Marion Deeds´s rating: 3 | Patricia McKillip | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
“To believe in one’s dreams is to spend all of one’s life asleep.” – Chinese proverb
“Every city is a ghost.” – Opening line of Lair of Dreams
Dreams become traps and deadly nightmares in Lair of Dreams, the second installation in Libba Bray’s DIVINERS fantasy horror series. In 1927, a crew of men is opening up an old walled-off tunnel underneath the streets of New York City in order to build a new subway tunnel.
February 15th, 2018. Tadiana Jones and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Libba Bray | Horror | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
YA fantasy has experienced an influx of sparkly vampires, fallen angels and broody fey-creatures in the past ten years, but this is the first time I’ve seen trolls toted as desirable romantic partners. When I hear the word “troll” I think of the large and grotesque creatures from The Hobbit or The Three Billy Goats Gruff, but Danielle Jensen reimagines them as creatures that are human in shape, but deformed in features. Our first glimpse of one is described thusly: “the two sides of his face,
February 13th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4 | Danielle L. Jensen | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Orphan of Destiny by Michael Spradlin
Believe it or not, I started reading this trilogy in 2010, and have only just managed to settle down with the final instalment. As such, my memories of the first two books, Keeper of the Grail and Trail of Fate, were a little fuzzy, though I did recall the general gist of the plot.
Tristan is a young Templar squire who has been charged by his master to find the Holy Grail and take it to a place of safety in Scotland.
February 9th, 2018. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Michael P. Spradlin | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…
It's hardly a private conversation, Becky. You're welcome to add your 2 cents anytime!
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…