Our long time friend and former reviewer Tia wrote a post on her blog a week ago about what blurb elements inspire her to pick up a book.  Warrior Women, ancient historical settings, secrets, the word “epic” and clash of culture stories all do it for her.

For me, there’s a few things that will usually cause me to pick up a book I haven’t heard of. Nature-based magic systems, strong religious or political themes, any retold fairy tale, and Victorian or Ancient Greek and Roman settings all seem to make it into my shopping cart. Egyptian settings will kill it for me usually, as  will vampires (though I love Gail Carriger’s vampires – I just didn’t know they were going to be in the book when I started reading it.)fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviews

So, dear readers, what blurbs entice you or dismay you? Let me know in the comments and I’ll enter you in a drawing to win a book of your choice from our stacks!

Author

  • Ruth Arnell

    RUTH ARNELL (on FanLit's staff January 2009 — August 2013) earned a Ph.D. in political science and is a college professor in Idaho. From a young age she has maxed out her library card the way some people do credit cards. Ruth started reading fantasy with A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — books that still occupy an honored spot on her bookshelf today. Ruth and her husband have a young son, but their house is actually presided over by a flame-point Siamese who answers, sometimes, to the name of Griffon.