Rebecca Fisher | Fantasy Literature: Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

King of Shadows: Historical fantasy for children

King of Shadows by Susan Cooper

Nat Fields is a young boy with a tragic family history who has just joined a new theatre group. Run by the eccentric Arby Babbage, Nat finds solace and escape from his past with the rehearsals of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Nat is to play the part of Puck, and despite some minor difficulties, Nat is happy with his role as an actor, especially as the director plans to make the performance as loyal as possible to the original performances (including having boys play the part of women).

Rowan Hood: Feels like an appetizer

Rowan Hood by Nancy Springer

Thirteen year old Rosemary returns home from gathering herbs to find her home burnt to the ground and her mother dead. Not willing to try her luck in a town or on an estate, she decides to disguise herself as a boy and travel to Sherwood Forest in order to find her father: Robin Hood. Rosemary has never met or even seen her father, who is already a famous hero in ballads across England. Unsure why he left her mother or even if he wants a daughter,

Before Midnight: Like candy floss at the fair

Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

Cameron Dokey‘s contributions to the Once Upon a Time series are undoubtedly the finest, but her retelling of Cinderella is initially a little hit and miss. The series as a whole involves writers taking a recognizable fairytale and tweaking it a little into something that is still familiar but which provides a different point of view. This can involve changing the setting or the time period, removing all the magical elements that make up the original tale, or simply fleshing out the characterization.

November 13th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Cameron Dokey | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Keeper of the Grail: Reluctant readers, especially boys, will like this one

Keeper of the Grail by Michael P. Spradlin

Tristan of Saint Albans is an orphan foundling, raised by the monks and with no idea who his birth-parents are. Despite this, he’s happy enough living in the monastery, and is given a good education by the time a group of Templar Knights arrive on their way to the Holy Land. One of them, Sir Thomas, takes an interest in young Tristan, just as another, Sir Hugh, takes an immediate dislike. To Tristan’s astonishment, Sir Thomas offers him a job as his squire and by the next morning,

Perseus: A great way to introduce children to Greek myths

Perseus by Geraldine McCaughrean

There are probably much shorter retellings of this hero-story, and there are probably quite a few longer ones — but if you wish to avoid the simplicity of a picture book and the long-windedness of an epic, then I don’t think you’d find any reason to complain about Geraldine McCaughrean‘s version of the Perseus myth. In fact, I would go so far as to say that its fidelity to the well-known myth and the lyrical prose in which it is told make it the quintessential retelling of the ancient story (perhaps a premature claim considering I’m far from having read them all,

East of Midnight: Races along on every page

East of Midnight by Tanith Lee

It Died Eight Times My Love. After that, Love Stays Dead…

Tanith Lee once again proves herself a master of young adult fantasy with this wonderful (but apparently little known) story of the battle of the sexes. Set in a gloriously created world where women ride horned lions and rule over mankind, East of Midnight is a book that is easy to read, yet raises a range of questions on the differences between man and woman and the way in which we interact with each other.

A Knight of the Word: Give your book money to the poor

A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks

Even though two stars may seem like a bad rating, keep in mind that it technically means “fair.” If stars were a grade in an essay, it would be C+ — a pass, but not a particularly brilliant one. Such is the case of A Knight of the Word, the sequel to Terry Brooks‘s Running with the Demon, a much more rewarding book.

The basic premise is a good against evil plot,

November 6th, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Power of Three: One of DWJ’s best novels

Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones

Combining the atmosphere of Celtic folklore with a plot reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, an intricate plot (including a huge twist halfway through that will completely turn your perception of the story on its head), and likable characters, Power of Three is one of Diana Wynne Jones’ best novels — and so inevitably it is one of her least known.

Set on moorlands inhabited by Giants, reptilian Dorig and tribes of warrior-like clans,

Wolf Wing: Concludes a light but interesting series

Wolf Wing by Tanith Lee

Wolf Wing is the fourth and final book in the Claidi Journals, a quartet of books that follow a young heroine’s journey from slavery to freedom — and her untangling of the many mysteries and conspiracies around her — all in diary form. After many adventures in the first three books, Claidi is finally reunited with her beloved Argul, and together they plan their marriage and the return to Claidi’s previous home, the House, in order to release the slaves.

November 1st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Tanith Lee | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Angel’s Blood: I’ll try anything once

Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh

I have to admit that I don’t normally seek out these types of books — not so much the paranormal romance genre, but the erotica aspect. Still, I’ll try anything once and after begin lent Angels’ Blood by a friend, I settled down for my first taste of what I knew would be a somewhat Mills+Boon-esque novel, at least with regard to the relationship between the protagonists. From the first page I knew that I was in for a heroine who would fail the Mary Sue litmus test: if the name Elena Deveraux wasn’t enough of a giveaway,

October 31st, 2010. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | Nalini Singh | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Author: Rebecca Fisher

King of Shadows: Historical fantasy for children

Rowan Hood: Feels like an appetizer

Before Midnight: Like candy floss at the fair

Keeper of the Grail: Reluctant readers, especially boys, will like this one

Perseus: A great way to introduce children to Greek myths

East of Midnight: Races along on every page

A Knight of the Word: Give your book money to the poor

Power of Three: One of DWJ’s best novels

Wolf Wing: Concludes a light but interesting series

Angel’s Blood: I’ll try anything once

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