Fantasy Archives - Page 10 of 21

Dingo by Charles de Lint: Book Review

Miguel is working in his dad's comic book/record store one afternoon when a girl he doesn't know wonders in. Lainey is beautiful, with a sense of humor, intelligence, an Australian accent, red-gold hair, and a matching dog--excuse me, dingo. The two hit it off immediately, but weird things start to happen--and it all seems to center around the dingo. I love, love, love Charles de Lint's books. I'm just starting to wish that he would get away from writing young adult books. They're probably a good introduction to this wonderful author for young fantasy fans, but I know de Lint can write stuff that is so much better. There's not really anything technically wrong with this. If I were a 14-year-old girl, I would probably adore it. But I'm not 14 anymore (thank goodness!) and I'm really missing the Charles de Lint characters I fell in love with a long time ago. If you're a fan of Charles de Lint, go ahead and read this. You might even want to buy it for any young fans of fantasy you know. But please don't start with this one if you're an adult wanting to see what Charles de Lint is all about. Start with Someplace to be Flying or The Onion Girl instead. Reviewed August 17, 2008 Find author Charles de Lint on his website, Twitter, and Facebook. Buy Dingo at Malaprop’s | Better World Books Friday Flashback Reviews are a weekly feature here on The Introverted Reader. These are old reviews I wrote on GoodReads. Thanks to Angieville and her Retro Friday Reviews for the inspiration and encouragement!I have an affiliate relationship with Malaprop's, my local independent bookstore located in beautiful downtown Asheville, NC; and Better World Books. I will receive a small commission at no cost to you if…

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder: Book Review

Yelena is now in Sitia, where she meets her long-lost family and starts to learn how to control her magical powers. But life isn't really any easier for her here than it was in Ixia. Sitians believe she's a spy from the north, sent to pave the way for the Commander's takeover of their country. Others believe that her magic is too powerful and think she should be...neutralized. While she's trying to acclimate to her new surroundings, a serial killer starts preying on young women, and Yelena is next on his list. Too much. Just too much. I still love Yelena, and I was a little lost without Valek (although I still dislike his name). But this book seemed to lack focus. I know that life is rarely neat and tidy with only one thing going on, but there are so many people out to get Yelena for wildly different reasons that it just got a little ridiculous. I did enjoy seeing Yelena learn to interact with her family and her tribe again. She's so endearingly awkward and uncomfortable that you can't help but feel bad for her. It's nice to see that she's not perfect! Her relationship with her brother is not what I expected and it bothered me at first, but it's explained toward the end of the book. But Yelena is still Yelena with all that implies. I loved watching her kick some butt and readjust some nasty attitudes. The Sitians really don't know what to make of her. I liked that she has a big heart and will do pretty much anything to help someone out. It can be small, like helping beggar children, or big, like laying her life on the line for someone else. She stays true to herself no matter the external pressures…

The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany

The twelve men making up the parliament of Erl go to their ruler one day and ask for a magic lord. The ruler agrees to grant their request and sends his son to steal and marry the King of Elfland's daughter. But of course finding her and keeping her can't be that easy. In the introduction to this edition, Neil Gaiman compares Lord Dunsany's writing to the King James Bible. I honestly wouldn't have thought of that, but the description is perfect. The language is beautiful, but, for me, dense and a little hard to wade through. I kept thinking of those old fairy tale books by Andrew Lang, like The Orange Fairy Book. As I remember it, those books had very little dialog and just describe the story happening. That's how this was. I also mentally compared it to a beautiful, old silent movie. You're watching this beautiful story unfold, but there's no dialog. I guess I like a lot of dialog. As I read the book, I kept thinking of a phrase my yoga teacher uses: "like you're moving through honey." That's the pace at which this book moves: like you're moving through honey. I normally tear through books so I never quite got my mind slowed down enough to fully enjoy and understand this book. When I did manage it, for a couple of paragraphs at a time, I could see what all the fuss is about. But the rest of the time, I just wished we could get on with the story. That is, if I didn't fall asleep first. By the end, Lirazel had gotten on my nerves. She wanted to have her cake and eat it too. Who doesn't, really? But asking her father to use his last all-powerful rune to give it to…

