Tag Archives: Fantasy

#WyrdAndWonder2025 Bite-Sized Islands: Sixth of the Dusk

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So uh, we’re already falling a bit behind on our #WyrdAndWonder goals but oh well. We’re doing our best.

In any case, Day 10’s theme was “Bite-Sized Islands”, and I found a second nautical story by Brandon Sanderson (the first being Tress of the Emerald Sea) which I’ll review in response to this prompt. That story is Sixth of the Dusk which is only 54 pages (bite-sized indeed), and features a kind of hunter who makes his living sailing the dangerous waters of the archipelago known as Pantheon, and caring for the biggest island Patji . . . which would like nothing more than to kill him dead.

I wish Sanderson would write more stories around this page count. It was really refreshing to pick this one up and finish after only a night or two of reading. The relative brevity of the tale did nothing to diminish its impact. It is still jammed packed with worldbuilding, with action and adventure. And I’d say its thematic elements were that much more clear, for not having as much real estate to develop on.

The version I read was included in (to my knowledge) Sanderson’s only anthology, the Arcanum Unbounded, which features little bits and curiosities from nearly every part of his overarching story universe, the Cosmere. However, this time through, I only read the short story itself, and none of the other stories within the anthology, so I can’t really speak to how it sits within that work, but I can talk about how it reads on its own (because that’s how I read it).

Sixth of the Dusk is from the beginning, focused on man’s battle with nature, opening with the unnerving depth, and unknowable horror of the sea. Its first line reads:

“Death hunted beneath the waves.”

Our main character, called Dusk, feels not only small, but afraid as the shadow of some giant leviathan passes underneath his boat. He’s spent his entire life training to sail these waters and hunt on Patji, he is smart and skilled, and has several protections in place, yet he never loses sight of the fact that he is nothing compared to the powers of nature.

I’ll admit, I haven’t read a ton of person-vs-nature type stories (really only William Faulkner’s The Bear comes to mind) but it isn’t hard to imagine a theme of these stories involving the inevitable march of technology and modernity combining into a kind of manifest destiny which seeks to tame the wild frontier. Sanderson’s take is somewhat different in that even though it still sets up that dichotomy of person vs wild, at least some of the people — particularly the main character — are trying to save said wild and halt the march of “Progress”. And nature still just keeps trying to get in their way.

It’s perhaps only a shade different than other stories with nature as a primary antagonist, but it is still an interesting shade nonetheless.

Of course Sanderson brings his customary zeal for worldbuilding to this story. He writes in the postscript, that he has a fascination with Polynesian culture (which also influences the Alcatraz books, and the Horneater culture in Stormlight). I don’t know much about that culture, so I’m not really able to point out examples of how it came into the story; however, I trust that it did.

What I can say, is that the worldbuilding which goes on in the story is impressive, immersive, and detailed, and I hope we get to see some more stories set in this part of the Cosmere soon. My last note on worldbuilding (which is a slight spoiler) for any tracking such things, is that I believe this is our first time seeing tech in the Cosmere that looks somewhat like our own. “Sailing the stars” is mentioned which seems to point to some kind of space travel. It’s definitely got my interest piqued.

Finally, the story features heavily some parrot-like birds. I think Sanderson has a parrot himself so it was fun to see that come into his fiction.

Give ‘Sixth of the Dusk‘ a read?

Yes! Definitely check this one out. Whether you’re interested in ‘keeping up with the Cosmere‘ or just looking for some short and entertaining to read, Sixth of the Dusk is a great a choice. I enjoyed the story for its variation on the Person vs. Wild theme, its Polynesian inspired worldbuilding and cool birds.

Also, literally as I was finishing up this review I thought to check and see how/if this short story was related to Sanderson’s upcoming Isles of the Emberdark since I thought I remembered the cover featuring a parrot. Turns out Emberdark is an expansion of Dusk’s story! So I guess my timing is perfect and we’ll be seeing more of Dusk and this part of the Cosmere after all!

Anyway, that’s all I have for this post. Have any read this one before? What were your thoughts? Did you have any favorite critters on Patji? How do you think this story will relate to Isles of the Emberdark? Prequel? Beginning chapters? Complete rewrite?

Leave your answers in the comments, and happy #WyrdAndWonder!

Fantasy That Matures With Its Protagonist! ‘In The Hand of A Goddess’ by Tamora Pierce

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I think I actually liked this one a bit more than Alanna: The First Adventure.

Pierce really escalates a lot of the elements present in the first book, but also managed to incorporate some new themes which really raised the stakes quite a bit. One notable escalation was of course in the level of danger present throughout the book. For the first book, the main tension seemed to be that Alanna will be discovered as a girl, and have to give up on her dream of becoming a knight. The final showdown between her, Johnathan, and the Ysandir is perhaps the only scene in which we truly feel Alanna’s life might be at risk.

In the Hand of the Goddess gives us much more in the way of real danger. In the first book, Alanna discovers a sword, in the second book, she’s expected to use it, and seems to do so quite a bit. There are duels to win, and bandit raids to survive; a hunt for a giant wolf, and an actual war. In the Hand of the Goddess still feels very much like part two of a bildungsroman, but Pierce also manages to move the story noticeably towards a more adult form of sword and sorcery.

I love that the story seemed to mature as the character did. The passage of time is certainly more noticeable in this story than in Alanna’s first adventure. I think she’s like 16 or 17 by the time the story begins to wrap up. Jonathan is a bit older. George is even older still.

I’ll admit that George and Alanna’s relationship feels a bit uncomfortable in 2024 because of their age difference. It’s uncertain how intentional this discomfort is on the part of the author, but given what I’ve heard from some friends who have read further in the series, I kind of imagine that it wasn’t something she meant to include? It is hard to say. This book was originally published in 1984 and while I would absolutely assume her views are in line with progressives today, being progressive 30 years ago just looked a little different.

The third — and perhaps final? — thing that stood out to me while reading In the Hand of the Goddess was the novel’s (and Alanna’s) use of magic. Our knowledge of what magic can do in Tortall deepens significantly during this book but I thought it was refreshing that despite this clearer picture, the reader does not really lose the sense of mystery presented by it. Magic in this book does not feel like a system, like you might find in a Brandon Sanderson novel. It does not feel like just another kind of science.

It feels like . . . well like magic.

