List: Fantasy

I loved The Door Into Fire by Diane Duane a whole lot. It's incredibly character-focused fantasy, to the point of reminding me strongly of Lois McMaster Bujold for its strong characters and Ursula Le Guin for its sensitive, almost lyrical descriptions of magic and nature and the relationship between everything. It's set in a fascinating world that clearly follows a set of rules of magic and mythology (gods! Excellent gods, and all kinds of other beings), but the rules are sufficiently mysterious to feel consistent, yet not clinical. I'm writing this review more than a month after reading the book, and the characters are still very vivid in my mind, which is probably the highest praise I can pay the book.

High Wizardry

by Diane Duane · published 1990 · read 2016-05-08

Wow. Easily my favourite book of the series so far.

A Game of Thrones

by George R.R. Martin · published 1996 · read 2012-10-01

Nothing left to say, is there? I liked the change in perspective, and the world, and the writing, and that nobody was safe.

The March North

by Graydon Saunders · published 2014 · last read 2021-05-16

Sometimes I read books that make me very happy, so that I have to focus a lot to find reasons why other people would not be into them. Not so for The March North.

A Succession of Bad Days

by Graydon Saunders · published 2015 · read 2021-05-17

Following The March North is not easy in any way, and yet, Saunders manages. Same world, directly after the events of the first book – but in a completely different role, keeping only side characters around. I'm very into this sort of continuity. Especially when it gives me civil engineering Hogwarts for severely overpowered magic users. Hell yes. The book sums it up best: "like a fairy-tale lost in a civil engineering manual."

The Eyre Affair

by Jasper Fforde · published 2001 · read 2007-08-01

Embarassing, or at least a sign of aging: This book did not stand up to a re-read for me.

The Neverending Story

by Michael Ende · published 1979 · read 2002-03-01

Neverending – oh, if only! I loved this book as a kid, and there are infinite possibilities for tie-ins (though arguably the book is better off without them).

The Fifth Season

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2015 · read 2018-09-10

There was nothing about The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin that I didn't like. It's a bit short, but we have two more volumes to balance that.

The Obelisk Gate

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2016 · read 2018-10-28

The Obelisk Gate is the second part of N. K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy, and it's brilliant. It continues the heavy character building we got in the first volume. Some characters grow, some change a lot, some change just in our eyes by virtue of being seen through different eyes, for example, our protagonist, Essun, is very different when seen by her daughter. Seeing the kid grow into her own character arc was beautifully done.

Coraline

by Neil Gaiman · published 2002 · read 2003-02-01

Coraline is a wonderful book. Terrifying, too. Coraline and her parents move to a new place, where there's nothing apart from the other (strange!) people living in the house. Her parents are busy all day, and she's just left to her own devices. So she wanders around and eventually finds a mirror world, where everything is duplicated, only uncanny and weird – and where she finds parents who love her and have time for her. Now if only they were human.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

by Neil Gaiman · published 2013 · read 2015-05-01

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is most definitely a Neil Gaiman book. It's also like a Pratchett book - a bit less humor and a bit more beauty in its sentences.

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman · published 2001 · read 2012-02-01

American Gods is a polarising book, and I belong to the people enchanted by it. Gaiman does wonderfully dirty, touching things with language, and mythology, and just drew me in.

Das Jahrhundertkind

by Ralf Isau · published 1999 · read 2005-06-01

Generally, I dislike the way Isau does magic, the way he does characters, the arcs of his stories. They feel … sticky, for lack of a better world, as if he's always trying to do something to the reader, convert us? This is still true for this series, but its scale and awesomeness outweigh the drawbacks. The protagonist lives for exactly 100 years and has to fight forces of darkness, mysterious ones. His life takes him all over the planet, and he gets to see many historic people and situations first-hand while figuring out his life. It's amazing.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

by Seanan McGuire · published 2017 · read 2019-01-03

I loved everything about Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. I think I might like it even better than the first volume, and knowing about the future makes the book even better – I bet it works without the added layer, too, though. Seanan shows a lot of empathy for the two very different protagonists, and the language is both relateable and lyrical. The cruel, cruel fairytale world, that still fits the children better than the cruelly boring and narrow-minded reality we live in, hits very close to home.

The Gunslinger

by Stephen King · published 1982 · read 2017-05-30

Wow. I read King's revised version from when he had finished the series, and it's stunning. I need to read the rest. It's what Firefly is to sci-fi: the fantasy edition, and so much fun, and with wonderful characters, and … wow.

Wolves of the Calla

by Stephen King · published 2003 · read 2017-06-20

I can't describe what King's books do to me.

Song of Susannah

by Stephen King · published 2004 · read 2017-06-22

Dark Tower just doesn't stop wowing me.

The Cry of the Icemark

by Stuart Hill · published 2005 · read 2009-01-01

One of my favourite fantasy books back in the day. Thirrin, at age 14(?) becomes the warrior queen of the Icemark, and has to find allies and prepare for war and invasion. Thirrin is far from perfect, but ferocious and amazing. Her friends and allies are amazing, both the magical ones (wizards, giant talking snow leopards) and the natural ones. It takes all of her skill to organise a big retreat and then an assault as the ice thaws.

The City of Dreaming Books

by Walter Moers · published 2004 · read 2007-11-01

The year I got this book, I must have read it five times in a row. It's one of those books that appeal deliberately to any reader's affinity to books – but where stories about magical librarians or book-hopping narrators are cautious about it, Moers goes all in. This is not an appeal, it's unrepentant, happy, blatant pandering. God, I loved reading this book.

The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear

by Walter Moers · published 1999 · read 2006-05-01

This is where Moers proved he was a wizard. It's not his best book, but it's absolutely outstanding nevertheless. The tour through the 13½ lives of Cpt Bluebear is amazing, astounding, sparkling with fantastic ideas as if it had been written by 13 creative geniuses instead of just one.

Tower Lord

by Anthony Ryan · published 2014 · read 2019-01-21

I thoroughly enjoyed Tower Lord (second volume of Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow series). It's good fantasy, with a careful mix of known elements (the weary hero who is always right, the young fighting gutter princess, the clever queen, superstitions everywhere, evil religion, good agnostics, magic coming true, prophecies, etc), but mixes it up sufficiently that the story arc is never completely clear. We get good character development on two major and a couple of minor fronts, and I enjoyed how the pieces came together in the end. Even though it's no high literature, I'm looking forward to the conclusion.

The Emperor’s Soul

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2012 · read 2017-11-29

Wow. It's not only the soulstamp concept that drew me in, it's the mechanics of plausibly altering the past, and the basic assumption that everything has a soul, an understanding of self, and a dream. Love it. At the same time, it's very much a one-gimmick story, so if you can't get into the gimmick, you won't like it – but at under 200 pages, you also won't have lost much time. I'd recommend giving it a shot.

Legion

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2012 · read 2017-11-28

Woop, amazing stuff! Haven't really read Sanderson apart from Alcatraz (which was annoying af), and this short story was so good!

Skin Deep

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2014 · read 2018-01-29

Not as great as the first one, but longer, and fleshes out the concept nicely.

The Final Empire

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2006 · read 2019-02-22

The Final Empire is good Fantasy, no more, no less. In comparison with Sanderson's Stormlight Archives it's much more YA-y (not in a bad way, though). I enjoyed that I wasn't able to predict the plot too far ahead, aside of generalities. This book didn't shake my perception of the world – it's too generic for that, but it's genuinely touching in enough places to keep it from feeling boring/overly generic/as if I had read it already.

The Way of Kings

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2010 · read 2018-08-05

The Stormlight Archive looks like it's going to be outstanding Fantasy – Brandon Sanderson starts out with a nearly flawless first volume with The Way of Kings. We get a fascinating, complex world, with slow, steady, and subtle worldbuilding (except for some on-the-nose "I'm explaining the rules here" in the first five pages). This world has a lot of distinct cultures, with histories, and mythologies (partly connected, partly separate), and we get to figure it out mostly for ourselves! The story is unpredictable (at least for more than a hundred pages at a time or so), the characters are distinct, mostly lovable or at least understandable, and not Mary Sue-ish at all. One of the protagonists has to deal with explicit depressive episodes, for example. It's a long book, but it's very much worth it, and while at times characters seem like Fantasy archetypes (is that Ned Stark? Is that Hermione?) – that never lasts long, and instead they evolve to be distinct characters that I can't wait to read more about.

Oathbringer

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2017 · read 2018-11-10

Oathbringer shows how intensely Brandon Sanderson can deliver payoff to >1k pages long story archs. There are several moments where I was so invested in both the characters an the story, that the ongoing action made me emotional – we get to see our share of drug problems, depression, psychic breakdowns, all from characters that have a lot of history and have come a far way. Finally getting all the backstory on Dalinar, and seeing his development, were definitely worth the read – but I really wish that this Brandon could make this payoff possible in thinner books. The Stormlight Archives do tend to be … lengthy. And despite the length, somehow we never get to see how the main cast react to drastic events and revelations. It's weird – but it's still good (sometimes: great) fantasy.

The Way of Shadows

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

I just really enjoyed this book. It is pure and classic fantasy. Not very sophisticated, but very very enjoyable, especially since I have a thing for training stories and an out-of-the-ashes arc.

Gate of Ivrel

by C.J. Cherryh · published 1976 · read 2020-06-29

Gate of Ivrel hit a lot of sweet spots for me. I mean, Fantasy in a scifi/Stargate universe? Hell yeah. It relies on the reader to think along, and the characters are certainly far from perfect, while also being relatable. I went through it in a day or so, because wow.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

by Catherynne M. Valente · published 2011 · read 2016-10-20

This is a very nice little book, filled with Faerie and language that is exceedingly ornate but never quite pretentious. And it's a modern fairy tale at that - September, the protagonist, didn't grow too close to my heart, but the narrator did, and that is good enough.

Un Lun Dun

by China Miéville · published 2007 · read 2020-05-02

Exactly how you'd imagine a magical London YA novel by China Mieville to turn out: appropriately wonderful weird worldbuilding, good enough story arc. Above average amount of painful puns. Plus, and this is something you might not think, actually suited for kids. I wasn't sure Mieville would reign in his weirder tendencies.

Perdido Street Station

by China Miéville · published 2000 · read 2018-06-19

Wow, this book was … a lot to take in. I liked it very much. Getting thrown into an Ankh-Morporkesque city, discovering alien races, and characters, and social structures was awesome. I noted with thanks that there was very little of a conventional story arch, so that the overall direction of the story only grew really clear when reaching 50-65% of the story. The very clear-cut and very different characters were relatable and realistic, and the final twists were all the better for the fact that they were not positive.

The Scar

by China Miéville · published 2002 · read 2018-07-24

The Scar is the second volume of Chine Miéville's Bas-Lag series, and it's as impressive as the first one. Only very loosely connected, we now explore the wider Bas-Lag world instead of New Crobuzon. Again, China Miéville excells with implicit worldbuilding, forcing the reader to think along and ahead (though there's less culture shock included than in Perdido Street Station).

Iron Council

by China Miéville · published 2004 · read 2018-09-02

I think The Iron Council was weaker than The Scar (which is the previous volume in the Bas-Lag/New Crobuzon trilogy), but I enjoyed it nearly as much, because I'm a sucker for revolutions. Also, it's noticeable just how skilled China Miéville is at talking about cities – each of the stories in the series describes at least one fundamentally foreign, weird city with a mix of cultures and races among the inhabitants, and thanks to the sublte worldbuilding and depth, I feel invested and interested in every one of them.

