Books tagged with: quest

As a science fiction fan it has to be said that we are becoming increasingly lucky. Film and TV companies seem to have finally grasped that the genre is a gold mine for stories, and that when done right, these stories can attract a big audience. American Gods is one of the more recent stories to...

After the tremendous Turn Coat, I was expecting big things from Changes and boy does this book live up to the promises. It's impossible to write about Changes without giving away a few spoilers - however I'm not going to mention anything you can't read on the back of the book itself....

Charm is the second in Sarah Pinborough's series of novels which rewrite the traditional fairy tale for an intelligent, adult audience. This time it's the story of Cinderella that is re-created into an erotic, adult and charged story with a touch of brothers grimm darkness. I love how the author con...

Alex is a grumpy daydreamer who spends his life working in an office, commuting via trains and spending time with his family. He has a strong sense of detachment about the world around him and tends to float through life, that is until he finds a tunnel in the basement at work which leads to a very...

Connors Folly is the second volume in the Trance Warriors fantasy series by Robert C Auty, following on from the Siege of Scarn. The epic siege is finally at an end the new Grynn King is tasked with taking the fight to the enemy, to do so he must first find the white palace and finish his training...

Crossroads of Twilight is the tenth novel in the incredible epic series, the Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan. Many of the events in Crossroads of twilight run concurrently with the previous volume, Winters Heart. Ewgene is on the outskirts of Tar Valon, laying seige but wary to start a full scale w...

Deadhouse Gates is the second book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. Picking up where Gardens of the Moon left off, Deadhouse Gates reunites a host of old characters and throws some new ones into the fray. This time the action is focused not on Genabackis, but on the continent of...

The fifth book in the Dresden Files following the adventures of that intrepid wizard Harry Dresden. It begins as Dresden books often do, with attempts on Harry's life and that pretty much sets the pace for the whole story. If you've read the previous books you will be familiar with the ongoing prob...

I have always loved the Arthurian legend, there is something quite special about King Arthur, the Knights of Camelot and of course Merlin, by far my favourite character from the stories. One of my favourite cartoons is still the Disney classic "the Sword in the Stone" and I always look forward to re...

I’m already a fan of Landy’s previous work, Demon Road shows some of the same great dialogue and riveting narrative that made his Skulduggery Pleasant series such a great read. But his latest offering is definitely darker in tone and content, with murderous demon parents, twisted witches, and even t...

One man's quest for the justice of his wronged mother brings war to a land made soft by a forced but enduring peace. As the conflict spreads a few survivors flee into an alien world of currency, corruption, commerce and cruelty while behind them a long buried darkness returns, something that the wor...

Dorothy The Darker Side of Oz by Scott Stanford is a modern, dark interpretation of the classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (originally written by L. Frank Baum). Having seen the original film a number of times (not a fan but the family are) and not actually having read the book, my interpretation...

Gideon's Wall is a fantasy novel by Gideon's Wall. After being promised that there would be no dwarfs, elves or wizards in this fantasy book, I decided to give it a chance. Not that I've anything against dwarfs, elves or wizards but most fantasy authors seem to be going round and round without gett...

For those who have never met them, Gotrek and Felix are unsung heroes of the Warhammer fantasy Empire, the dwarven slayer* Gotrek Gurnisson and his human rememberer Felix Jaeger are the stuff of legend and have been featured in 13 novels, numerous short stories, the Warhammer fantasy Battle game and...

Hunt for Valamon is a fast paced epic fantasy tale that manages to portray a number of genre tropes in a fresh and exciting way. The strong authorial voice of the writing quickly draws the reader in, the almost conversational tone of delivery actually put me in mind of Terry Pratchett. The language...

So here we reach the third novel featuring that acerbic anti hero Johannes Cabal who this time get's recruited by the mysterious Fear Institute to lead an expedition into the Dreamlands - an alternative reality created by peoples dreams. There they must hunt and destroy the dread Phobic Animus - the...

