Category: Fantasy

Book Review: The Book of Three by Alexander (4 stars)

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

4 out of 5 stars

Read in December 2008

This was published the same year I was, born that is.  How did I miss this delightful tale and only stumble upon it in my mid-40s?

Taran is a precocious bored boy with visions of heroes sword-fighting in his head. He dreams of leaving the small farm where he takes care of a prophetic pig named Hen Wen and lives with Coll and Dallben.

Something frightens the bees, the chickens and the pig so much that they all escape the farm and disappear into the surrounding forest.  Taran is sent to find the pig and return her home.  Predictably, he gets lost in the forest following the pig and spies a band of men lead by the terrifying Horned King.  Taran barely escapes and flees into the brush, eventually finding Gwydion, a prince and one of the heroes he daydreams about.

The danger and adventure are non-stop until the end of the book.  Along the way, Taran makes mistakes but learns from them and demonstrates he has the talent to be an inspiring and wise leader.  He meets several companions and legendary folk who aid him on his quest to reach Caer Dathyl to warn the Sons of Don about the Horned King and his army.

A fast fun read.

Book Review: God Stalk by Hodgell (3.5 Stars)

God Stalk by P.C. Hodgell

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in June/July 2009

Warning: Spoilers

Jame stumbles into Tai-Tastigon, apparently deserted, after being so long on the run she’s delirious with exhaustion and fighting off her race’s healing dwar sleep.  She chances upon Penari, a famous thief, as he’s trapped in a doorway by a a couple of footpads.  Jame rushes to the rescue and Penari offers her a job as recompense.  Too weak, confused and lost to comprehend, Jame wanders the maze of Tai-Tastigon until she collapses just inside the doorstep of the Res a’Bytrr, one of the few taverns open on the eve of the Feast of the Dead Gods.

Jame is adopted into the hearts and hearth of the tavern owner and his staff.  She recovers rapidly, but is stalked by nightmares of her life before arriving at Tai-Tastigon, home to thousands of gods, their temples and followers. Jame, a Kencyr, believes in only one god, the Three-Faced God:  Torrigion, That-Which-Creates; Argentiel, That-Which-Preserves; and, Regonereth, That-Which-Destroys.  Honor bound and honest to a fault, Jame finds Tai-Tastigon strange and dangerous.

Unable to continue her journey to Kencyr lands due to the closing of the mountain passes and storms on the seas, Jame takes Penari up on his offer of an apprenticeship.  She seeks the approval of her god through the high priest, Ishtier, in residence at the Temple of the Three-Faced God in the Lower Town.  Arrogant and hateful, Ishtier is about to refuse her request, when the Three-Faced God speaks through him and gives a limited blessing to Jame.

Jame spends the rest of the story learning her craft, remembering her heritage and mastering a martial art similar to dancing, which can also entrance her audience and through which she can channel unseen forces and powers. She also seeks the answer to a burning theological questions: how can there exist so many gods? has her race, the Kencyrs, been duped by itself for three thousand years?  She stalks the gods, even managing to kill one and resurrect it, before she comes to terms with her beliefs.

There are moments of poetic prose amongst the heists, action and intrigue.  The characters seemed flat, though, as I never cared one whit if they were in danger, injured, kidnapped or killed.

DNF: Touchstone by Rawn

Touchstone by Melanie Rawn

DNF (did not finish)

Attempted to Read in April 2013

I wanted to love this book, like I loved her Dragon Prince series.  I didn’t make it to one hundred pages though.  I couldn’t connect or care about the characters.  I began to wonder if I wasn’t exactly the target audience.  I’m not in the performing arts (although many of my friends and family are).

The magic system also didn’t make sense to me.  Perhaps later in the novel it would become more understandable.  But I kept finding excuses to read just about anything else.  So I gave up.

Perhaps I’ll pick it up again later this year.  Right now, though, I’ve got many other more compelling reads to enjoy.

Book Review: Alphabet of Thorn by McKillip (4 Stars)

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip

4 out of 5 stars

Read in March 2009

A coming-of-age tale for nearly all the characters involved in this novel.  An orphan raised by the royal library as a transcriptor.  The young Queen of Raine soon to be crowned after the sudden death of her father the King.  A minor son of the Second Crown sent to the magician’s Floating School.  Another library-raised orphan who is love struck by the first.  Even the legendary figures from ancient history move through their adolescent struggles via the tale being translated.  All these lives weave together to solve the mystery threatening the realm of these Twelve Crowns.

Patricia McKillip does not disappoint with her pace, prose or her poetry.  Many of these characters are also strong female role models, without appearing overly feminist.  The magic is mystical and mysterious, powerful without being pedantic.

Book Review: The Dark is Rising by Cooper (3.5 Stars)

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in September 2009

A good adventure quest tale. A bit lacking in character development, but there were some heart-pounding scenes that made up for it. Towards the end, I almost had a sense deja vu, like I was reading Moonheart by DeLint, which got me thinking this could be classified as early urban fantasy.

As with most Young Adult fiction, the lines of good and evil are clearly drawn. Only one or two characters traversed the grey, pulling and tugging against the inevitable tides of either side.

Some blurbs and reviews have compared this novel’s moral message to the likes of C.S. Lewis or Tolkien, but I think that’s a stretch. Cooper never once made me laugh or cry, although she did get my pulse racing a few times.

Perhaps had I read this as at the age of twelve or before, I might view it differently.

That being said, I still recommend it as a good coming-of-age quest adventure tale.

