Review | River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay

River of Stars
Guy Gavriel Kay
Published 2 April 2013 by Roc (Penguin)
Historical fantasy
4 stars

In his critically acclaimed novel Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay told a vivid and powerful story inspired by China’s Tang Dynasty. Now, the international bestselling and multiple award-winning author revisits that invented setting four centuries later with an epic of prideful emperors, battling courtiers, bandits and soldiers, nomadic invasions, and a woman battling in her own way, to find a new place for women in the world – a world inspired this time by the glittering, decadent Song Dynasty.

Ren Daiyan was still just a boy when he took the lives of seven men while guarding an imperial magistrate of Kitai. That moment on a lonely road changed his life—in entirely unexpected ways, sending him into the forests of Kitai among the outlaws. From there he emerges years later—and his life changes again, dramatically, as he circles towards the court and emperor, while war approaches Kitai from the north.

Lin Shan is the daughter of a scholar, his beloved only child. Educated by him in ways young women never are, gifted as a songwriter and calligrapher, she finds herself living a life suspended between two worlds. Her intelligence captivates an emperor—and alienates women at the court. But when her father’s life is endangered by the savage politics of the day, Shan must act in ways no woman ever has.

In an empire divided by bitter factions circling an exquisitely cultured emperor who loves his gardens and his art far more than the burdens of governing, dramatic events on the northern steppe alter the balance of power in the world, leading to events no one could have foretold, under the river of stars.

Bite-Sized Review

Guy Gavriel Kay has a wonderful way with words that is as beautiful in this book as in any of his others. With sweeping themes and characters that are painfully easy to fall in love with, River of Stars is  a masterpiece.

Chocolate (things I liked) 

-I have loved all of GGK's books, and in every case, one of my favorite things about them is the writing. GGK is an absolutely brilliant writer -- there's really no one better. So even the slower parts of the book are a pleasure to read and filled with meaning.

-In addition to being a spectacular wordsmith, GGK has the ability to bring broad themes to life. The pages of his books are filled with love and war, how things long past can affect the present, what duty people have to their rulers, and the difficulty of certain choices. It's especially brilliant because the conclusions the reader draws from the story seem completely natural and not forced at all, as they sometimes are in other books.

-It is heart-breakingly easy to fall in love with GGK's characters. In River of Stars, my favorites were Daiyan and Shan, who were both unorthodox and startlingly clever.

-GGK puts a lot of effort into making his novels historically genuine (which isn't necessarily the same as historically accurate), and it really shows. Especially after reading certain other books, it's really nice to see that much attention to detail in making so many aspects of the characters' lives fit into Song China.

-I loved the ending, though not everyone will.

Brussels Sprouts (things I didn't like)
-The only negative thing I have to say about River of Stars is that the first half was sort of slow. The plot didn't really start until the second half. Of course, I still enjoyed the first half, but I would have preferred if it had been condensed a bit.

Notes
River of Stars takes place about 400 years after Under Heaven. While it's probably helpful to have read Under Heaven, it's not at all necessary. I read Under Heaven several years ago, when it first came out, and have forgotten most of what happened, but I had no trouble at all following River of Stars.

Recommended for
Fans of historical fantasy, beautiful writing, and wonderful characters. People who have enjoyed the works of Brandon Sanderson and Neil Gaiman will probably like River of Stars as well.

Bite-Sized Reviews

In which I notice that, hmmm, I have several books that I meant to review but then I got distracted by new and shiny other books. Life is hard...

Working Stiff by Rachel Caine
Revivalist #1
3 stars

Working Stiff is a dark and interesting take on zombies filled with moral ambiguities and layered characters. While a bit slow in places, it definitely has the potential to become an excellent series. Recommended for fans of My Life as a White Trash Zombie and Unholy Magic -- imagine it as somewhere between the two.

The Cipher by Diana Pharaoh Francis

Crosspointe #1

3 stars

The Cipher gets off to a promising start, and, after stalling a bit in the middle, delivers a solid finish. While the book is a little overly focused on what seems like a strange romance, overall the unusual magic system and the last third or so of the book manage to make up for it. Recommended for fans of Holly Lisle and possibly Kate Elliot.

Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells
Sabina Kane #1
3 stars

Red-Headed Stepchild doesn't do much to stand out from the urban fantasy crowd, but it is an enjoyable read, though Sabina can be annoying at times. Recommended for anyone who's craving more urban fantasy and doesn't need anything particularly new.

Mister Monday by Garth Nix

Keys to the Kingdom #1

3 stars

I find that Garth Nix's works generally have excellent, unique magic systems but fail to live up to their world-building prowess in the storytelling department. Like Nix's other books, Mister Monday has a fascinating world, but the story doesn't really capture the reader's attention until the last third or so. That's not to say the writing is bad -- it's not -- but somehow I always expect the writing to be as compelling as the world. Recommended for fans of The Graveyard Book and a less funny Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
3 stars

In an almost exact reversal of Garth Nix's strengths, Jennifer L. Armentrout is a captivating writer who doesn't seem to publish anything really original. Like her other works, Cursed is nothing you haven't seen before, but the addictive quality of JLA's writing carries it towards the front of the YA line. Recommended for fans of the usual YA paranormal suspects.




