Newest Fantasy Reviews
Fantasy
The Desert of Souls (The Chronicle of Sword and Sand) by Howard Andrew Jones
Place: Baghdad Time: 8th century Arabian-Nights-Time A dying man gives Dabir, tutor at the Caliph's palace, a precious artefact, making him promise to look after it. Unfortunately it gets stolen before he has the chance to. Jaffar the son of the Caliph's vizier realises that it has magical qualities that make it even more precious than it appears and isn't too well pleased. He gives Dabir a chance to redeem himself, sending him and Asim, Captain of the Caliph's guard, to find it. The men set out on their quest facing danger, death, sorcery and someone whose presence could get them into even deeper trouble. Full review...
The Exiled Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Tycho is back to face the dangerous intrigue of the Venetian Court. While he wants nothing more than to spend his nights with beautiful Guilietta Millioni, when the worst winter in living memory hits the city, and Duchess Alexa's treacherous rival builds a stronghold in Montenegro and attacks Guilietta's son, Tycho must really take up the responsibility of his office as Blade. Full review...
Herald of the Storm by Richard Ford
Nobul is a blacksmith and ex-mercenary who thinks he has next to nothing until even that is taken away from him. Rag is a young waif, surviving on the streets from stealth and a talent for stealing. Waylian spends his days poring over books and dodging verbal abuse as a witch's apprentice. Meanwhile Merrick, drinker, gambler and for hire by anyone who can afford him (i.e. by anyone) receives a commission he can't refuse no matter how much he'd like to. River the assassin and Kaira one of the temple guard Shieldmaidens just continue what they always do, day in, day out. For in Steelhaven daily life is a routine round of existence until one day something happens… and suddenly it's not. Full review...
Rebellion: Tainted Realm: Book 2 by Ian Irvine
The former heir Rixium is now just plain Rix as he flees his ancestral castle in Hightspall hotly pursued by the marauding Cythonians, invading his home along with his homeland. Accompanying Rix are Glynnie, a young maidservant and her little brother Benn. Hampered by his entanglement with the enemy resulting in the brutal loss of his right hand, Rix is also still mourning his best friend Tobry, killed when hurled from a tower. Meanwhile, Rix's other friend, a Pale and therefore ex-slave of the Cythonians, Tali has been kidnapped on the orders of the evil chancellor. He isn't the only one after her, just her current possessor. The other is Lyf, the Cythonian King who needs only one more of the legendary black pearls to secure his omnipotence, i.e. the black pearl embedded in Tali's head. Tali's escape from slavery came at a price, but the future for both her and Rix seems a lot more costly. Full review...
Promise of Blood (Powder Mage Trilogy) by Brian McClellan
Adamat, investigator and ex-police inspector, is summoned to the Skyline Palace for, he assumes, an audience with the king. However, when he arrives, the grounds are in darkness and a greater darkness lurks within. The King's Hielman bodyguard are all dead and the royal family won't be around for much longer as Field Marshal Tamas of the home-grown Adros Military has led a coup. Tamas wants to hire Adamat for his investigating prowess but neither Adamat, Tamas nor the mages and sorcerers under Tamas' command realise what will be unleashed as a result… or perhaps Tamas does. Meanwhile a servant girl starts the fight for the survival of herself and a small but very important child. Full review...
Dreams and Shadows by C Robert Cargill
Once upon a time, a sweet boy met a sweet girl and they fell perfectly in love. Their love is rich and fulfilling and true. They did what people in love do: moved in together, got married, had a baby. And then something most people don't believe exists crawls into their house through an open window and exchanges their perfect baby for a changeling. It's the start of something bigger than even the switcher can begin to imagine. Full review...
The Gathering of the Lost by Helen Lowe
It may only have taken a year for the second in the Wall of Night series to hit the shelves, but on Haarth five years have passed since The Heir of Night disappeared from the Wall. She's known not to have died in the Swarm attack, but was last seen in the wilds of Jaransor and many believe her now to be dead. Full review...
Maria & The Devil by Graham Thomas
The Devil has ridden out.
