When Wolf runs away from the monastery he’s called home for years in search of a more fulfilling life, he finds more than he bargained for in the forms of a feral elf-child and a local lord driven by heartbreak, loss and ambition. Taken into service by Lord Hugo of the Red Mound, Wolf befriends his stubborn, spirited daughter, Nest, and takes on the task of civilizing the elf. But what does Hugo want with the elf, and what sort of trouble will arise as a result of his quest? Set in a long-ago Wales where magic and superstition still hold power, this book draws on traditional fairy tales and religious beliefs to tell a creepy, intriguing story where anything is possible.
Archive for category Fantasy
Teen wizards Kit and Nita have been tasked with uncovering the buried secrets of Mars, but when Kit accidentally activates an ancient artifact, the planet comes to life in unexpectedly mysterious ways, challenging everything they ever believed about the red planet. With the fate of two planets at stake, our heroes and their allies will be stretched to their limits to find a suitable solution. Straddling the fence between science fiction and fantasy, beautifully-written and morally complex, featuring a rich cast of engaging characters and some thought-provoking twists, this installment proves that even after nine books, this series is still going strong.
When Haley joins her father on a trip to Iceland, she not-so-secretly hopes she’ll finally discover how and why her mother vanished in the same spot a year before. She’s promptly caught up in a curse that’s wound through her family for generations, originating with the sorceress Hallgerd, a distant ancestor. To break the curse, she embarks on a series of adventures, accompanied by Ari, a local boy with an alarming habit of turning into a bear. She’ll brave ancient magic and forgotten myths as she tries to save herself from the past, but the cost may be more than she can handle. Clever, fast-paced, and steeped in the myth and lore of traditional Icelandic sagas, Thief Eyes is fascinating and different.
They are the secret protectors of the kingdom of Lorindar. Snow White, the sultry mistress of mirror magic. Danielle, wielder of a powerful glass sword, once known as Cinderella. Talia, whose fairy gifts make her a powerful warrior, but whose past as the legendary Sleeping Beauty still haunts her. Princesses all, and the best of friends, they’ve been through a lot together. But when Roudette, the assassin also known as the Lady of the Red Hood, targets Talia for death, the three are once again forced into action. Their struggle to defeat Roudette and end the threat to Talia once and for all takes them to Arathea, Talia’s desert homeland, where the queen who usurped her throne still waits, planning revenge. For the Prince who awoke Sleeping Beauty didn’t do so with a kiss, and he was certainly no Charming, and Talia’s bloody revenge has had long-lasting consequences.
In Arathea, the three princesses discover a grave threat to the land, one involving both the infamous Wild Hunt and the capricious fairykind. To survive, they’ll have to trust in the Lady of the Red Hood, even though her loyalties are decidedly in question. Talia’s home, but she may not live long enough to enjoy it. Not everyone gets a happily ever after….
Continuing to reimagine the heroines and storylines of beloved fairy tales, Jim Hines turns his attentions towards Little Red Riding Hood, reinventing her as a dark, tragic, driven anti-heroine out to exact her own revenge upon those who once wronged her. Here, we see one explanation for the wolf in Grandmother’s bed, the significance of the titular red cape, and learn that the huntsman of the story was no hero. We also get a much more in-depth look at the land and circumstances that shaped Talia, who deviates significantly from her fairy tale origins. And the changes couldn’t be more welcome. Some might say it’s pretty bold to turn Sleeping Beauty from the blond waif of Disney fame into a lesbian warrior from a pseudo-Arabic culture, but it just helps to reinforce the idea of these fairy tales as universal stories, where the trappings may change but the core remains the same. What matters is that Talia, like the others, is a strong, capable, princess who isn’t about to sit around waiting for her prince to show up and rescue her.
Combining the best parts of fantasy and folklore, mixed with action and adventure, tinged with horror (just like the original stories!), Red Hood’s Revenge is a thoroughly satisfying continuation of the series, and a worthy updating of these cultural icons. They may not sing and dance, but they can certainly kick some ass. Bring on the Snow Queen.
Ever since she was sold as a child, Terelle has worked as a servant in a brothel, dreading the day she’ll come of age and have to start earning her keep in a manner she finds distasteful. Dreaming of escape, she seeks out alternatives, only to discover there’s very little opportunity for one of her low station. Ultimately, she runs away, finding refuge with an eccentric artist, who teaches her the secret of painting with water, and influencing the future. But the longer she stays, the more she learns, the more she questions her decisions, and her safety.