Kells Legend is the first volume in the Clockwork Vampires Chronicles and has been written by Andy Remic. Without warning came the vast albino army, the army of iron, invading Falanor from the north. To have any hope of survival a small band set off to warn the King. The band leaves quickly and wit...

King Maker is an Urban fantasy novel by Maurice Broaddus, retelling the the ancient Arthurian legend through lives of Indianapolis street gangs and the first in "The knights of Breton Court" series. The story involves the principal character of King, son of Luther and destined to try and unite the...

King’s Justice is the second novel in the Knights of Breton Court series and the sequel to the phenomenal novel King maker by Maurice Broaddus. From the drug gangs of downtown Indianapolis, the one true king will arise. Spurred on with ever more urgent visions by his mystic advisor Merle, King att...

The fantasy quest, beginning with a youth, who has gifts and potential they have yet to master. Who is guided by an older mentor and forced from their home by a life changing event onto their journey and battle against evil foes that stand in the way of them reaching adulthood. On one level, this i...

The noble and venerable order of The Knights of the Blazing Sun dedicate themselves to the warrior-goddess Myrmidia and in her name travel the land as Templars. The young knight Hector Goetz is sent to investigate a group of knights gone missing on the distant island of Svunum. Reunited with his co...

Some books arrive in your life at exactly the right moment and lodge there for good, and Konrad is one of those for me. I came to it as a young reader, at a time when the Warhammer world was still new and strange and dangerous in my imagination, and whatever its flaws, and I will be honest about the...

Legacy of the Eldric is the first volume in the Prophecy of the Kings trilogy, written and published by David Burrows. The version being reviewed here is the Omnibus volume which contains all 3 novels in the series. In the distant past an all but forgotten race called the Eldric fought against the...

Logic of Demons: The Quest for Nadines Soul is a contemporary fantasy novel by H A Goodman. Devin's life has been ripped to pieces, his wife raped and murdered while still carrying his unborn child, revenge is the only thing that drives his continued existence. He listens as his father-in-law couns...

Lord Fouls Bane is the first volume in the The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, written by Stephen Donaldson. Thomas Covenant was a very successful author before being diagnosed with leprosy, the wasting disease that causes fear, revulsion and even hatred in other people. Fearin...

Magic Parcel: The Awakening is a young adult fantasy novel by Frank English. Jimmy Scroggins is a lively nine year old, full off the inquisitiveness of youth, living with his mother since his father passed away he spends much of his spare time with his Uncle Ruben, to the relief of his occasional...

When Will Calloway is wrongly accused of a serious crime he is sentenced to join the Moon Chase to prove his innocence. While at first glance this seems pretty straight forward and fairly safe with the fell walkers and huge Fellhounds of Thesk going along to help, he soon realises that proving his...

Moon Crossing is the second novel in the Fellhounds of Thesk series and the follow-up to the young adult fantasy novel Moon Chase. We are once again joined with Wil Calloway and those huge Fellhounds and this time its to rescue one of Wil's friends, continuing on from the cliff-hanger ending of the...

Orc's is an anthology of Bodyguard of Lightning, Legion of Thunder and Warriors of the Tempest, 3 novels in the fantasy series Orcs, written by Stan Nicholls. In the world of Maras-Dantia the elder races lived along with each other, while not in peace at least in some tolerance of one another. From...

Picus is one of those people who act as a magnet for trouble, disowned by his parents (or at least his quite scary mother) for not being blood-thirsty enough, hunted by the violent vampire Raben for the theft of an item that wasn't really his and wanted by the leader of the faie Queen Mab (the tooth...

I stumbled across Poison early in high school, and I loved it so much I went on to read whatever other works of Chris Wooding that I could get my hands on. For years I remembered Poison to be this incredible, fascinating novel, so when I picked it up again as an adult I was a little apprehensive. Bu...