I think it’s only a small spoiler (happens in the first chapter and is literally part of the title) to say that we meet a goddess in this book, which to my mind was not enough to fit the book into the Godpunk genre, but was highly reminiscent (to me) of ancient Greek myth which I felt had implications not only for the plot but for how magic works in the world. Very late in the book, we also see a kind of sympathetic magic happening which was also quite intriguing. I’m sure this will be explored further in later volumes, and I’m looking forward to tracking this as it progresses.

Give ‘In the Hand of the Goddess‘ a read?

If you enjoyed Alanna: The First Adventure, I suspect you’ll enjoy In the Hand of the Goddess. I loved that the narrative shifts (IMHO) as the story progresses, becoming more and more adult as Alanna ages, to the point where by the end we are very close to leaving the YA genre behind for a more traditional sword and sorcery novel.

That’s all I have for this week. What is everyone else thinking? What were your favorite parts? Please leave your thoughts in the comments. I’m looking forward to talking about this one!

Until next time!

10 Fantasy Gems Overlooked By New York Time’s Top 100 (a genre fan’s rebuttal)

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We have an extra post this week because I’ve been seeing a lot of talk right now about the New York Times’ 100 Best Books of the 21st Century in various book spaces, and it just seemed like too interesting a topic to pass up.

I have to agree that it’s sort of a weird time to be posting a list like this considering we are, after all, not even a full quarter into the 21st century (shouldn’t this list have come out next year in 2025?).

Many seem pretty bothered by the fact that there isn’t more genre-fiction on the list. Literary Fiction authors like George Saunders, and Jesmyn Ward appear multiple times, but we feel sort of lucky to see N.K. Jemisin appear just once on the list and R.F. Kuang not at all.

This could be considered in the light of the infamous mystery maxim: “surprising yet inevitable”. Surprising in that many mainstream news outlets cover science fiction and fantasy news, whether it’s the latest Hugo or publishing scandal, or a review of some particularly controversial (or really good) book.

Inevitable, perhaps, in that while the literary establishment may publish content for us to get our lauded clicks, I’m not sure they will ever admit to genre-fiction being literary.

Mostly, I’m fine with this. We have PLENTY of our own awards which mean something to our community. It’s enough.

Also, I hardly recognized any titles on the list at all and had read only a handful that weren’t ‘genre’ anyway (Pachinko & Evicted). I point this out to suggest that someone who is more well-read in genre-fiction could potentially make exactly the same mistake going the other way. Perhaps a list in NY Times isn’t really meant to be all that comprehensive anyway. I’m honestly not even sure I’ve even read that many NY Times reviews, whether it be for genre or lit fic.

Perhaps this list is not so important as it seems.

So to have a little bit of fun, and maybe respond in a way, to the NYT 100 list, I’ve decided to make my own list of influential novels from the first quarter of the 21st century, but restricting myself to ONLY Fantasy novels since that’s what I know best.

I went with ten picks because I’m not sure I’ve even read 100 novels across all types of books that were published in the last 25 years let alone 100 Fantasy novels. Everything is novel-length (no novellas, short stories, or anthologies here although there are plenty of amazing candidates in those formats), and all the selected novels have been reviewed here on this blog.

Here’s what I came up with:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief

(2005)
I felt this was a good place to start as it is the oldest book on the list, and I think probably the most widely read. I somehow missed it growing up, but I know that for plenty of people, this series got them reading fantasy (and caring about Greek Mythology).

Eragon (2002) could have also fit nicely here, but alas I have not yet reviewed it on my blog. I’m counting Harry Potter as “20th Century” since the first one came out in 1997. Also, woefully unreviewed by the team here at A&A (ahem me lol).

Mistborn: Alloy of Law

(2011)
I chose this one over other Mistborn or Cosmere books for a few reasons. First, OG Mistborn (The Final Empire) is as of yet unreviewed on the blog (wow do I even review books here?). Second, I think this book really gave us an idea of what Sanderson would strive to accomplish with a shared universe, which at the time this book came out was a relatively unknown idea. Stephen King had apparently been doing it, but Marvel’s MCU was still in its infancy with two Iron Man movies, a Hulk movie and a Thor movie seeming only loosely connected until Avengers arrived in 2012.

Finally, this book also laid the blueprints for the kind of genre mixing we see more of in later Wax/Wayne books. Oh and it was likely one of the first Steampunk books I ever read.

(although the first Steampunk story I reviewed on the blog was in 2013 called Cup of Joe by Anita Ensal. Apparently I liked it)

Senlin Ascends

(2013)
Another steampunk novel (I guess we can start to see a trend in 21st century Fantasy), which begins what is likely my new favorite series (The Books of Babel). I’ve praised this book (and its sequel: Arm of the Sphinx) for having some of the most enjoyable character work of any books I’ve ever read. Bancroft is a master of painting a life in a single line, and of showing a gradual change over many Ringdoms.

And while its sheer excellence might be enough to earn it a spot on this list, I have a notion that this book is also important in terms of the larger publishing industry, namely the arrival of truly powerful self-published novels which compete with more traditionally published books. I believe the Books of Babel are now published by Orbit, but the first book was originally self-published.

A great read and assuredly a signal of sorts of things to come.

The City of Brass

(2017)
The first of two books published in 2017 (apparently a powerhouse year) that grace this list, City of Brass begins our adventures in the Djinn city of Daevabad, and (to my mind) brought Islamic mythology and folklore to mainstream Fantasy.

It appears to have missed inclusion on the 2018 Hugo ballot by only a single vote, but we would see works from the series appear in such company later, when the trilogy was nominated for best series in 2021.

Perhaps the Fantasy genre had been trending away from traditional medieval tropes and forms for a while by 2017, but The City of Brass and its sequels just happen to be my favorite expression of this much needed trend.

Jade City

(2017)
Speaking of moving away from traditional tropes and forms in Fantasy . . . JADE (Mfing) CITY!! Wow what a book . . . what a SERIES! Pitched as a kind of “Godfather with kung fu and magic”, Jade City starts our adventures with the Kaul family in Janloon, and while a masterpiece in its own right, it also sets the stage for several absolutely devastating sequels.

Based in a secondary world all its own, The Green Bone Saga is perhaps one of the most truly intricate urban fantasies when it comes to worldbuilding that I’ve ever read. While many fantasies rely on prophecy and myth to create the kind of epic stakes we expect from the genre, the history makers in this world are still alive, aging badly, and worse, failing to live up to the myth and legend which has come up around them. It is truly an excellent change of pace from years past and (IMHO) emblematic of “21st century” Fantasy.

