Tag: Fantasy

A Wizard Of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel by Ursula K Le Guin, adapted by Fred Fordham

That has got to win the prize for unwieldiest title going. But yes, I came to this graphic novel adaptation of Ursula K Le Guin’s classic because it’s been nominated for the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. Fred Fordham has done an incredible job here and I’m grateful that this book was nominated, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/04/a-wizard-of-earthsea-a-graphic-novel-by-ursula-k-le-guin-adapted-by-fred-fordham/

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

In contrast to Cinder House, The Summer War is not a classic fairy tale re-told in a more modern idiom but a re-working of fairytale elements, a new story told entirely in the register of a fairy tale. Thus the kingdom that is the setting for a bit more than half of the story is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/08/01/the-summer-war-by-naomi-novik-2/

Adventure In The City Of Stories by Emma Otheguy

with wonderful illustrations by Poly Bernatene. This sequel to Cousins In The Time Of Magic finds our three young protagonists Siggy, Camilla and Jorge heading back in time for an even more personal reason than in the first book. Camilla is already having a terrible day after being humiliated at her Florida school by the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/20/adventure-in-the-city-of-stories-by-emma-otheguy/

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo

A Long and Speaking Silence, the seventh in Nghi Vo‘s Singing Hills cycle, takes Cleric Chih back to one of their first assignments as a chronicler, a gatherer of stories. On their way to the riverside city of Luntien a moment of inattention led to their being relieved of their purse and stipend, so as …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/19/a-long-and-speaking-silence-by-nghi-vo/

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Ooh, Naomi Novik, you crafty little devil of a writer, you! I’m always so impressed when an author sets the reader up to intensely dislike a character, only for that same character to eventually and successfully capture our hearts later on. And I get it, there were a ton of mitigating factors for why our …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/15/the-summer-war-by-naomi-novik/

Hugo Awards 2026: Best Novelette

Rapport by Martha Wells

Among this year’s Hugo finalists in the four headline fiction categories — short story, novelette, novella and novel — no author has more than one nomination. I don’t think I have a particular view about this distribution. On the one hand, it’s neat when a writer has a banner year and gathers up two or even three …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/12/hugo-awards-2026-best-novelette-2/

Hugo Awards 2026: Best Novelette

Ooh, boy, is Doug gonna be surprised when he reads my voting slate for this year’s Hugo Awards nominees for Best Novelette! Presented, as usual, in descending order of preference. Top of my list this year is Catherynne M Valente’s When He Calls Your Name. Perhaps oddly, it is one of the two nominees on …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/08/hugo-awards-2026-best-novelette/

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

I admit, dear reader, that I was finally unable to resist the hype surrounding this series and decided to go see what all the fuss is about. And the answer is: a lot, and most of it really good! Full disclosure, the tipping point for finally getting me to pick this up was likely the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/07/06/dungeon-crawler-carl-by-matt-dinniman/

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

accompanied in the volume I received by the short story Johnny Hollowback And The Witch, which I actually preferred. Which isn’t to say that the main novella here is at all bad! I very much preferred it to the last thing of hers I read, the wildly overrated This Is How You Lose The Time …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/29/the-river-has-roots-by-amal-el-mohtar/

Paladin’s Hope by T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

Galen, the paladin of the third Saint of Steel book, was seen in Paladin’s Strength as Istvhan’s second in command. He also had a reputation as happy-go-lucky, willing to bed more or less any man who struck his fancy, and able to catch them too. Paladin’s Hope begins less cheerfully: with a corpse. Observing the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2026/06/28/paladins-hope-by-t-kingfisher/