I've bought a few Abercrombie novels over the past few years, partly due to the huge amount of positive feedback his work attracts but also as he is a fellow Lancastrian, hailing from the same fine city as I. Due to the sheer volume of review copies I receive I've yet to have time to actually read...

Return to Canifis is the sequel to Betrayal at Falador, set within the Runescape Universe and written by T S Church. Varrock is considered to be one of the greatest cities in the known world, but even here danger lurks - people have been dissapearing, or their bodies discovered ripped apart. Some a...

River of Blue Fire is the second volume in Tad Williams Otherland series. I'm unsure as to why I brought this the second volume in Tad Williams Otherland series (which has just been concluded in a forth volume). I wasn't that impressed with the first volume, which i found to long and lacking in any...

Second Sight follows on from the events of the Riddler's Gift and is the second novel in the Lifesong series by Greg Hamerton. Tabitha Serannon has not only survived the horrors brought by the shadowcasters led by the Darkmaster, but has become a miracle healer and a fledgling wizard, but already h...

Shadow of the Demon is the third and final novel in the Prophecy of the Kings trilogy by David Burrows. Kaplyn, Lars, Lomar and the brave defenders of Thrace have earned a respite from the horrors of the war they find thrust upon them. The Seige was only the start though and they must now find out...

Richard’s cousin Malley has just run off with some guy she met online, and Richard knows that things aren’t as great as she tells him they are. What’s a boy to do but to go after her, along with Skink, a ragged, one-eyed ex-governor of Florida? The unlikely pair find themselves encountering storms,...

Soul Stealers is the sequel to the Andy Remic Epic novel - Kell's Legend, and the second volume in the Clockwork Vampire Chronicles. The indomniable Kell is still being hunted by the evil clockwork vampires and to make matters worse, he is now being tracked by two beautiful but deadly female vampir...

Terrorlord is the 9th volume in the Jason Dark series by Guido Henkel. Released by a dark and ancient ritual, the Terrorlord is freed once more onto the mortal plane, his one desire to open the seven gates of hell and unleash the undead hordes upon mankind. Jason Dark has the misfortune to have alr...

The Bands of Mourning, part of the second series of Mistborn books, taking place hundreds of years after the original Mistborn trilogy, follows the adventures of Wax, Wayne, Marasi, and Steris once more. The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metalminds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone...

The fourth of Stephen Deas’ series, published in 2012, The Black Mausoleum picks up the story of Deas’ Dragon Realms sometime after the events of book three, The Order of the Scales.  This is a wise choice as the epic conclusion to the first trilogy of books left such a scattering of story piec...

The Bookman is a steampunk-esq novel of victorian adventure meets history, technology and erm... books, written by the talented author Lavie Tidhar. If the British Library was a living entity and, on wanting to write a book was told ‘write what you know’ then this is the book it would write. The h...

In the small, sleepy town of Appleton, Billy Brahm’s life goes from clumsy to cursed. After following a cat into the road, he’s hit by a car, his leg shattered, and his summer is ruined. A mysterious cat begins to visit him at his bedside, and Billy is haunted by strange dreams. According to the cre...

On the bloody battlefield littered with the dead and dying, two figures step cautiously through the viscera, the blood, guts and many feasting crows. These two appear ill-matched; one a slight and nimble figure, the other a hulking brute. You may be forgiven for thinking that perhaps they are there...

The Desert of Souls is a sweeping tale that is firmly rooted in the traditional sword and sorcery genre and yet flows with a steady, refreshing grace. Set in 8th Century Baghdad the novel is full of an eastern style that sets it apart from the majority of the genre. It's a refreshing environment and...

The Dragon and the George is a fantasy novel by the author Gordon R Dickson. Welcome to Gordon R. Dickson's alternate reality. Within that reality, we find ourselves in a medieval landscape balanced between the natural forces of Chance and History. A landscape filled with knights, castles, dragons,...