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Book Review

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.” Two rival magicians agree to bind their students to a challenge. Hector will teach his daughter, Celia, and Alexander will teach a student of his own choosing. When the students are older, they will face each other in a challenge. The rules are never quite clear. When the venue for the challenge is finally chosen, it turns out to be The Night Circus, a new circus done entirely in black and white and where only the best performers and spectacles in the world are to be found. I think that maybe audio was not quite the right medium for me to approach this story. Don't get me wrong; I could listen to Jim Dale narrate all day, and he did a fantastic job with this. I think most of the appeal of the book is in the luscious descriptive language, and I personally can't appreciate that kind of thing quite as much in an audiobook. My favorite parts were the introductions to each section, when a new tent is described. Those were very visual and very well done. I could see them in my imagination as I was driving along January-gray roads, and I was transported to a magical circus where anything is possible. And while I enjoyed the plot, it just didn't feel like a whole lot actually happened. There was a lot of description and what action there was consisted of people muddling around trying to figure out what's going with the circus, when I as the reader already knew. That's not entirely fair, but that's how I started to feel. There are two stories alternating between different times, and I just couldn't figure out how they fit together. It's…

Elliot and the Goblin War by Jennifer A. Nielsen: Book Review

Elliot somehow finds himself appointed King of the Brownies (not the kind you eat--the kind that likes to clean your house as you sleep. I'd be happy with either of them in my house). He first came to the Brownies' attention after he saved one of them from some evil Goblins on Halloween night. That night, Elliot also started a war between the Brownies and the Goblins, so I guess it's only fair that he has to lead the Brownies. The problem is that the Brownies have no concept of how war should work. They just go about their business as usual, expecting to be eaten or scared to death by a Goblin at any minute. Well, Elliot might be young, but he knows that something has to change. This was cute. It really was. My biggest problem was the frequent breaks for "Now, Reader, if you don't like to read about people being scared to death, you might want to stop reading right here. For serious. You've been warned. The last person who continued reading was eaten by a platypus." (Not an actual quote) It was kind of funny the first time or two, but it seemed like there was one of these in every chapter. Kids might like it, but I thought it got tedious. Other than that, it was a fun little story. Elliott and the Brownies (sounds like a pop group from the '50's) got themselves into some tight spots, but it was amusing to see how the Goblins mostly managed to defeat themselves. I have to own up to a very juvenile sense of humor when it comes to smelly feet jokes and the like, so I actually thought it was pretty funny in parts. I really liked that hidden inside this fun little story…

Rise of the Evening Star by Brandon Mull: Book Review

Kendra and Seth are nearing the end of the school year when a new guy joins Kendra's class. The other girls talk about how cute he is, but all Kendra sees is a disgusting goblin who plays cruel tricks on people. A mysterious stranger offers to help them get rid of the goblin (or kobold, as they find out the creature is truly called). All they have to do is steal an object that will get rid of the creature. Things are never that easy for Kendra and Seth, so eventually they wind up back at Fablehaven, where they find out the Society of the Evening Star is intent on infiltrating the preserve and finding a powerful artifact. Seth has calmed down a lot since the first book, thank goodness. He's still crazy, foolhardy, courageous Seth, but he's a little more aware that his actions have consequences. Since Seth has changed for the better, I actually enjoyed this a little more than the first book in the series. I like what's going on with Kendra. Her brush with the Fairy Queen in Fablehaven has left her with some unusual abilities, and I have a feeling that we haven't even seen the beginning of what she can do. I like her a lot as a character, so this story arc has me intrigued. The ending--! I had a sneaking suspicion something like that might be coming, but I have a feeling that younger readers might be a little blindsided by the sudden twist. The characters suffer a lot of bad injuries, and that surprised me a little in a book that I personally would consider to be aimed at 9-12 year olds. I didn't find it to be anything over the top, but parents might want to keep that in mind…

The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss: Book Review

I have to start with this actual physical book. If you read my blog, you might be aware that I don't accept books for review. Reading on a schedule was starting to feel like work, so I decided to just say no to free books and read what I want when I want. It works better for me. I still get the occasional pitch and I will glance through them but I ultimately move on. The pitch I got for The Thorn and the Blossom was different. "As for the unique format, The Thorn and the Blossom intertwines Evelyn’s and Brendan’s stories in an accordion-fold binding so that readers can choose whose perspective to read first, his or hers. Either way, the other will bring a surprise." I couldn't picture it. Luckily, a link to the book trailer was included for me. I was curious; I had to watch. Then I knew I had to have this book. Go ahead. Watch it. I'll wait. I got it in the mail, ripped it open, and fell in love. It is just a gorgeous book. There are a few illustrations and I loved those. The covers (Evelyn's, Brendan's, and the box that holds the book together) are well-matched and elegant. It's a smaller "hardcover" and I am drawn to those. I like the way they fit in my hands. When I started reading, it did take a little while for me to get used to the format. I am a one-handed reader, and I tend to read while eating or drinking, or just keeping one hand warm under the blankets. That was a bit of a problem. This is definitely more of a two-handed book. When I forgot and held it at the middle with one hand, I could feel one side…

