Blogcritics Category: Books: Fantasy

Book Review: The Judging Eye (Book One Of The Aspect Emperor) R. Scott Bakker

Richard Marcus — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:56:19 EST

This is fantasy literature like you've never read before.
History is the record of what came before us and reminds us of who we once were and how we became who we are now. However, there is often a marked difference between what is recorded as history and what actually happened. Whether it's the mists of time that cloud people's memories or a deliberate colouring of the truth that distorts reality...

Book Review: Dies The Fire - A Novel of the Change by S.M. Stirling

Mel Odom — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 06:16:24 EST

S. M. Stirling spins a fascinating and adventure-filled tale of people who have survived the end of the world.
I’ve only lately come to S. M. Stirling’s novels about The Change. I don’t know how I missed them, but I’m glad I found them. The good thing about starting late is that there already five books in the series, so I don’t have to wait from year to year to dive into those the way most of the fans have had to.Stirling...

Book Review: The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas

Vyrdolak — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 07:42:31 EST

One of the most innovative and unusual vampire novels, this cult classic has been revived in an attractive new edition.
The Vampire Tapestry was first published in 1980, at the end of the Carter recession and the cusp of the Reagan era. Americans were bored with vampires. Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976) and Stephen King's Dracula Americana, Salem's Lot (1975), had both been best-sellers. But Rice wouldn’t publish her second book,...

Book Review: Shimmer by Dallas Reed

Mel Odom — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:04:24 EST

A mysterious box unleashes a maelstrom of terror on a town already besieged by a blizzard.
Shimmer is Dallas Reed’s first novel, and is a horror tale aimed at the young adult market. But here’s a caveat: the book is definitely written more for high schoolers and for aggressive junior high school students. The language and casual mention of drug paraphernalia and usage could be offensive to some readers and parents. ...

Book Review: Poe, edited by Ellen Datlow (stories inspired by Edgar Allan Poe)

Richard Marcus — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 07:20:17 EST

Works of mystery and imagination that not only do justice to the author they celebrate, but are fine stories in their own right.
Anthologies of short stories are usually put together to honour the best of a particular genre for the past year. It's not uncommon therefore in January to see collections titled The Best Fantasy, or The Best Science Fiction being released by various publishers. In those instances the editor's job isn't really that difficult as they...

Book Review: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Katie Trattner — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 19:12:05 EST

This has reminded me why I love the urban fantasy genre so much.
It’s been a little while since I dipped into the urban fantasy genre. Lately I’ve spent my reading hours pouring over histories and memoirs, leafing through the serious and humorous. But in the end I’ve gone back to one of my first loves and I picked up one of Emma Bull’s novels that I’d never read, War for the Oaks....

Book Review: The Enchantress Of Florence by Salman Rushdie

Richard Marcus — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 18:53:17 EST

A historical fantasy that's both a pleasure to read and an education in its recreation of two of history's most fascinating cities.
In our chauvinism the West puts Florence and its renaissance as a place of arts and learning, at the centre of the world when it comes to cultural achievements in the 15th and 16th centuries. Our bias has prevented us from seeing that while supposedly civilized Europe struggled through dark ages of ignorance and plague in the years prior to that...

Manga Review: Dragon Ball Z - Volume One by Akira Toriyama (VizBig Edition)

Bill Sherman — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 04:40:50 EST

A hefty paperback omnibus collects three volumes of this classic All Ages fight manga.
Though many manga and anime lovers have long been ahead of me on this 'un, I've only just recently started to get into "the greatest fighting manga ever!" - Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z. A popular "All Ages" series, Toriyama's Dragon Ball books, have been divided into two sections for American audiences. The first, simply called Dragon Ball,...

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Fri, 2 Jan 2009 04:40:50 EST

Book Review: Faeries of the Dreamdark - Blackbringer by Laini Taylor

Mel Odom — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:13:08 EST

Magpie Windwitch has to face the greatest evil the Faeries have ever known, and discover her own incredible secret.
Laini Taylor’s debut fantasy novel, Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, is hard to classify regarding audience. The publisher designates it as a YA book targeting nine to twelve year olds. That would put it in the same category as Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. On some levels, I think...

The New Canon: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Ted Gioia — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:58:34 EST

Is J.K. Rowling's writing just "clich�s and dead metaphors" as Harold Bloom argues, or is there something more to Harry Potter?
The New Canon is a regular feature, contributed by Ted Gioia, focusing on great works of fiction published since 1985. These books represent the finest literature of the current era, and are gaining recognition as the new classics of our time. In this installment of The New Canon, Gioia looks at Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K....