Showing posts with label The Book of Magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Book of Magic. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Bloom, by Kate Elliott
★★★★★ A Rich Setting, A Complex Plot, and Sympathetic Characters
(Alternate History Fantasy; Spiritwalker Trilogy) Autumn House is failing for lack of new magisters, so Titus grudgingly accepts the aid of a young diviner, even if she is a woman. (16,441 words; Time: 54m)
The Devil's Whatever, by Andy Duncan
★★★☆☆ Average
(Folktale) This is the story of how Petey was cursed to travel among all the places in America named for the Devil and reenact the tales of how they got their names and how Perleen tried to save him. (12,352 words; Time: 41m)
Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 (Q&A)
The Wolf and the Manticore, by Greg van Eekhout
★★★★★ A Slipstream Thriller in a Dog-Eat-Dog World
(Alternate Reality Dark Fantasy) Agnes works at the La Brea Tar Pits helping the Kingdom of Southern California make magical munitions, but she’s secretly spying for the Northern Californians. Unfortunately, someone has figured this out. (10,430 words; Time: 34m)
Widow Maker, by Lavie Tidhar
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Fantasy Adventure; Gorel of Goliris) Gorel takes a job escorting an expedition to the top of a mountain in search of the legendary “Widow Maker” weapon, which destroyed two advanced civilizations thousands of years ago. (10,442 words; Time: 34m)
Although this is part of a long-running series, there’s no need to read earlier ones first, but if you want to avoid spoilers for the series, you might want to start with “Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God.”
No Work of Mine, by Elizabeth Bear
★★★☆☆ Average
(Fantasy Adventure; The Eternal Sky) Bijou the Artificer hunts for whoever is making poor-quality animations and passing them off as her work. (7,907 words; Time: 26m)
Although there are several novels and at least one other short story in the series, there’s no need to read any of them to enjoy this story, and it’s unlikely that reading this story first will spoil the rest
The Staff in the Stone, by Garth Nix
★★★★☆ Nice characters, fun plot
(Fantasy Thriller) The villagers find a wizard’s staff sticking out of an ancient stone obelisk, but only Colrean knows just how dangerous it is and what sort of dangers it may attract. (11,314 words; Time: 37m)
Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 👍RHorton.r+2 👍RSR+1 (Q&A)
Sungrazer, by Liz Williams
★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(Modern Fantasy) Professor Fallow, retired astronomer and magician, tries to figure out why a ghost seems to be trying to contact him. (9,802 words; Time: 32m)
Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)
The Governor, by Tim Powers
★★★★☆ Chilling, with Just the Right Twist
(Modern Fantasy Horror) When the old wizard dies in a car accident, his family gets together in his old house to try to find his talisman so they can have control over him before he reincarnates himself. (8,617 words; Time: 28m)
The Lovecraft book in the story is “The Outsiders and Others,” a 500-page collection of Lovecraft’s stories. It has been called “the beginning of serious specialist publishing of fantastic fiction in America.”
Loft the Sorcerer, by Eleanor Arnason
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Icelandic Folktale Horror) A poor young student at the bishop’s school decides to learn black magic to improve his fortunes. (10,487 words; Time: 34m)
Recommended By: 👍RHorton.r+1 (Q&A)
Song of Fire, by Rachel Pollack
★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(Modern Fantasy Adventure; Jack Shade) In our world, only Travelers are aware of the supernatural world that exists all around us. Jack Shade is a sort of private investigator for Travelers, and in this story he takes a case for a Djinn, whose people are being starved to death. (14,158 words; Time: 47m)
This story makes reference to previous Jack Shade stories (there are lots of them), but there’s no real need to read any of them first. If you like this story and want to read more about Jack, all of the previous ones have been collected into “The Fissure King: A Novel in Five Stories”
The Biography of a Bouncing Boy Terror: Chapter II: Jumping Jack in Love, by Ysabeau S. Wilce
★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
(High Fantasy; Republic of Califa) Jack uses his magical jumping boots to make him the most successful thief Califa has ever known. He’s a rich thief, but a lonely young man, and wonders if the boots can help him find love too. (7,194 words; Time: 23m)
Chapter One is available online for free.
Flint and Mirror, by John Crowley
★★★☆☆ Average
(Historical Fantasy) Ten-year-old Hugh O’Neill leaves Ireland for England to get support to overthrow his usurping uncle, but the Sidhe have a parting gift for him. (11,495 words; Time: 38m)
Recommended By: 📙JStrahan+2 👍RHorton.r+2 (Q&A)
The story begins around 1560, when Hugh O’Neill was ten years old. It will help to read a bit of Hugh’s history in our world before reading this story, although it’s not essential.
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