Imajica

by Clive Barker · published 1991 · read 2021-10-28

Clive Barker is, without doubt, the coolest character at Midnight Pals, and I wanted to find out why. Yes, this is a weird motivation for reading an author, but I've read worse with less reason. Much worse, as it turns out – Imajica was a good read.

Epic

by Conor Kostick · published 2004 · read 2007-03-01

The world's a game, and we're all players – that's how things work in Epic. Digital currency can be spent and gained in the global VR video game. Our protagonist is rather poor, and has to play the odds – then he makes the stupid and desperate move to go all in on CHA. I liked the book a lot, and especially considering it's from 2004, it's held up incredibly well. Nice storytelling, too!

Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke · published 2003 · read 2006-08-01

Inkheart understood me. It understood my dorky love for books, and how I wanted to jump into a story. It got feeling alone, and it got nerding out with others. And it made other books come to life – and I loved it for it. Some of it follows YA rules and annoyances: it's slow to develop and the protagonist is sometimes grating. But that's perfectly fine when balancing it against the imaginative story.

Inkdeath

by Cornelia Funke · published 2007 · read 2007-03-01

Concluding the Inkworld series, and concluding it well. Like all the books, it's a bit too long with characters who are just a bit too bland. But this book at least has a good share of action and plotting (possibly too much, looking at its length), and a satisfying ending, and that's more than many authors can manage.

The Legions of Fire

by David Drake · published 2010 · read 2020-07-20

The Legions of Fire is Historical Fantasy: It takes place in Ancient Rome while Tiberius is emperor, only that Rome is called Carce, so that Drake doesn't get punched by history nerds. Though the history nerds would have just about zero reason for punching him – Drake majored in history (with honours) and Latin, and it shows in loving background details. All other names stayed the same as in our history – Gaul, Carthage, Germany etc, even Octavianus Augustus, so I didn't quite see the point of calling it Carce. Either do Rome, or go the Codex Alera route.

The Lives of Christopher Chant

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1988 · read 2006-05-01

Chrestomanci was my first encounter with the phenomenon that is Diana Wynne Jones. I liked the books – they seemed to strike the tricky balance between whimsy, absurdity, and having an actual plot. I can still remember how Christopher starts going into other worlds, touching things to make them solid. It's a great image.

Howl’s Moving Castle

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1986 · read 2009-10-01

This book confused me a lot when I first read it (to be fair: it is a confusing book). Then I watched the movie a year or two later, and I didn't connect it with the book at all. It only came to me slowly over the course of months that the two might be connected. It's so weird!

The Door Into Shadow

by Diane Duane · published 1984 · read 2020-04-30

Brutal, in a good way. Incredible character-building. Story arc is so Duane that you'd recognise it anywhere, but let's not pretend that this is a bad thing.

So You Want to Be a Wizard

by Diane Duane · published 1983 · read 2016-05-05

I really loved this book - it reminded me of Harry Potter, naturally, but better written and better thought-out. Magic actually has a system, people have motivations and actions have actual consequences.

A Wizard Alone

by Diane Duane · published 2002 · read 2016-05-12

This one was again much better, and illustrates a lot of the reasons I enjoy this series. I love how Duane deals with autism here, in many ways. I love how she takes care to take it seriously, and doesn't paint it as a defect. Kit has difficulty connecting with it because of his preconceived ideas about how autism works. I also like that we see how we see Nita's grieving in a really realistic way, without pity or anything.

A Wizard of Mars

by Diane Duane · published 2010 · read 2016-05-17

I loved this one. Even if you're not a space nut, or not a real sci-fi fan, I suspect this book will really work for you. The combination of space, and magic, and physics, and human and alien conflict, sprinkled with a bit of time line technicalities? Yeah, more, please.

Blackwing

by Ed McDonald · published 2017 · read 2019-05-05

Blackwing by Ed McDonald is classed as grimdark fantasy. I'm usually careful about those – much of the genre strikes me as ~edgy~ woe-is-me drivel that just delights in being as cynical as possible. Looking at the facts, Blackwing seems similar: middle-aged first-person character with a hard, depressing life, competent but always in difficulties, drinks too much, brutality all around, now the world (which is already gruesome) seems to be ending. Add in higher beings using humans as playthings in their ineffable games, and … yeah.

The Sword of Good

by Eliezer Yudkowsky · published 2009 · read 2018-02-19

Oh boy, Yudkowsky writes high fantasy, and it's exactly what I expected.

Silver in the Wood

by Emily Tesh · published 2019 · read 2020-02-20

Good forest fairytale. Heavier on the "hurt" side of hurt/comfort that I initially thought. Good characters, good writing, and only a bit low on substance.

Sabriel

by Garth Nix · published 1995 · read 2017-01-01

I really really liked this book. It's very solid fantasy, it has its own plot, its characters are wonderful and not cliche and I very much want to read more of this. Sabriel as the new Abhorsen was a joy. One point less than perfect because … well, it does not feel quite perfect. Minor inconsistencies in language, some lazy plot points … but still. It's a really, really good fantasy book.

Lirael

by Garth Nix · published 2001 · read 2017-12-25

After the first book was so self-contained and the second is so very separate, I did not expect the cliffhanger in the end. I, again, love the female protagnoist a lot, although her companion is overpowered. Looking forward to the next part.

Sailing to Sarantium

by Guy Gavriel Kay · published 1998 · read 2021-02-10

Sailing to Sarantium was my first Guy Gavriel Kay book, and it won't be my last. Not just that it didn't wrap up in one book (boo! … kidding), I also enjoyed the style a lot. Kay lets his story take place in Byzantium during Constantine's reign. It's not called Byzantium to allow for some creative freedoms and minor magic, but everything very clearly maps 1:1 to historic characters.

Magic Bites

by Ilona Andrews · published 2007 · read 2020-06-21

Magic Bites was honestly decent Urban Fantasy. Strong characters with more than one dimension (admittedly sometimes only barely), a mythology that doesn't suck, real life that's not just "grizzled detective showing off his depression" – yeah, I can get behind this.

Orconomics

by J. Zachary Pike · published 2014 · read 2021-05-15

Orconomics was hilarious and heartbreaking, and that's coming from somebody who usually doesn't like "humerous" fantasy. Its mix of serious and funny reminds of Discworld – which, of course, can't be a favourable comparison, but it comes surprisingly close. Taking place in a clearly D&D inspired world, with the economic aspect of adventuring hero troops taken seriously. Also, Pike has absolutely had it with Fantasy racism and will punch you in the feelings over it.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

by J.K. Rowling · published 1997 · read 2001-09-01

Harry Potter – look, I can't be objective. I grew up on these books. My friends and I could act out entire scenes by heart. I went through the cycle a generation experienced: Love, obsession, disappointment, detachment (in many cases by growing up, in my case by discovering fanfics).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

by J.K. Rowling · published 1999 · read 2001-09-01

There's nothing left to be said about Harry Potter books. This was the first one that felt like Harry was changing, growing up, getting some agency. The whole book felt like autumn, with the smell of wet leaves clinging to everything. Naturally I liked the whole "finding a new home" arc. And, equally naturally, I felt very seen in the plot arc that introduces time travel for the primary purpose of reading more books and learning more things. This might be my favourite part of the series (either this one or the first).

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again

by J.R.R. Tolkien · published 1937 · read 2000-07-01

The Hobbit was my first Tolkien. I read it first when I was eight, but I had already listened to the excellent audio book about a million times – I got that for my fifth or sixth birthday. It introduced me to so many concepts.

The Lord of the Rings

by J.R.R. Tolkien · published 1955 · read 2001-05-01

What can I say about this book that hasn't been said yet? Maybe this: I read it when I was nine, all in one go. I was visiting my grandparents and my uncle had lent me his books. I fell. I fell for them, I fell into them. They were exactly what I needed. I saw Middle Earth, I travelled with the companions, I pictured them vividly. I imagined myself with them, dreamt up original characters (that was years before I ever heard of fanfics). I rode with the Rohirrim and saw the mighty Minas Tirith.

Shades of Grey

by Jasper Fforde · published 2009 · read 2012-04-01

Chromatacia is Brave New World, but on drugs. Everybody can see only one colour, and your colour determines your social class, while your strength of perception determines your position. Half of the book's strength is in its puns: the Colortocracy, the Swatchman (doctor) … It's a classic dystopy with a punny twist.

Lost in a Good Book

by Jasper Fforde · published 2002 · read 2008-10-01

Fast moving sequel – more book travels! I liked the book travels, and I liked it enough to be a bit indifferent towards the plot.

The Well of Lost Plots

by Jasper Fforde · published 2004 · read 2008-03-01

More literary gags (jurisfiction meetings waiting for Godot before getting started, you get the drift). There's always more witty worldbuilding, and since that's what I continue to read the series for, I still don't recall much of the plot. Great fun though.

First Among Sequels

by Jasper Fforde · published 2007 · read 2008-06-01

Book Five: Clones! Undercover operations! Tired plots, but good family drama. I'm not sure what happened, but in this book I prefer the plot and even the characters to the worldbuilding, such as it is.

Furies of Calderon

by Jim Butcher · published 2004 · read 2018-01-01

Butcher has written a mashup of the Roman Empire and Pokémon, and it works. Hell yeah it works. Much better than his Urban Fantasy, too.

Academ’s Fury

by Jim Butcher · published 2005 · read 2018-01-03

Still loving Tavis way in the world – learning, finding friends in the city, loads of character development, and of course he saves the world again.

Cursor’s Fury

by Jim Butcher · published 2006 · read 2018-01-05

Tavi's now a real Cursor and finds himself sent to the military, where he continues to save the world.

Captain’s Fury

by Jim Butcher · published 2007 · read 2018-01-08

Tavi finally finds out who he is (c'mon, we knew all along) and develops his furycrafting. He also saves the realm using his new-won influence, resolving a terrible war peacefully.

Princeps’ Fury

by Jim Butcher · published 2008 · read 2018-08-06

Codex Alera continues to be stunning Fantasy – I'm honestly not sure how this Jim Butcher is the same who wrote the Dresden Files. Those are good, but nowhere near Codex Alera. In the second to last volume, we see a great mix of character development, new characters, characters with legitimate but opposing views, and of course brilliant last minute tactics. All characters we care about get a fair bit of development, and since nearly all characters are very very nuanced, including the deeper introduction of non-human cultures, I'm more than willing to accept the one or two plain villains. Seeing an end-of-the-world level struggle on all sides of the three plots (Amara and Bernard, Isana with the frost people, Tavi on an entirely different continent) was a good mix, even though I felt the chapter endings/POV switches were not always executed at good points.

First Lord’s Fury

by Jim Butcher · published 2009 · read 2018-09-19

First Lord's Fury is the last volume in the very very excellent Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher, and it leads the six-book story to a terrifying finale. I enjoyed it a lot - we get a lot of well-thought action, and character development that builds on the established development of the previous books and avoids common tropes. The plot and the ending were both very satisfying to me. I'd have enjoyed having somebody new, like Kitai, as a POV character, for example. I think this is the first time among the six books that I thought the book was weaker than its predecessor, which is a big compliment for the series. After finishing First Lord's Fury I immediately felt the need to re-read the entire series – it's just that good.

Among Others

by Jo Walton · published 2011 · read 2020-05-10

Among Others worked super well for me, especially considering that there is little-to-no plot and the whole book is a well-dressed bibliography. But the protagonist's (diary author) voice is super strong and realistic, and … okay, let's be honest here: I felt very pandered to in the best way. This book is in some way a modern equivalent to Gaudy Night, intellectual+atmospheric pandering to an in-group, and I'm in the in-group, and that's all there is to it.