Shale’s village is among the poorest and most remote in the dry, hardscrabble Gibber Quarter, where water is beyond rare and survival is never easy. When his magical ability to sense and control water is discovered, he becomes a pawn in a deadly political game which seems destined to upset the status quo of the Scarpen once and for all.
In an area of the world where every drop of water is carefully rationed, where those who control water possess the greatest power of all, and where entire cities rest on the ability of the Stormlord to conjure up storms from the ocean and deliver them as needed, it doesn’t take much to upset the delicate balance. And when the Stormlord grows weak and close to death, the time is perfect for someone both ambitious and unscrupulous to make his move. And in the chaos, Shale and Terelle will come together, only to be caught in the middle of war and suffering. The Scarpen will never be the same again.
Epic, sprawling, taking place over a number of years, this isn’t a story to be summarized easily. Each individual story spans the better part of a decade, and to detail even a small portion would spoil more than I feel reasonable. So take it from me when I say there’s a lot going on here, and it’s a densely-plotted, multi-layered book that doesn’t make for easy or casual reading.
The setting itself is quite interesting, though with just about every page having some reference to water or its scarcity or the magical manipulation thereof, it gets repetitious after a while. I was intrigued by the tiered cities with their elaborate systems of gutters and aqueducts and social systems determining who gets water and who doesn’t, and I was certainly interested in the plight of the Gibbers, who get their water as leftover gulley washes. I followed the various characters with interest, and enjoyed seeing how their various threads finally came together as the story continued.
And yet, for all the pretty language and unusual setting, I found this book to be something of a slog, an effort to get through. I ultimately got through the close-to-700 pages out of sheer bloody-minded determination, wanting to see just what happened at the end, only to learn that the story’s nowhere near finished. While I certainly have nothing against big epic books, it’s possible that this one might have benefited from some trimming or splitting up. While I liked The Last Stormlord, and it’s a perfectly good epic fantasy as these things go, it didn’t resonate with me as much as I’d hoped. Even though the various plot threads should be resolved in the sequel, I’m still up in the air about whether or not I’ll be along for the ride. Good stuff, but not entirely my cup of tea.
Ever since their exile from the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice a century ago, the Thirteen Orphans and their descendants have done their best to blend into the cultures of Earth, striving to maintain their bloodlines and protect their unique magical powers from discovery and exploitation. They’ve laid low for generations, some dreaming of a day when they might return home, others losing touch with their heritage and allies. Most never actually expected to hear from the Lands again. But all that has changed. Events in the Lands have led to a need for the Orphans’ powers, and a small delegation was dispatched to retrieve those powers at any cost. In the wake of that mission’s failure, that delegation has been trapped on Earth, forced into a wary truce with those they’d so recently attacked. Now the two factions – so very much alike, and yet so different – find themselves menaced yet again. On one front, more warriors from the Lands have come through, and they’re not about to play nice. On the other front, Earth’s native magical traditions have begun to take an active interest in the goings-on, and some of them are willing to go to extreme lengths to steal the Orphans’ powers.
The course of action is obvious: Lands-born and exiles alike must work together to forge a mystic bridge which will take them back to the Lands, where they can unite against those who would threaten them. But lurking in the space between the worlds is an even greater danger, one which could spell doom for all involved if left unchecked. Can the Orphans and their erstwhile allies recreate the Nine Gates, defeat a mysterious evil, and outwit those who would steal the secret of their magic?
Picking up where Thirteen Orphans left off, and indeed opening with an action-packed sequence, Nine Gates continues the saga of the Orphans and their world. This time around, we meet more of the Thirteen Orphans, and learn how and why some of the branches have fallen away from the tree. We’re introduced to tragic downfalls, forbidden romances, bitter rivalries and fatal flaws. Balancing it out, however, are chances at redemption, heroic sacrifices, noble efforts and transcended limits. Weaving throughout the narrative are magic-infused action scenes inspired by Hong Kong martial arts films, and intriguing character moments.
Nine Gates is a wonderfully-told story, using the mythic resonance of the Chinese Zodiac along with elements of history, gamescraft and magical theory to build a world almost entirely divorced from the European traditions that make up so much of urban fantasy. It’s new and different, but not enough to create culture shock. In fact, in this book, we get to see how the magic system of the Orphans relates to what they term the “indigenous” traditions of Earth, and it’s an interesting contrast.