The Dragon at War is a fantasy novel by the author Gordon R Dickson. Over a century ago, the dragon Gleingul fought and slew a sea serpent in single combat. A genuine David and Goliath moment as sea serpents are more than twice as large as dragons. Ever since, there has been great animosity between...

The Dragon in the Stone is a standalone novel by Allan Scott, published by Orbit in 1991, and one of the better and quieter pieces of mythologically grounded fantasy that came out of British genre publishing in the early nineties. Scott is the rarer of the two halves of his long collaboration with M...

Do not read this review if you have not read the The Gunslinger - it contains spoilers for it. The Drawing of the Three (or DT2) takes off where The Gunslinger ended, with Roland lying on the beach of the western sea. The book tells the tale of Roland as he journeys along this beach and draws "the...

Quick hit – "The Fire Song" is a great read. If that’s all you need to know, then my recommendation is to go buy, rent or borrow a copy and enjoy. If you’re looking for a little more, read on. First, a confession. I’m not your standard fantasy reader. I write crime fiction and like any writer, I r...

For centuries traveling gleemen have told the tales of The Great Hunt of the Horn. So many tales about each of the Hunters, and so many Hunters to tell of . . . Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages. Rand al...

Sometimes when I've read a really bad book it's hard for me to write a review about it - I just want to leave it at "this book is bad - stay away from it" and then forget about the book as fast as possible. With Stephen King's The Gunslinger it's the other way around. A short "Go buy this book at on...

Like many people who read fantasy my journey into this wonderful genre was largely propelled at a young age by JRR Tolkiens classic "The Hobbit". For me it came from a completely unlikely source too - from my Gran who didn't seem to read much (at least that I noticed), didn't have many books and yet...

The Jack of Souls starts off slow—almost painfully slow. But as the novel unfolds, I was thrilled to discover that the slowness allowed for really great character development. The novel begins with our hero (of sorts) Harric, a bastard and a trickster, who must break his mother’s curse or die. He wi...

The Kinshield Legacy is a fantasy novel by KC May. For two hundred years a mysterious stone tablet embedded with five magical gems has sat abandoned in a cave, while the kindom around it falls to ruins. But then, the gems in the tablet, one by one, disappear and the next King of the realm may final...

The Last Guardian is the second volume in David Gemmell's Jon Shannow trilogy, picking up the story of the Jerusalem Man, and it is a worthy and ambitious successor to the magnificent Wolf in Shadow. If you have not read the first book, begin there; while Gemmell takes care to make this accessible,...

The Last Mermaid is a historical fantasy drama by Shana Abe. In 531 on the island Kelmere of the Kingdom of Isles, Picts ambush the royal party as they near their keep. Prince Aedan, heir to the High King throne, is stabbed trying to save his younger sister. When Aedan next awakens he finds himself...

I have many fond memories of the fighting fantasy books created by the legends Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston. I devoured them during childhood and still have a number of them of my shelves, including the very first, the Warlock of Firetop Mountain. At the same time I also discovered the joy of th...

The Mage Storms by Mercedes Lackey is the bringing together of three previously released books (Storm Warning, Storm Rising and Storm Breaking) into one volume. This makes a lot of sense as while the books form part of the Valdemar series they are a complete story in themselves. No previous knowledg...

The Malice is the follow-up to one of my favourite fantasy reads last year, Peter Newmans The Vagrant. It's a story set in a post-apocalyptic future where forgotten technology intermingles with demonspawn and twisted lands full of twisted mutants. It had the dark, haunted flavour of Stephen Kings D...

Thomas Locke is known as the man who can find anything, rumor has it he even found the butterfly that started the last hurricane. It therefore makes perfect sense that a very desperate Veronica Drysdale would engage his services to find her missing husband - except the world of Thomas Locke doesn't...

We last saw Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery getting ready to set sail with the Giants and embark upon the quest to find the fabled One Tree; the force that can remake the staff of law and free the land and people from the evil influence it has become infected by. One Tree rejoins these brave souls...

