Neil Gaiman has made a career out of telling stories that seem simple, but have a lot of hidden depth. One of his earliest books was Violent Cases, a memoirish story about a broken arm and a doctor who might be in with the mob, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy. Gaiman’s latest novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, reminds me a lot of Violent Cases. The young narrator and the half remembered story merge together to give a similar vibe. But, this is a much different story and a fun read. Let’s check it out.
Category Archives: fantasy
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
For years, my friend has told me that I need to check out the Dresden Files and I’ve put it off. I’m very cautious about a lot of supernatural fantasy books, because I’ve found so few done well. But after getting into Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter books, I decided that I really should check out Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files. So I cautiously started reading Storm Front and truly enjoyed it. It’s a good fun book with the core of a mystery novel in a supernatural fantasy setting. Let’s check it out.
The Source of Magic by Piers Anthony
Dipping once again into the well of Xanth. After reading Piers Anthony’s first Xanth novel, A Spell for Chameleon(my review), I decided to gamble on my memory of the second book being decent and read The Source of Magic as well. While it wasn’t bad (although had some sexism issues which I’ll discuss below), it wasn’t good enough for me to consider reading more in the series. Also this is the last book with the first generation of Xanth residents. Going forward, the book starts focusing on the younger generation and having progressively more puns. So, let’s see what happens.
On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony has, justifiably, taken a lot of grief over Xanth, his teen sex series. But, as I reviewed the first book, A Spell for Chameleon (my review), it was obvious that it wasn’t meant to start out that way. I decided to go back to another series of Anthony’s that I kind of liked when it came out (and I was much younger). On a Pale Horse is the first book in the Incarnations of Immortality. The series follows (one book at a time) the human incarnations of immortal beings Death, Fate, Nature, War, Time as well as God and Satan. I should note that the first book, which follows the incarnation of Death, appeared 3 full years before Neil Gaiman started his Sandman series with the anthropomorphized endless, which are similar (at times) to what Anthony has done. So, let’s check out the story.
Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold by Terry Brooks
As I’ve mentioned many a time on this site, I’m not a huge fantasy fan. However, there are some fantasy books which I do enjoy. One of the better books which I loved when I was younger, and recently re-read, was Terry Brooks comedic fantasy Magic Kingdom For Sale SOLD!. The book is a twist on the fantasy adventure tale and has a good sense of humor about itself. The book takes the reader on an adventure, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. Let’s see what happens.
The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey review
While I was unable to get to see first movie of The Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, during the first weekend. I was finally able to make the time to see it this past weekend. It’s a long move (clocking in at 2:45) and it was hard to imagine how the slight tale of The Hobbit will be extended to a full trilogy. Since it was directed by Peter Jackson, I knew that it would at least look good. So let’s check out what happens.
Monster Hunter Legion by Larry Correia
Larry Correia is one of my favorite writers currently. He has two distinct and interesting series going on at the same time and manages to not only tell new and interesting stories within each series, but also fleshes out the characters and mythology of each series at the same time. With his latest book in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Legion, Correia expands the Monster Hunter universe by showing us several additional hunters from across the world as well as expand the role of the government overseers with another agency. What’s amazing is that Correia does this without confusing the reader or losing track of the plot and the characters. Let’s see what happened.
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde has 3 series ongoing (Thursday Next, Nursery Crime and Shades of Grey) and yet he’s still found time to start a YA fantasy series, The Chronicles of Kazaam. The first book, The Last Dragonslayer, sets up the world and introduces us to the main character, Jennifer Strange, a 15 year old foundling (sort of a cross between an indentured servant and an orphan) who runs a hotel/magic business since the disappearance of her boss, the Great Zambini. But a prophecy foretells great change and there are rumors of a much bigger change coming down the road, Big Magic. Let’s see what happens.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
One of the great things about having kids is having the excuse to go back and read some books that I read when I was a kid. With the first installment of the movie looming, we attacked The Hobbit, a book I hadn’t read in way too long. The book was a challenge to get through due to not only the language, large swathes of detailed description and long songs/poems that probably are better sung (by someone who sings much better than I do). But in the end, the wonderful characters and quest carried the book through. So, let’s see what happens.
The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde’s Bookworld novels have expanded from puns and riffs on literary devices and expanded the role of lead Bookworld agent Thursday Next to such an extent that he’s able to have a Bookworld novel that doesn’t get anywhere near Bookworld. The Woman Who Died A Lot is purely a story of Thursday Next, the titular woman who dies a lot in this book (and in the series in general, an her family. I’m excited by this, because it’s obvious that Bookworld is pretty much played out and we need to move into other storylines to keep the series going. Fforde, as always, does a masterful job filling out the story with jokes, puns and witticisms that keep you laughing as the story flies along. So let’s find out how the woman dies a lot.