I guess it's no wonder I wasn't in much of a hurry to publish these -- they were all good but not really excellent. I could, however, easily see other readers very much enjoying any of them, depending on tastes, so if one sounds interesting, definitely give it a try. All of them are also the first in their series, so they might be worth trying anyway; the best books often come later.

Review | Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon

Sheepfarmer's Daughter
Elizabeth Moon
The Deed of Paksenarrion #1
Published 2000 by Baen Books (Simon & Schuster)
Traditional fantasy
2 stars

Paksenarrion — Paks for short — is somebody special. She knows it, even if nobody else does yet. No way will she follow her father’s orders to marry the pig farmer down the road. She’s off to join the army, even if it means she can never see her family again.

And so her adventure begins . . . the adventure that transforms her into a hero remembered in songs, chosen by the gods to restore a lost ruler to his throne.

Here is her tale as she lived it.

Bite-Sized Review
I was excited to read this book, especially after greatly enjoying Ms. Moon's Vatta's War series, but I was disappointed by the halting, disconnected storytelling. Because that problem improved as the book went on, I'm still willing to give book 2 a try, but I won't be rushing to read it.

Chocolate (things I liked)
-A girl runs away to join the army. That's a pretty awesome start to any book, and I loved the premise of the story. Sheepfarmer's Daughter shows Paksenarrion, or Paks for short, in her life in the army, which even now is rare enough to be pretty cool.

-I actually did like Paks herself. She was uncertain and insecure at times, but she was also tough and compassionate. Aside from the couple of times where she was a total idiot, she was a good character.

Brussels Sprouts (things I didn't like)
-The storytelling. The book, especially the first half, is written more like a series of short stories that feature the same character but aren't really connected. It was really difficult to stay engaged without any real flow to the story. In the second half it got a lot better, but not enough to really make up for everything else.

-The supporting characters. None of them seemed to have much of a personality of their own. They were basically interchangeable and even in cases of their danger and death, I couldn't scrape up an ounce of give-a-crap.

Recommended for
Fans of Mercedes Lackey, especially The Oathbound/Oathbreakers, and people who want to read the book a chunk at a time, possibly with some time in between.

Review | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone
Leigh Bardugo
Grisha #1
Published June 2012 by Henry Holt & Co. (Macmillan)
YA fantasy
3 stars

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha…and the secrets of her heart.

Bite-Sized Review
I'm kind of conflicted about this one. I really enjoyed it, but it also had a lot of serious problems.

Chocolate
-As I said, this was a highly enjoyable book. I finished it quickly and it flowed very well. Pacing, writing, plot -- all good. And because I was so satisfied with the reading experience, I know I will read the next one, despite all of the following flaws.

Brussels Sprouts
-When I first started reading the book. I was excited. "Yay!" I thought. "A book about Russian mythology!" I took Russian for two years in college, but most of what I know of Russian myths I learned from the Kate Daniels series, so I was eager to learn more.

Not so fast. Ravka is basically nothing like Russia, except for some similarity of language sounds. It's disappointing how little research went into this book -- even I, with my two years of mostly-forgotten Russian, noticed several mistakes and no reference to actual Russian myths.

As a fantasy writer, you have two choices. You can either make up your world entirely, in which case you have to be sure to actually put enough effort into worldbuilding to keep your setting from looking like a crappy copy of some time in history, or, you can make your novel a reflection of a real historical period, like Guy Gavriel Kay, in which case you have to do a crap ton of research. Leigh Bardugo, unfortunately, opted for something in between these two paths, which basically means she was too lazy to do either the research or the imagining and ended up stumbling through the woods of directionlessness. If you want a recounting of the actual errors and failures of the book regarding Russian mythology and culture, take a look at Tatiana's review on The Readventurer -- she does a much better job discussing the issue than I could. But basically, let's just say that the setting was less than satisfactory.

-Oh, YA authors. Why is it that all of your characters are exactly the same? There is the shy but spunky outcast heroine narrator with latent powers that will make everyone suddenly respect her, the male friend without much of a personality who might be something more, and the hot, mysterious newcomer who teaches said heroine about her newfound abilities. Go through a list of YA paranormal or fantasy titles and you will find that nearly every one of them fits the bill. Why is this the formula that all YA authors have suddenly decided to follow? Is it too much to ask for something different here?

Recommended for
Fans of YA fantasy like Grave Mercy who aren't necessarily too concerned with setting quality or at least can overlook it.

Quality: Fair
Enjoyability: Excellent

Review | The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

The Dragon's Path
Daniel Abraham
The Dagger and the Coin #1
Published 2011 by Orbit (Hachette)
Epic fantasy
4 stars

Bite-Sized Review
In this enthralling start to a new series, Daniel Abraham creates a spectacular range of characters set in a classic fantasy world. Though The Dragon's Path mainly lays groundwork for the rest of the series, it's an excellent beginning and will likely only get better.