D’Shai

by Joel Rosenberg · published 1991 · read 2021-10-04

Hidden gem among early 90s Fantasy: In an Asian-inspired world, everybody has a kazuh: a talent, one of 52, that they discover and then hone to the point of genius, by entering a deep flow state. The protagonist, Kami, belongs to a family of acrobats, but clearly acrobatics are not his kazuh. This doesn't make him crippled or outcast or anything, he's just less good at some things than his father and his siblings.

The Ruins of Gorlan

by John Flanagan · published 2004 · last read 2020-08-08

This book goes beyond just comfort food and makes straight for "guilty pleasure": While it's simple, formulaic (if well-executed!) Fantasy, I can't help but feel good when I read it. Its plot and characters trigger all the right pleasure centres: Sympathetic but imperfect orphan boy becomes the mysterious ranger's apprentice, learns the nearly supernatural arts of tracking, hunting, espionage, and hiding in plain sight. Saves the day, keeps his friends, and one former enemy also turns into a friend. The series goes on (forever, it seems), but the book stands on its own and has a satisfying ending. It's very easy to make me happy, really.

The Burning Bridge

by John Flanagan · published 2005 · read 2009-07-01

Only the second part of a long series, and when I realised how long the series was, I stopped reading immediately. I don't want to know more – the first book is my perfect book, and I'll gladly leave it at that.

The God Engines

by John Scalzi · published 2009 · read 2020-06-22

The God Engines is a fantasy-in-space novella that involves space ships powered by imprisoned gods.

Open House on Haunted Hill

by John Wiswell · published 2020 · read 2022-03-17

Absolutely adorable. I read this when I was in the mood for wholesome short fic, and this take on a haunted house delivered 100%. It's plain fluff with some attempt at heartstring-tugs. Nothing more – but great at what it does.

The Amulet of Samarkand

by Jonathan Stroud · published 2003 · read 2007-01-01

Even though I was aware that Stroud was using repetetive cheap tricks to get me to enjoy the story, I still enjoyed the story, and that's that.

The Wolf in the Whale

by Jordanna Max Brodsky · published 2019 · read 2019-05-05

The Wolf in the Whale is delightful fantasy, centered around a small group of Inuit during the phase of christianisation of the vikings. Jordanna Max Brodsky, the author, is a dedicated historian, and it shows – the book is never dry or boring, but the amount of research makes for a very solid base on which the book builds wonderfully (for the nerds, there are appendices that are highly interesting, too!)

Senlin Ascends

by Josiah Bancroft · published 2013 · read 2019-07-07

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft is unexpected in many ways, and at least some of them are charming. It takes place in the Tower of Babel, so that's one. We are definitely in a fantastic world, because we have trains, and airships, and guns, so that's another. The book never really discusses the world outside the tower too much, except as a character backdrop, which worked extremely well.

Arm of the Sphinx

by Josiah Bancroft · published 2014 · read 2020-11-27

In the previous book, Senlin was swallowed up by the Tower of Babel, lost his wife, and underwent all sorts of terrors and indignities and character growth, until finally breaking free with a truly motley group of friends. Now he's become a dread pirate (though still recognisably the old school teacher, if you know how to look).

The Magpie Lord

by K.J. Charles · published 2013 · read 2020-06-30

Romance, mysterious curse, estate management: A queer/gay romance in a fantasy version of Victorian England. The youngest exiled son of a lord returns to England after his father and brother die, and has to contest with the curse that led to their deaths. Luckily, he finds a strange but attractive young wizard blah blah blah, you see where this ends. Very atmospheric, and too well-written to deserve to be labeled as "enjoyable trash".

Frostfeuer

by Kai Meyer · published 2005 · read 2009-09-01

Snow Queen is a terrifying fairy tale. This adaptation is similarly dark and way more Russian. Our protagonist is a poor orphan who has never left the hotel she was born in. And now she has to help a mysterious guest against a mighty sorceress? All the while discovering a plot on Tsar Alexander's life? Worth a read.

The Water Mirror

by Kai Meyer · published 2001 · last read 2009-07-01

Magical Venice with mermaids (talking, dangerous, rarely helpful, but the exceptions are amazing)! Magical egypt with sphinxes (talking, dangerous, rarely helpful, but the exceptions are amazing)! Magical hell world with demons (dangerous, no exceptions)! Mirror makers, mirror worlds, young orphans, dangerous travels. Betrayal, loyalty. You know the drill. It's not the best and not the most creative YA, and the worldbuilding is a bit iffy in places, but it's creative enough to make it up to me.

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison · published 2014 · read 2020-02-22

Fun, well-written Fantasy with very strong characters and great character development. Bit predictable, and a large cast, but still a good read – and that's saying something for a novel that may be Fantasy, but has not the least bit adventure in it, instead going for ALL the politics.

Across the Nightingale Floor

by Lian Hearn · published 2002 · last read 2021-01-16

Everybody is extremely dramatic in this book. Very YA. But it stood up to a re-read surprisingly well: Young boy in faux-Japan gets his family murdered, is adopted into a clan and things escalate from there. Oh, and it turns out he's not only adopted by the rightful leader of the clan, he's also born to a long line of secret assassins and has lots of magical gifts. And everybody wants a piece of them.

Grass for his Pillow

by Lian Hearn · published 2003 · last read 2021-01-17

Enjoyable second part of the series: Our heroes encounter adversity and have to make bad choices and live with their decisions. Less comfort read than the first part, different and good. The ending is extremely stupid and sets up the exceedingly stupid cause for the drama causing part three and four.

Im Land des Windes

by Licia Troisi · published 2004 · last read 2021-01-18

Worldbuilding! I forgot about the worldbuilding of this book. For example, there are tower cities where everything is organised by the tower layers.

Der Talisman der Macht

by Licia Troisi · published 2005 · read 2007-10-01

Decent conclusion to a decent series.

Luck in the Shadows

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1996 · read 2021-07-02

Excellent fantasy – very 90s, and I devoured it in a single Saturday. Teenage boy with no family gets helped out of prison by a mysterious stranger who accepts him as apprentice. Said stranger turns out to be a jack-of-all trades spy, a charming and capable rogue. They encounter harship and intrigue and find friends and blah blah, classic fantasy story arc in the end.

Vita Nostra

by Marina Dyachenko · published 2007 · read 2021-08-15

by Mark Lawrence · published 2017 · read 2018-12-04

Vita Nostra is often described as "If Kafka had written Harry Potter", and neither part is a good fit. Closer to the truth would be to call it a Russian version of The Magicians, where everybody is depressed for good reasons instead of just being whiny idiots, and also the meta part is actually meta instead of being just Narnia.

Red Sister

Red Sister is a beautifully written fantasy novel that switches flawlessly between intimate characterisation, lyrical prose, and gripping action, all set in a deeply fascinating world. And by fascinating I mean: the moon is a parabolic mirror that heats a liveable strip of land at night, keeping the encroaching masses of ice at bay. Yess. And no, it's not scifi, it's deeply fantasy. I loved everything about this book, including the main cast, the supporting characters, the plot, the unpredictable turns, … wow!

Three Parts Dead

by Max Gladstone · published 2012 · last read 2022-01-09

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone was just straight up enjoyable Fantasy. We get magic, and gods, and … magic lawyers? Dabbling in magic means dabbling in contracts, so our protagonist has clients (or, well, her employer does), and there is a lot of quibbling going on – of the kind that can cost you your mind, or your life. And the God of Fire (and therefore steam) has an engine room and priests that are more techies than anything else – except that their maintenance and debugging cycles include prayers and worship as well as fixing pipes and monitoring heat output. Yessss. Take the phrase "theological engineering" and go read.

Two Serpents Rise

by Max Gladstone · published 2013 · read 2020-09-30

Three Parts Dead was lots of fun, and I had high expectations of this book. I was not disappointed. Max Gladstone has now a firm place among my favourite authors!

Full Fathom Five

by Max Gladstone · published 2014 · read 2021-10-17

Redeeming Max Gladstone after whatever Empress of Forever was: yess, this is the stuff. The Craft Sequence formula is a very readable mix of great, emergent worldbuilding, with some harsh economic truths, a sense of wonder, and some extremely forgettable characters. This time we don't only get the usual corporate lawyers, we also get an angry girl living in the streets and a spy (plus the usual forgotten gods).

Momo

by Michael Ende · published 1973 · read 2002-07-01

Momo is a weird book: It clearly has the potential to be and to feel very profound. But it was never quite that for me. Maybe it's that the capitalism criticism is just too open and too jarring when mixed with the magical elements? Maybe it's that Momo herself, as a character, always kept her distance to me. I don't know. It's a good book, but it never quite reached "great" for me.

The Stone Sky

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2017 · read 2019-02-13

The Stone Sky is a great ending to a great trilogy. I dislike books where the ending is clear ahead of time, but the amounts of good storytelling and additional context we got made up for it. Nassun's development felt a bit heavy-handed at times, but she still makes a good character, and contrasts well with her mother Essun. I enjoyed getting the true backstory for the breaking of the earth!

Little Free Library

by Naomi Kritzer · published 2020 · read 2022-03-04

Adorable. Made me feel feelings, but found the ending unsatisfying. But the mysterious exchange by way of one of those free bookshelf libraries people put up outside their houese? Yeah, that was nice.

Uprooted

by Naomi Novik · published 2015 · read 2018-07-21

Uprooted by Naomi Novik was a perfect fantasy story/fairytale. It's got all the right parts (dark magic, regular magic, unimpressed heroine, ambivalent wizard, etc), but isn't terribly predictable, and forms real characters instead of shadows of well-known archetypes. By following the easy-to-like first-person narrator Agnieszka, and seeing her relate to the Dragon, her best friend Kasia, and all the others, painted a vivid and realistic picture of the world. We even get a surprising amount of moral ambivalence, considering the genre. A very good book. I may start to read Naomi Novik's fantasy series if Uprooted is any indicator for that series' quality.

Fortunately, the Milk

by Neil Gaiman · published 2013 · read 2016-11-22

Fortunately, the Milk is an entirly charming children's book, and if my little siblings were still a bit smaller, I'd totally give it to them. I'd say it works for the ages three or four and upwards, pre-school ages mostly.

M Is for Magic

by Neil Gaiman · published 2007 · read 2016-11-24

Again - Neil Gaiman can write short stories like the best of them.

Odd and the Frost Giants

by Neil Gaiman · published 2008 · read 2016-06-11

It's a Gaiman fairytale, about a wonderful boy among the vikings and their gods, and that's all you need to know.

Snow, Glass, Apples

by Neil Gaiman · published 1995 · read 2018-06-11

Well, what do you expect from Neil Gaiman tackling Snowhite from the perspective of the evil queen? It's great. The princess's heart was a nice touch.

Stardust

by Neil Gaiman · published 1997 · read 2013-04-01

Stardust is a joyful and lovely fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, that has been turned into an equally joyful and loving movie. I knew the movie first (though many of the details were way over my head back then), and it is superficially similar and fundamentally different from the book – both are good, though.

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman · published 2008 · read 2015-04-15

I would have loved this book as a child, and I still love it as a grownup (Gaiman tends to write like that). It is paced well, written wonderfully and rings true (in a very similar way American Gods does, but a bit toned-down to the way children see the world). Technically it is a coming-of-age story. I spent a long afternoon reading it and feel a lot better for the time spent.