Thomas Covenant is once again summoned to the strange alternative world where magic exists and an ancient enemy threatens the land. Although for Thomas mere days have passed, for the inhabitants of "The Land" it's been over seven years since the unbeliever was abroad. The land is much changed since...

Kelsea Glynn is the only heir to the throne of Tearling but rather than growing up surrounded by servants and sophistication she has been raised in a woods by foster parents, in secret. Mostly this is due to her real mothers failings - Queen Elyssa was murdered for ruining the kingdom and for 18 yea...

The Reluctant Mage is the second volume in the Fisherman's Children series by Karen Miller. Rafel has been gone for months, last seen heading over Barl's Mountains into the unknown in a desperate quest to find help in the legendary magical Library but such time has passed and all hope appears lost....

The Road to Underfall is a 1987 high fantasy novel by Mike Jefferies, the first volume of the Loremasters of Elundium trilogy, and one of those books that has earned its standing through readers' affection rather than publishers' fanfare. In 1987 the British fantasy shelves were busy. Donaldson had...

The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart is a dark fantasy novel, the debut of Jesse Bullington. The year is 1364 and in the plague infested, devil-haunted darkness of Medieval Europe most of the population struggle to survive, living in abject poverty while the opulent few enjoy a life of luxury. Th...

The Skin Map is the first volume in a new fantasy series called Bright Empires, written by Stephen R Lawhead. Kit Livingstone is one of people that have never seemed to get used to living in society, passing through various dead-end jobs with no real plans or ambitions and far too apathetic when it...

Establishing a new fantasy story of weight and significance is difficult these days. The genre is crowded with epic quests, adventures, villains and heroes. The Sons of Thestian by M.E. Vaughan is fantasy tale by a talented writer that attempts to draw our attention. The opening action sequences ar...

The Vagrant was an unexpected delight, showing up totally out of the blue with a mature, confident writing style and a deliciously dark and twisted world. The flawed protagonist known only as "The Vagrant" is a masterstroke — here we have a figure who doesn't give much away. He doesn't speak, but he...

The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May is the second in a series of books following the adventures of Lady Aileana Kameron (or Kam) and the action follow on directly from the first book. If you haven’t read The Falconer I suggest you do, as this review definitely contains spoilers for the ending of t...

The Warrior Sage is a young adult high fantasy novel by Paul Mills. Chael dreams of a greater life than that of a simple farmer and when he and his sister take the long journey to Darvenlure it soon becomes clear that he may just get what he wished for. Along the road they meet a disarming and ove...

Do not read this review if you haven't read The Gunslinger and The Drawing of The Three. Turn off your computer and start reading. If you don't have these books run to your nearest bookstore and get them! Continuing where The Drawing of the Three ended, The Waste Lands takes us through the forest a...

The Wizard of Crescent Moon Mountain is firmly rooted within the high fantasy genre, telling the tale of the wizard Greybeard and little elf Beezle who set off on an adventure after a magical weapon proves to have a distinct life of it's own. The novel draws heavily from Lord of the Rings with nods...

For ten years Thomas Covenant has done his best to move on with his life and get back on top of his illness. While a decade may have passed in Covenant's world, in the Land it's been over three thousand years since he freed the people and defeated the evil Lord Foul. In this time Foul has not been...

Summertime is Pratchett and Discworld time. Reading while frying in the sun asks for a special kind of book, something that can hold your attention, even while your brain is reaching dangerous temperatures and even while members of the opposite sex, moves around you in small articles of clothing. It...

Tome of the Undergates is the first volume in the Aeons' Gate fantasy series by Sam Sykes. Lenk is in theory the leader of a band of "adventurers", in practice he struggle's to keep control over the unruly misfits - with Gariath the dargon man seeing humans as little more than prey, only happy in a...

Traitor’s Blade is a rare treat for the fantasy reader, it follows Falcio Val Mond, First Cantor of the Greatcoats as he and his loyal comrades Kest and Brasti struggle to survive in a world that has turned against them, valiantly trying to follow the last orders of their fallen king. Facing off aga...