King-Sized Review
When I started reading this book, I thought it was just okay. Decent epic fantasy, nothing particularly special. Then somehow I was 300 pages in without really remembering how I got there. The story crept up on me and kidnapped me before I had the chance to protest or even notice.

The Dragon's Path switches viewpoints almost entirely between five main characters. Captain Marcus, once a soldier and now a mercenary, plays the wise and weary warrior. (Bonus points for alliteration.) Cithrin is the determined orphan, ward of a bank, tasked with a mission that should be straightforward but becomes complicated quickly. Geder, son of a provincial nobleman, is more interested in scholarship than swordplay, but must go to war anyway. Dawson, an influential lord, is determined to maintain the prestige of his king and kingdom, whatever the cost. And the Apostate is a mystery.

Some of these characters, most of whom have their own seperate storylines, never actually interact in this book. It's definitely laying the groundwork for the next books, but it's very well done. Even without info dumps, information about the world and its denizens is as clear as it needs to be, though it would be nice to have more detail – I only saw descriptions for a couple of the dozen or so races. There's not a ton that actually happens here, but what does is quite captivating.

Characterization in this book was brilliant. I loved Cithrin, sympathized with Marcus, gradually grew to despise Dawson, and held Geder in utter contempt. Not many authors can write such a broad yet entirely believable range of characters. I'm very much looking forward to more in this series.

Quality: Excellent
Enjoyability: Excellent

In the same aisle
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Review | Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta

Froi of the Exiles
Melina Marchetta
Lumatere Chronicles #2
Published March 13, 2012 by Candlewick
Epic fantasy
4 stars

Bite-Sized Review
Froi of the Exiles was an excellent sequel that impressed me much more than Finnikin of the Rock. Definitely worth reading more than once.

King-Sized Review
After being not terribly impressed with Finnikin of the Rock, I wasn't really sure how I'd like Froi of the Exiles. Sure, I (oddly) loved Melina Marchetta's contemporary YA books, but Finnikin fell a bit short for me. I needn't have worried. Froi was amazing. It was full of mystery and suspense and humor and holy crap family issues and all the things I love about books.

Although the Lumaterans have retaken their homeland, Charyn remains a threat. When an opportunity comes to do something about it, Froi leaves the place he's come to think of as home for Charyn, where he discovers a web of secrets and people who aren't what they seem.

Froi was a complicated character. In Finnikin of the Rock, you didn't get much of a sense of who Froi was, and what you did get was not very good. In Froi of the Exiles, with much of the story told from Froi's perspective, it's obvious what a struggle he goes through every day to try to be better than his past and to control his temper. When I started the book, I didn't like Froi at all, but by the time I finished, I was definitely rooting for him.

In fact, all the characters in this book were fascinatingly complex. From astonishingly gifted twins Arjuro and Gargarin, to strange, mercurial Quintana, to bitter Lirah, the characters were wonderfully written and completely credible. I really enjoyed reading their interactions (aka arguments) and seeing their quirks.

The most appealing aspect of this book was its secrets. Mysteries had to be dragged out of it; every time I thought I knew something, new information was revealed that brought into question all of my assumptions. I love not knowing things (read: it drives me crazy and I have to keep reading to learn ALL THE SECRETS), so this book was brilliant. And I can't really tell you anything more because it would ruin ALL THE SECRETS.

Quality: Excellent
Enjoyability: Outstanding

In the same aisle
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Medalon by Jennifer Fallon

Sunday Series Spotlight | The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

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I love this blog and sharing my opinions on books with people. I've really enjoyed getting recommendations from others, and I hope a few people have found good books on here too. But as much as I love the books I've been reading, there are many books I read before starting the blog that I want to share too! That's why I decided to start the Sunday Series Spotlight and tell everyone about my old favorites.

You're welcome to share your own favorite series...es... –just grab the button and leave a link in the comments.

This week's spotlight is on The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede.

Take one bored princess. Make her the seventh daughter in a very proper royal family. Have her run away.

Add one powerful, fascinating, dangerous dragon.

Princess Cimorene has never met anyone (or anything) like the dragon Kazul. But then, she's never met a witch, a jinn, a death-dealing talking bird, or a stone prince either.

Princess Cimorene ran away to find some excitement.

She's found plenty.

This was the first dragon series I read. Cimorene is probably my all-time favorite princess, as she is as un-princess-like as it is possible to be. These books are both fun and brilliant, and I recommend them to all ages.

Review | Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Daughter of the Forest
Juliet Marillier
Sevenwaters #1
Published
Mythological fantasy/fairy tale
4 stars

Bite-Sized Review
Daughter of the Forest was an excellent fairy tale retelling that mixed fantasy, mythological, and romance elements. Recommended!

King-Sized Review
Daughter of the Forest is based on the fairy tale The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen. Sorcha, youngest and only girl of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters' seven children, has an idyllic childhood, surrounded by brothers who adore her and given little adult supervision. Her life changes, however, when her father marries and Sorcha's new stepmother – a wicked stepmother, naturally – binds her brothers in an enchantment. Only Sorcha can break the spell, but she must remain silent while she works to do so, without exception. Sorcha must make difficult choices and

If you've ever read any of Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy tales (rather than the Disney versions), you'll know that he is all about the suffering. Don't get me wrong, you should absolutely read this book, but suffering is definitely present, and most of Sorcha's journey and tasks are downright unpleasant. I loved the book, but fair warning before you pick it up.