Unfortunately, Nine Gates isn’t perfect. The cast has become rather bulky, with upwards of two dozen players to keep track of at any given time, between the various factions. This means that Lindskold has to constantly work to maintain the balance of point-of-view narrative and screen time, without letting anyone fade away long enough to be forgotten. On the bright side, she has a talent for making many of the characters engaging, and giving them each their moments in the sun. A worse problem is that this is the second in a series, and suffers a little from that middle child syndrome. Neither a beginning nor an ending, it lacks a certain sense of completion, and leaves both audience and protagonists hanging, waiting to resolve things in future installments. And yes, I very much want to see how things turn out, the sooner the better. Two books in, and we have yet to actually make it back to the Lands, which have been in peril and upheaval the whole time.
Still, this series is easily one of Lindskold’s best efforts to date, blending urban and mythic fantasies into one great big adventure, and it’ll be great to see how it all holds together as a complete story someday. Nine Gates gets a thumbs-up from me, despite my quibbles.
In Crosspointe, there’s no odder group of friends than the trio of Ryland, Shaye, and Fairlie. Ryland, son of Crosspointe’s king, has spent a lifetime trying to live up to his father’s expectations, and would do anything for king and country. Sheye, scion of the powerful Weverton family, is a majicar, capable of weaving magic to great effect. However, he’s no friend of the crown or what it represents. Fairlie has dedicated her life to shaping metal and creating works of art. And even as she achieves her life’s dream of becoming a master in the Metalsguild, she realizes her heart may have room for more than just metal, when Sheye finally admits his love for her.
And then they are betrayed, the trio’s friendship irrevocably destroyed. The king has ordered his son to commit an unthinkable, unforgivable crime in service to Crosspointe, and that one act sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will reshape Crosspointe forever. The crown needs a majicar capable of shaping the deadly sylveth into compasses, in order to let ships safely navigate the Inland Sea and maintain the web of trade and treaties. But to create such a majicar, someone must be transformed, torn apart and reshaped by sylveth itself. That someone would never be human again. And sources indicate that Fairlie might just be the perfect candidate. But Ryland could never have predicted the consequences that arise as a result of imprisoning Sheye and transforming Fairlie. Now all of Crosspointe will pay in blood and tears, and it’s anyone’s guess as to what’ll be left standing afterwards.
Wow. Diana Pharaoh Francis really kicks over the apple cart in this, the third book of the Crosspointe series. Here we see the desperate lengths to which some people will go in order to achieve their supposedly noble ends, and we see the true cost of politics in Crosspointe. We see how people act with what they consider to be the best of intentions, knowing full well what they’ll endure as a result, and it’s not pretty. We see what some will do for love, and others for revenge, and it’s some pretty powerful storytelling. I was already a fan of the Crosspointe setting; it’s memorable and unique, with its nautical bent, political entanglements and pseudo-Victorian trappings, and we get to see even more of its darker side here. Likewise, the insights we’re granted into the true nature of majicars, sylveth, and the local gods really help to flesh out aspects previously left vague.
Just like in previous books of the series, Francis isn’t afraid to put her characters through the wringer, subjecting them to some intense experiences and trials by fire. I really found myself rooting for Fairlie and Sheye as, together and separately, they dealt with the problems at hand. Of course, there are some pretty cool and strange supporting characters present, one of whom ties this book in to events from The Black Ship. The more we see, the more it’s evident that the world of Crosspointe isn’t quite as easy to explain or understand as originally assumed. No, we’ve seen a small portion of a larger and wilder world. After what happens here, it’s clear that Francis has some big plans for her world, and I can’t wait to see what sort of consequences ripple out in books to come. Kudos to the author for creating an original fantasy setting, and using it to tell a series of stand-alone books that nevertheless build upon one another. It’s neither episodic nor epic, if that makes sense, and it comes as a breath of fresh air. With The Turning Tide, as with the other Crosspointe books, you’re getting a deftly-woven mixture of adventure, intrigue, magic and romance, and it’s hard to ask for much more. Don’t let the tide go out on this one.
Once upon a time, there were three very special princesses. Each one inspired a fairy tale, and in each case, the facts were either exaggerated or outright fabricated. Even so, there remains an element of truth to Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella. There was a princess who slept for a hundred years, only to be awoken by a prince. There was a princess who fought for her life against a wicked stepmother driven mad with vanity. There was a commoner who fell in love at a ball, rescued from her dreary existence by a prince. But these are not your everyday average ordinary Disney Princesses. Sleeping Beauty is Talia, whose fairy gifts grant her great skills at combat. Snow White is a powerful sorceress, specializing in mirror magic. And Cinderella is Danielle, whose own skills with a magical sword are nothing to scoff at. And now the true story of another fairy tale heroine can be revealed, as they investigate the mystery of The Mermaid’s Madness.