Viking Dead is a dark fantasy novel by Toby Venables, part of the "Tomb of the Dead" collection published by Abaddon Books. Bjolf, son of Earling is the captain and leader of the Viking raiding ship "Raven" who after reluctantly fleeing from a raid gone wrong find themselves sailing into very stran...

Walking the tree, by Kaaron Warren (the author of Slights), is a fantasy novel set on the island Botanica. This is no ordinary island however, almost the entire space is taken up by one enormous tree. Small communities live around the coastline and depend on the tree for shelter, firewood and even m...

Warblade is the third and final book of David Ferring's Konrad trilogy, and it arrives carrying a heavy burden. This is the volume that has to gather up every thread spun across Konrad and ShadowBreed and tie them off, and it is where my long affection for this series has to make its peace with real...

An epic fantasy story that begins The Chronicles of the Exile, there is a lot to like about Turner’s first book in this series. The beginning requires some perseverance. We are introduced to Luker Essendar and his former associate Gill. What follows is a very long exposition as discussion between t...

White Gold Wielder is the last book in the second of Stephen Donaldson's trilogies about the Leper Thomas Covenant and his journeys to the parallel reality known as "The Land". Regular visitors to the site may recall that I didn't think that much of the previous volume - "The One Tree" and I almost...

Winters Heart is the 9th volume in Robert Jordan's epic fantasy series, the Wheel of Time. Now that the natural weather has returned to the land, Winter sets in with a vengeance, almost making up for lost time after the oppressive heat of the Dark One's spell. Rand is finally confronted by the 3 w...

Pew! I've been waiting for this book for a looong time, maybe too long. I didn't hesitate one moment when I found the trade paperback, regardless of the fact D.M. Grant mailed the hardcover version to me a month ago (I just haven't received it yet). The book starts of where DT3 ended – on Blain the...

There is always a good audience for traditional fantasy. The components are familiar and authors (like myself) who elect to write something that appeals to readers who want to settle down into a story loaded with magic, Elves, wizards and warriors where a plucky underdog or two wins the day against...

Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind is the first volume in the sword of truth series and follows the adventures of Richard Cypher, an young woods guide who makes a life changing decision to help a lady in distress. The woman richard rescues is Kahlan Amnell (Mother Confessor), who has crossed the...

I will put my cards on the table at once: Wolf in Shadow is one of the finest novels I have had the pleasure of reading, and I would argue it contains some of David Gemmell's very best writing. Gemmell is rightly celebrated as a master of heroic fantasy, but here, in the first full Jon Shannow novel...

It has been six, nearly seven, years since the last volume in the Dark Tower series and if you, like me, didn't even like the fourth volume, it has been an even longer wait. Luckily this book delivers. It's all action, it's all about the Ka-tet and it's about The Dark Tower from front to back. Havi...

Touch of Iron is not, as the Amazon blurb suggests, a tale of an epic quest of a Prince for a magic sword, although there is a Prince and he is on a quest for a magic sword.  Neither is it is a story about Fae, as evoked by the title in the trend of supernatural fantasy.  It is instead, the story of...

Book one of a proposed fantasy two-parter, Exile introduces us to a patch-work world of territories ruled over by the High King from his sacred city. The earldom of Darien is betrayed and overrun. Its exiles scatter throughout the land, determined to reclaim their ancestral rights. Aron son of Ea...

Simon Morden, Philip K. Dick award-winning author, satisfies fans of his debut novel Down Station with his long-anticipated sequel The White City. Resurrecting some of his most-loved characters, Morden’s latest offering marks a continuation of Dalip and Mary’s journey through ‘Down’ - a quasi-apocal...

The Seven is Peter Newman's stunning conclusion to the post-apocalyptic Vagrant Trilogy, following on from the events of The Vagrant and The Malice. A number of years have passed since the Vagrant journeyed to the Shining City with a baby Vesper and Gamma's sword. Following in her fathers...