Also this book will likely send you straight to therapy. I can’t remember a book before or since in which I felt so strongly (and experienced such trauma and grief) for its characters. Finally, I don’t feel Jade City is the first, or even probably the best example of Grimdark Fantasy, but it is probably my favorite.

The Poppy War

(2018)
Another Grimdark Fantasy book inspired by Asian culture and mythology. I originally did not much enjoy this work (a little too grim and dark for my tastes) until I learned a bit more history and context surrounding what the book was attempting to accomplish. Despite the magic, and other ‘trappings of genre’ which the book makes use of, I don’t think anyone can argue this book is not literary.

It’s beautifully written, intricately crafted, and completely blunt in its depiction of certain horrors and atrocities. It is a book that drives you to seek out information about the real world, and you might not like what you see.

The Poppy War also contains some important subversions of traditional fantasy tropes, the most interesting and immediate (perhaps representative of our time) surrounding magic schools.

Finally, I don’t think many would deny R.F. Kuang as an important voice in today’s literary moment. This debut, feels like a kind of herald, announcing the quality and significance of future works (which I still need to read!)

David Mogo Godhunter

(2019)
I include this book on the list because I feel it serves as a kind of definition for an increasingly popular subgenre of Fantasy: Godpunk. The basic definition runs something like this:

A genre in which mythic gods directly interfere in modern human affairs.

This can apply to tons of books, both past and present (note Percy Jackson listed above), but I hadn’t really seen anyone use this label, or try to put a box around books that did this until David Mogo. I think the book is also notable for introducing readers to a pantheon of West African (specifically Orisha) gods and goddesses. Up until this point, books in this vein trended towards Greek/Roman, Norse, or Ancient Egyptian mythologies. By 2019, I feel we’re starting to see different mythologies coming into the genre — Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel is another excellent 2022 example for Indian mythology that is sadly unreviewed here — with Suyi Davies Okungbowa leading the charge.

Gideon The Ninth

(2019)
Gideon The Ninth could belong on this list for any number of reasons. The kind of gothic-fantasy-mystery-set-in-space aesthetic is certainly representative of weakening genre/sub-genre boundaries and the rise in popularity of mixing genres (as we saw with Alloy of Law and sequels). Gideon as a character is quite affable, and despite such a dark and grim setting, has a pretty hopeful outlook which in hindsight feels precursor the emergence of genres like Hopepunk and Cozy Fantasy.

And even with all the crass remarks and sometimes rude humor, GtN is also quite ‘literary’ in the sense that it has us analyzing how queer relationships are depicted in fiction, and debating what kinds of subject matter is ‘OK’ to write about at all. Wherever you fall — I present an opinion much more eloquently in my actual review — there is value in reading this book simply for the questions it raises.

And of course GtN is just the start. There is also the sequel Harrow the Ninth to consider, which is absolutely just a mind-fuck of a novel (more sequels have come out too but I have not yet had a chance to read them)

The City We Became

(2020)
While The Broken Earth trilogy would be the obvious choice for this list, and was included in the NYT list which sparked this post, I have yet to review those books on my blog. So, we’ll go with one I have reviewed here on A&A, and honestly I think it’s as great a choice as any: The City We Became.

If it has not already, I’m sure The City We Became will inspire a thousand other urban love letters by other authors, anthropomorphizing other cities around The States, and around the world (I think NOLA has already had a few great stories inspired thusly). Will any of them be as good as this? Assuredly not many. The attention to craft on display in this book is incredible, and the undertaking itself feels innovative and awe inspiring. I can think of no more relevant display of people overcoming differences to live and strive together than a bunch of New Yorkers coming together to take on Lovecraftian horrors. It’s a message we sorely needed in 2020, and one that I think we need even more in 2024.

Also, N.K. Jemisin’s use of cosmic horror in the novel, and a few deliberately named artworks and enemies, accomplishes more than just gripping fiction. It simultaneously pays homage to, and claps back at, genre roots which we’re very much attempting to reconcile with modern values and thinking. H.P. Lovecraft was an antisemite and a racist. He is also considered by many to be one of the fathers of fantasy.

The City We Became acknowledges ALL of this legacy and is an incredible answer to it.

Fourth Wing

(2023)
The newest book on this list, and even quite new to this blog (I only reviewed it last week), but Fourth Wing has earned its place as a ‘literary moment’ through sheer popularity. It seems like everyone has read, is reading, or is about to read this book, and whether you love it or hate it, you are going to talk about it.

Part of this phenomenon is because of its success on Tik Tok, which is important as a signal of change in preferences for social media consumption, but as I note in my review, in-person and real-life interactions surrounding this series are also quite prevalent, which also seems important (especially as COVID restrictions ease).

Virality aside, Fourth Wing is also emblematic of a few 21st century fantasy trends. First, its status as both Romantasy and Dark Academia, positions it at the center of two ‘new’ genres which are widely popular and emerging as more ‘mainstream’ than other kinds of traditional fantasy. Second it seems significant of a shift in the level of eroticism that mainstream readers will accept. Fourth Wing and its sequel Iron Flame, DO NOT fade to black when it’s time for the ‘spice’ to flow, and yet this seems to be a well loved feature, not a hated or scorned bug.

I’m sure we’ll be seeing much more of this in the coming years.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. Ten Fantasy titles which define the first 25 years of this century. It’s been a twisting, turning road, with the weakening of traditional ideas of distinct genres, mythologies and settings; the emergence and legitimization of entire new ways to publish books and stories; and the reconciliation of what kinds stories we should even be telling now that so many ideas have changed compared to previous centuries.

When written that way, it almost seems like the Fantasy genre is quite ‘Literary’ after all, and represents our current moment in history as well as any other genre.

This post was a blast to write, and turned out way longer (and more academic) then I intended, but of course I’m curious what any readers (hi you three!) think. Should the NYT list have had more “genre fiction” on it? Does it even matter? Which titles did I miss?

Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Can’t wait to talk about this more!

Would You Rather Book Tag

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One of these days I’ll actually do a book tag properly and ya know . . . tag some people, but in the mean time I still think it’s fun to fill out the prompts and see where I land. For any new to the blog, or new to book tags in general, I’d definitely recommend checking out some of the tags I’ve done in the past. I’m especially fond of the Dune and Jurassic Park tags, and the Get to Know the Fantasy Reader tag is probably a good place to start if you want to get an idea of where I’m at within the the genre (it’s mostly still accurate)

I found THIS tag on Jenna Falling Letters Blog but couldn’t chase it back to the source . . .