It all starts during routine tribute and trade negotiations, when a band of merfolk unexpectedly attack Danielle’s mother-in-law, Queen Beatrice, grievously wounding her. With that act, the undersea peoples have declared war on the surface, and only Talia, Snow, and Danielle have what it takes to fight the murderous merfolk and save the queen’s life. But their journey will take them over the seas and into profound dangers of all sorts. Learn the fate of the mermaid and her prince, of the sea witch who played such an important part in the whole matter, and why there’s no happily ever after for this particular tale. It’s not what you think. Meanwhile, Snow is learning new ways to use her magical powers, but will she follow the same road as her evil stepmother did? And what’s bugging Talia? The answers all lie within….
In this sequel to The Stepsister Scheme, Hines once again brilliantly remixes fairy tale elements with a modern action/adventure sensibility, as if the Brothers Grimm had been allowed to watch a Charlie’s Angels marathon. The Mermaid’s Madness is fast-paced, energetic, exciting and amazingly fun. Magic, mayhem and adventure combine for a thoroughly satisfying tale. As before, Hines isn’t afraid to put his own personal spin on the characters and stories contained within, drawing inspiration both from the older, darker versions and the more popular, well-known variations. His merfolk are properly alien, given their status as creatures of two realms, both familiar and unsettlingly different.
Of course, the main characters are all sorts of fun, each in their own way, and they work well as a team. (Though that may change thanks to some uncomfortable revelations brought up along the way, here.) I can’t help but root for Talia, whose crush on Snow is obvious to everyone but Snow herself, and whose sexuality, understated as it is, still makes her something of a rarety in the genre. It doesn’t hurt that she kicks ass and takes names with no shortage of style. I look forward to the next in the series, Red Hood’s Revenge, which will apparently focus more on Talia and her homeland.
I have no complaints about The Mermaid’s Madness. This is a spectacular take on fairy tales that I wish I’d thought of first, the literary equivalent of Kingdom Hearts, a fusion of styles that comes off as refreshing, playful, and thoughtful. Hines has a winner. And once again, kudoes to Scott Fischer for his elegant, evocative cover design.
Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Cinderella. Some stuff happened involving an evil stepmother, some nasty stepsisters, a glass slipper, and a prince. Cinderella and her prince fell in love, were married, and lived happily ever af-. . . .
Not so fast.
The story’s not over. Not by a long shot.
Shortly after their marriage, Cinderella, better known as Princess Danielle Whiteshore, is unexpectedly visited by one of her stepsisters, who promptly tries to kill her. After being saved by one of the palace servants, Danielle learns that her beloved Prince Armand has been kidnapped by her stepsisters, Stacia and Charlotte, who’ve gone from bullying losers to magic-wielding menaces. And there’s more: Danielle’s pregnant. Oh, she’s not going to stand for this. Luckily, she has allies. It turns out that her mother-in-law, Queen Beatrice, has a few tricks up her royal sleeve.
Enter Princess Talia Malak-el-Dahshat, who was once upon a time known as Sleeping Beauty, and Princess Ermillina Curtana, better known as Snow White. Talia’s a warrior like no other, courtesy of those fairy blessings she received as a baby, and Snow’s a master of mirror magic, thanks to her own now-deceased mother’s teachings. They serve Queen Beatrice as her agents, handling all sorts of exotic problems. Now Danielle, who has an affinity for animals, must join with Talia and Snow to track down the evil stepsisters and the missing Prince. But when their search takes them into the treacherous, magical depths of Fairytown, they discover who’s really behind their problems of late, and it may be more than even these three talented young women can handle. In this fairy tale, all bets are off.
In The Stepsister Scheme, Jim Hines brilliantly remixes and reimagines three of the most popular fairy tale heroines of all time, recasting them as action heroines and secret agents in a world of magic, treachery, intrigue and adventure. These aren’t damsels in distress by any means, but strong-willed, competent, self-sufficient women capable of overcoming all sorts of problems. Hines doesn’t shy away from the earlier, darker, bloodier versions of the tales, either. These stepsisters suffered mutilation for the opportunity to wear a glass slipper, the seven dwarves aren’t what you’d expect, and Talia has had enough sleep to last a dozen lifetimes.