Blackwing is a book that suprised me more than any other has so far this year. It's the debut of Ed McDonald and boy what a way to make an entrance. The book follows Galharrow, leader of the mercenary squad known as Blackwing. Galharrow and his band take on jobs most would consider too danger...

Senlin Ascends is the ground-breaking debut of Josiah Bancroft and the beginning of the Books of Babel series. Originally self published in 2013, the book was picked up by Tor / Orbit when it became clear just how special the novel really is. Since then the series has continued with Arm of the Sphin...

Arm of the Sphinx is the second in the Books of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft and follows on from the events of Senlin Ascends. Tom - who is now going by the name of Captain Mudd, continues his search for Marya. He has help, with the airship The Stone Cloud and it's motley crew. Since the events...

Heroic Fantasy doesn't always get the credit it deserves, but when done well can be powerful, energetic and immersive fiction. Sky in the Deep is one of the best examples of recent times and an equal to Gemmell's past stories. The story follows Eelyn, a member of the Aska clan. She's...

Religion is a tricky thing, a lot of people think they have picked the right one. Some believe in one God, but many people have several. The Mayans had some deities you would not want to meet in a dark alley as they prey on humans from the underworld. Meeting one of these Gods would be scary, but if...

Once a noble lord, after a failure on the field of battle, Silas Bershad "The Flawless" was stripped of all titles and forced into the life of a dragonslayer, moving from one perilous hunt to the next. Stalking dragons and collecting their valuable oil, his only escape seems to be death. But death h...

The first in the Eidyn series, The Lost War begins its story part way through, in the aftermath of a ruinous war for the kingdom of Eidyn. The location of the opening scenes, in a tavern no less, and the easy interplay of two of the main characters Aranok the draoidh and Allandria, his bodyguard and...

It sometimes feels that if you have read one fantasy novel, you have read them all. The same tropes crop up again and again. This may be comforting to fans of the genre, but people that dabble may soon become bored. Those of us in the know realise that there is a wealth of variation if you are willi...

The Marvel Universe has plenty of areas to explore, it is not just superheroes. You also have mutants, magic, aliens and so much more. Perhaps one of the hardest elements to get your head around are the Gods of Asgard. Suddenly, the Norse Gods of Odin and Thor are fighting alongside the li...

If you have ever been out to sea on a sailing boat, you may have felt that feeling of majesty and awe that the water evokes. This vast expanse that continues as far as the eye can see. Depending on your personality, it can instil a sense of fear or a sense of adventure. I have felt this feeling on l...

Have you ever sat down and read some Fairy Tales to your children? Not the sanitised versions that we read today, but the originals. If you have, you gave the kids nightmares as these are stories not about happiness and magic but of creatures and con...

When I think about heroism I often think about the conversation between Cat and Rimmer in Red Dwarf. There‘s an old cat proverb that goes, "It's better to live one hour as a tiger than an entire lifetime as a worm.” There's an old human proverb - "...

Nostalgia is a dangerous tool to use in a novel as what people think happened is not always the case. They prefer to see the past through rose tinted glasses. The 1980s can be seen as an era of Nintendo playing and Bermuda shorts, but that was not my 80s. I remember the Spectrum, my milk being&...

I have read many genre books and I see trends in what is currently popular or going through a period of high quality. The dark gothic fairy tale is having a moment in the sun as I have recently read some excellent stories that hark back to a feel of past fables but are their own modern take. T Kingf...

If you are of a certain age, you will know that the 80s was by far the best decade for pop culture, the films, music, comics, books, all unbeatable. All the films and TV shows basking in that 80s nostalgia prove it so. But wait, what is that? A load of 90s-based films and TV shows are starting to be...