The Sandman: The Dream Hunters

by Neil Gaiman · published 1999 · read 2018-06-11

An astounding fairytale about a monk and a fox.

Anansi Boys

by Neil Gaiman · published 2005 · read 2016-11-28

Very much a Neil Gaiman book. I think both Spider and the green fedora are going to stay with me for a long time.

Neverwhere

by Neil Gaiman · published 1996 · read 2014-09-01

Neverwhere must have been my first adult Urban Fantasy, and I was head over heels for it. Gaiman is elegant to the point of being flowery as always, but not as over-the-top as he sometimes gets. Nice balance in all things. If you have the chance, listen to the full cast audiobook! Originally intended format, and excellent.

Kings of the Wyld

by Nicholas Eames · published 2017 · read 2019-05-18

Ever wanted to read a self-aware Expendables in a Fantasy world? Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is for you. I wasn't a fan for the first half (it was solid, but annoying, and Getting The Band Back Together isn't a story I enjoy), but it shaped up massively in the second half, and I really enjoyed the ending! The first half of the book does a lot of work to establish the characters and the humor, and took its sweet time about it. It seemed as if the book was only ha-ha-funny, but the second half tugged on some serious heartstrings, and found a good compromise between humour and serious character building/experiences.

Akata Witch

by Nnedi Okorafor · published 2011 · read 2018-03-04

I definitely fell in love with this book. The only critique I can think of right now is that in the beginning the dialogue (and narration) was off, like it was more meant for the screen than for paper. But it's really really good regardless. This is how I like my fantasy. And also, finally somebody does four teenager teams right. Sunny and her friends are just lovely, and their whole world stands out because it is so vivid and real.

Dealing with Dragons

by Patricia C. Wrede · published 1990 · read 2021-10-31

A sweet, sweet book: Princess Cimorene can't be bothered with pesky princess stuff, because she'd much rather learn Latin, or fencing, or cooking, or bookkeeping, or juggling, or literally anything any profession at court could teach her. Frustrated and running from a terrifyingly boring engagement, she runs away and goes to live with a dragon. She's the first princess to do so without being kidnapped first, but things work out pretty well – her practicality sees her ready to deal with magic and sorting the library (plus, extremely sensibly fireproofing herself), but also with annoying knights with a saviour complex, evil wizards and dragon politics.

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2007 · read 2016-06-04

I really liked this book … at first - it hit all the sweet spots for me. Flowery language, not-too-overbearing fantasy setting, believable characters, good pacing and narration (and training in the $arts).

In Calabria

by Peter S. Beagle · published 2017 · read 2018-02-13

Not only does Peter S. Beagle know his unicorns (and boy, does he ever), he knows his romance, too. Very lovely. I've never felt like an old, grumpy, Italian farmer before and now I wouldn't have want to miss out on this experience.

The Painted Man

by Peter V. Brett · published 2008 · read 2016-08-08

I truly loved this book. The characters work well and stayed with me, the world is consistent and required no effort or conscious suspension of disbelief on my part, and the pacing and storytelling in general was absolutely well-done and enjoyable. I'm really looking forward to the other parts of the series. Also, yay for books with several POV characters.

The Skull Throne

by Peter V. Brett · published 2015 · read 2018-09-03

Better than the last book, but what's that saying, really? Good: Character development including plenty of queer relationships (explicit working polyamory among them), people with relationship troubles, stubborn politicians, clever politicians, and the previously known (and loved, maybe) characters smack in the middle of it. The action is mostly split between two groups, with one dominating the first half and the other the second, which didn't always feel smooth – but both action and character development is well-rounded, and the established world building is expanded where necessary. But still with the fantasy racism and sexual violence …

City of Stairs

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2014 · read 2020-05-08

Extremely strong, vivid story. I'm left with a lot of impressions – because the worldbuilding was good, because the characters were strong, because the story was better than decent. A couple of minor points like a predictable staple plot twist or sudden relationship building dialogues while in a dangerous situation didn't detract from my enjoyment. The first book in a long time that led to me just devouring it.

Assassin’s Apprentice

by Robin Hobb · published 1995 · read 2016-10-11

Now this was a fantasy novel I really enjoyed. I went in with no expectations at all, randomly chose it from my Kindle, and oh boy, was I in for a ride.

Royal Assassin

by Robin Hobb · published 1996 · read 2016-12-05

Second volume, and a lot happens (well, not that much per page, but fun nonetheless): Fitz gains confidence, but loses his girl, his King, his King-in-Waiting, his Queen-in-Waiting, and ultimately his life (-ish, no huge cliffhanger).

The Steerswoman

by Rosemary Kirstein · published 1989 · read 2020-02-29

Gooood Fantasy! Highly likable characters, good world, good plot, excellent eye for detail. The concept of a mostly-female order/guild/group of scientifically minded truth seekers is very cool, and yet not overdone. Science Fantasy in an NK Jemisin way. Way to go on the emancipation side: women being equal to men is just a non-issue in all jobs (guards, merchants, sailors, etc).

The Library at Mount Char

by Scott Hawkins · published 2015 · read 2019-04-09

It's always fun finding out that everything you assumed about a book is wrong – I had this pleasure with The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. It was beyond not what I expected (shame on me for having preconceived notions of what a library is), and it was a lot of fun at that. The middle parts felt a bit drab, what with the gore and blood and war, but everything came together for a really satisfying endgame, which I liked a lot. Seeing the protagonist Carolyn grow (via flashbacks and other narrative devices, but also due to the plot) from a regular girl, to a traumatised girl, to … here lie spoilers, to experiencing true character growth was wonderful. Side characters feel fleshed out instead of being reduced to a single character trait, or just propping up the protagonist. If you're not terribly touchy about violence in your books, Library of Mount Char is a great read.

The Lies of Locke Lamora

by Scott Lynch · published 2006 · read 2016-10-19

Gripping heist adventures in a unique and well-built world: Locke, Jean, Bug, the twins and Chains grew close to my heart really soon. There is a phase in the beginning where the book is going slowly and the characters don't mean anything to you, but it works well in hindsight, and it didn't feel like it was dragging on to me.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

by Scott Lynch · published 2007 · read 2017-05-15

3.5 stars for me, a really, really solid follow-up to a wonderful first part. Excited for the last one.

The Republic of Thieves

by Scott Lynch · published 2013 · read 2018-06-11

This was terrific. We get Locke, Jean, and Sabetha, their backstory (Scott pulls off the old past-present alternating chapters well), and a contest with unfair rules and unfairer outcome. I loved how, again, Scott makes clear that the women in the story (mostly Sabetha, but not only) have agency, and character. No matter if they choose to fuck people or not, their choices are shown to be theirs and valid, and men who don't respect that are shown to be assholes. It's great.

Every Heart a Doorway

by Seanan McGuire · published 2016 · read 2018-10-06

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire is a nice little fantasy tale of the place where children go after going through a Door to Another Place (Fairylands, for example), and then coming back. It's short, and sweet, and sad, and gruesome. It's about real children, not a list of characters from other books, either. The gruesome part is the murder mystery half of the book, but that's really only window dressing for the exploration of the characters and worlds. It's short, and I'd have liked to see more exploration of both the children and their worlds – but that's what the sequel is there for.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson · published 2015 · read 2019-05-05

I loved The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. I don't even know where to start. Our protagonist is a young girl in a "primitive" country when the story starts. Her country is annexed by the big empire next door by economic and cultural means. The Masquerade promptly sets about destroying local culture (which involves polyamory and homosexuality, which doesn't go well with the Masquerade's straight repressive culture and eugenic views). The protagonist is educated in the school, recognized as a genius, and on fast track to rise high in the professed meritocracy. Her talents are mostly in economy and related areas, and the book follows her first posting, complete with intrigue (well, mostly that), love (both homo- and heteroromantic), hate, betrayal, loyalty, some fighting, all that. The book moves very fast, which was a delight to me. Every sentence counts, and years can pass in one page, while still hinting at the important things left out. The ending is a very brutal payoff, and I was happy that I had the second book at hand.

The Monster Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson · published 2018 · read 2019-05-08

I really liked The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. It was provided to me as a review copy by the publisher. Some parts were weaker than the first part of the series, which was rich due to its time skips and introduction into the world, but other parts were just as good and better – we see Baru through other eyes, and even when people misjudge her, it's quite telling. Baru remains a very flawed, sometimes horrible, but always compelling protagonist. I mean, she explains how people are like hash functions, in a non-computerised fantasy world, of course I'd like her. Regrettably, the ending is quite open and we'll all have to wait for the last volume to come in. Drat.

The Little Sisters of Eluria

by Stephen King · published 1998 · read 2017-12-25

I liked returning to Roland quite a lot, and while you can read the story without any knowledge of the larger series, there are SERIOUS SPOILERS CONTAINED wtf Mr King. Otherwise creepy in a nice way.

The Drawing of the Three

by Stephen King · published 1987 · read 2017-06-03

Not quite as brilliant as the first volume in my mind, but still extremely good. Expanding the universe, introducing Susannah and Eddie (boy is he annoying though), and pushing ever onwards.

The Waste Lands

by Stephen King · published 1991 · read 2017-06-05

4.5 – This one was a bit slow, I thought, but it stil pushd the story on briliantly. I loved the play between worlds, and man was Charlie the Choo-Choo creepy.

The Wind Through the Keyhole

by Stephen King · published 2012 · read 2018-02-17

Loved it. Both the inner and the outer stories took me right back.

The Dark Tower

by Stephen King · published 2004 · read 2017-06-24

A really, really good end to the series. Wow.

Harleen

by Stjepan Šejić · published 2020 · read 2020-02-29

Stjepan Šejić is a brilliant artist, and he's done right by Harley Quinn. Good origin story, great writing, and brilliant artwork. I'm not really one for graphic novels and even I can tell that this goes above and beyond.

Clockwork Boys

by T. Kingfisher · published 2017 · read 2020-01-26

Excuse me, a ninja assassin and an anti-stereotype paladin? I'll have to read the second part right away. Both quippy and touching, manages to strike a balance between excitement and character growth (while admittedly favouring excitement a bit.)

A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction

by Terry Pratchett · published 2012 · read 2017-02-02

Some mediocre-okayish stuff, but a few really, really great ones. In the end, Granny overshadowed everything as per usual, but the barbarian hero who went to meet his maker stands out, too.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

by Terry Pratchett · published 1990 · read 2015-04-01

Good Omens is the result of a blessed (but not ineffably blessed) collaboration. And it produced a similarly blessed mini-series! Nothing's not to like here. The only thing that always surprises me when re-reading it is how rooted it is in the early 90s.

Pyramids

by Terry Pratchett · published 1989 · read 2007-05-01

Pyramids was fun in many ways – not just the pyramids! The look inside the Assassins Guild was very intriguing. Though the thing I remember best is the long chain of ancestors, who can only communicate with the next one or two in line because language has changed too much through the generations.

Going Postal

by Terry Pratchett · published 2004 · read 2010-02-01

The post office story about innovation and all sorts of things was too on-the-nose allegorical for my tastes (though I liked Thud!, so I really shouldn't complain I suppose). As an ardent Miles Vorkosigan fan, I loved the momentum, but didn't get on with the protagonist. This might've been a three-star book, but was saved by Vetinari.

Only You Can Save Mankind

by Terry Pratchett · published 1992 · read 2004-03-01

A computer game that turns out to be real – in 1992. Great fun. Has aged, of course, but the important bits still work.

