Tag: Fantasy

The Chosen And The Beautiful by Nghi Vo

I’ve read F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby twice, and each time I’ve been baffled by the acclaim*. Much like the critics of its time, I think the book is fine, but not much more than that. The trouble is that Gatsby is an idiot, Nick not much better, and Tom and Daisy are just …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/17/the-chosen-and-the-beautiful-by-nghi-vo/

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

The elevator pitch is essentially Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander meets Diana Wynne Jones’ The Time Of The Ghost, with naval battles galore (any Dianas who write about those? I’d be awfully pleased to know it.) Ofc, The Kingdoms isn’t quite so rapey as Outlander (thank God) nor as suspenseful as TToTG but is a thoughtful look …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/04/the-kingdoms-by-natasha-pulley/

Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris & Charles Vess

What a sumptuous delight of a novel that greatly satisfied both the craftsman and the girl-in-search-of-the-fantastic living inside me! Joanne M Harris has turned her considerable talents to a mosaic novel crafted as a compendium of fairy tales that are both wildly original yet hearken back to the tales we already know, usually giving the …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/06/01/honeycomb-by-joanne-m-harris-charles-vess/

Sage And King by Molly Ringle

This might be the first fantasy romance novel where not only did I not want to gouge out the eyes of the protagonists at any point in the proceedings, I was actively rooting for their happiness because I respected every single one of their decisions. Prince Zaya, third in line to the throne of Lushrain, …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/05/20/sage-and-king-by-molly-ringle/

Odyssey Of The Dragonlords — Players Guide by James Ohlen, Jesse Sky & Drew Karpyshyn

As I look forward to being fully vaccinated — two shots down and waiting for those antibodies to spool up, baby! — I’ve been itching to play more tabletop role playing games than just my current three hours a week, twice a month or so local game. It’s a fun D&D game, a homebrew fantasy …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/05/03/odyssey-of-the-dragonlords-players-guide-by-james-ohlen-jesse-sky-drew-karpyshyn/

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I’m gonna preface this by saying that I’m sure there are tons of readers who love this book, who just adore this Belle Epoque-inspired fantasy romance novel. And I’m glad for readers who find joy and comfort in its pages. But if you, like me, find shitty historical romance tropes utterly tiresome to the point …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/30/the-beautiful-ones-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

Wasn’t this fun! Susan Arkshaw has grown up in a rural corner of southwestern England, with an absent father and a very absent-minded artist mother. Two minutes before The Left-Handed Booksellers of London opens — on May 1, 1983 — Susan turns 18. She’s also just had one of her recurring dreams, full of giant …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/24/the-left-handed-booksellers-of-london-by-garth-nix/

Malice by Heather Walter

This book was such a struggle to get through, and I might not have done it if I hadn’t been grimly determined to see how Heather Walter made good on the terrific premise of Sleeping Beauty’s true love actually being the dark fairy who cursed her. In the land of Briar, bordering on the fae …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/16/malice-by-heather-walter/

An Interview with Oliver K. Langmead, author of Birds Of Paradise

Q. Every book has its own story about how it came to be conceived and written as it did. Birds Of Paradise had a particularly long gestation, as you note in your afterword. How did this novel evolve? A. In the end, it took me more than a decade to finish writing Birds of Paradise. …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/04/09/an-interview-with-oliver-k-langmead-author-of-birds-of-paradise/

Birds Of Paradise by Oliver K. Langmead

A gorgeous, almost dream-like meditation on dissociation, love, belonging and grief, punctuated by flashes of violence and pain, Birds Of Paradise follows the first man, Adam, as he’s making his way through modern life. When a Hollywood security gig goes awry, he’s hustled out of the country by Rook, who along with several other of …

Continue reading

Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2021/03/30/birds-of-paradise-by-oliver-k-langmead/