Newest Fantasy Reviews

From TheBookbag
Revision as of 13:15, 5 June 2018 by Sue (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigationJump to search


1509899014.jpg


Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy, General Fiction, Teens

Miryem comes from a long line of moneylenders – but her Father isn't very good at it at all. Lending freely and rarely collecting, he leaves the family on the edge of poverty, until Miryem must step in. Hardening her heart and collecting what is owed from local villagers, she becomes a person of great interest when she borrows a pouch of silver pennies from her Grandfather and returns it full of gold, soon becoming entangled with an array of strange creatures, from the dark beings that haunt the wood through to a King who's eager to exploit Miryem's talents – she soon becomes aware that her skills may be more trouble than they're worth… Full Review

1785653067.jpg


A Demon In Silver by R S Ford

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Take a fantasy world where gods once walked the land and magic influenced everything for millennia, where magic was power and the entire world was shaped around its influence. Then, overnight, that power was ripped away, sorcerers' died instantly and magic is never heard of again. Until now. A farm girl from the middle of nowhere has unleashed raw magic and the tribal leaders will stop at nothing to control her, using whatever means necessary. Can anyone save her, or will they need saving from her? Full Review


0356511642.jpg


The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

The Grey Bastards is an absolute triumph! Fantasy, action and adventure cleverly wrapped around a super plot and well written characters, this book is so much fun. A word of caution though, this is not suitable for all readers. As the tittle suggests there is a lot of bad language, a LOT of bad language, thrown around all the time in general speech. In addition to this there is also some sex and sexual language too, there is some violence but this is not actually very explicit and not as constant as the language and bawdy jokes. If this bothers you then this is not the book for you. For anyone who doesn't mind then this is an absolute must read. Full Review

0141375396.jpg


The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Teens, Teens

Tension exists among the kingdoms surrounding the Pitorian Sea, and peace is definitely not on everyone's agenda. Instead power is sought by force, and political manoeuvring of the worst kind sees families torn apart and innocent victims swept up in the fallout. This story of warring nations is fast moving from page one, and the main characters, who move between kingdoms, face challenge after challenge. There are five separate story lines, each led by a colourful and interesting character, and Sally Green weaves them together beautifully like a tapestry as their paths cross and their lives intertwine. Full Review

1784631426.jpg


Falling Leaves by Stefan Mohamed

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews General Fiction, Fantasy,

When your best friend vanishes, how can you begin to move on? How can you live your life not knowing whether they're okay? And what would you do if they reappeared in your life? – all questions that Vanessa faces every day, even seven years after her best friend Mark vanished. When he reappears, she's shocked not only by his presence back in her life, but also by the fact that he hasn't aged a day – for him, no time has passed since his disappearance. Shocked, confused and emotionally reeling, Vanessa must return to her home town in order to help Mark find the answers he so desperately craves. But what's waiting for them is far more surprising than either of them could ever have dreamt… Full Review

Carew Wolf.jpg

The Wolf by Leo Carew

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Travel to a world that is familiar and yet utterly different. We are in a version of ancient Britain with enough landmarks to make us feel at home yet it is a smoked glass. North of the river Abus we have the Anakim, a race that isn't quite human; they are something more. The Anakim are virtual giants and their ribs are not cages but bone breastplates instead. Below the Abus are the Sutheners, humans. Theirs is an ancient grudge and one where blood is spilled frequently in pitched battle. Unfortunately it is rare when humans are involved for things to be straightforward and the same is true here. On both sides politics and machinations complicate the quests for glory. With the Anakim we have a boy coming to power and vying with the greatest warrior in the land for the throne. Amongst the Sutheners we see a commoner having the temerity to lead an army alongside his betters. Both battles are as interesting as the war itself. Full Review

1786072424.jpg


The Parentations by Kate Mayfield

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy, Historical Fiction

In eighteenth century London, sisters Fitzgerald, Constance and Verity are changed forever when they become entwined with the Fowler family - and charged with protecting a mysterious child. Fast forward to the London of 2015, and the sisters are still waiting - with no way of knowing if the boy is alive or dead. Far away, a hidden pool grants those who sup from it eternal life, but also forces them to keep a secret for two hundred years. As those years pass by, those who were granted immortality find that it's far from a blessing - with true darkness emerging in the absence of death. Full Review

B079RJFN42.jpg


The Seer's Curse by J J Faulks

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Confident Readers

Although The Seer's Curse is billed as a pre-teen novel, I would say that it would appeal to a wide audience interested in fantasy and mythology, as well as just a good tale. Full Review

Clayton Belles.jpg


The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

One minute here is richer than a thousand moments there

In the resplendent world of Orléans, beauty runs through the blood of a select few: the Belles. Only they have the power to transform the appearance of a population cursed with grey skin and red eyes, who covet beauty above all else. Camellia Beauregard is a new generation Belle, ready to fulfil her duty and help the people to love themselves. Like her sisters, she's in the running to be the favourite – the most accomplished Belle in the land, personally chosen by the royal family to live in the palace and tend to members of court, with the power to make a difference. It's what she's been wanting and training for her whole life… but so too have her sisters. And only the best will be selected. Full Review

