Author: Rebecca Fisher

First Test: A school story

First Test by Tamora Pierce

Throughout Tamora Pierce’s range of fantasy books, the Protector of the Small quartet is unique, mainly because it is not primary a fantasy series, but a school story — more akin to the likes of Enid Blyton’s Naughtiest Girl in the School or Mallory Towers. This may seem like an odd thing to say, but on close inspection I think you’ll find it’s true. Though there are fantasy elements present, the main narrative of the book is concerned with topic that you find in other books of the school-story genre (including Harry Potter),

Armageddon’s Children: Bridges the gap

Armageddon’s Children by Terry Brooks

“I Will Grow Up to be Like My Mother…”

Best known for his expansive SHANNARA series set in a typical fantasy-realm of swords and sorcery, Terry Brooks is also the author of the WORD AND THE VOID trilogy, an urban-fantasy concerning the entropy of our world fought against by Knights of the Word. Although both series seemed unconnected (despite a few hints that the world of SHANNARA was set thousands of years into the future, a world built on the foundations of our own,

November 30th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2.5 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Care and Feeding of Sprites: Another beautiful book

Care and Feeding of Sprites by Holly Black

Since the publication of the five-part Spiderwick Chronicles there have been three “spin-off” publications: Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (a copy of the book that featured so heavily in the Chronicles themselves), A Notebook for Fantastical Observations, designed for readers themselves to fill out, and this, Care and Feeding of Sprites. If you can only choose one of them, then the pick of the litter is undoubtedly the Field Guide,

The Silver Chair: Entertaining and re-readable adventure

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

I am always vaguely amused at the debate that goes on over the reading order of The Chronicles of Narnia and how worked up some people get over it. True, some books should be read before others and The Last Battle should definitely be read last; but in my own experience The Silver Chair (published fourth, written fifth*, and chronologically sixth in the series) was read first! Was my love and appreciation of Narnia ruined because of this? Of course not!

The Silver Chair is set about a year after the proceedings of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,

Straken: Disappointment

Straken by Terry Brooks

“Hate That Everything We Do is Dictated by These Secret Keepers…”

What was shaping up to be the best SHANNARA-based serial since THE HERITAGE OF SHANNARA stumbles on the finish line. Despite a promising start and a strong middle, THE HIGH DRUID OF SHANNARA goes out more with a whimper than a bang, due to several pointless chapters, unbelievable coincidences, the undermining of previously established plot-points and too much stupid behavior on the part of its antagonists.

Grianne Ohmsford was banished into the world of the Forbidding by her treacherous fellow Druids,

November 26th, 2007. Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 2 | Terry Brooks | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Willow Tree’s Daughter: Not your typical fairytale princess

The Willow Tree’s Daughter by Pamela Freeman

It is a very sad fact that this book is so overlooked, as it is a rare gem that everybody should try to get hold of, filled with amazing characters, strange creatures and stereotypes that get twisted on their heads!

The most unique thing about this book however is that it does not as such have a clear plot structure, but rather each chapter relates an encounter or experience with its heroine Princess Betony. In fact, the story actually starts years before her birth when the Crown Prince Max,

The Nixie’s Song: A new trilogy in the Spiderwick world

The Nixie’s Song by Holly Black

After the five-part The Spiderwick Chronicles ended with a promise that there would be more to follow in the Spiderwick world, it was only a matter of time before there was another installment in the series. Now we pick up in the first book of a proposed trilogy that features a new set of children (two step-siblings) and a different location (the mangrove swamps of Florida as opposed to the old world charm of New England), but with plenty of new faerie lore incorporated into the story.

City of Masks: Different opinions

City of Masks by Marry Hoffman

City of Masks is an “other world” novel, one where characters from our world can travel back and forth to another, in this case an alternate history 16th century Italy known as Talia. These travelers (and it works both ways) are known as “stravaganti,” thus the series title. While this book takes places in this world’s version of Venice (Bellezza), others in the series will range elsewhere (City of Stars, for example, is set in an alternate Sienna).

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: More thoughtful

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

The third book in The Chronicles of Narnia (or the fifth if you’re reading them in chronological order), is a rather unusual book within the context of the series, considering the good-against-evil theme that permeates the other six books in the series is largely absent here. Of course there are dangers and trials, as well as personal conflict that need to be resolved, but because there is no central villain nor any fundamental evil that needs to be defeated, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is more thoughtful,

The Wolf Tower: Personal and interactive

The Wolf Tower by Tanith Lee

The Wolf Tower (also published as The Law of the Wolf Tower) is the first of a quartet of books concerning the young woman Claidi’s series of adventures in a fantasy realm, as told and recorded by her in her journal. Her story begins in the House where she works as a slave to the spoilt Lady Jade Leaf, which Claidi recounts in the book that she’s stolen from her mistress’s stationary chest. She’s not entirely sure what made her do such a dangerous thing,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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