Despite that, I breezed through this one. I read it around hours 18-23 of the 24 hour read-a-thon, which, as anyone who does the read-a-thon knows, are normally the most difficult hours to get through. Reading this book, I didn't feel tired at all and had no desire to stop for sleep until I finished. Hopefully that gives you an idea of just how enthralling it was. Daughter of the Forest is the sort of book you just can't seem to stop reading and don't want to.

My only real complaint (the bit about the suffering was a warning, not a complaint) was that the characters were a bit flat. Most of the good guys were paragons of virtue, while most of the bad guys were unequivocally selfish bastards. The exceptions almost seemed as if they existed to provide exceptions rather than naturally arising from the characters' natures. However, it's a fairy tale, so I probably should have expected that simplicity.

Overall, Daughter of the Forest was a great start to this series. It was a complete story in itself, so if you wanted to read it as a standalone you certainly could, but the hints of a larger narrative were definitely there. Basically it had an excellent balance between story and series.

Quality: Excellent
Enjoyability: Excellent

In the same aisle
Deerskin by Robin McKinley

Review | The Green Man by Michael Bedard

The Green Man
Michael Bedard
Published April 10, 2012 by Tundra Books
YA contemporary fantasy
Review copy from NetGalley
3 stars

Bite-Sized Review
If this book had been longer and more fleshed out, I think it could have been great. As it was, I quite liked it, particularly the lovely writing style.

King-Sized Review
When her father travels to Italy for research one summer, fifteen-year-old O, short for Ophelia, spends the time with her Aunt Emily, who owns a secondhand bookstore called "The Green Man." O, a budding poet, enjoys helping her aunt in the store, but when odd things start to happen, Emily realizes that her past is coming back to haunt her and O as well.

I loved the poetic style of this story. With two poets as main characters, it could hardly be otherwise, but reading parts of this book was like having words wrapped around my head so that the rest of the world disappeared. The writing was beautiful and my favorite part of the book.

The setting was another high positive. Most of the story takes place among books, which is always something to be happy about. I wish there had been a bit more about the bookstore itself – I wanted to see more of the ghosts of poets past, and have a better picture of the store. I would have liked to know more about the story of the green man as well. If the book, which was rather short, had been a bit (or a lot) longer, the setting could have been more developed.

One aspect for which I actually appreciated the under-development was the magic. There is magic in this book, but it is mysterious and dangerous, the opposite of the magic of words that Emily and O possess. The mystery surrounding the magic in this story – even the question of whether or not it really existed – added suspense and gave the book a wonderfully ethereal quality that's missing from most of this genre. Of course, the writing contributed to this aspect as well, but the uncertainty of the magic, of what's really happening in to O and Emily, really makes it a better story.

However, Emily and O themselves didn't feel entirely real either, which was not a positive. As much as I loved the writing and the setting, the characters didn't live up to the same standard. They weren't bad, they just didn't come alive the way other parts of the story did. Again, with a longer book this could have been much better. As it was, O and Emily weren't much more than faint outlines of characters without much personality. I've seen much worse characters, but there was plenty of room for improvement. And even at the end I knew next to nothing about O's love interest, and while the mystery was definitely part of his appeal, it would have been nice to know his real name, at the very least.

But overall, I really enjoyed this book. It's a quick read and definitely worthwhile for fans of a more mysterious sort of magic with a light touch of romance.

Quality: Acceptable
Enjoyability: Good

In the same aisle
A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Girl of Fire and Thorns
Rae Carson
Fire and Thorns #1
Published 2011 by Greenwillow (HarperCollins)
YA traditional fantasy
My Goodreads rating: 2 stars

Bite-Sized Review
After hearing some rave reviews for this book, I knew I had to pick it up. Traditional fantasy, magic, armed conflict – what more could you want in a book? Unfortunately, this one really wasn't for me, though it's certainly possible other people might like it.

King-Sized Review

This book took me a shockingly long time to get through. That's not usually a good sign. I was just never really captured by the story for a few reasons.

The first was a minor one: narrative. I am not, generally, a fan of first person present narratives. They can be extremely successful in making individual scenes more immediate and emotional, but it's too much to write a whole book like that. I find it quite jarring, more so in cases (like this) where I'm not really getting into the story, and it distracts me from the story itself. I must be in the minority though, because I see this increasingly in YA. So let's chalk that one up to "just me" in the dislike category and move on to more story-related things.

Elisa was never much of a character. She felt very flat, except for the times when it seemed that the author was trying her hardest to make Elisa seem pathetic. Elisa starts the book overweight, and in any other book I would have been interested by that difference from most books, but if there is a wrong way to show that not all heroines have to be slim, this was it. Elisa's weight problem arises from compulsive overeating, and she really only feels better about herself when she suddenly loses a lot of weight. Furthermore, that's also the moment she and [name redacted] start to fall in love. Elisa also has some very sudden changes in opinion that were too abrupt to seem really genuine. It isn't necessary to like the main character, but I do have to be able to sympathize with her. With Elisa, I felt nothing at all.