Anyway, please read on and enjoy!

Would you rather read from a hardback, paperback, or e-book?

Paperback. I won’t lie, there are a lot of amazing and beautifully realized hardback books out there (I’m thinking specifically of all these illuminated editions we see now days) which are amazing, and I’ve certainly shelled out a great deal of money for them every now and again (even pre “secret projects”) but my answer comes down to the most practical of reasons: A paperback will usually fit in your coat pocket.

E-books will also generally fit in your coat pocket. This is assuming I never get a newer kindle, which given I’ve had the same PaperWhite for probably a decade and it shows no signs of stopping, indeed I may never get something different.

But I still enjoy turning physical pages. Oddly, this is something that has happened to me as I’ve gotten older. In my 20s I think I was E-books all-day-every-day and didn’t care about physical things like pages. Now I do. I’ll admit I’m at a loss for why. E-books are more efficient. You can own more of them etc. . . . but I still want a paperback.

Tis a mystery.

Would you rather crack the spine of a paperback or ruin a hardback’s dust jacket?

Crack the spine on a paperback. It’s almost unavoidable although I have been met with surprise at the pristine condition of some of my paperbacks. However, you can ostensibly keep a dust jacket looking pristine forever.

Two anecdotes regarding dust jackets:

1) We used to just give away the dust jackets at a library I worked at. Patrons would see them lying in the “free-cycle” area and come to the desk thinking we were giving the books away and would become quite upset when they found out they had to check the items out. I’m not sure what our thinking was for giving out only the dust jackets but we eventually stopped and just started throwing them out.
2) I was once reading by the pool and left the dust jacket of Chuck Palahniuk’s Rant on the table next to me. The wind picked up and blew it right into the water. I had about 3 seconds of utter terror as it wafted through the air, not yet ruined but incapable of being saved. It dried out pretty well but I can tell. I’ve hidden the book on my shelf so that I hardly ever see it. I should probably go get therapy.

Random (only slightly) related anecdote:

1) I met a dude in line for a signing at a conference once reading one of the Game of Thrones books. I thought he’d spilled coffee on the pages but when I asked it turned out the stains were from mushrooms. The hallucinogenic kind. I always thought that was perhaps the most epic reason to tarnish a beautiful book.

Would you prefer info dump on a world/magic system to a drip-feed technique?

If it can be done, drip-feed all the way. However, as a writer I often realize just how difficult this can be to achieve. I’m sure it’s the reason many Fantasy and Science Fiction novels are just doorstoppers. It takes time to dole the info out slowly. It is difficult to think of so many scenes in which you can give the reader just a little more, and then a little more, and still keep everything relevant to the plot.

I’m envious of any who can do it.

Would you rather have a soft magic system or a hard magic system?

Generally, I lean towards hard magic systems, but as they say “only Sith deal in absolutes” (do they say that? Who says that?). A well written soft magic system is just as enjoyable to me as any (again well written) hard magic system. It just seems to be that I end up reading the ones with hard magic (probably because of all the Brando Sando I read hahah)

Would you rather jump on board with a book series and wait to see if it gets traction or wait for a successful book series to be brought to your attention?

Ideally, I’d like to discover something on my own, and then be reaffirmed of its awesomeness by other people later on down the line. However, practically speaking, usually I only find out about books because someone else has already told me about them, and when enough people do, I’ll get FOMO and have to pick it up myself.

So while I’d like the first part of that question to be my answer, it’s probably the second.

Would you rather have dinner with your favorite character or author?

Gonna be honest, on any given day my “favorite character” varies wildly. I’m not really sure who my all-time favorite character even is (maybe a good topic for a future blog post lol). My favorite author is generally pretty consistent. Brandon Sanderson. And yea, it’d be pretty great to get dinner with the guy. Maybe someday . . .

Would you rather read duologies, trilogies or standalone books?

Since I read mainly Fantasy, everything is a trilogy or in many cases even longer (waaayyy longer). A standalone Fantasy feels like . . . well I was gonna say unicorn but those are actually relatively common in this genre so . . . I don’t know, some super rare thing. I just don’t know of that many.

I’m seeing more duologies recently which is intriguing to me but I would say at least as rare as a standalone if not rarer.

Anyway, to answer the question, I think I’m leaning more towards standalones these days, as I’m getting pretty burnt out by these long series. I’ve pretty much given up on the prospect of ever finishing Wheel of Time and just keeping up with the Cosmere seems like a full time job. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to Game of Thrones and recently I got it into my head that I’d like to try Malazan before I promptly shuddered at the sheer number of volumes and ran screaming for a novella.

Would you rather read self-published or traditionally published authors for 2 years straight?

Based on what I actually do, I guess the answer is read trad-pub for two more years, but I’ve been meaning to go on a self-pub binge for quite a while. If you have recs please leave em in the comments!

Would you rather be stuck in your favorite SFF world or your favorite SFF book?

My first thought is fav SFF world because I’d be able to live in a alternate world with cool stuff, but not have any of the pressure of being a hero. But upon further consideration, my final answer would be to be stuck in the book. Because its the characters in the book that get to do all the cool amazing stuff that makes me want to be there instead of here.

For instance, Star Wars is an amazing universe with all kinds of cool and amazing stuff in it. But being a moisture farmer sounds pretty lame . . . unless I was THEE moisture farmer who just happened to be related to some of the most important and dangerous figures in the galaxy, and I was about to go on a mystical quest romping around said galaxy waving a laser sword because my uncle bought some new droids.

Would you rather read Fantasy or Science Fiction?

Generally, Fantasy. And I’ve got a lot of Fantasy on the docket coming up, to the point where I’m getting a bit overwhelmed and have been eyeing science fiction as a change of pace. Again I’d say leave your sci-fi recs in the comments.

Would you rather have your favorite book adapted into a film or into a television series?

These days, I’m leaning towards TV. I think that medium has really shown itself to be a good format for these long fantasy epics that I enjoy reading. The Wheel of Time show is probably my current favorite example. It’s amazing. And would probably make a terrible movie (or 14 movies).

But perhaps if I find some great standalones as I’ve been wanting to, film might turn around.

Worth noting however, I think some of the feeling of burnout I mentioned before with long book series is because of television and the interconnectedness of cinematic universes like Star Wars and Marvel. This includes film but I think it is really going crazy in TV land so while my current choice is TV, it’s a cautious choice to say the least.