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: Book Review

Meggie Folchart and her father, Mo, find themselves on the run from a mysterious man that Meggie knows only as "Capricorn." Capricorn is chasing after them, trying to steal a book that they own, and he won't stop at anything to get it. First off, let me say that I'm about 20 years older than the reader this book is written for. I enjoyed it, but I didn't fall in love with it. The big thing that kept me from giving it five stars was that I felt a little bit like the plot moved around in circles. I found myself thinking, "Are we really back here again?" It seems to me that with some creative editing/storytelling the plot would have moved along nicer and the book wouldn't have been quite so big. That was really the only bad thing for me though. This was the first of a trilogy, but it tied up everything pretty well. There weren't any major cliffhangers that left me feeling like I will never be able to wait to find out what happens next. The translator did a fantastic job. If I hadn't known that this was originally written in German, I would never have guessed. Everything flowed along very smoothly. I really liked the characters. The bad guys were really bad, but the good guys were a little more complicated. Meggie and Mo could be a little cranky, and Elinor was always cranky, but she had a softer side too. This all made them seem real and more likeable. There were tons of quotes in here that I loved: "Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly." "If you take a book with you on a journey...an odd thing happens: The book begins collecting…

Dreams Made Flesh by Anne Bishop: Book Review

Dreams Made Flesh is a collection of four short stories/novellas centered around Jaenelle and her court. One of the events takes place immediately after the third in the Black Jewels series, so anyone reading this should keep that in mind. It definitely has spoilers for the previous books. My favorite story by far, was "The Prince of Ebon Rih." How I grinned as I read it! I've always liked Lucivar, but he really is cast as the older brother in the series. There is definitely more to him than that, so it was great to see him as a powerful ruler in his own right and a sexy-as-hell man. Watching him deal with that bitch Roxie was a pleasure. Seeing his insecurity in dealing with Marian was delightful. He didn't know what hit him. Absolutely loved it. My sister, who shoved this book into my hands saying only, "Read. This. Now." loves "Zuulaman." This is an event from Saetan's younger years that made him a legend. I liked it, but somehow couldn't help comparing it to Guy Gavriel Kay's Tigana. You probably have to be inside my head to see how that happened. I loved Tigana and this story suffered for the comparison. And probably from my sister's buildup. Still, it was a very cool showcase of Saetan's raw power. "Kaeleer's Heart" would have been good, but it was a little too much like "The Prince of Ebon Rih." It was nice to see Daemon and Jaenelle together, but I felt like I had pretty much read the story already, just a few pages earlier. It is sexy to see the lengths that Daemon is willing to go to in order to protect Jaenelle though. "Weaver of Dreams" was just a confusing little legend and that's all I have to…

Fire by Kristin Cashore: Book Review

Fire lives in a country known as the Dells, and she is a human monster. There's a strain of wildness in the country that leaves some of the animals and people with impossibly seductive beauty and power. Fire is so named because of her hair. She can enter minds and control people and animals. But she is constantly in danger because other monsters want to prey on her and other people either love her or hate her too much. She does have a small group of friends that are like family though, and her world, while small, is as safe as she can make it. Yet she chafes against it. When she is invited to King's City to discuss how her power could be used to prevent a civil war from erupting, she jumps at the chance to go, despite the personal danger she puts herself in. I'll get my complaints out of the way first. Leck (from Graceling) is worked into this story and he does not fit. I don't see any purpose to his character at all. I kept expecting something more from that storyline but it just fizzled out. It is entirely possible though that I've forgotten something from Graceling that would have made it apparent why he needed to be in this story. The other thing is about Fire herself. I loved her as a character. She has almost limitless power yet she's afraid of herself. She has not had an easy life by any means, yet she does try her best to help where she can. She loves those in her circle with a love so intense that it's almost scary. She is willing to lay her own life on the line for them. But about three-quarters of the way through the book, she has…