Quine Beasts.jpg


The Beasts of Electra Drive by Rohan Quine

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Science Fiction, Fantasy

Meet Jaymi. He's a world-class video games designer, and fresh to a new mansion in the Hollywood Hills on the basis of some recent success. But he's seen the future and he doesn't like it. His current employers, able to bring any amount of class, skill and culture to the world of gameplay, are beset on appealing to the most lunkheaded and lowest common denominators instead. Indeed, their next big thing will change the world for the worse – it will be a massively disturbing environment, where people progress through the world of the entity by spreading fake news about anyone and everyone else on the planet, whether they're playing along or not, and by getting kind of prestige points on spoiling and shaming anything beyond a user-accepted, algorithm-designed, status quo. With a much more Reithian approach, Jaymi goes freelance, and sets up a way of restoring the balance with a launch of his own, where aspects of his more humanitarian mind are played out by avatars of him in the game. He sees this as a way to improve society and get his own back – but the chance of getting revenge more quickly comes about when those avatars leave their encoded background, and become fully playable characters in reality… Full Review

Arden Girl.jpg


The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

In the second book of the trilogy Katherine Arden builds on her original story to create something even better. This book is utterly wonderful and it is at the same time complex and gentle. The first book set up the characters in the Petronova family but sometimes left the characters feeling a little thin; this book builds on the first to give depth to the family members and their ties to each other. It's a great story but I would strongly advise reading the two books in order to get the full effect of the plot. Full Review

Bancroft Senlin2.jpg


Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Thomas Senlin embarks on his honeymoon with high hopes. He and his young wife Marya are travelling on a sleeper train across Ur to that engineering marvel, that fabled centre of culture, the Tower of Babel. It's a place he's read books about, taught his pupils about, and longed to visit, but the bustling and chaotic surroundings of the Tower in the desert are a long way from the quiet fishing village in which Senlin teaches. When he loses sight of Marya shortly after their arrival, he has no option but to look for her in this strange and overwhelming place. For all his background reading before the trip, he is ill-prepared for what he finds in the Tower, both its marvels and its horrors, and thus begins Thomas Senlin's arduous quest to recover his wife. Full Review

Hill Strange.jpg


Strange Weather by Joe Hill

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Horror, Fantasy, General Fiction

Strange Weather is a collection of four short novels all linked by, unsurprisingly, strange and cataclysmic weather. Each novel is distinct and showcases Hill's restrained yet vivid style which takes everyday events and makes them bitingly, acerbically macabre or blindingly beautiful, often switching from one sentence to the next. As Hill himself says the beauty of the world and the horror of the world were twined together, never is this truer than in Strange Weather where moments of abject horror are coupled with raw beauty. Full Review

Jester Forever.jpg


Forever After: a dark comedy by David Jester

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Paranormal, Horror, Fasntasy

Michael Holland is a cocky and brash young man who dies and gets made the offer of his lifetime; immortality. We follow Michael, a grim reaper and his friends Chip (a stoner tooth fairy) and Naff (a stoner in the records department) as they grapple with their long lives and finding a clean surface to sit on in their flat. Full Review

Parker 2.jpg


The Two of Swords by K J Parker

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

This is a difficult book to review, to be honest, because I am still not sure if I liked it. It is the first book of a trilogy so I expected that a lot of it would be to set the scene and the characters but this doesn't really happen, we are thrown in at the deep end. The novel is set during a long standing war between east and west that has been going on for so long no-one is really sure why they are fighting. Currently in command are the Belot brothers, each one a military genius and each one fighting for the opposing side, there is also the guild of craftsmen whose purpose we never fully know and their role is to manipulate and interfere to serve their own interests. Full Review

Aryan Mageborn.jpg


Mageborn (Age of Dread) by Stephen Aryan

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Ten years after the devastating battlemage war when mages used their immense power to tear each other apart and sundered the world itself, suspicion of those who wield magic is at an all-time high. With the recent resurrection of the Red Tower, an institution for students to learn to control and expand their magic, Seekers visit villages each month to test children for magical abilities. But for those children and their families it is not a gift, it is a curse. For Habreel, who will never forget the destruction during the war, the elimination of all magic will save countless lives and is the only solution to long lasting stability. He will stop at nothing to achieve his aim; he will deal with the devil, crush villages and kill anyone in his way. Full Review

Hoffman Magic.jpg


The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

I've read several of Alice Hoffman's novels, although strangely, not the one she's most famous for - Practical Magic, which went on to be made into a film. The Rules of Magic is the long-awaited prequel to that book, and tells the story of three siblings of the Owens family; Franny, Jet and Vincent. The two sisters, Franny and Jet, go on to become the two aunts in the Practical Magic story. Full Review

Segel Otherworld.jpg


Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

Simon would not have considered himself a hero. In fact, by all accounts, particularly that of his parents, Simon is an epic failure. He's large, he's hairy, he has a ridiculously oversized nose and he's been kicked out of boarding school and kept on a federal watch list. But Simon is sure something is up with his friend Kat. She won't speak to him. So he resorts to buying an incredibly expensive new virtual reality video game for them both - Otherworld. Otherworld engages your senses with graphics so good, you'll swear they are real, and it's here that Simon really wants to talk to Kat. But it isn't real, it's a game… until a turn of events lands Simon in Otherworld in an all together different way. This time, whatever harm his avatar suffers has real consequences. And if it dies? Simon would rather not think about that. If he wants to save Kat, he has to keep pressing on. Simon is the chosen one, this is not a game. Full Review

Caruso Tethered.jpg


The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

It is not every day that you find a fantasy novel with so much scope for a mass audience. The Tethered Mage is a sophisticated tale that has the gripping plot to hook its readers whilst stimulating their thoughts with its dense political theme. Caruso has created a page-turner for a wide-range of audiences. Full Review

Donaldson 7th.jpg


Seventh Decimate by Stephen Donaldson

link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews Fantasy

The Seventh Decimate is not a book with compelling characters or buzzing personalities; it is not a book that allowed me to invest in the struggles of its protagonist, Prince Bifalt, with any particular ease. Though it is a book about war and the desperate extremes a nation will go to ensure absolute victory against its greatest foe. Full Review