Johnny and the Dead

by Terry Pratchett · published 1993 · read 2007-09-01

Johnny has all the luck: After his video game adventures, he now starts seeing dead people (and as a consequence will have to save the local cemetary).

Johnny and the Bomb

by Terry Pratchett · published 1996 · read 2010-08-01

Johnny, after fixing video games and dead people, now gets to travel back in time with his friends and experience the Blitz. To be honest, I found this less memorable but at least as fun as the other Johnny Maxwell books.

The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter

by Theodora Goss · published 2017 · read 2019-08-06

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss was an absolute delight. It takes place in Victorian London, and we see the daughters of Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde, Dr Moreau, and other classics of Victorian literature trying to unravel the mystery of their creation (in absence of their creators, who mostly died gruesome deaths, perfectly appropriate). It's a lovely book, perfectly well-written, utterly charming and entertaining, featuring a lot of well-researched facts. References are abound. If this is not the age or type of literature you feel comfortable with, it might not be the book for you, but otherwise, it's the very best of books for a relaxing read.

Sharp Teeth

by Toby Barlow · published 2007 · read 2021-03-16

Werewolf packs in LA might seem like an urban fantasy staple (and it is), but not like this: Toby Barlow tells the brutal (but not edgy! never that) story of the werewolves and their surroundings in form of an epic, 300 page modern poem.

A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1968 · read 2017-02-27

It's real fantasy, it's great, and in some ways it reminds me of The Name of the Wind. Loved it a lot - Ged really grows on you, and the story is quite dense, and there as much story in this book as many others would fit in a trilogy (growing up, mastering school, mastering the antagonist, for example?). I clearly need to read more books by Ursula K. Le Guin!

The Tombs of Atuan

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1970 · read 2018-02-12

Oh wow. This touched me, and the ending was perfect. It didn't follow all the fantasy rules, it followed Earthsea rules. ❤

The Farthest Shore

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1972 · read 2018-02-22

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2001 · read 2018-04-29

4.5 stars, really.

The Other Wind

A good end to the series. The different roles and characters were great, and the explanations of humans vs dragons explained previous plots.

The Daughter of Odren

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2014 · read 2018-09-30

With The Daughter of Odren, a novella by Ursula K. Le Guin, I've now finished the Earthsea Cycle. This novella is very bittersweet – predictable only in parts, only because it recalls fairytales, but still very human and very real. A good ending to my Earthsea experience.

A Fisherman of the Inland Sea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1994 · read 2018-11-30

I'm not a huge fan of short story collections – they're hard to rate, I don't like reading stories bunched together all that much, it's just not for me. So giving A Fisherman of the Inland Sea 4/5 stars means a lot – Ursula Le Guin always manages to show deeply familiar human sides to technological developments. Here I was impressed with her ability to show groups (families and other groups) interact and evolve. The deep understanding of individuals growing older, away from home or at home, was touching too, and terribly well executed. Oh, the humanity, you know?

A Wild Ride Through the Night

by Walter Moers · published 2001 · last read 2021-01-13

Walter Moers decided to branch out and do something wildly different. Okay, maybe not wildly: there's still much absurdity going on. But it's not Zamonien. Instead, it's the story of Gustave Doré, the famous painter. Or rather, his paintings. Or rather, all of his paintings, shoved together into a rather trippy (but entertaining!) story.

Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures

by Walter Moers · published 2003 · read 2009-07-01

Rumo was a lot of fun. Not as grand as Bluebear, not as nerdy as the book city, but a very good take on adventure books noneteless. Hitting all the tropes without being unintentionally cheesy. Probably the closest you can come to The Princess Bride with non-human protagonists.

A Brother’s Price

by Wen Spencer · published 2005 · read 2020-04-30

This is comfort food, but it's GOOD comfort food. Fantasy world with inverted gender roles (only one man per 20 women, group family marriages ensue). It follows the Regency romance arc perfectly except for leaving out that relationship building part in the second third, which actually might've been better to include. But it's really enjoyable – takes the gender role reversal seriously, isn't stupid about it, but also clearly just has a lot of fun telling the story.

The Princess Bride

by William Goldman · published 1973 · read 2018-02-28

Well, this was just plain funny. Great storytelling, great pacing, great everything. I caught myself looking up if William Goldman really had a son. He hasn't, thank god.

Cemetery Boys

by Aiden Thomas · published 2020 · read 2021-06-12

Coming-of-age novel set in an urban fantasy: Yadriel is a Latinx trans boy in the US. His whole family are brujx and don't accept him as a brujo. Naturally, he spends the novel proving himself – but with a fair bit of reflection and friendships and non-transition related plot thrown in. Intersectional YA is pretty cool and all (most non-Latinx people here are queer by default, delightfully), and my only issue with this was how predictable the plot is and how YA possibly just isn't for me anymore.

The Last Wish

by Andrzej Sapkowski · published 1993 · read 2021-11-04

Finally catching up with some European fantasy – I haven't watched the show, but I've played some of the games, and I'm generally aware of what's going on in-universe. I knew the book was fairly episodic going into it, which might have been a problem otherwise.

The Raven Tower

by Ann Leckie · published 2019 · read 2019-03-22

I'm not quite sure where I stand on The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. On the plus side: a fantasy story told from the perspective of a god (and with a fascinating definition of 'god', to boot), in a consistent voice (good thing I was used to second person narration from Ms Jemisin), with a not-quite predictable plot. But while I'm a fan of unusual story arcs, I found myself wanting more. The story was good, but not enough! I think this is not just me being used to Sanderson-length epic fantasy. Raven Tower has great world building and narration (and a unique take on "gods speak the truth"!), but the plot seemed a bit underdeveloped.

Blood Song

by Anthony Ryan · published 2011 · read 2018-10-12

Blood Song is the start of the Raven's Shadow series by Anthony Ryan. It was hard to make up my mind about this book – it changed a lot over the course of the story.

Words of Radiance

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2014 · read 2018-09-17

I'm seriously impressed – Words of Radiance doesn't come with the usual drop or lull second volumes tend to bring. It advances the plot and the worldbuilding and the character development at a great pace. While we got the backstory of one major POV character, Kaladin, in the first volume, we get more backstory to the other major POV character, Shannan. The worldbuilding tells us more about the past of the various nations and their lore, but also on day-to-day life in different roles, and how gender roles play out and came to be. All of this is well-written (though the prose is more of a functional carrier of the content), and well-paced, and absolutely worth reading. Good thing there is another volume of The Stormlight Archive waiting for me.

Shadow’s Edge

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

Still a very cool generic fantasy book, although no good female characters came along.

Beyond the Shadows

by Brent Weeks · published 2008 · read 2016-03-01

A generic trilogy end to a generic fantasy trilogy, including the Big Reveal and the Sacrifice and the Hero all coming together. Still enjoyable to read.

Beware of Chicken

by CasualFarmer · published 2022 · read 2022-03-25

Must have fallen down a progression fantasy hole somewhere. Not usually quite my genre, but when it's some of the better written free fiction out there (aka no typos, actual sentences, punctuation!), what can you do. It's pretty much Stardew Valley but xianxia. Guy is oblivious but ultra powerful through his connection to the land. He's kinda plopped into the world, but entirely unfazed. All his our-world Western commentary from a nice guy are taken as absolute teachings in a rigid society he's barely aware of.

The City & the City

by China Miéville · published 2009 · read 2018-11-14

The City & the City is a very impressive scifi book, but while I can appreciate its coolness and weirdness, and I can't point to a single flaw, somehow the story didn't quite grip me, although the concept of the two cities was introduced beautifully.

This Census-Taker

by China Miéville · published 2016 · read 2021-02-02

Young child discovers the world – his occasionally psychopathic father, his practical but proud mother, and the little town at the foot of the mountain. Everything is both creepy and boring – a uniquely kafkaesque mix (and the end is straight up like a Kafka short story that I can point at).

Lycidas

by Christoph Marzi · published 2004 · read 2011-07-01

Young Adult intrigue in a magical London with heaven and hell, nobility and tube rats playing their roles. Fun, but a bit on the long side.

Dragon Rider

by Cornelia Funke · published 1997 · read 2007-04-01

I have very little memory of this book, apart from it being somewhat generic fantasy.

Inkspell

by Cornelia Funke · published 2005 · read 2006-01-01

More Inkworld shenanigans: Meggie now reads herself and others into the story, and also has to deal with the original author, who turns out to be very annoying. The story builds extremely slowly and I enjoyed it mostly for the worldbuilding. The characters are – with one exception – unimpressive and not exactly enjoyable.

Legend

by David Gemmell · published 1984 · read 2021-03-20

On my reading list, this book had the note "Big heroic classic fantasy", and that's exactly what it is. Big damn heroes doing heroic things. The aging hero coming back one more time, the hopelessly besieged city, the … young fated couple: This book has it all. I haven't read any other Drenai Saga books, so take this review with a bit of salt:

Shield of Thunder

by David Gemmell · published 2006 · read 2022-01-31

Second part of the Troy series, and I'm a bit less impressed (but still happy to read on!). Three new main characters are thrown into the mix (Andromache's lover, plus Kalliades and Banokles), in addition to the already established Helikaon and Odysseus. Through their eyes, we also get more information about Hector and Achilles.

Witch Week

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1982 · read 2008-09-01

Parallel England, where a teacher at a boarding school is accused of witchcraft. The inquisition is called and a terrified pupil has to look for a way out … It gets very dark very fast.

The Magicians of Caprona

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1980 · read 2007-03-01

Romeo and Juliet: magic edition! Feuding Italian families, throwing magic at each other and being delightfully temperamental. Add in nosy kids, moody teenagers, snarky cats and almighty matriarchs … yes, I really like this book. It's among my top books by Diana Wynne Jones, and that's saying something.

Conrad’s Fate

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 2005 · read 2008-05-01

Young Chrestomanci, as seen by outside eyes. Fun, but mostly fun if you have read any other book of the series. Gave me Doctor Who vibes, funnily enough.

Dark Lord of Derkholm

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1998 · read 2020-07-30

It has been over a decade since I read my last book by Diana Wynne Jones, but I'd like to think that I would have recognised this as hers by the playful prose and convoluted plot where you will miss half the fun if you blink. I had left this book on my reading list as a guaranteed good book, and after being so disappointed by Romanitas, I needed the palate cleanser badly.

Cart and Cwidder

by Diana Wynne Jones · published 1975 · read 2021-08-07

Neat YA book. Read this as comfort read and because you can't go wrong with Diana Wynne Jones, really. A group of teenagers thrust into political conflict, with a side of magic, by way of mythical music, handled by them as a wandering troupe. I didn't find the story particularly compelling (authoritarian countries bad, liberal countries good blah), but as always, Diana Wynne Jones absolutely delivers on characters and group dynamics.

The Door into Sunset

by Diane Duane · published 1992 · read 2021-04-14

Silly me, I assumed that this series was a trilogy. This book was published in 1992 and doesn't wrap up the series. There were some news on the final volume in 2018/2019, nothing since then. Sad stuff, I would have loved a real ending, and this book was … not it.

Deep Wizardry

by Diane Duane · published 1985 · read 2016-05-07

I liked the first book in the series a bit more, although Duane does a lot of nice world-building here, both regarding the deep ocean and the whales, and Nita's family (Dairine, mom, and dad).

A Wizard Abroad

by Diane Duane · published 1993 · read 2016-05-09

Nita goes to Ireland - it felt less important, somehow, and just like following a pattern. But since the pattern is good, I still enjoyed reading it.