Book Review: The Hobbit by Tolkien (5 stars)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

5 out of 5 stars

Read most recently in November 2009.

A delightful introduction to the world of Middle Earth. Follow the adventures (or misadventures) of a respectable hobbit turned burglar, a wizard and a baker’s dozen of dwarfs in their quest to slay the dragon, redeem the lost treasure and restore peace and prosperity among dwarfs, elves and men.

Along the way, the young audience will learn the pitfalls and consequences of greed, pride and arrogance, tempered with a hobbit’s good sense, good cheer, compassion and self-sacrifice.

Update April 2013:  I decided not to re-read the novel before watching the recently released movie of a similar name (click here for my review of said movie).  I did end up buying the ebook edition prior to viewing the movie so I would have it available to search and peruse before, during and after.  I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be able to search through an ebook.  Compared to page turning and skimming, it’s better than sliced bread (well maybe not my sliced bread).

Book Review: Sailing to Sarantium by Kay (4 Stars)

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2010

A strangely compelling story even though none of the characters evoked compassion, laughter, anger or any other strong emotion from me. Normally, without an emotional connection, I become bored and sputter to a stop. Kay crafted an exquisite tale, a risky reckless journey into intoxicating intrigue fueled by ambitious visions and ruthless machinations.

Fantasy elements are kept to a minimum, the purview of alchemists and the occasional supernatural intervention. I read this novel with the understanding that Kay ‘re-imagined’ the Byzantine Empire of Justinian II. Sort of an alternate history where the names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

Book Review: A Sorcerer’s Treason by Zettel (4 stars)

A Sorcerer’s Treason by Sarah Zettel

4 out of 5 stars

Read in December 2009

From the first page, Zettel snared me with her characters, their predicaments, their dreams, ambitions, fears, lies, hopes … the full gamut of human emotion and condition. Usually, when I read a novel chock full of imperial political corruption and intrigue, I’m bored or disgusted. Zettel managed to overcome the clichéd and astound from the heart. Even more surprising was her ability to do this from nearly every character’s point-of-view.

I did not want the story to end, and thankfully, there is more to be read from the world of Isavalta.

The title intrigues me. After finishing the book, I would call the title a bald-faced spoiler. Or it could be a red herring. Truly, there are many sorcerers and many definitions of treason, depending on your perception at any given point in the plot.

Highly recommended to lovers of fantasy with great characterization and plot weaving.

Book Review: Red Moon and Black Mountain by Chant (4.5 Stars)

Red Moon and Black Mountain by Joy Chant

4.5 out of 5 stars

Read in March 2013

hcChantRed

I subscribe to numerous SFF RSS feeds and e-mail newsletters. I skim them as time allows, usually when I’m rubbing the sleep out of my eyes in the pre-dawn darkness on my smartphone or ereader tablet.  Back about six weeks ago, in the middle of February, I stumbled across an article on Tor’s web site entitled Forgotten Classics: Joy Chant’s Red Moon and Black Mountain by Erin Horakova.  After reading her erudite and articulate review, I immediately went hunting for a copy of this classic to read for myself.

I tapped into my local libraries’ catalogs and grumbled to myself that no copy existed within a couple of hundred miles.  I knew better than to hope for an ebook edition, since I knew from Erin’s article that the book had been out of print for some time.  I didn’t want to buy a used copy, as I’m trying to avoid adding to the clutter at home, so I returned to my favorite local library, the Kansas City Public Library, and sent in an ILL (interlibrary loan) request, promptly forgotting I made said request once I closed the web page.  A couple of weeks later, I received a phone call from the Library letting me know my request was waiting at the Plaza branch.  I quickly retrieved it, as all ILL loans are immediately checked out to library patrons upon receipt and the time was already ticking on my loan period.

I read the book over the course of two weekends, bracketing the last week in March.  I found Chant’s prose enthralling, her worldbuilding transcendent and her characterization enlightened.  I soaked in elements of epic and high fantasy and reminisced about other parallel world fantasies I’d read in my youth (Lewis’ Narnia series; Cooper’s The Dark is Rising; Hambly’s Darwath series; and to a lesser extent classics like Burrough’s John Carter and Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland).

I try to note while reading books any phrases that resonate through my status updates on my GoodReads feed.  Since I happened to be reading a print edition, instead of an ebook edition, this task proved slightly more difficult and inconvenient, which translates into skipping many excellent references to avoid disrupting the rapport I experienced while reading Chant’s story.  This quote, however, stood high above  the rest, and came within a few pages of the end:

And have men sunk so far, that the best they can hope for is innocence? Do they no longer strive for virtue? For virtue lies not in ignorance of evil, but in resistance to it.

The perfect moment from a near perfect ending and completely apropos, encompassing all that had gone before.  I refuse to spoil the story further for you and ask that you give this forgotten classic a chance.  I predict you will be pleasantly surprised.

Book Review: A Song for Arbonne by Kay (4.5 Stars)

A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay

4.5 out of 5 stars

Read in April 2009

Halfway through this book I had an epiphany. In fact, I woke up in the middle of the night with a realization – Kay’s A Song for Arbonne has few if any traditional fantasy elements woven in it’s rich tapestry of love, music, honor, courage, tragedy and hope. Yet I was so enthralled with the lives of his characters that I could not bear to be parted from them. The greatest tragedy of the entire tale was that it ended. I yearn for more, as I strain to hear the plaintive echo of the final fading note.

This was the February 2010 book of the month at the Fantasy Book Club group at GoodReads.  To view the discussions, follow this link:  02-3/10 – A Song for Arbonne