Princess Elisa bears a Godstone, granted to one child on their naming day every hundred years. But other than that, she's never done anything special – her sister is the clever and pretty one. Suddenly she's married to a neighboring king, but he wants her to keep their marriage – and the Godstone – secret. Unfortunately, secrets have a way of escaping, and any number of people would kill to get their hands on the Godstone.

The world wasn't bad. It was a little overly religious for my personal tastes, but that's mainly because I'm more accustomed to characters asking a lot more probing questions about the existence of god(s) than this book presented. The author wasn't pushy about the subject, though; it was just part of the story. The setting is a little bit Spanish medieval without the Islamic influence and with magic stones that connect the bearers to their god.

Characters: ehhhhh. While several of them did have believable flaws, those flaws at times seemed to encompass their entire personality, making them very difficult to sympathize with. King Alejandro, for example, had many flaws and few redeeming qualities, but the flaws were not the kind that made him an intriguing character. Maybe other people felt differently about the characters, but I just couldn't connect to any of them.

I did finally get into this book more in the last fifty pages or so. That wasn't enough for me to consider it a particularly good read, but I'm sure other people who are more interested in YA traditional fantasy could enjoy it more than I did.

Quality: Fair
Enjoyability: Fair

In the same aisle
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

Sunday Series Spotlight | Abhorsen by Garth Nix

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I love this blog and sharing my opinions on books with people. I've really enjoyed getting recommendations from others, and I hope a few people have found good books on here too. But as much as I love the books I've been reading, there are many books I read before starting the blog that I want to share too! That's why I decided to start the Sunday Series Spotlight and tell everyone about my old favorites.

You're welcome to share your own favorite series...es... –just grab the button and leave a link in the comments.

This week's spotlight is on Abhorsen by Garth Nix.

Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him. She soon finds companions in Mogget, a cat whose aloof manner barely conceals its malevolent spirit, and Touchstone, a young Charter Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories. As the three travel deep into the Old Kingdom, threats mount on all sides. And every step brings them closer to a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own destiny.

With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen trilogy, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.

Though my favorite of this trilogy is Lirael, all the books are interesting and well-written. These were the zombie books before zombies were a thing. (At least in books. There were zombie movies before this.) The Abhorsens make sure the dead stay dead. A little bit different and a lot interesting, and the characters are a lot more dynamic than in a lot of YA fantasy. It's a pretty cool world and a great story.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

The Magician King
Lev Grossman
The Magicians #2
Published 2011 by Viking (Penguin)
Contemporary fantasy
My Goodreads rating: 4 stars

Bite-Sized Review
The Magician King made major improvements on what was already a pretty cool story. The addition of Julia's perspective brought both more darkness and a certain addictive quality to the book, and I loved where Grossman went with the story.

King-Sized Review
I liked The Magician King quite a bit better than The Magicians. Rather than just focusing on Quentin, The Magician King alternates between Quentin in the present and flashbacks from Julia's past. It starts off some time after the end of The Magicians, with the four monarchs in Fillory, bored and unsatisfied with life, at least on Quentin's part. They get a quest, go off and do Crazy Things, discover Unfortunate Truths, and basically save the world, The Magicians style.

If The Magicians was an R-rated cross between Harry Potter and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (which it totally was), The Magician King is all Voyage of the Dawn Treader, only without the religious allegory. There is a little religious commentary in the background, but it's not what you would call positive. But the series doesn't try to hide its origins, and it actually makes for some really interesting reading. If, instead of young British siblings, the Chronicles of Narnia featured recent college graduates suffering from varying degrees of disillusionment...well, you'd wind up with exactly what you have here. It's quite fascinating and a brilliant idea.

On the subject of disillusionment, Quentin, though entirely relatable, can be rather irritating to read about, being a little whiny and generally unsatisfied with his life, no matter how awesome it is. This made the stories from Julia's past quite a relief. They were much darker, but more enthralling and readable. Julia has a seriously screwed-up history, and only towards the end of the book is it really clear how that history relates to what's going on in their present.

I also appreciated the way mythology was incorporated into their system of magic. The magic Quentin learned at his school, Brakebills, in The Magicians was interesting and extremely precise and complex, and the way the existence of magic was explained in this book, in combination with the addition of mythological figures, gave the story more depth and a great background. Grossman didn't bring in specific gods so much as the concept of gods and did it in a very interesting and thought-provoking way. I can't wait to learn more about magic in book three.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. If you haven't read The Magicians and are interested in a gritty reboot of children's fantasy, definitely check it out. If you have read the first book, make sure you continue the series, because the The Magician King is even better.