The Wizard’s Dilemma

by Diane Duane · published 2001 · read 2016-05-09

Nita faces temptation … a lot. Felt like a Hiob story in many ways. She has to deal with her mother dying and learns how to change whole universes to try and deal with it. Reminded me a lot of Buffy in the same situation, only a lot younger (but including the outcome and the younger sister, btw).

Wizards at War

by Diane Duane · published 2005 · read 2016-05-15

While there was a lot of action, the book still dragged on and on for me. I liked the recurring characters, and even the resolution, but I didn't care for the pacing, and while the dangers and risks sounded dire, they didn't feel like it. Nice parts, but a bit meh overall.

Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

by Eliezer Yudkowsky · published 2015 · read 2014-11-01

HPMOR is both the best and the worst of rationalist fiction. Terrible, terrible writing, in a physically painful stilted style, and oh-so-fucking superior. There aren't even characters in this story, only symbols.

The Wish List

by Eoin Colfer · published 2000 · read 2008-08-01

Meg Finn, 15, is a troublemaker and also dead. Because her good and bad deeds balanced out perfectly, she has to go back and help her last victim go through his bucket list – all while her last partner sabotages the mission.

So You Want to Be a Villain?

by ErraticErrata · published 2015 · read 2022-02-01

Web-serial that is generally not terrible! Takes place in a world with clear Good and Evil, with the protagonist an orphan in a country that was taken over by an Evil state. She starts her path to become a Villain to help her country, kinda? Complete with a mentor, a short stint at a school, and then some actual war. The morality on any of this is extremely iffy, but if you squint past that, it's decent enough fantasy fast food.

Of a Linear Circle - Part V - Gryffindor

by Flamethrower · read 2022-01-02

More backstory, more carefully researched historical fiction. Well, some is inaccurate in minor details, but on the level of getting one of the historical lords of Orkney wrong, which seems to be a cruel thing to count against a fanfic. Thanks to checking the story, also need to complain about the list of English (Wessex) kings with creative names such as Æthelred, Æthelstan, Ælfweard, Ælfwynn, Æthelwold, Æthelhelm, Æthelberht, Æthelbald, Æthelwulf …

A Marvellous Light

by Freya Marske · published 2021 · read 2021-11-05

Comfort ~~food~~ read. But for real, what is it with fantasy novels about gay magicians in Victorian England, where the lower-class magician falls for the upper-class non-magical nobility? Not that I'm complaining.

Abhorsen

by Garth Nix · published 2003 · read 2018-02-18

Very YA. Good YA! But … too YA for me atm for a five star rating. Much better YA than many things I know, though. Doesn't feel like it can keep up with the previous parts of the series.

A Clash of Kings

by George R.R. Martin · published 1998 · read 2012-07-01

My fascination waned here already, but I had hoped that it was the usual second book slog.

A Storm of Swords

by George R.R. Martin · published 2000 · read 2012-11-01

Things happened. Dragged. Happened again. Dragged a bit more.

Safely You Deliver

by Graydon Saunders · published 2016 · read 2021-05-20

by Graydon Saunders · read 2021-06-04

Under One Banner

The series started dropping off for me a bit here: I didn't find the protagonist compelling, and her recovery from an active magic user to a military adviser only as interesting as the world it exposed. But the focus on military matters didn't interest me for the most part, so I focused on the implicit bits of civilian worldbuilding (I loved those, to compensate).

Lud-in-the-Mist

by Hope Mirrlees · published 1926 · read 2019-04-22

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees is a fantasy novel from 1926, which means it reads a bit aged – but not only that, it also subverts all kinds of implicit genre expectations, having been published before Tolkien and his larger-than-life influence started and defined half a century of a new literary genre. For instance, I found it delightful to see how much inspiration of the fantastic comes more from the general voice and pattern of European fairytales compared to the general Fantasy tendency to go with myths instead. Her combination of fairytale antics with good, solid, stout (and so British) real life has a lot of similarities to Tolkien's hobbits, but I liked how the explicit contrast between the fantastic and the Law (and everything related to it) was a focal point in the story.

The Wizards and the Warriors

by Hugh Cook · published 1986 · read 2021-03-09

Some wizards try to re-capture an artifact that could end the world, but get caught up in wars, petty conflicts, their own desires, centuries-old curses, the works. This book is much less generic than both the title and this summary make it sound. A lot about it is unique – like A Song of Ice and Fire crossed with Malazan.

Sweep in Peace

by Ilona Andrews · published 2015 · read 2021-04-28

More magical tavern innkeeper stories! This one wasn't that different from the first part. It has found its footing, and instead of going for more of the usual urban fantasy romance stuff, it is about an intergalactic peace conference. Our protagonist has to handle three warring species under her roof, and it's fun and comfy and an all-around good time. Still not the height of … anything, but good fun.

Magic Burns

by Ilona Andrews · published 2008 · read 2020-07-11

Magic Burns continues where Magic Bites left off. It continues to be pulpy urban fantasy, and if that's what you're looking for, this is a decent series to go for. This time we have power-hungry Celtic gods and goddesses, plus more preparation for a reluctant snarky romance in following books – at least it's explicit, I'd be very annoyed otherwise. The worldbuilding holds up, but has slowed down a lot, which left me a bit disappointed.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

by J.K. Rowling · published 1998 · read 2003-10-01

Felt sense for books is a weird thing. The first book has a felt sense of warmth and wonder, while this one has a felt sense of damp and cold and wet and danger. I enjoyed it less than the first or the third one, but I still tore through it.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

by J.K. Rowling · published 2000 · read 2001-03-01

This was the first Harry Potter book that I read while it was still new. That was a novel experience for me: Most of my books up to that point had been old, or at least definitely not new. Reading an ongoing series was exciting. I don't remember much speculation about what would happen next, except for some recurring "Is Snape good or evil" debate.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling · published 2005 · read 2006-06-01

Imagine being 14 when this book comes out, and being just not quite good enough to read it in English. So you have to wait for painful months while your mother (your own mother, the traitor) reads it in English and can then threaten you with spoilers.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling · published 2007 · read 2007-12-01

Here ends the story – and by the time the ending came, I wasn't all that invested in the world anymore. It was interesting, it was dramatic, but it was far from life-changing. Much of it seemed more of an intellectual exercise to me: How will she wrap things up, who is going to live? And after getting answers, I closed that chapter of my reading life. The excitement had been long gone.

The Last Dragonslayer

by Jasper Fforde · published 2010 · read 2016-06-11

This is very much a book by Jasper Fforde, and if you've read other books by him, you'll recognise his humour, his phrasing, and his worldbuilding. Which is why I liked the book well enough, but not more than that. Magic as a natural (and regulated) thing is hilarious.

Something Rotten

by Jasper Fforde · published 2004 · read 2008-05-01

Shakespearean, this time. Hamlet gets to see the real world, Thursday gets to see Landen again (plus her son). The whole childcare thing was a bit of a drag, and the plot was as usually secondary at best. Less worldbuilding meant less fun.

Nevernight

by Jay Kristoff · published 2016 · read 2019-01-06

Nevernight is nice fantasy – setting-wise, it's confusingly similar to Red Sister, all about a young girl assassin going to a slightly religious assassin school, but it's different in style. I think I liked Red Sister more (seeing as it has less Chosen One and more realism), and the witty banter-y narrator of Nevernight was predictable sometimes. But the style was very Bartimaeus-esque, so this should be a book that fits many people's interests and likes.

Godsgrave

by Jay Kristoff · published 2017 · read 2019-05-26

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff is the second part of The Nevernight Chronicle, and it felt underwhelming. I'll try to tell you why: In Godsgrave, we continue to follow Mia, who is now a trained assassin and still hell-bent on revenge. To make this generic plot less generic, we get snarky footnotes with background info dumps (hi, Bartimeus), and a same-sex relationship (of course fraught with deceit and passion), where more traditional fantasy would've had a hetero relationship. Aaaand, that's it.

Into the Labyrinth

by John Bierce · published 2018 · read 2020-10-20

Magic school fantasy, including a sentient library, actual magic with actual learning, and a misfit band of three friends, standing up to the bullies. It's post-Harry-Potter and it shows, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The Dragon Waiting

by John M. Ford · published 1983 · read 2020-07-25

Sometimes I'm reading a book and won't be very into it – only to discover that it grows on me after I've finished reading it, like some wines only really develop in the aftertaste. Dune was one such book for me, as was The Dragon Waiting.

The Ring of Solomon

by Jonathan Stroud · published 2010 · read 2011-01-01

Prequel. I read it too late after the original series, I think, but it brought back plenty of memories of the trilogy, both good and bad ones.

The Golem’s Eye

by Jonathan Stroud · published 2004 · read 2007-05-01

Repeating the formula that works, this book is a bit more tiresome but still alright.

Ptolemy’s Gate

by Jonathan Stroud · published 2005 · read 2008-10-01

Stronger than the second part, if only by a bit. A very decent conclusion, without resorting to the cheapest of cheap endings (boy saves world, gets girl).

A Case of Possession

by K.J. Charles · published 2014 · read 2021-08-03

For the first part of the series, I called it “too well-written to deserve to be labeled as enjoyable trash”. The language of this second part remains well done, but the writing … not as much. It's more over-the-top, tryhard – when it doesn't really need to try hard, being itself would be enough: Magic Victorian lover boys return to the dirty city and deal with giant rats and prejudice while alternating between horniness and relationship drama. It's not bad, but the charm of the first part has worn off a bit. I'm not planning to read the next part any time soon, but I imagine at some point I'll be sick or tired or just in need of a comfort read, and I'll come back to the series then.

The Stone Light

by Kai Meyer · published 2002 · read 2008-08-01

The worldbuilding is better, the characters are only slightly worse, and the plot couldn't be worse than the first one, and is possibly slightly better? I don't remember, I was busy being amazed at the worldbuilding.

The Glass Word

by Kai Meyer · published 2002 · read 2007-07-01

Finishing off the series, and not necessarily in a good way: Lots of finishing off characters, too. I thought that was good, because it's somewhat couragous and I never liked plot armour. Not great art, but enjoyable, particularly for teenagers.

The Bear and the Nightingale

by Katherine Arden · published 2017 · read 2019-07-07

In The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden tells a Russian fairytale, and she does it with a lot of feeling. The atmosphere is wonderful and a great mix of fairytale logic: everything is slightly off, belief and patterns carry more weight than logic, and if you're clever, you'll pick the right one of the two.

Hidden Empire

by Kevin J. Anderson · published 2002 · read 2018-06-23

2-3 stars for me. This is … space fantasy? A space epic? I wouldn't call it scifi, and it reminds me of Star Wars (although more thought was put into it). The writing had some seriously weak moments, large plot elements were predictable, and, the worst, all characters were clearly good or evil. It was never phrased like that, but c'mon. Seriously, that's no fun.

The Magicians

by Lev Grossman · published 2009 · read 2020-05-05

I enjoyed this one, and not just for the digs against Fillory (which is a transparently renamed Narnia). The darkly realistic magic school: good. The annoying, whiny, dickish protagonist getting his comeuppance: yeah, dig it. No magic reform arc, either. In total it was rough and not particularly fulfilling as a book, but individual parts all worked really well for me.

Der Ruf des Reihers

by Lian Hearn · published 2006 · read 2006-03-01

Concluding the series, we get the "15 years later" book we never wanted. Things fall apart. Then they fall apart some more. There's a lot of death to go around, much of it by backstabbing.