Maria's lover is Montana's most feared outlaw. He has left her alone in a secluded cabin deep in the wilderness. Maria is pregnant. Left in solitude, she develops a familiar routine that feels safe. But the isolation is pervasive and Maria's defences against it are crumbling. And while she waits for her lover to return, she is discovered by Rickman Chill, whose gang is tracking the Devil in a relentless quest for revenge. What will happen when Chill discovers Maria's identity? Will the Devil return in time? Full review...
Beyond Belief by Mark Lingane
Joshua Richards isn't the most successful PI; clients aren't exactly lining up around the block but he lives in hope that one day his luck will change… and it does. Within a couple of weeks he has a sudden plethora of enquirers; the bad news is that none of them seem to live long enough to pay him. Meanwhile elsewhere, the Engine powering the world (literally) is dying, although the populous is blissfully oblivious. Is there a connection? Joshua Richards doesn't know, but there seems to be a huge part of himself he's not acquainted with either… at least not yet. Full review...
Fade To Black by Francis Knight
In a city hemmed in by mountains that's grown the only way it can - upwards - Rojan's job is to find people. Usually they're runaways or bounties, easy money and guilt free, just like Rojan likes it. But then Rojan's niece is taken, and despite never having met her, Rojan will do anything it takes to get her back. Full review...
Glass Thorns - Elsewhens (Glass Thorns 2) by Melanie Rawn
Only a little while has passed since we last spent time with Touchstone, the touring theatre company that not only shows the audience the performance, but enables them to experience, feel and taste it as a 4D hallucination. This time they're being taken beyond their comfort zone as they're cornered into escorting a princess home from the foreign Continent. Meanwhile Cade Silversun is still getting his 'Elsewhens': the premonitions of alternative futures that come as nightmares and daydreams. Yes, Elsewhens, those things that warned him about a woman; the same woman that friend and colleague Mieka Windthistle is in love with. Indeed, Touchstone is forced to cope with foreign travel, foreign attitudes and, for some of them, the feeling that all isn't as it should be. Full review...
Willful Creatures by Aimee Bender
In this collection we're shown the reaction of ten men with terminal illness prognoses, a large man purchasing a very unusual pet and the case of a hard-done-by boyfriend. There are also delights like the shop that sells words crafted into what they read, a boy with keys instead of fingers and the beautifully touching tale of the pumpkin-headed mother who gives birth to an iron-headed baby. No, this isn't your average collection of predictable short stories; these are Aimee Bender short stories. Full review...
The Hunger and the Howling of Killian Lone by Will Storr
Killian Lone grows up in a home lacking in love and security. For these he relies on his elderly aunt Dorothy, an accomplished cook. Indeed his visits to Dorothy revolve around food as he absorbs all she can teach him, slowly inheriting her passion and skill along with her knowledge. This attachment to food then becomes his career choice, leading to the unfortunate discovery of a family secret that has remained hidden for a very long time. Why 'unfortunate'? There's a reason for its concealment… a very, very good reason. Full review...
The Grim Company by Luke Scull
The gods are dead. The Magelords murdered them and hurled their bodies from heaven and are also slowly dominating the world below. Dorminia is already in their iron grasp, policed by the feared Crimson Watch and the terrorising Augmentors. It's not even safe to think as Mind Hawks monitor and punish with pain and suffering. However there is a resistance, albeit fragmented and comparatively impotent but the situation is worsening so they must make a stand or lose everything (and everyone) they love. Is the evil magic stronger than the heroes' own resources? They're dying to find out. Full review...
Lord Kelvin's Machine by James P Blaylock
On a dark and rainy night, a weary but determined Langdon St. Ives rides out in hot pursuit of the villain who is holding his wife, Alice, captive. Catching up with his nemesis on the road, the resulting standoff between the two ends with St. Ives witnessing the cold-blooded murder of his beloved, shot in the head at point blank range whilst pinned under the wheels of a carriage. It is a scene that will play out again and again in his mind, driving him to the brink of madness and desperation. There appears, however, to be a glimmer of hope in the form of a mysterious machine in the possession of the Royal Academy of Science; a machine that may hold the secret to time itself. Is it possible for our hero to harness the power of Lord Kelvin’s Machine and rewrite history? Full review...