Quality: Good
Enjoyability: Excellent

Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L. Wilson

Lord of the Fading Lands
C.L. Wilson
Tairen Soul #1
Published 2007 by Leisure Books (Dorchester)
Fantasy romance

Knowing that the tairen are dying, Rain Tairen Soul, King of the Fey breaks an ancient taboo to consult the truth stone thingy and learns that he must travel to Celieria, a country he hasen't visited for a thousand years, since he nearly destroyed the world. There he finds Ellysetta, his unexpected truemate, who has the power to save the tairen, the Fey, and the entire world.

At first I really loved this story. It's very classical fantasy, with nobility and people with latent power and the end of the world approaching, all of which I enjoy reading. The romance was very sweet, despite Rain and Ellie's magical soul bond, which sounds cheesy but was different from the kind of instalove that annoys me. Though Rain and Ellie are bound at the very beginning, they're not actually in love, and the process of getting to know each other is in some ways complicated by their bond, not to mention Rain's history. At some points the whole concept of the bond seemed a little patronizing – Fey warriors bond in order to protect their women? The feminist in me snarls at this – but for the most part I managed to ignore those feelings.

In the world at large, Rain is the only one who can sense the growing power of the Elden Mages, who once warred with Fey and Celierians alike. But no one is willing to listen to his warnings, attributing the increase in deaths on the border to the Fey. I would have liked to see more of this aspect of the story and a little less of the romance. While it was obvious why the Elden were virtually universally despised, I didn't really understand their motivations. Good-versus-evil stories are sometimes more difficult to do well because it's easy to simply stop with "they're evil" as a basis for actions, which doesn't really work. Fading Lands needed a bit more background to pull it off.

Plus there's only so much sweet romance I can handle. The machinations of the Mages was more interesting, and I wanted to know more about what was happening with the tairen – you know, the problem that started this whole story? – and certain events that took place in the Celierian court.

One small irritation was the unnecessarily invented words. It's fine to make up words if the story includes creatures or concepts that don't exist in English. But since your characters are presumably not actually speaking English (or whatever language you're writing in) there's no need to make up words for "yes," "no," "sorry," and "thank you." They're just a distraction.

Overall, I liked the book. It made me smile and even laugh out loud. It could have used a bit less romance and a bit more of an actual story, because it was kind of lacking in that regard, but it was definitely an enjoyable read, and I'll be sure to read the rest of the series.

Quality: Acceptable
Enjoyability: Good

In the same aisle
Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon

Stars of Dragons

The "Stars of..." series is a feature I'm doing here at Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy to highlight the best books in different areas of the fantasy genre. Say you want a book about shapeshifters or wizards or mythology, or maybe you want to read some political or heroic fantasy. Stop by here every Thursday, and I'll have recommendations for you! Click on the book covers for links to the first book in the series and on the series name for a list of the books in it on Goodreads.

If you think there's something I missed in this category, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments! I haven't read everything out there, obviously, and I'd love some recommendations myself.

Series are alphabetical by author.

Stars of Dragons


I was born in the Year of the Dragon. I'm not sure which came first, learning that or being obsessed with dragons, but I've always loved them and, like Hagrid, have always wanted one. There are many books about dragons out there – I have an entire shelf of them, though those are mostly Anne McCaffrey's Pern books. Since I sort of ran out of epic fantasy sub-genres and dragons bridge all sorts of genre gaps, I decided to make this week about my favorite mythical creatures.

Elizabeth Haydon

Symphony of Ages

6 books, completed

Symphony of Ages stars Rhapsody, a Singer looking to escape her old life. When she falls in with a pair of criminals, she finds that her escape takes her much farther than she ever expected. SoA is a highly engrossing epic fantasy series with some great characters and an interesting world.

Mercedes Lackey

Dragon Jousters

4 books

Raising a baby dragon, you guys! I love baby dragons the best. This lighter epic fantasy has a lot of wonderful friendships and love. And dragons.

Anne McCaffrey

Dragonriders of Pern

17 books

This was one of my first dragon series, and it's actually scifi! It seems more like fantasy, especially in the first few books, but it's a very interesting take on dragons, and I still want a green of my very own.

Robin McKinley

Dragonhaven

Stand-alone

My review

More baby dragons! This book is much more rambling than action-packed, but I love it anyway, and I love how different and mysterious the dragons are.

Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey

Halfblood Chronicles

3 books

In this series, dragons are (mostly) good and elves are (mostly) evil. Shana, a girl who grew up with dragons, has to find her home, and in the process manages to turn the whole world upside down. This is another one of my comfort series, and I definitely recommend it.

Naomi Novik

Temeraire

6 books, ongoing

The Temeraire books are about the Napoleonic Wars, but with dragons. They're quite adventurous stories that take you all over the early nineteenth century world, and though they're occasionally a bit slow, they're definitely worth checking out. And they have dragons.

Patricia C. Wrede

Enchanted Forest Chronicles

4 books, completed

This probably was the first dragon series I read. Cimorene is probably my all-time favorite princess, as she is as un-princess-like as it is possible to be. These books are both fun and brilliant, and I recommend them to all ages.