Would you rather have to reread your least favorite book every month, or never read your favorite book again?

I’m surprising myself here by saying I’d rather never read my favorite book again. If I tried to read my least fav book every month I don’t think I’d have much time for anything else. And what if my new favorite book is out there somewhere and I never find it cause I’m just reading the same old least favorite over and over. The FOMO is real . . .

Would you rather secretly love a book everyone else hates, or secretly hate a book everyone else loves?

Probably hate a book everyone else loves. I think there is a lot less cognitive work going on in that scenario. If you love something that everyone else hates it can become a crisis. All the rationalizing and apologizing, and maybe even lying (to yourself and other people).

I must have Star Wars on the brain today, but The Phantom Menace is a perfect example. That movie has a lot of hate going towards it (although perhaps not as much as Last Jedi), and for a lot of very valid reasons. But it’s still my favorite. And I’ve spent years trying to figure out why I’m not on the same page as everyone else. It has not been a fun trip and I’ll admit that it just doesn’t make sense. I like what I like. Oh well.

Would you rather dog-ear your book, or never be able to mark your place?

I don’t really have a strong opinion either way, but all things the same, I’d probably just never mark my place. I feel like I can spend the extra time to find where I am each time, and having a nice looking book is its own reward.

Would you rather listen to your favorite book as an audiobook narrated by the worst narrator ever, or never read it again?

I’d take the terrible narrator every time. I will admit that I stayed away from audio books for a very long time because I hadn’t heard any narrators which I liked, but now I’m really enjoying many of them (especially Soneela Nankani. See Daevabad Books, Kaikeyi, Ruin of Kings and Fit For The Gods).

And as easy as it was to give up my fav read a few questions ago, a bad narrator seems like a silly reason to give it up in the long run.

Would you rather have a disappointing end/unfulfilled cliffhanger, or lose your favorite character?

Lose a favorite character. This has happened in some (maybe even most?) of my favorite books. It can suck for sure, but when done well ultimately leads to a better book. A bad cliffhanger is just bad hahah.

Well that’s all I have for you this week. Hope you enjoyed this tag and please leave me your thoughts and feelings in the comments. Or better yet, answer these questions on your own blog and link me as a source. I’ll see a notification and stop by to read your answers.

Until next time . . .

Rereading ‘The Alloy of Law’ After a Decade . . .

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I didn’t pick up The Alloy of Law with the intent of writing a ‘Rereading After a Decade’ post (earlier examples include Jurassic Park and Dune), but according to my Goodreads account, I first shelved this title back in November of 2011. It being January of 2023, it’s been about 11 years since I first loaded my Sterrions and set off into the mists in pursuit of a man who can’t be killed . . .

I’ll be damned if it doesn’t feel like five decades have passed since then, all the while anxiously awaiting each new installment. Of course the latest, and final story in “Mistborn era 1.5”, The Lost Metal, just came out this past November, after gap of six years.

Not quite as bad as the wait for certain other titles I might name which rhyme with Behind (at) the Printer or Loves to Postpone (wow those are just terrible considering the time I spent on them yikes), but still quite a while.

It’s not like Brandon Sanderson has been idle during this time however. He has managed to release somewhere on the order of 16 titles since Bands of Morning, including two monster Stormlight novels (Oathbringer and Rhythm of War), an entire YA series with multiple installments (Skyward Flight), some graphic novels, and a cool little short story called Snapshot.

When your a Brandon Sanderson fan, there’s no completionism. You learn to hold out for the series you like the best, and not stress about how many other books you’re behind on.

This is the way.

And for me, Mistborn is THE series.

Mistborn: The Final Empire (Era 1 book 1), was the book that got me interested in his writing all the way back in 2007, and still one of my favorite books of all time. Sanderson is now well known for the use of magic systems in his books (to the point where it is now almost a cliche), even having coined 3 laws of magic which writers often cite as tools they’ve used to develop the magic in their own works. However, I feel this was still relatively new back when Mistborn arrived on the scene, and it was certainly new to me when I first read it in 2007.

It blew me away. Not to mention a few other twists and turns in the plot that book contained which I won’t spoil here. The magic, the world building, the characters, all combine to become something that was unlike any book I had read previously, and many I’ve read since.

Obviously I tore through the rest of the Era 1 books, but was somewhat skeptical when I first learned of Sanderson’s ‘side project’ (given how this novel came to be, the ‘secret projects’ during 2022 should have been no surprise at all), The Alloy of Law. A Western? A Fantasy book? Which was it?

In what’s come to be true Sanderson fashion, this book is a little of both. A kind of “alloy”, you might say (ehh?), and for me, another perfect mix. I don’t know if I’ve ever read any westerns, but I’ve watched a few here and there, and allusions to this American pastime are rife throughout pop culture (I even caught a couple minutes of The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly in Black Adam recently).

We know the tropes, we know what it’s supposed to look like, and I’m sure I’m not the first to think that the whole thing has gotten a little tired. Which is why Sanderson’s injection of fantasy, magic, and wonder is still so refreshing even over a decade later.

And again, because nothing Sanderson does is ever simple, Alloy of Law isn’t just a western and fantasy mashed together, it’s also a thrilling and humorous (thanks Wayne) mystery. If this seems like too much to cram into a scant (for Sanderson) three-hundred and thirty-six pages, it isn’t. AoL never felt rushed, or confusing. One of Sanderson’s strengths (I feel) has always been pacing and tension. Things are no different here. We’re constantly pulled through an impressive amount of world building by each new question, whose answer is always just around the next corner, at the end of the end of these rail tracks, or right in front of us all along though we just couldn’t see it.

Of course, Wax, Wayne, and Marasi’s adventures in AoL are part of a larger universe, the Cosmere, and while I’m starting to get fatigued with cinematic universes and having to read (or reread) ten or twelve novels just to enjoy whatever the newest installment is, Alloy of Law manages to keep references to the original Mistborn trilogy, and the larger shared universe, relatively inconsequential. Added fun which sweetens the story for those who know, but stays far away from homework or required reading. It seems “keeping up with the Cosmere” is becoming more and more important with each new installment, but I enjoyed the fact that this one was pretty self contained. A look back on simpler times.

