Tag: fantasy

The Eyre Affair (2001): Jasper Fforde

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★★★★

Thursday Next: Book I

For several years my friend Martin has been telling me that I had to read this book. I don’t know why I resisted for so long: stubbornness, probably, more than anything else. But recently another friend, Alex, completely independently recommended the same thing. And so, finding myself once again in an airport lounge with nothing to do, I decided it was time to give Thursday Next a go. My reaction began with wariness, progressed into bafflement and eventually shuffled rather awkwardly into acknowledgement that this was rather good.

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The Gospel of Loki (2014): Joanne M. Harris

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★★★½

I’ve only ever read one book by Joanne Harris and that (predictably) was Chocolat, many moons ago. As a result, I was intrigued when huge posters appeared all over the Underground advertising her most recent novel, her first foray into what the publicists call ‘fantasy’ but which is actually revisionist mythology. Naturally there was no way I could resist it. I’ve always loved clever, creative, not-entirely-trustworthy heroes and it’s a given that the devil always gets the best lines. Moreover, with the Vikings exhibition looming at the British Museum it seemed the perfect moment to brush up on my Norse mythology. And, although Harris would (apparently) prefer us not to mention it / him and simply to judge the book against the myths themselves, there’s always that pop-culture elephant lurking in the corner of the room. Loki is very much the man of the moment.

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The Golden City (2013): J. Kathleen Cheney

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★★★

Since entering the Amaral family’s service as companion to their self-willed daughter Isabel, Oriana Paredes has been drawn into more than a few of her employer’s whims. Isabel’s most recent plan, however, casts all the rest into shadow: she has arranged to elope to Paris with Marianus Efisio, her cousin’s fiance. Despite disapproving of the match, Oriana has decided to accompany Isabel, to protect her as far as possible on this threshold of her new life. And yet it transpires that it isn’t social scandal or even Efisio himself that Isabel has to fear.

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The Phoenix Guards (1991): Steven Brust

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★★★★

The Khaavren Romances: Book I

Young Khaavren is a gentleman, a Tiassa, who has neither land nor titles but who dreams of making a glorious name for himself in the service of the Empire. Heading to the city in order to join the Emperor’s elite force of Phoenix Guards, he falls into company with three similarly ambitious young people: a proud, belligerent Dzur named Tazendra; a discreet, contemplative Lyorn called Aerich; and an elegant, chivalrous Yendi called Pel. When these four are sworn into the Red Boot Battalion of the Phoenix Guard, they become firm friends, sworn to protect the good of the Empire and, more importantly, one another.

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Luck in the Shadows (1996): Lynn Flewelling

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★★★

Nightrunner: Book I

After Angélique, I thought it was time for something slightly more characteristic. Lynn Flewelling has been on the edge of my awareness for a couple of years and, when her books were also recommended by Goodreads, I decided it was time to give her a go. Luck in the Shadows has proven to be an enjoyable start to the Nightrunner series: something of a lighter cross between Swordspoint and The Lies of Locke Lamora. Unlike those, however, this is unashamedly high fantasy, with wizards, magic, the odd centaur, and a definite hint of Dark Lord brewing on the horizon.

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Black Powder War (2006): Naomi Novik

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★★★★

Temeraire: Book III

It’s been a long week at work and so I decided it was time for another Temeraire novel. This series has become my comfort reading of choice at the moment, as it so perfectly combines very good writing with spirited adventure. Opening a new Temeraire book is the literary equivalent of curling up with a warm blanket and a cup of tea. This, the third after Temeraire and Throne of Jade, reunites us with our heroes in China as they prepare to begin the long journey back home to England aboard the Allegiance. However, a destructive fire in the ship’s galley before they have even left port, coupled with the arrival of a dogeared but urgent letter from their commander, forces Laurence to change his original plans.

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The Wilful Princess & The Piebald Prince (2013): Robin Hobb

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Robin Hobb © Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

★★★

Anyone who followed my Robin Hobb reread earlier in the year will understand why I’ve been looking forward so much to this new novella. Set at Buckkeep, it forms a welcome return to the history of the Farseer family – not, I hasten to add, that it’s a continuation of Fitz’s story (for that we have to wait until April and the publication of Fool’s Assassin – God help my poor nerves). Instead it takes a step back in time to look at the story behind one of Buckkeep’s most popular legends: the Piebald Prince.

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The Republic of Thieves (2013): Scott Lynch

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★★★

The Gentleman Bastards: Book III

Having devoured The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies over the summer, I was impatiently waiting for this third book in Scott Lynch’s splendid series. The first two novels dazzled me with their twisting plots-upon-plots, their unusually rich settings and their sheer dexterity. This third book, however, is a different beast both in structure and in atmosphere; and I’m not entirely sure that I like the change (when an author has proven to be extremely good, I become especially demanding).

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The Fall of the Kings (2002): Ellen Kushner & Delia Sherman

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© Melissa C. Beckman

★★★½

Riverside III

Following on from Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword, this is the third in Ellen Kushner’s series set in her broadly 18th-century city, around the nobles’ district of the Hill, the warren of Riverside and the halls of the University. The latter, which figured only briefly in the two previous novels, becomes the main setting here. I was rather charmed to find a fantasy book in which one of the main plot strands is a dispute over historical methodologies.

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