No matter how many books are in a series and how long the journey, fantasy stories do end. But we all know that they never do. There is always an itch to discover what happened next, or what happened before, a rich lore and world to explore further. In Stephen Aryan’s The Coward we already fol...

Endings are not easy, especially in epic fantasy series. Hundreds or thousands of pages all building up to this. Famously one TV adaptation finale did not go down very well with the fans, so if authors did not know it before, they know it now. David Hair’s Tethered Cathedral trilogy comes to a...

Bringing back classic character is a wise decision as you already have a built-in fan base and the potential to make new fans. Who does not want to read more Sherlock Holmes? But it is fraught with dangers. Suddenly you have Winnie the Pooh and The Grinch starring in horror films. In some cases, the...

The relationship that humans have with the land has always been critical for our survival from the hunter gatherers to the farmers, to the post-industrial world we live in today. Living as one with the planet will help it sustain itself and us, but in recent decades it does not take much more than a...

They say that you should never meet your heroes, lest they disappoint, but I have met several of my favourite authors over the years and have always had a pleasant experience. I never had the chance to meet Sir Terry Pratchett which was a shame as he was, like for many readers of genre fiction, one...

Epic fantasy novels are filled with fellowships from the OG to the 700-page opuses of today. What differs across all these books is how close the fellows are. Multiple character perspectives do not a fellowship make if they never meet each other, you want a close group of people all setting out on t...

After more than a decade of box office hits and TV shows even the more casual Marvel fan is starting to realise that there is a vast and rich world of lore that the comics have built up over the decades. The comics of Thor and Loki bring with them their own history, not only that written for the com...

There is a perfectly sensible reason why the concept of Fairy Woods exist. Back in the day, the land was covered in thick forests, any person that travelled too far from the village or well-trodden tracks could easily get lost and become victim to one of several predators from wolves to wild boars....

You should be careful what you wish for, but also careful what you promise. Are you going to be able to live up to the hype? Arcadia Books are pretty pumped with James Logan’s The Silverblood Promise stating that it is the best fantasy debut of the year. Let me be the judge of that and having...

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Peter Pan is cheeky, certainly a hero, but he was also annoying and domineering. Did the Lost Boys want to stay on the island, or did Peter force them? On reflection, Peter Pan had some issues, but Disney put an airbr...

What makes a good Conan novel? It seems like a simple calculation, a brawny barbarian, a massive sword, wine, woman, and violence. Mix the lot into a pot and you have a Conan adventure to be proud of, except it is not that easy. Conan lives in a vibrant and complex world that can be stodgy to read i...

The fantasy genre has the reputation of producing books big enough that you could use as a casual seat, trilogies that you could line up, throw some cushions on top and make into a settee. It does not have to be this way and T Kingfisher has certainly bucked the trend with Clockwork Boys, which come...

Conan was a character that had a rich and long life. You may be a fan of the films and only imagine the man as a loincloth wearing barbarian, cleaving the heads of various cult leaders. That is a large part of his appeal, but he was also a bandit leader, pirate and eventually a King. In fact, he was...

What modern fantasy has shown is that you do not need to set your fantasy world in alternative medieval Europe. Our planet is full of varied and rich cultures that can be married with fantasy concepts to make alternative takes on the genre. The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell is the latest unique...

How do you push a story forward? One method used in movies is known as a MacGuffin, a meaningless plot device that someone must find that will drive all their intentions. It does not happen as often in literature, but in the case of The Blackfire Blade by James Logan it has one of the most Macguggin...

A large part of fantasy novels is not really the destination, but the journey. The camaraderie that builds among a troop of characters as they travel to their destination, but what happens once they have arrived? In T Kingfisher’s Clockwork Boys four mismatched social pariahs set out to surviv...

Back in the nineties, Fantasy had a comedic moment. Led by Sir Terry Pratchett, other authors were signed up to produce lighter fantasy with a sense of humour. Whilst none became as popular as Discworld, I still miss those days. T Kingfisher agreed and Nine Goblins is the author’s homage to th...