Have you read any of these? Do you have any other suggestions? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Check out previous "Stars of" posts:

Vampires

Political Fantasy

Shapeshifters

Heroic Fantasy

Witches, Wizards, Necromancers, and Other Magic Users

Mythic Fantasy

Myths and Fairy Tales

Historical Fantasy

Fae

Ireland/Irish Mythology

Stars of Ireland

The "Stars of..." series is a feature I'm doing here at Epic (Chocolate) Fantasy to highlight the best books in different areas of the fantasy genre. Say you want a book about shapeshifters or wizards or mythology, or maybe you want to read some political or heroic fantasy. Stop by here every Thursday for the foreseeable future, and I'll have recommendations for you! Click on the book covers for links to the first book in the series and on the series name for a list of the books in it on Goodreads.

If you think there's something I missed in this category, feel free to leave your own suggestions in the comments! I haven't read everything out there, obviously, and I'd love some recommendations myself.

Series are alphabetical by author.

Stars of Ireland

It's St. Patrick's Day! I hope you're all having a fun-filled, Irish day. I thought I'd celebrate here on the blog by doing a special edition of the "Stars of..." series featuring books that take place in Ireland or emphasize Irish mythology. I thought I'd have a lot of these, being a huge fan of Ireland myself, but I only found a handful (assuming you are the six-fingered man, in which case, prepare to die). But here they are anyway. Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

Ilona Andrews

Magic Burns

Kate Daniels #2

If you've been around here any length of time, you'll know that Ilona Andrews is/are one/two of my favorite authors. (They're a husband and wife writing team who use one name as a pseudonym. It makes referring to them confusing.) Kate Daniels is a character that I absolutely love. In the second book of the series, Kate has to deal with quite a few people and creatures from Irish mythology, which is extra fun.

Diane Duane

A Wizard Abroad

Young Wizards #4

I've enjoyed the Young Wizards series since I was about ten. This middle grade series about kids who are initiated into wizardry's fight against evil, wizardry functions ver scientifically, and the wizards' travels take them all over the universe. In the fourth book, however, Nita's parents send her to Ireland for a month for vacation. That vacation turns out to be rather less relaxing than anyone anticipated when she discovers that something there is very wrong, and it's up to her and her new friends to fix it.

Kevin Hearne

Iron Druid

3 books, ongoing

Yet another amazing and hilarious series. Atticus, last of the Druids, gets himself into quite a bit of trouble but always tries to do the right thing. Actually, though, my favorite character is his dog, Oberon, who cracks me up every time. Gods and goddesses from many different mythologies are a part of Atticus's everyday life, but being Irish himself, he has many connections with Irish mythology.

Guy Gavriel Kay

The Fionavar Tapestry

3 books + 1 spinoff, completed

While not explicitly Irish, these wonderful books do contain many aspects recognizable from Irish mythology. The Fionavar Tapestry was the first series by Guy Gavriel Kay that I read, and I absolutely loved it. It's sort of like The Chronicles of Narnia for grown-ups, but so much more vivid and profound. I love Kay's lyrical writing style, and the world he built here is beautiful, filled with myth and legend, heroes and monsters. The Fionavar Tapestry is an amazing story that I've read over and over again.

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

Keltiad

2 trilogies + 2 stand-alones

This unusual science fantasy features Celts, Sidhe, and space travel. The trilogies star King Arthur, as narrated by Taliesin, and Aeron, a high queen many years later. They're both very different and at the same time very much traditional epic fantasy, which is interesting to read. They're also pretty obscure and difficult to find, but if you can get your hands on them I recommend giving them a try.

Karen Marie Moning

Fever
5 books, completed

This series, which takes place mainly in Dublin, is seriously addictive. I don't even know what to say about it except that you should definitely read it. It has spectacular characters, a dangerous, fascinating world, and a highly compelling plot. It's easily one of the best series I've ever read. If you haven't read it yet, you really, really need to!

Have you read any of these? Do you have any other suggestions? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Check out previous "Stars of" posts:

Vampires
Political Fantasy
Shapeshifters
Heroic Fantasy
Witches, Wizards, Necromancers, and Other Magic Users
Mythic Fantasy
Myths and Fairy Tales
Historical Fantasy
Fae

Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Touch of Power
Maria V. Snyder
Healer #1
Published December 20, 2011 by Mira
Young adult traditional fantasy

Bite-Sized Review
Touch of Power was a pretty good book overall. With a very basic but effective magic system, logical explanations, and interesting characters, I quite enjoyed this story.

King-Sized Review
After the Plague devastated the population and governments of the Fifteen Realms, people blamed the healers for refusing to save them. Avry of Kazan has been in hiding ever since, but when she sees people suffering from illnesses she could cure, she can't help but step in. For three years, she's been moving from place to place, never staying long enough to get caught, but this time, she didn't move quickly enough. Only instead of execution, her arrest leads to her unwillingly falling in with a band of soldiers who need her to heal someone important to them. In Avry's hands lies the fate of kingdoms...

Touch of Power was a good, solid book, if not a great one. Although it had a lot of obvious parallels to Snyder's Study series – the relationship between the main characters, a pair of soldiers as comic relief, the outlawing of the main character's magic – there were enough differences that the story didn't seem like just Poison Study in disguise. Plus Poison Study was a good story, so there's really nothing to complain about with these similarities.