Homunculus by James P Blaylock
What could possibly be the connection between a mechanical toy crocodile that eats birds, a giant emerald, an oxygenator device for a spaceship and a tiny alien man with the power of life and death? The answer, of course, is that each item on this unusual list has been placed inside one of four identical boxes. The boxes are hidden in various locations in order to prevent the contents from falling into the wrong hands, but evil has a habit of seeking things out.... Full review...
The Twyning by Terence Blacker
Efren is a nobody in the kingdom of rats till he witnesses the kidnapping of the king. His future changes in a moment as he's sent up to the human world to rescue him. Talking of humans, 11 year old Peter is abandoned by his parents and left to scrape a living from London's streets. His affinity with animals gives him the name 'Dogboy' and employment with rat catcher Bob and scientist Dr Ross-Gibbon. The Doctor's ambition is to encourage humanity to annihilate the rats by dragging them into a war. Efren and Dogboy, both insignificant in their own worlds, must make both man and rodent see sense; easier said than done. Full review...
The Rook (The Checquy Files) by Daniel O'Malley
A woman wakes up with amnesia surrounded by dead people wearing gloves. In her pocket she discovers a letter from Myfanwy Thomas, the previous inhabiter of her body. Myfanwy tells a strange story of working for 'the Checquy', a paranormal version of MI5 which has been permeated by a web of betrayal and danger. The problem is that Myfanwy never discovered the source before her body changed hands (so to speak). The amnesiac has a clear choice: to continue Myfanwy's investigation or to do a runner. It's her decision but Myfanwy's warning is less than encouraging:
- Remember they want you dead.
Something for her to bear in mind along with the fatal, unintended consequences of permitting cheap cheese into the UK. Full review...
Seven Kings: Books of the Shaper: Volume 2 by John R Fultz
Runaway slave Tong suicidally avenges his lost love but death seems to elude him. Meanwhile King Vireon is happily married to the beautiful shape-shifting sorceress Alua, although his sister has problems with her husband, King D'zan. A courtesan is carrying his baby; odder still when you realise he's impotent. The Twin Kings of Uruz, scholarly Lyrilan and war-hungry Tyro, can't agree on how to rule so Tyro's wife Talondra puts a real spanner in the works to force a decision. However bad their lives currently are, evil is spreading through their world like a dark shadow and, to make things worse still, Ianthe the Claw and Gammir the Reborn aren't as dead as everyone supposes them to be. (You'd think the clue would be in Gammir's name wouldn't you?) Full review...
Glass Thorns - Touchstone by Melanie Rawn
Cayden is a hybrid being part elf, fae and human but all wizard. He also has a day job as a tregetour or playwright with his own touring company, Touchstone. They're ambitious and planning to get through the trials and into the upper flight. As you would expect from a wizard, this troupe doesn't just act; they also weave magic imbued in hallucinations and encased in glass withies. The problem is they're short of a glister, a troupe's wielder of withies. Or rather they were until Mieka arrives. Actually short's a good world as he's an elf but he also happens to be the best glister anyone's ever seen, thorns permitting. With one problem solved, another remains. Namely prophetic dreams that have haunted Cade since boyhood and they aren't improving, in fact they're more like nightmares. Full review...
Blood Bonds: The Caravan by Rosanne Licata
Raj is part Arab, part Roman. She's independent and strong-willed - too independent and strong-willed to fit well into a society where women belong in the home and only men can bring change to the world. So she runs away. Disguised as a boy, she is roaming the streets of Antioch when she encounters Bjornolf, a Danish king. Drawn to him in a way she can't explain, Raj stows away on the caravan he is guarding. As the journey continues, Raj must decide whether the terrible dangers to both Bjornolf and herself are worth risking if she reveals her true nature to him... Full review...
Legacy Of Kings (Magister 3) by Celia Friedman
Three years is a long time to wait between parts of a trilogy, especially one as good as Celia Friedman's Magister Trilogy. I'm not someone blessed with great patience, which has made the wait interminable, but finally I get to find out what happened to Kamala and the other Magisters and to see how Salvator Aurelius is coping with being the first Penitent King. Full review...