Finally, Sanderson has mentioned often his love for Terry Pratchett and how he feels Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Might Be The Highest Form of Literature on the Planet. Having recently read Men at Arms and Feet of Clay, I could feel those influences in Wax’s story arc (as compared to Grimes), Wayne’s bizarre personality, and even the mists themselves. Maybe I’ll eventually get around to a post in which I pin it all down, but for now, just add one more cool thing to Alloy of Law’s rap sheet: homage to Sir Terry himself.

Give This One a Read?

Absolutely. After at least ten years, it’s possible I enjoyed this book EVEN MORE than I did during my original read through way back when. Come for the novelty of a fantasy western, stay for the thrilling mystery (there’s always another secret), then get your corkboard and red yarn so you can spend entirely too much time connecting allusions to previous Cosmere novels and even other author’s works as well. You won’t be disappointed.

Alright, who’s read this one? What’s the most thrilling moment? The coolest use of allomancy? What references did you catch to the rest of the Cosmere? To other authors? Leave your replies in the comments!

See you next time!

Jade City: A Rare Gem of a Novel

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This could probably be a pretty short review. I’m half tempted to simply write ‘go read this book’ and call it a day. But I suppose I should work a little harder than that, and actually explain why I feel this way about the book. After all, it is clear while reading Jade City that it was a project of passion and painstaking craft; the end result deserves more than a sentence in review.

I think it makes sense to start with the premise. As described by the author, Fonda Lee, Jade City is essentially “The Godfather with magic and kung fu” and honestly, that description hits the nail pretty well on the head (and for me basically sells the whole thing right from the start).

Add in a sort of post World War II modern, vaguely Asian setting, and you pretty much have all the ingredients for the novel’s success listed and defined. Each of these ingredients serve as excellent hooks, and any one of them draw the reader in, but as with all good recipes, I think it’s how these things are mixed together, which really causes the book to shine.

The two main things that immediately stood out to me upon reading Jade City was just how tightly plotted the novel is, and how deep the world building goes. From the very first scene, we’re exposed to the undercurrents of political unrest which will shape the main intrigue plot, a systematic but not overly (faux) scientific magic system, and some pretty exciting and harrowing action from the point of view of a seemingly minor character (who just keeps happening bumble into more and more important plot points). This could have been an absolute disaster of a first chapter in its ambition, but remarkably gets everything across to the reader in a way that draws us in, sets up the basic information that we need to continue forward, and leaves us with enough (and the right) questions to encourage us to continue reading. It really sets the tone perfectly for the novel, as the scenes which follow may not be as action packed, but they rely on the building blocks laid out here to keep the tension building throughout in a way that (to me) never felt slow or dragging.

I mentioned the worldbuilding before, and I’d like to circle back to it as it was certainly a main component of the book which really stood out. In a lot of fantasy novels, I feel like “Worldbuilding” with a capital W is often actually myth building. The author builds the setting and explains current conflicts through legends and history of the world. In a lot of fantasy, these histories are ancient, and there is often a remove of hundreds or even thousands of years between the events of the myths/legends, and the plot we experience. They are related, but there is something of a remove.

I think in a lot of stories that feature this kind of worldbuilding, the remove is (more or less) necessary in order to establish the magnitude of the stakes being set up. The epics we know in the real world are set thousands of years in our past, and so that kind of remove in a fantasy story will naturally give a kind of epic quality to the events we see in the story.

By comparison, the events of Jade City feel very young. We get a few interludes which give three parts of an old myth, but most of the history makers in this world are still alive, aging badly, and worse, are failing to live up to the myth and legend which has come up around them. To me, this was a nice contrast from more traditional fantasy, and I think only served to bring the drama of the story closer to its main actors, the No Peak clan, and specifically the Kaul family.

The next thing that stood out to me about the worldbuilding, I said in a tweet so I’ll just post that here:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting but I’m pretty much digging it. For such a deep setting it’s pretty quickly paced and (at least to me) there doesn’t seem to be much filler. I also really think the setting would make a fun board game or RTS. There so many definitions of winning.” – @jamesweber16

I got about 75% of the way through this book and realized: “If so-and-so does this, that would be a satisfying ending to the story, but also if so-and-so does this, so would that.”

And of course, the ending was completely different from either of those things and still (to me) completely satisfying.

I attribute this to Lee’s story telling, but also must acknowledge that it was the depth of the world which provided the scaffolding for her to accomplish this. Each of the main characters seemed to have their own aspect of the world in which they were striving to create change, but all interlocked, and no one plot seemed to take the backseat to any other.

Finally, despite all that I’ve been going on about the worldbuilding and the setting, this story is primarily a family drama. The interpersonal relationships were what really drove so much of the tension in the story, but I was never frustrated by this. In a lot of family conflicts, issues that effect the character’s motivations can sometimes amount to very little more than shallow squabbles which any reasonable person would ‘suck it up’ and move forward from, especially when faced with world defining problems, and it can be very frustrating to see them fail to make these changes.

This was not the case in Jade City. The family conflicts seem deeply rooted in past history, and given the lives these characters have had to lead, seems completely reasonable. But Lee takes it one step further and also shows how they are still a family, and despite everything, seem to have a real familial love (or at least respect) for each other. I pretty much ate these scenes up (as well as all the others if I’m honest) and they were some of the scenes that stuck out to me the most.

TLDR

Anyway, please give this one a shot. There is so much more I could have written about but honestly, it would probably take more words than the book has in it already, so I think any readers still here should just go forth and read it. I’m really looking forward to the sequel, Jade War, and can’t wait to gush more about that here later.

If you’ve read Jade City, please let me know your thoughts in the comments. What did you love? Was there anything you hated? I’m excited to talk about this one.

Thanks again for reading! See you next time.

#WyrdAndWonder Wrap Up Post

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Feels like the last day #WyrdAndWonder is an appropriate time to post something about what I was able to accomplish during this month long Fantasy Blog Party.

Here’s what I wrote (and didn’t write):

May 3rd – #MapMonday: Using Emerging Tech for Fictional Maps
May 5th – Should ‘Black Sun’ get a Hugo?
May 9th – Spine Poetry for Mother’s Day
May 10th – Mixed feelings: The Truth About Dinosaur Lords
May 12th – Review: Song of Achilles
May 17th – Can’t Wait to read! (twitter post) and Desert Island Reads (catching up from last Wednesday)
May 19th – Review: Silver in the Wood
May 24th – TBR: 11 Fantasy Books I should have read by now
May 26th – Review: Empire of Gold

My fav posts that #WyrdAndWonder people shared:

There were tons of great posts from all kinds of places during this event, but these are a couple and what I liked about them:

If I didn’t include your post here, that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. I did! It’s just that I’m too lazy to hunt down more than five of these things, and “Top Five” kinda has a nice ring to it.