Der Auftrag des Magiers

by Licia Troisi · published 2004 · read 2009-12-01

Protagonist rides more dragons, is more stubborn, gets a bit of personal growth.

Stalking Darkness

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1997 · read 2021-07-14

Avoiding second-book syndrome, Stalking Darkness is at least as good as Luck in the Shadows – but it also touches on some serious yikes. I have thoughts.

Traitor’s Moon

by Lynn Flewelling · published 1999 · read 2021-07-18

Just as with the previous book in the series, I enjoyed the world and the storytelling a lot, but some relationship-related things clouded my enjoyment.

Grey Sister

by Mark Lawrence · published 2018 · read 2019-04-04

I liked Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Grey Sister was an appropriate second volume – It was a good-ish second part to Red Sister, but I felt it lacked a sense of cohesiveness. For a long time it just moved from one action after the other, switching to a bit heavy-handed character development from time to time. The protagonist is also too successful with most things she does, and then there's some torture/pain/loss thrown in for balance. Language felt a bit inconsistent, too: mostly very good standard storytelling (think Sanderson), then suddenly flowery.

The Cloud Roads

by Martha Wells · published 2011 · read 2021-09-06

Martha Wells is currently best known for her socially awkward Murderbot, and I wanted to see what she's up to when she's not writing robots. Well, let's just say that the protagonist of this series is a socially awkward outsider, shunned unless he tries to make himself into something as human-like as possible.

Last First Snow

by Max Gladstone · published 2015 · read 2021-12-20

I keep enjoying the Craft Sequence stuff, even when the lessons are so on the nose it's kinda meh. This is the gentrification one, which is good because we get backstory for Temoc, the priest, and a bit more insight into the King in Red. It's not as strong as the other books, even though I enjoyed the characters more, but hey, what can you do.

Four Roads Cross

by Max Gladstone · published 2016 · read 2022-01-10

After reading Three Parts Dead in preparation, it was time to read this book – part five in the series that Three Parts Dead starts, but also the direct follow-up. I hadn't remembered the characters at all: Abelard, the mechanic monk, and Tara, the craftswoman who, in the end, decided to leave the industry and work for the Church of Kos, for little money, because she's needed.

Tournament of Losers

by Megan Derr · published 2016 · read 2019-04-10

Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr was surprisingly good for a fantasy romance novel, but it was still utterly predictable (and fairytale sounding in the ritual situations that lead to its predictability, actually). A nice enough read, especially since semi-realistic fantasy with m/m relationships isn't common, but definitely more of a guilty pleasure than anything else.

The Thief

by Megan Whalen Turner · published 1996 · read 2019-07-07

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner is a short fantasy novel placed in a fictional Mediterranean-medieval world. We follow a young thief, who is retrieved from prison to steal something for (and with) the King's Magus. The world is fleshed out in an organic way when you read it – the author takes occasions like passing a certain field or tree to tell us about the general state of the country, agriculture, etc. Evening meals are vehicles to tell us about legends and the general state of mind of people. But looking back, I know only bits and pieces of the world, and that's not a satisfying feeling.

Death by Silver

by Melissa Scott, Amy Griswold · published 2013 · read 2022-01-14

MORE gay Victorian (well, Gaslamp) magicians, will it ever stop? This one at least doesn't follow the cookie-cutter for the genre: no nobility, and magic is well-known and accepted, so there's an actual industry and civil services. Magic has actual rules, and a lot of it seems to be grammar-based, and people can, for example, take educated guesses about a magician's schooling (Oxford vs Cambridge styles) – but only guesses, not enough to be actually important clues, which I thought was a nice show of restraint.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

by N.K. Jemisin · published 2010 · read 2019-11-15

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K.Jemisin is solid Fantasy, with cool mythology, a decent protagonist and good other characters, and absolutely nothing wrong with it – it just didn't really come to life for me. Huge bonus points for a very cool ending, though! Not sure I'll continue the series, though, to be honest.

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders

by Neil Gaiman · published 2006 · read 2016-05-22

Short story collections are tricky things, and tricky to rate. You never love all of them, but when one or two of them truly grab you, you're good. And of course, nobody gets grabbed by the same stories. The three stars represent the amount of stories that didn't do a thing for me, even though I fell for a few of the others.

InterWorld

by Neil Gaiman · published 2007 · read 2017-07-03

Now this was just a really enjoyable YA book on the topic of parallel worlds – a bit like a children's version of Long Earth with some magic mixed in. A not-too-heavy, enjoyable book!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

by Newt Scamander · published 2001 · read 2001-10-01

I loved this book as a kid, both for the fantastic beasts and for the scrawled notes by Harry, Ron and Hermione. Imagine if the Silmarillion came with scrawled notes in the margins from Gandalf and Galadriel.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune

by Nghi Vo · published 2020 · read 2021-02-26

High fantasy novella, vaguely Chinese-plus-Inuit (shush, it makes sense). After the Empress has died, a young monk – monks are enby in this world, which is neat – travels to her old castle, that has been off limits for decades. They explore the house and chronicle the stories of various things they find. It turns out to be vastly different than expected.

Patternmaster

by Octavia E. Butler · published 1976 · read 2018-08-26

Patternmaster was very enjoyable, and presented great characters (ever Octavia Butler's strength). There was decent worldbuilding, and I'd love to learn more about this world that is a distant decendant of ours – but sadly, the book ends way too early, at a point where I felt there hadn't been all that much plot yet.

A Master of Djinn

by P. Djèlí Clark · published 2021 · read 2021-09-06

Steampunk, non-Victorian edition: In 1912, Egypt is a rising world power due to its access to magic. Holding its own against the British and other world powers in a multicultural metropolis, Cairo is far from free and perfect, though: Our protagonist, Fatma, is one of the few women in the Ministry of supernatural stuff, where she works as an investigator, and gets to unravel the bloodless-but-supernatural murder of some British guys.

The Riddle-Master of Hed

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1976 · read 2021-04-16

Reluctant heroes are a bit overdone, but this one is honest and plausible (though, as all reluctant heroes, a bit tedious). That's the good part, possibly. The characters are not exactly one-dimensional, but the book is certainly reluctant to show you more than one dimension at a time.

Heir of Sea and Fire

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1977 · read 2021-04-18

Fiancées in fantasy books are often not taken quite seriously, even more so if they are a princess. McKillip will have none of that, and elevates the fiancée of the first book's hero to the new protagonist. The change in point of view does the trilogy a world of good, but doesn't change the odd pace and oddly distanced narrative at heart.

Harpist in the Wind

by Patricia A. McKillip · published 1979 · read 2021-04-23

Concluding this series, the established power couple tackles the remaining big riddles in the world, and finally figure out what's going on. Some parts of it were obvious, at least the direction – but the conclusion surprised me and was impressive. I can't say more because it'd be impossible to do without heavy spoilers.

The Wise Man’s Fear

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2011 · read 2016-07-05

We see Kvothe travelling here: he meets the Maer and navigates his court, hunts bandits in the woods, gets tangled up with Felurian, and finally learns the arts (Ketan) of the Adem before returning to the University. Sadly, while a bunch of things happen, few seem to have any consequences.

The Innkeeper’s Song

by Peter S. Beagle · published 1993 · read 2021-06-14

Peter S. Beagle is always interesting and never quite conventional. This book starts out with the titular Innkeeper's Song, providing us with the entire plot condensed into a folk song, and then proceeds to elaborate in first-person chapters from different viewpoints. It does so beautifully, and it's never predictable, and yet, I never felt really close to the plot. I've felt this way about all books by Beagle so far, though, and I still like them.

The Unicorn Anthology

by Peter S. Beagle · published 2017 · read 2019-04-08

Rating anthologies is always hard. The Unicorn Anthology, fittingly edited by Peter S. Beagle contained stories that touched me, and stories that just passed some time. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. Most stories tended to be dark and tragic, unsurprisingly enough. There are a couple of very good stories in there, so if the whole mythical realism thing interests you, check it out. (An ARC in exchange for a review was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.)

The Last Unicorn

by Peter S. Beagle · published 1968 · read 2017-02-23

I really enjoyed this one - it's a fairytale, it's very very lyrical, but at the same time it surprises you with bursts of dry humour. The length and pacing is perfect, too - it's a short book, but it carries its length well.

The Desert Spear

by Peter V. Brett · published 2010 · read 2018-06-24

Pretty okay successor. We see more of Arlen (and later, Renna, who has a wonderful story), Rojen (who was neglected), Leesha, and a fancy new character! Also, more insight into politics and the demons. Everything was very cool, especially how people had all sorts of agency. I felt that character development ran low in this book, but that's a common theme for second volumes, so let's hope the next one picks it up.

The Golden Compass

by Philip Pullman · published 1995 · read 2008-11-01

Widely liked, but didn't do it for me. Though that's not quite right: I adored the setup: Oxford, the river, the journey. But soon, it became preachy the same way the Narnia books did (only, of course, for an opposed cause). I can't stand preachy books for children.

The Bone Ships

by R. J. Barker · published 2019 · read 2021-05-04

World-building at the detriment of plot and character development is usually a prerogative of sci-fi, but this book proves that fantasy can do it, too. The world is awesome: it's a naval world, where most of the world is covered in water, which is inhabitated by very aggressive animals, and states consist of island chains. Barker's worldbuilding is actually stunning: a coherent vision of society, customs and history down to fabrics used, gender roles, food chain logistics, magic, and social mobility. All told nicely within the story with barely and info dumps.

Der Herr der Unruhe

by Ralf Isau · published 2004 · read 2016-11-13

Magical realism in Mussolini's Italy: Our protagonist can talk to machines. A bit cheap with the Romeo and Juliet arc, but the descriptions and research are, as always with Isau, top notch.

Der Wahrheitsfinder

by Ralf Isau · published 2000 · read 2005-04-01

Second part of the amazing saga, covering the years from 1925 until 1950. Still intriguing, but nowhere near the first part.

Der weiße Wanderer

by Ralf Isau · published 2001 · read 2005-03-01

Third part, third quarter of the century: 1950-1975. Less impressive than the beginning, but not slowing down.

Der unsichtbare Freund

by Ralf Isau · published 2001 · read 2005-09-01

Ending the huge century saga, and going out with a bang. Not sure I like the ending, mind you, but I respect it for being audacious and doing something different for once.

Magician: Apprentice

by Raymond E. Feist · published 1982 · read 2020-07-24

This was a nice read – It's very much a classical fantasy book in the better sense. The arc is generally coming-of-age of the poor underdog boy, but in a sensible (while generic) setting. It was especially refreshing that all people in the book are not generally malevolent, are able to talk about their differences, and that the rags-to-riches part happens early and isn't dangled under the reader's nose forever.

Trail of Lightning

by Rebecca Roanhorse · published 2018 · read 2021-06-17

Urban fantasy needn't take place in a city, and this is a prime example: it may be a supernatural mystery story taking place in post-collapse North America on a reservation after the collapse of the USA, but it's still very much urban fantasy.

Watership Down

by Richard Adams · published 1972 · read 2022-02-28

Rabbits. One of those children's books that does also work for adults, but only while you make allowances for it being written for kids. I feel like I want to qualify everything with that sentence.

The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan · published 2005 · read 2016-01-01

Who doesn't like Greek myths coming to life before their eyes? Well, apart from the somewhat unlucky protagonist.

City of Blades

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2016 · read 2022-01-17

City of Stairs was fun, and in a surprising way. To live up to it, the second part needed to be different – and it was, in a way. The narrative structure was a bit (very) close to the last book: civil servant gets shunted off to the continent, figures out that all is not as it seems, and that behind nasty local politics there is some old divinity, thought to be dead, is at work.

