When I saw Naomi Novik had a new fairytale style story out, I was intrigued. That’s not her usual milieu. Out of curiosity, I got Uprooted from the library. I am so glad I did! This is a terrific story, masterfully told. I’ll definitely be adding it to my collection of fairytale romances. In a…
I adore stories with dragons in them. I grew up with Anne MacCaffrey’s Pern books, and Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series of historical fantasies is among my favorites. So I jumped at the opportunity to review Marie Brennan’s A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent, the first installment in a series of fantasy…
I love finding great new YA authors. Since the genre is currently saturated with paranormal novels, it is rare that the books offer anything new or different. The great news is that this tale of the Grisha magicians is new and different. It brings some variety to a market becoming glutted with similarity. Long ago…
First published fifteen years ago, this original and captivating work of fantasy is now being made available to the public once more. If you like deep, historically rich novels this is a not to be missed gem of the genre. Saavedra has done all she can to keep her inquisitive, rule breaking cousin Sario Grijalva…
Zoe Ardelay was raised by her father, a former advisor to Welce’s King Vernon. She remembers little of her family’s life at the court in Chialto, and she is unsure as to why or how her father fell from favor. Raised in relative isolation, she knows little of the politics of her homeland’s capitol or…
It’s hard to believe that a story first published in the 1400’s – and told for possibly hundreds of years before – still has new incarnations coming out regularly. But the legend of Arthur, Merlin, his queen, and knights continues to capture the imagination of readers and authors alike. While originally written in French, it…
For its length, First Rider’s Call is a pretty fast read. All the characters are well-drawn, and I grew to be very interested in their experiences. Regardless of the many fantasy clichés peppered throughout the book, this is a pleasant read that kept me turning the pages. At the beginning of the story, Kerrigan G’ladheon…
Just to make it clear: Alex Bledsoe’s The Sword-Edged Blonde is not a romance. Instead it is a mixture between a hardboiled detective story and a sword-and-sorcery fantasy novel, with a lot of sword and very little sorcery. The hero, Eddie LaCrosse, gets a happy ending of sorts, or rather a happy new beginning –…
It begins with a glass of orange juice at breakfast. Harry Crewe, orphan Homelander and newly come to the northernmost Homelander border patrol station, has nothing to do. Her new home is lovely, her guardians are everything that is kind, and the officers are friendly. But she has always been an octagonal peg (a very…
His Majesty’s Dragon is straight fantasy, no romance whatsoever, but it does have, at its heart, a very lovely and emotionally rich relationship between a man and his newly hatched dragon. Captain Will Laurence and his naval crew capture a French frigate in what Laurence assumes to be a routine skirmish. What’s hardly routine is…