Tag Archives: Magic

The Magician’s Land by Lev Grossman (Magicians Trilogy)

Synopsis: As Quentin tries to make sense of a life without Fillory, a mysterious bird summons him to pull off the heist of a magical lifetime. Review: I got so much reading pleasure out of the trilogy that concludes in The Magician’s Land that I won’t wallow too much in my disappointment. Let me make one thing clear–my theological differences with Grossman have nothing to do with my criticisms of the ending of the story. Sure, his worldview is about as far from mine as…

Read More »

The Magician King by Lev Grossman (Reread)

Synopsis: Now a king in Fillory, Quentin Coldwater struggles with the same ennui that beset him at Brakebills, and wonders if he will ever be happy–and then he’s abruptly kicked out of paradise. Read my original review here. Review: Like with my reread of The Magicians, when I reread The Magician King I was both bowled over by the characterization and risk-taking, and overly aware of some of the contrivances and plot expediencies needed to make the story work. And again, I did not care…

Read More »

The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Reread)

Synopsis: Check out my review from three years ago. Review: What struck me most on my re-read ofThe Magicians was how hard Grossman was working to pull off the implausibility of his scenario. He needed Quentin & co. to be college age so that they could drink and then head out into the working world and suffer quarter life crises and all that, but he also wanted to play with the conventions of the classic boarding school story, which typically take place in high school.…

Read More »

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Synopsis: When a brilliant and ruthless scientist is asked by mutilated being to help it to fly, his research unleashes a deadly terror on the sprawling, rambunctious, decadent city of New Crobuzon, and only his belief in crisis theory may save the human and non-human inhabitants, including Isaac’s lover Lin, a khepri with the body of a beautiful woman and a scarab beetle for a head. Review: I have long passed over China Mieville out of a kind of reverse snobbery, assuming that a writer…

Read More »

Fool’s Assassin by Robin Hobb (Fitz and the Fool, Book 1)

Synopsis: After bringing dragons back to the world in the thrilling conclusion of the Tawny Man trilogy, past-haunted bastard Catalyst Fitz has now retired to a quiet life under an assumed name, but when his post-menopausal wife claims she is pregnant, and a pale messenger with an ominous message dies in his holdfast, Fitz wonders if the wheel of history is bringing his beloved Fool back into his life–for better or for worse. Review: Count me among those who had a major freakout upon realizing…

Read More »

The Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Synopsis: A military cadet with a gleaming future is captured by magic and turned into a traitor against his own people. Review: I’ve already read the three books that comprise Soldier Son, but when I saw a Kindle deal for the trilogy all in one I decided it was time for a reread. Shaman’s Crossing comes first, then Forest Mage, and Renegade’s Magic completes the series. I love Robin Hobb but I remember feeling like this series wasn’t one of her best. My reread elevated…

Read More »

The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive, Volume 1) by Brandon Sanderson

Synopsis: The first installment in a planned 10-book series set in a world where the remnants of long-forgotten magic may prove to be the undoing of all mankind. Review: My brother has been begging me to read The Way of Kings for ages, and he finally went and bought it for me. I’m ever so glad he did because it was a highly enjoyable read and a cut above Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy, which I enjoyed but found a bit flat. I am going to have…

Read More »

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks (Lightbringer, Book 1)

Synopsis: Color is magic and war is imminent, and when a corrupt leader discovers his bastard son, the game may change forever. Review: Wow. The Black Prism completely blew me away! I had heard absolutely nothing about it before buying it thanks to a $2.99 Kindle deal. I figured I could risk it. I had a little trouble getting into it at first, mostly because I have started and given up on so many bad fantasy novels that I’m primed for disappointment. I wasn’t sure…

Read More »

Bewitching by Alex Flinn

Synopsis: A 500-year-old teen witch crosses paths with a reverse-Cinderella. Review: Bewitching is Alex Flinn’s latest fairy tale retelling and I just loved it. She sets the Cinderella story in a Miami middle school, then frames it with the story of Kendra, a girl who became an eternal witch during the plague of 1666. Kendra tells us two stories of her own, both fairy tale retellings that can stand alone as lovely and poignant tales, and also shed light on the larger story. Structurally it’s…

Read More »

The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King (Dark Tower, Book 4.5)

Synopsis: On their way to Calla Bryn Sturgis, Roland and his ka-tet take shelter from a starkblast, and Roland tells the story of his first quest after killing his mother, and within it tells a fairy tale about a brave boy who tangles with a demonic trickster. Review: Oh, my, and it was good to hear Roland’s voice again, you say true and I say thankya. With the series complete, King didn’t need to add to his Dark Tower saga, but The Wind Through the…

Read More »