Aralorn: Masques and Wolfbsane by Patricia Briggs
Here is what seems quite a rum Patricia Briggs compendium – her first attempt at a fantasy novel, published and read by roughly six men and an orc back in the early 1990s, and what would appear the fourth book in the same series, dusted off after they both got a rewrite in 2010, and together at last for the curious completist. And if the rewriting ironed out a few creases it shows just how much there was needed done – for the first book is still full of minor problems – a man immune to, or invisible to, magic unless when it's needed for the plot, a host of exposition all throughout, and much that marks it down as a debut effort. It doesn't mean it's not worth reading however. Full review...
Cold Days by Jim Butcher
Happy birthday Harry Dresden! And what a birthday as life becomes a little hectic for the Winter Court Knight. He returns to life in time to fight in the Winter Palace, have a near death experience at the hands of dark, mini-people, then is nearly killed again (by a friend this time) and his island of Demonreach is about to explode taking a chunk of the USA with it. He therefore has 24 hours to save some world. Oh, and you know those headaches he's been having? HIs head is on the verge of exploding too. Indeed, it's the sort of birthday that it's hardly worth reanimating for. Full review...
The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington
It is the 1420s, and a lot of what we now think of as The Netherlands is underwater. Crossing the deluge is a most unlikely trio – a posh man seeking something with the help of the others, including a girl who has survived his sometimes-fatal test, and a manic fellow fresh from saving himself upon the gallows, who might or might not have been down to hell in the interim. What that quest is, and how it will lead to nightmares, deaths galore and a lot of other interesting parts of the story, is for you to discover, in this absorbing cross-genre piece. Full review...
Stealing Into Winter: being the first adventure from the chronicles of Jeniche of Antar by Graeme K Talboys
Streetwise young thief Jeniche wakes up to find her prison cell's walls collapsing around her. This is no natural disaster but an invasion by the Occassans, mercilessly brandishing 'moskets', weapons that fire death rendering the native Makamban cudgels futile. Whilst scouring the streets and avoiding the marauding army, Jeniche visits old haunts, checking on her friends and wondering what to do next. This last part is solved for her: a band of Tunduri monks and nuns, including their young God-King himself, want a guide to take them home to Tundur, the land of winter beyond the desert. The journey may be hazardous but nothing's safe anymore, and so, accompanied by the muscular, slow-witted stable owner, Trag and mysterious swordsman Alltud, their journey begins. Full review...
The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding
For once I don't feel like devoting my first paragraph to a teasing plot summary. And while I'm here to judge the book and not the cover, even the British paperback blurb agrees, and gives nothing away in its woolliness. I am duty bound to say this is the third book to feature Darian Frey and the rest of the crew of his flying craft the Ketty Jay. If pressed I will say it starts with him indulging in a further instance of thievery, making a mistake, and then finding just how much is in the science fantasy universe that can possibly get between him and what might repair the damage. Full review...
Stray Souls by Kate Griffin
Sharon Li has a normal job in a London coffee shop but doesn't feel normal. She's beginning to realise she's a shaman, especially when she is so at one with the city, she vanishes. In order to meet others who'll understand, she starts Magicals Anonymous, a self-help group for the mystically confused coming to terms with their gifts. The meetings come with various beverages, biscuits, a Facebook page and a very good turnout. However all is not herbal tea and crunchy-creams as someone or something seems to be stealing the spirits that make London's soul and another something walks the streets tearing people limb from limb. The city is dying and gradually Sharon realises that Magicals Anonymous are more than just a social group. As odd as it sounds to look at them, the Midnight Mayor wants them to save the capital. Full review...
Red Glove (Curse Workers 2) by Holly Black
Cassel lives in a world where magic is frowned upon. Practice is banned and everyone wears gloves to prevent being worked. Cassel himself is a transformation worker - the rarest type. And he is the most powerful transformation worker in living memory. This makes him extremely valuable to the crime families who use curses to support and maintain their empires. It also makes him extremely dangerous as far as the authorities are concerned. And that's why Cassel tries to keep his status to himself, since he discovered it in the first book in this Curse Workers sequence. Full review...
The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer 2) by Brent Weeks
Gavin Guile thought he had five years left to complete his seven great purposes. But now it seems he has less than one. He might be the Prism - the most powerful light drafter in the Seven Satrapies, capable of drafting huge amounts of light without risk of losing his mind to the colours - but he's lost blue. He can't see it or draft it. Full review...
