“Fractured Fairy Tales” is a genre all its own, and a tough market to succeed in. The technique this author uses successfully is to start with the fairy tale, but segue into another Fantasy style that will add to the thematic clout of the original. So, the opening introduction of characters, setting, and adapted plotline […]
The Drunken Dragon, by George Morrison
This is a fascinating novel. Billed as humour, with all the trappings of an Action Fantasy, it also manages to draw us in emotionally on a deeper level. Let’s put this story into perspective. It has towns called Spittlesburg, Whatadump, and Bristol. (What does the author have against Bristol?) It has a Province of Malevolentia, […]
“Traitor Son,” Empire of the Stars Book 1 by Melissa J. Cave
This tale qualifies as Epic Fantasy, but it wastes little ink on the machinations of the mighty. Just enough to demonstrate the pressure that politics exerts on the mere humans who must fit their lives into the mould of their heritage. Because this is really the story about two people who, despite their elevated titles, […]
“The Hybrids” by Quentin Eckman
This is a very specific genre, a cross between Romantic Comedy and Fanciful Science Fiction, requiring a larger dollop of suspension of disbelief than usual. However, if you allow yourself to be carried away on waves of feel-goodness, you will be amply repaid. The main plotline involves a super-human alien who visited Earth ten thousand […]
“Pacific Odyssey” by Chet Nairene
“Pacific Odyssey” is out-and-out Romantic Comedy. It is so romantic it leaves reality and moves into the Fantasy realm, and we step into a world where truth takes a back seat to fancy. Put in traditional terms, this is the quintessential Hero’s Journey. Lew is a typical high-rolling young up-and-coming executive with the world at […]
“The Singing Bones” by Eric Shane Love
This is a classic Fantasy, based on the traditional Hero’s Journey format. The heroine, Grey, goes on a physical and metaphysical journey as she matures and struggles with the fact that her future is bound up in her past. Images of metamorphosis abound as she sheds the ties that bind her. It is a story […]
“Halls of Fire” by Christian Cura
This is the second book of a serial, which picks up with a new chapter in the main character’s life and ends with a cliff-hanger and few conflicts resolved. It is one of those unfortunate stories where the author has done an incredible amount of creative world-building in setting, mythology, and society, but then feels […]
“Six Moons, Seven Gods” by Robert A. Walker
I really enjoyed this book, but one comment occurred to me early in my reading, so it takes precedence in my review as well. Someone ought to make a rule and engrave it on the pedestal of Calliope, the muse of poets and writers. “Don’t make readers spend too much time with unpleasant people.” This […]
“Eye of Ksera” by Sedigitus Swift
This Fantasy novel is a good story with the unfortunate addition of a certain amount of extraneous material that adds something to the overall atmosphere of the setting but pulls the reader’s attention away from the action. I sometimes find this situation in academic writers who don’t realize how much footnoting and interesting sidebars get […]
“The Doorway: Blue Mind Book 1” by Jesse L. Watson
The depth of our belief in the fantasy world of any story is guided by the belief of the main character. The traditional Fantasy character approaches the new world with wide-eyed wonder, and we respond with the same, but with a superior “Isn’t this fun?” attitude. In “Missing Persons” we see Fantasy from the point […]