Farewell and Thank You:

Since it’s the end of the event, it also feels appropriate to say ‘farewell’. I’m not going anywhere, but I might not try to post as often (maybe back to twice a week, or even once since I don’t have a lot of fiction ready at the moment).

And of course, Thank you! to all the #WyrdAndWonder people who visited me, and inspired me to keep writing these posts. Thank you to Imyril, Lisa and Jorie for hosting this event. It’s badass.

And thanks to everyone who came by and interacted with my posts, it was great to hear from you!

That’s all for now folks. Hopefully I’ll still be doing this bloggo thing next year and can participate in a second year (5th! for the event! wow. Awesome).

Feel free to tell me your fav part of #WyrdAndWonder in the comments!

#WyrdAndWonder Kickoff post!

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IMAGE CREDIT: pegasus images by Svetlana Alyuk on 123RF.com

Hey all, so there’s this thing that happens in May called Wyrd & Wonder, in which fans of Fantasy Lit from across the internet get together and celebrate this awesome genre. I’ve watched from the sidelines in years past, enjoying all of these wonderful blog posts and twitter threads, but this year, since I’m blogging again, I thought it might be cool to participate.

I typically post reviews on Wednesdays, so I’ll continue to do that, but I’ll try to keep them as Fantasy genre related as possible. For anybody following my long list of Hugo contenders, you’ll notice that most of them are on that list too (double duty!) and some are even Hugo Finalists (triple duty!).

I will also try to post a response to one of their challenge posts. Mostly this will be on Mondays, but there will be a couple other random days as well, if I have time, or because I thought the challenge prompt was cool.

Finally, if for whatever reason, you actually come to this blog to read my fiction, I’ll continue to post new fiction on Fridays. I cannot promise that these stories are considered ‘fantasy’, but most of them so far have involved made-up animals so . . . that seems pretty fantastical to me.

Below is my plan as it currently stands. I’ll revise the titles and provide links here as I do the writing for this. We’ll see how this goes . . . Very excited to be a part of it all. Thank you @deargeekplace, @imyril & @joriestory for putting this together! Can’t wait to see how this goes . . .

Here’s the list:
May 3rd – #MapMonday: Using Emerging Tech for Fictional Maps
May 5th – Should ‘Black Sun’ get a Hugo?
May 9th – Spine Poetry for Mother’s Day – *Failed this one as alas, I spent the entire weekend at the beach with mom. Plus my book shelf is not suited for this challenge AT ALL. Gotta work on buying some Titles that aren’t so ‘in world’. Oh well.
May 10th – Mixed feelings: The Truth About Dinosaur Lords
May 12th – Review: Song of Achilles
May 17th – Can’t Wait to read! (twitter post) and Desert Island Reads (catching up from last Wednesday)
May 19th – Review: Silver in the Wood
May 24th – TBR: 11 Fantasy Books I should have read by now
May 26th – Review: Empire of Gold – deadlines are the worst. I spent the time I could have been working on this trying to finish up editing for my WIP to submit to critiques. I got it done (sorta) and sent it off . . . fingers are crossed it’s goes well. I’ll still review Empire of Gold at some point but just not for #WyrdAndWonder
May 31st – Wyrd and Wonder Wrap up Post!

Enjoy! and feel free to leave comments on what you’re most looking forward to this May for Wyrd and Wonder.

Get to Know the Fantasy Reader #BookTag

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So this week, instead of new fiction, I’ve decided to try out this whole book tag thing. I ‘ve never done one before so hopefully it’s fun for you all. Feel free to try it out yourselves and tag me so I can read your answers!

Apparently there are some rules. Here they are . . .

Rules:

  • Make sure you give credit to the original creators of this tag – this tag was originally created by Bree Hill
  • If you want to, pingback to the post you first saw this tag – I first saw this at Paperback Tomes, and then read some more of it at Lost In Neverland.
  • Have fun!

What is your Fantasy origin story? (The first Fantasy you read)

Wow. First question and I’m already unsure how to answer. This will go well . . .

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t reading Fantasy of some kind. I was only two years old when Dinotopia came out so I’m not sure how much reading I was doing at that point, but it was likely one of the first things I read. Probably the first book I read and was consciously aware of it “being fantasy” was the The Hobbit, and then Lord of the Rings. Of course I ate up all the Harry Potter books when they came out (except maybe the first two? I remember being slightly late to the game on HP)

If you could be the hero/heroine in a fantasy novel, who would be the author and what’s one trope you’d insist be in the story?

I’d want to be in a Terry Pratchett novel. I feel like my life already has enough ridiculous hijinks happening in it anyway, so why not just lean in and let crazy take the wheel. Make it weird.

And maybe to just really up the weird, we could have a multiverse trope, or a time travel trope like Ground Hog’s Day. Maybe both?

What is a fantasy series you’ve read this year, that you want more people to read?

The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. Technically, I read The City of Brass, last year, and just finished The Kingdom of Copper (the sequel), and loved it just as much. Started The Empire of Gold yesterday and it’s shaping up to be good as well. This series has been such a breath of fresh air for me. I hope to be seeing a lot more from Chakraborty in the future (put Daevabad in space! Ok I’ll be calm down now).

What is your favorite fantasy subgenre?

Without a doubt Epic Fantasy. One does not read as much Brando Sando as I do and answer some other subgenre. I would just be lying to myself and everyone around me. I can get behind High Fantasy (honestly this is shades of gray), Sword & Sorcery or even Grimdark, but I’m a real sucker for those EPIC STAKES. Drop me in a secondary world (aka someplace that’s not earth but can be similar), and turn everything up to eleven! Give me your weird mythical creatures (weirder the better), and your less-than-holy gods; give me your warring kingdoms (and political intrigue), your fake history, and made up customs. Dazzle me with your magic . . .

Wow. I think I need to calm down again.

What subgenre have you not read much from?

Steampunk. Really any of the punks, but I think steampunk is the one I’ve been let down the most by. Not sure why, but in my mind, I just want every Steampunk novel I read to be like watching Wild Wild West for the first time, and then when (literally) none of them are, I get disappointed. This is completely my fault as I probably just need to spend some time searching around, and figure out which book is considered the quintessential Steampunk book . . . and then READ THAT BOOK before being judgy, but so far it hasn’t happened. If you have a recommendation, please leave it in the comments.