The plot is fast-paced and exciting, as Hines takes our heroines from the palace to the wilderness, from the capricious Fairy courts to the sunless depths of a magical realm, with ogres, trolls, goblins and much more to act as deterrents. There’s strange magics and sharply-executed combat, and some genuine bonding between the three princesses along the way, and hopeless odds to be overcome. In short, this is one hell of a book. I’m a sucker for retold fairy tales, and Hines has found a new and interesting interpretation that lends itself to some grand stories. (Knowing that a future installment is called Red Hood’s Revenge becomes a whole lot cooler once you know that “the Lady of the Red Hood is one of the most feared assassins this side of Adenkar.” Frankly, this book manages to push a lot of my “Wow, what a great idea” buttons, and it does it with style and enthusiasm. It’s been rightly compared to a fairy tale equivalent of Charlie’s Angels, and I’d have to agree with that wholeheartedly. (Queen Beatrice even mentions taking in “three extraordinary girls” at one point.)
Once again, Jim C. Hines proves that he’s not just another fantasy author, and hopefully The Stepsister Scheme is the first of many stories exploring this new setting. I can’t wait for the next installment. As a final note, this book has an excellent cover by noted artist Scott Fischer, who does a superb job of portraying the three princesses as comic book/action heroines. I don’t gush over covers often, but this one gets high marks from me. Mark my words, this is a fantasy adventure worth checking out.
It all begins with a dream, a long-awaited summoning that calls the tree-wizard Tarn into action after ages of quiet waiting. Compelled by the god known as Hafarl the Summerlord to seek out those with the Summerlord’s blood in their veins, Tarn begins an epic journey. Joined by the untrained Summerborn Carrie and a number of other allies as their paths cross, Tarn struggles to fulfill his mission. Unfortunately, magic is dying in the Green Isles as the Icelord’s power spreads and his servants, the monstrous stormborn, sweep across the land. As they battle all manner of foul creatures, Carrie and Tarn also learn more about their own powers and heritage, and how they’re connected to a war between the gods themselves. And what role does the mysterious Puretongue, Tarn’s mentor and one of the greatest tree-wizards ever to live, have to play in this story? The balance of nature and the very future of the Green Isles hangs in the balance. What sacrifices will be made to save the day?
Eyes Like Leaves is very much a historical artifact, a “lost novel” from the earliest days of de Lint’s career. Written in 1980, his fourth novel, it was slated to come out at a time when de lint stood at a crossroads: publish this book and forever be marked as a “secondary world” fantasy author, or go with Yarrow and solidify his role as a “contemporary” fantasy author (what we tend to call urban fantasy today). As the bookshelves will show, Charles de Lint decided that his heart and talents lay in the modern world, and he’s pretty much been known as an urban fantasy author (one of the first and best of the genre as we know it). We’ve been richer for it ever since. With the recent interest in his older works, as collected in previous Subterranean volumes, he decided that now was as good a time as any to unearth this long-lost work and let it see the light of day. But have the better part of thirty years been kind to this particular book? I’m not so sure.
Let me say right out that as a fantasy novel goes, Eyes Like Leaves is pretty good. As a de Lint novel, however, it’s … not his best. It’s very pretty, well-written with gorgeous imagery and an eye for detail that has always been one of his hallmarks. You can practically hear the music running through the storyline, and very few people do Celtic-inspired, Tolkienesque high fantasy quite as well as Charles de Lint. It’s very much a product of its time, as the author himself admits in the preface, hewing to the standards and attitudes of the time where fantasy was concerned. But what was typical back then comes off as dated and quaint when compared to the progress, changes, and evolution in the field in the thirty years since. This is definitely old-school quest fantasy, with characters who go from Point A to Point B in order to facilitate an climatic battle between Good and Evil.
Unfortunately, not only does it suffer for being a time-lost representative of a previous generation of fantasy, it suffers from being one of de Lint’s earliest books. It lacks the complex interpersonal relations and complex emotional depths of his Newford novels, and the characters don’t have that certain spark that brings Jilly Coppercorn or Christy Riddell (to name two) to life. The resonance just isn’t there, for all that they move through beautiful scenery and fight deadly monsters in harrowing combat.
I’ve long been a fan of Charles de Lint; his Newford stories rank among my favorites, and I’ve always held him up as one of the great urban fantasy writers, for all that the field has been overrun by badass women in leather pants and wisecracking private detectives. His ability to infuse the modern world with quiet magic, artistic sensibilities and genuine emotion has always made his works a joy to read. However, Eyes Like Leaves hails from a time when he was still honing his craft, like a journeyman on the road to becoming a master (or grand master). While it’s bound to appeal to completionists and diehard fans, it’s hard to get excited about this book otherwise. Take it for what it is: a long-lost curiosity standing out as an example of what fantasy was like once upon a time. There’s plenty to love here, but I’m thankful de Lint choose the path he did nonetheless.