Tag Archives: Road Stories

Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold (The Sharing Knife, Book 4)

American Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: As Dag hones and refines his groundsetting skills, his farmer wife Fawn aches for a home of her own, and when they are forced to travel across malice-infested territories, their marriage is tested and their lives in jeopardy. Review: While I completely admire and love Bujold’s worldbuilding, character skills, and prose stylings, I was underwhelmed by the conclusion of this series. Possession has a ruminative tone that was disappointing after the epic promise of the first books, and I felt like the malice threat…

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Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold (The Sharing Knife, Book 3)

American Literature

Synopsis: Having awakened new, untold powers, Lakewalker Dag and his farmer wife Fawn embark down a river journey that will bring them into contact with dangers both human and not. Review: So far, Passage has been the least successful of the books in this series. While I enjoyed the texture and the details, I did feel like I was just treading water until the big conclusion. I do continue to be impressed by Bujold’s command of dialogue and characterization, and I like where the story…

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Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

British Literature 5 Comments

Synopsis: One man’s harrowing journey up the Congo in search of enlightenment. Review: Blogging really wasn’t invented for talking about a book like Heart of Darkness. I am utterly incapable of coming up with anything approaching an instant reaction to this book. I need to sit with it for a long time, then read it again, then sit with it some more, then read it again. Then maybe I can talk about it. I promise to let you know if I come up with anything…

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Upland Outlaws by Dave Duncan

Canadian Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: A despotic sorcerer has torn the Impire apart through a ruthless program of magical slavery, and imperor Shandie’s small cadre of loyal supporters are forced to travel to the farthest corners of Pandemia in order to save the world. Review: Upland Outlaws is Part Two of the Handful of Men series, and I’m sort of running out of superlatives. I’m beyond grateful to Shari for introducing me to this fine author, who is helping me bide my time until A Dance of Dragons comes…

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Faery Lands Forlon by Dave Duncan

Canadian Literature

Synopsis: Inos might be queen of Krasnegar, but she’s been magicked to the other side of the world, and the same magic has sent stable boy Rap, the goblin Little Chicken, and boy thief Thinal to the land of Faery, where Rap discovers that Inos is a pawn in a deadly game between powers greater than any army or king. Review: Faery Lands Forlorn is the second book in Dave Duncan’s A Man of His Word series, and it’s clear that none of these books…

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Magic Casement by Dave Duncan

Canadian Literature 12 Comments

Synopsis: A stableboy begins to exhibit mysterious powers that draw attention that could be dangerous, and he finds himself a prisoner on the goblin waste as the princess he’s sworn to serve comes ever closer to a danger that only he is aware of. Review: Magic Casement is a fantastic start to a four book series that I hope lives up to the promise of this first installment. My friend Shari saw that I had read Duncan’s Hero!, and said, “You finally read Dave Duncan–but…

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Luck of the Wheels by Megan Lindholm

American Literature

Synopsis: Gypsy teamster Ki agrees to ferry a most disagreeable boy to another town, and discovers a world of trouble when she and her companions find themselves in the middle of an uprising. Review: Luck of the Wheels, the fourth and final installment in the Ki and Vandien Quartet, is the best Lindholm I’ve read so far. Here, she pushes her protagonists as far as they can be pushed, taking the kinds of story risks that make her books so accomplished. She’s not afraid to…

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Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

British Literature

Review: The second in trilogy begun in His Majesty’s Dragon finds Temeraire and Laurence traveling by sea to China where Temeraire will take his rightful place as the dragon of an emperor–not a member of His Royal Majesty’s Navy battling against an ever-encroaching Napoleon. Review: Throne of Jade is a more than worthy installment in the tale of Temeraire, a dragon hatched from an egg given by China to Napoleon but seized by the English. When Temeraire hatched, the first person he saw was naval…

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