In a slightly more positive tone, I discovered something called Bronzepunk exists. I would like to search out and find more of that. The fun example that got me hooked is Achilles vs Mecha-Hector, by Jesse-Beeson Tate. Go and read it. It’s a wild ride (I mean how could it not be?). Sadly I’m still waiting for a sequel. Please write more of this!

Who is one of your auto-buy fantasy authors

As mentioned earlier (and many many other times on this blog), Brandon Sanderson is definitely this for me. I’ve read like 30 of his books at this point and I’d probably read 30 more. I think Martha Wells is also achieving this status for me, though I’ve only read her Murderbot Diaries stuff. Hopefully I can visit some of her earlier stuff sometime soon.

So much! So little time!

How do you typically find Fantasy recommendations?(Goodreads, Youtube, Podcasts, Instagram. . .)

Recently? I get a lot of recommendations from my writing group. Like more than anyone can possibly read (which is wonderful). I am also signed up for about a billion newsletters from publishers. I try to keep up with industry awards, so if a book is doing well there, I’ll be more likely to read it. Goodreads also. Then sometimes insta.

What is an upcoming Fantasy release you’re excited for?

This is another tough question as I’m still trying so hard to catch up with last year’s releases that I haven’t payed much attention for what’s on the docket for this year (just look at that TBR).

BUT . . . I recently finished Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic (soo good) and while she seems to have plenty of titles I could go back and read (looking at you Gods of Jade and Shadow) I like reading new things too, so Certain Dark Things will probably be my next one. I’m sure there are some genre arguments to be made here, but I’m gonna consider it Fantasy and say that is the one I’m anticipating most at the moment.

What is one misconception about Fantasy you would like to lay to rest?

This is a tough question also, because I think the genre suffers from many misconceptions, but perhaps the most important to me, is that ‘Fantasy’ is just stories about white farm boys slaying dragons. This is just not the case anymore (though it may have been once). In a lot of ways, Fantasy has become something of a platform in which you can tell any story that you want. Want to read a mystery? Well what if it took place in post-Civil War Philadelphia from the point of view of a married couple working as conductors on the Underground Railroad. Well then check out Nicole Glover’s The Conductors.

How about a romance? Perhaps you should read Tasha Suri’s Empire of Sand inspired by the Mughal Empire.

Or maybe you WANT to read about dragons. Well there’s still plenty of fresh takes there (look at Johnathan Strahan’s Book of Dragons)

Anyway, there’s something for everyone here in ‘Fantasy land’ so come on down.

**Call back to earlier when I said I didn’t read enough Steampunk . . . Apparently there are STEAMPUNK DRAGONS! I guess I’ll be reading The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swannick soon . . . this has been a fun digression.

If someone had never read a Fantasy before and asked you to recommend the first 3 books come to mind as places to start, what would those recommendations be?

I’ve seen Harry Potter on a lot of these kinds of posts and I would have to agree, it’s probably the best place to start (as mentioned before, it was one of the places I started). Depending on how old you are, you might be looking for something a little more ‘adult’ (although HP seems very mature by the end of the series), I would recommend Brando Sando’s Mistborn next. I’ve had pretty high success with that one. I’d probably go with The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin next. It’s truly fantastic, and I feel pivotal in a lot of ways for where the genre is (or could be). It’s not a popcorn read though so . . . fair warning.

Who is the most recent Fantasy reading content creator you came across that you’d like to shoutout?

I’ve been enjoying reading my friend Mary’s blog, The Inciting Event Blog. Recently, I feel like I’ve learned a lot from her post on maps called How to Build a World Part Two: THE MAP. She also has a super cute dog.

Welp that’s it.

I think that concludes my first foray into book tags. If you’d like to see more of this kind of thing, let me know in the comments. I’ve got a bunch of these lined up that I could do so you’ll probably being seeing more of them in the future. Anywho, thanks for reading this far. I’ll see you next time!

The Road to Empire (of Ashes): Review of The Waking Fire

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Cover for The Waking Fire

Oooh Dragons

So this post will be a book review, but it will not be about Anthony Ryan’s Empire of Ashes regardless of that book being mentioned in the title of this post.

This post will be about the first book in that series The Waking Fire. Essentially, I was given an ARC of Ryan’s Empire of Ashes, only to realize that it’s the third book in the series . . . and I haven’t read any of the others yet (well I suppose now I’ve read the first one).  So without further ado, the first step in the road . . .

To put it simply, The Waking Fire checks all of the boxes for an epic fantasy and then some. And then some more. Like I kinda imagine the writing process going something like this:

Dragons? Check. Is the fate of the world at stake? Yup! Is there magic? Yes! And it’s color-coded! Good Good. This is very good.

Then it starts to throw in some other elements which are not as ‘stereo typical’ (although I might argue still pretty common) as a tolkeinesque fantasy. Steam punk(ish) time period? Sure let’s do it! Large naval battles? Duh pirates are the best! But do you like spy novels? Uh who doesn’t? And you probably also like adventure stories too? We could throw in a lost civilization . . . Dude The Mummy is like one of my favorite movies.

Ok so we’ve got just a few more things to add. We aren’t done yet? Oh no sir buckle up. Do you like faceless hoards of enemies who’s only purpose is to be mowed down by really big guns? Great! and oh, no it’s not extra, we throw in a planetary alignment with every third trope, it’s destiny after all. Oh oh sorry, how do you like your MacGuffins? Unresolved? We got you fam.

I’ve probably overdone this just a bit. This book really does shine in the depth of its world and the interaction of its characters with each other. No detail about this world was forgotten and each of the characters felt alive and real (except for Clay’s main love interest who doesn’t have a speaking role until the last chapter of the book).

dragon about breathe fire as man watches

I suppose artwork is on the list of things this book does right. I mean just look at this dragon.

I suppose that all books are just a list of their component parts. It’s just unfortunate when the reader can see those parts so explicitly. Joshua S Hill over at Fantasy Book Review addressed this issue as contrivance, noting that all books have parts that are ‘contrived’ but some authors are better at distracting you from it than others. I’m starting to think that Joshua and I have similar tastes and opinions.

Despite all of this, I’ll be reading the second book in the series,  The Legion of Flame, as I am quite curious as to what the next step in our journey will be. I’m not sure whether this will be a trilogy, or longer, but I’m hopeful that book won’t suffer from 2nd book syndrome.

I think that’s all for now.