Avry of Kazan made a good protagonist. Compassionate, stubborn, and smart, she had the personality that made sharing her perspective a pleasure rather than a trial. The development of her relationship with Kerrick was also very good, although I could have done without him hitting her early on. At any rate, the tension between them was very believable – so believable, in fact, that the situation seemed a little too quickly resolved in the end. But only a little.

Our villain, Tohon, could have used a read of the Evil Overlord list. I think every mistake he made was catalogued in that hilarious guide. I also wish he had a little more backstory or a more relatable motivation than a desire to rule the world. That's kind of old.

None of the "twists" in ToP came as any real surprise, which was a little disappointing. The story could also have been very much more emotional than it was. All Avry goes through in this book, particularly the events regarding people close to her, could have been much more gripping than it was. As it stands, I actually remember being surprised at how little I felt during certain scenes. That's one element where Poison Study definitely does better than ToP.

One odd observation – the writing was sprinkled with modern colloquialisms that were rather jarring in this medieval-esque world. "Guys" doesn't really fit into this story, and neither does "okay." These are minor things, but it's exactly those kinds of things that make a world feel genuine. Just a little more attention to detail would have made this book seem a lot more real.

Quality: Acceptable
Enjoyability: Good

In the same aisle
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith

Top Ten Epic Fantasy Series

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted weekly by the lovely ladies at The Broke and The Bookish.

I did the same sort of thing for urban fantasy a long time ago, but I've only been reading UF for a few years. I've been reading epic fantasy pretty much my entire life, and with all those books, I was a little apprehensive about trying to narrow the list. But when the top "genre x" books came up on Top Ten Tuesday this week, I knew I had to steel myself for the task. (They are not in any kind of order. I suck at rankings.)

First, if you have not read epic fantasy before, you should. Why? Because it is Epic! And it is Fantastic! Those are good things, right? Right. So if you're someone who mainly reads YA or UF, you may want to start with these books, and probably not so much most of the ones on this list, because I am told many people don't like trying to keep track of so many characters, places, organizations, etc. But eventually you should really really get to these because they are the awesomesauce on the awesomecake. Actually I think I mean awesomefrosting. Cake does not have sauce.

Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch

I am re-reading the first book now and I keep giggling at it on the bus. It's kind of embarrassing, but I can't help it; the book is hilarious. Think con artists before con games existed. This series is dark and funny at the same time, with wonderful characters and intricate plots.

Second Sons by Jennifer Fallon

A rarity: fantasy without magic. The Second Sons trilogy is actually about rationality in the face of superstition, which sounds kind of boring when you say it like that but actually makes a really great story. The main character is brilliant and the supporting cast is filled with interesting and believable characters.

The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read The Fionavar Tapestry, which was probably at least ten years ago. Since then, I've re-read all of his books many times to enjoy the beautiful writing and complex stories. Kay writes bittersweet endings like no one else. The Sarantine Mosaic, which takes place in a world that looks a lot like Byzantium, is my favorite of his series.

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson is the most skilled and creative world-builder I've ever come across. Although The Stormlight Archive only has one book so far, it's more than enough to keep you busy for quite some time. The world and characters are wonderful, and though the story is just beginning, there's so much there that it doesn't feel that way at all.

The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

Witty, clever, creative, and complex, The Name of the Wind was a spectacular debut from Patrick Rothfuss. Narrated by Kvothe a number of years after the actual events of the books, The Kingkiller Chronicle is the story of his life, which happens to be extraordinarily interesting and layered. This series also features one of the more unique and well-explained magic systems out there.

Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel's Legacy is kind of a hard sell. The description sounds like it's all about sex, but guys, this is Not True. This series actually has a lot of depth and its characters are about a million times better than average. Read it. If you don't like the kinky stuff, you can skip those scenes and the book will still be great. And if you do, extra win!

Codex Alera by Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is a fantastic writer of both urban fantasy (Dresden Files) and epic fantasy. Codex Alera is an amazing series with a brilliant world, outstanding characters, and lots of action. Tavi is actually one of my all-around favorite characters; I just love the way he thinks! Definitely a great series.

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan

Even though some of the middle books in this series (*cough*winter'sheart*cough*) drag a lot, you almost have to read The Wheel of Time to understand the genre. Same goes for The Sword of Truth. Anyway, The Wheel of Time's early and later books are excellent, and the final book of the series comes out this year.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain

Magic and mystery and secrets and horses! All good things. The Green Rider series follows Karigan G'ladheon, who manages to stumble into all sorts of apocalyptic trouble. Karigan is a great characters, and while not really new, the "rise of an ancient evil" story makes for some excellent books.


So I actually ended up with nine series, not because there aren't lots of others that I love, but because I didn't want to pick anything that wasn't absolutely amazing, and also I didn't want to double up on authors, which would have given me too many books.

Have you read any of these? What did you think? And what genre did you pick for your top ten list? Leave a link in your comment!