Foundryside

by Robert Jackson Bennett · published 2018 · read 2019-05-31

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett is a hard book for me to rate. In the beginning it was lackluster, because it felt like very system-heavy Fantasy: Fantasy where the author cares more about the magic system than about the characters, or the worldbuilding, or anything else. After about a third of the book, it came close to hitting its stride, drawing me in and letting me feel with the thief-protagonist and her life and quandries. But then, towards the end, the book seemed to turn into a very heavy-handed metaphor on the dangers of artificial intelligence (and, to a lesser degree, computer science in general).

The Eye of the World

by Robert Jordan · published 1990 · read 2018-11-23

I wasn't that much of a fan of The Eye of the World. It's got a couple of things that make it good Fantasy: detailed worldbuilding, for example, and characters that were clearly recognizable and not all the same. A big bad evil and a young farmboy, well, you know the deal.

Assassin’s Quest

by Robin Hobb · published 1997 · read 2016-12-07

Concluding the first part of the trilogy trilogy, I still liked it. Yes, it's slowly paced high fantasy, yes, the protagonist is not a Mary Sue at all (whiny and annoying, more like), yes, the conclusion is a bit deus-ex-machina - I still liked it. It's nice fantasy. It takes you to Buckkeep and to the Mountain Kingdom and all the places Fitz and the wolf visit.

Creatures of Light and Darkness

by Roger Zelazny · published 1969 · read 2022-01-21

Very Zelazny – I had hoped, after liking Lord of Light a lot, that something similar would work equally well. And it's somewhat similar, superficially. Egypt religion instead of Indian, but regardless, high-powered gods with their own agendas, all that stuff.

City of Lies

by Sam Hawke · published 2018 · read 2021-06-13

White-hat assassin siblings have to defend the realm. It's a bit generic. Good parts: the role of the protagonist as defensive poison expert (unusual and refreshing), and a well-handled siege story. The truly stand-out part of the story was starting with the narrator highlighting the wonderful high-culture city they live in, and then pivoting over time to show the rotting foundations the realm is built on. Well-done, though having only the perspective of the whiny aristocracy took some getting used to.

A Better Way of Saying

by Sarah Pinsker · published 2021 · read 2022-03-02

Magic born in the silent movies, or rather, in the people reading out the dialog cards in movie theatres. Creative, fun, nice commentary on the power of language and editors (did Pinsker write this to appease her own editors? who knows). I'd have rated it higher from other authors, probably, but my standards for Pinsker are unreasonably high. Still a neat thing to read.

Beneath the Sugar Sky

by Seanan McGuire · published 2018 · read 2019-05-10

While Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire was yet another pleasant entry in the Wayward Children series, it didn't grab me nearly as much as the previous novellas. I'm not into Candyland in the first place, or that of the troupe of children on the rescue mission I only really liked half (and felt for those two or three). The whole story just felt flat, and I felt that the main character was more told than shown, and due to this and her tendency to inaction, she felt rather pale.

In an Absent Dream

by Seanan McGuire · published 2019 · read 2019-09-23

As with every book by Seanan McGuire, In an Absent Dream is full of charm and wit and very real observations about how children work. As a part of the Wayward Children series, we follow yet another child into a Door to a place that fits them very well. This time it is Lundy, who gets to see the Goblin Market. I liked a lot of it, because the characters are real and charming as ever, with some character growth and some failings that are painful to see, yet relatable.

Come Tumbling Down

by Seanan McGuire · published 2020 · read 2020-01-26

I liked Come Tumbling Down okay, but I feel it repeated previous plots. The worldbuilding and writing was still good, but I felt that character growth was taking place mostly between books. Both the boys involved were useless for most of the time, which is especially unfortunate with the trans guy cast in a (learned?) helplessness and inability to be of help.

For He Can Creep

by Siobhan Carroll · published 2019 · read 2020-02-12

Cat-lovers, take note: This short story lovingly combines cat stereotypes, and then goes two steps further. Very enjoyable.

Gideon the Ninth

by Tamsyn Muir · published 2019 · read 2020-02-15

Gideon the Ninth is popular, but didn't work for me – the first third (or so) felt very muddled and I was wondering why everybody seemed to love this book so much. It got better, but the world it played in never felt quite solid to me, and I'd have liked it much more with just a bit less flippancy? Grimdark with aggressively flippant protagonist has been done to death. Quality of writing and worldbuilding increased throughout the book, apart from the final battle, and I enjoyed how the characters were fleshed out (for most of them, at least).

Making Money

by Terry Pratchett · published 2007 · read 2008-09-01

As before, I didn't care about the protagonist, and not that much about the innovation commentary, either. I suspect the problem is same disinterest in economics that also makes me bounce of Charlie Stross's more economy-oriented sci-fi.

The Drawing of the Dark

by Tim Powers · published 1979 · read 2020-07-21

Taking place in Vienna, 1529, during the Turkish attack, this book is showing the struggle of "The West" and "The East" in the form of historical fantasy. The premise is, more or less, that the forces of East and West live in a constant struggle, magical and political, and at the same time, the world of magic has been losing power for the last 1500 years, because Christianity is hacking away at the root of it – soon, within 200 years, magic will be mostly gone.

Gifts

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2004 · read 2019-11-15

Gifts by Ursula Le Guin is one of the books that I will be able to remember clearly for its atmosphere for a long time, but I didn't actually particularly like it. It's good Fantasy, with a ton of character building and world building. The atmosphere is oppressive at times. Wish I could say more, but the slow pace of the book would turn most things into spoilers. I think I'll switch to Le Guin's nonfiction at this point.

Tehanu

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 1990 · read 2018-03-04

I liked the non-male focus on regular lives a lot! Tenar and Tenahu are both really cool. But the story was weird … pacing, content, it felt irregular and all over the place for me. Story 2/5, setting 4/5.

Tales from Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2001 · read 2018-04-03

A couple of short stories taking place in Earthsea. I enjoyed how all of them showed some characters we knew already (sometimes just in passing), but through the eyes of people who would count as "insignificant" in most stories.

Ensel und Krete. Ein Märchen aus Zamonien

by Walter Moers · published 2000 · read 2003-02-01

Bluebear was a great book. This is an okay book – more experimental in ways, and definitely less astounding. Where Bluebear means that you get an even balance of action and snark, and the City of Dreaming Book works even when you don't get literary snark, this book is just literary snark. I enjoyed it, but it's hard to recommend to anybody.

Unsouled

by Will Wight · published 2016 · read 2020-04-30

This was nice. Chinese inspired fantasy, but with a high escalation path into stellar politics among superpowered/ascended beings. The juxtaposition of the two ("low level farm boy" vs "god-like beings") was clumsy at times, and it cuts off early, but it was still relaxing to read.

Soulsmith

by Will Wight · published 2016 · read 2020-08-08

After resenting the cliffhanger ending in Unsouled, I'm more reconciled with this one. Once you expect the cliffhangers, after all, they can't hurt you. This second part of the Cradle series shows off why people praise it as progression fiction: There's exponential progression all over the place.

The Library of the Unwritten

by A.J. Hackwith · published 2019 · read 2020-10-30

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (did not finish)

The Library of the Unwritten clearly caters to book readers more than every book does in general: Fantasy where the hero is a supernatural librarian, on a quest to retrieve souls and books? Starring in a conflict between Hell and Heaven? Hell yeah.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

by Alix E. Harrow · published 2019 · read 2021-05-13

Coming-of-age stories are possibly just not for me anymore. The book-driven portal fantasy is nice enough, and the helping of "remember how bad turn-of-the-century racism is" is not bad if a bit forced, but … I just didn't care about the predictable story. If only there had been a bigger focus on the portals, or the portal writing, or the portal worlds … I can appreciate why this book is popular, but it felt more generic than it should have to me.

Dragonflight

by Anne McCaffrey · published 1968 · read 2022-03-13

Okay look. Dragonriders? A whole social group structured around dragons?!! A whole society slowly losing their belief in the ancient threat that made them support and accept the dragon riders? It sounds so, so good. But.

Peter Darling

by Austin Chant · published 2017 · read 2021-06-12

Peter Pan returns to Neverland, coming to terms with being a trans boy in bad old England. He starts out as a cruel boy and experiences some character growth … through the magic of Hook's pretty eyes? I don't know, y'all.

The Well of Ascension

by Brandon Sanderson · published 2007 · read 2019-07-15

I'm pampered by more recent Brandon Sanderson novels, and so I thought that the writing in The Well of Ascension (part two of Mistborn) was disappointing. Both the story arcs and character arcs were decent (and while patterns Sanderson likes are very noticeable, and he has gotten better at their execution, that wasn't so bad), but the writing made clear why people say they read Sanderson "for the plot, not for the writing". Had the plot been less plausible or the characters less likeable, I might have just stopped reading this book after the first couple of chapters. But I liked how Vin and her friends have agency and some development (even if it would've been great if it hadn't been slapped in my face repeatedly). Let's just see this book as a testament of how far Sanderson has come as a writer since then.

City of Bones

by Cassandra Clare · published 2007 · read 2016-11-20

YA fantasy. Clary loses her mother, finds her father Valentine and meets her brother Jace. Vampires, werewolves, fay, the works. Short, and enjoyable just like fast food is occasionally enjoyable. Twilight level with less thought and more action.

Eldest

by Christopher Paolini · published 2005 · read 2008-02-01

This may be where I discovered my love of training sequences – at least, the training is all I remember of this book. No great loss, I think. Was this my first overhyped generic fantasy book?

Brisingr

by Christopher Paolini · published 2008 · read 2009-06-01

A disappointing end to a disappointing series, if I recall correctly. Little happened, but everything was very dramatic. I never got around to reading the last part – the series was meant to be a trilogy, after all, and the necessity of splitting up the last volume didn't inspire confidence.

The Warlock in Spite of Himself

by Christopher Stasheff · published 1969 · read 2020-02-20

The Warlock in Spite of Himself has a really good setting.

An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors

by Curtis Craddock · published 2017 · read 2021-11-25

Faux-Bourbon France fantasy in a world where a weird magical faux-Christian religion has the nobility consist of mostly vampires (France), mostly teleporting mirror walkers (Spain) and various other descendents of "Apostles". It's all very swashbuckling.

Wizard’s Holiday

by Diane Duane · published 2003 · read 2016-05-13

This was a very generic book in the series. Didn't dislike it, but... yeah

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant

by Drew Hayes · published 2014 · read 2022-01-24

Saying that the title has better writing than the rest of the book would be cruel and not quite true (but.) … I had hoped for better. This is basically a short story collection, taped together, which is always tricky because while your short story readers will want a basic recap of who's who and who did what, I really don't want that every 20 pages in a book.

Ravencry

by Ed McDonald · published 2018 · read 2019-11-20

I did not finish Ravencry by Ed McDonald. It's not bad Fantasy, but it's not outstanding either, and I noticed I just didn't care about the story or the characters, and didn't even notice when I stopped reading for several weeks. Life is too short for books I'm not interested in.

The Alchemists of Loom

by Elise Kova · published 2017 · read 2020-05-06

Decent enough generic fantasy, but ends on such a blatant cliffhanger that I feel mor appalled then compelled to read the next part.

Range of Ghosts

by Elizabeth Bear · published 2012 · read 2020-05-08

Good worldbuilding on the Mongolian inspired Fantasy, but I'm generally not a fan of books that end on a cliffhanger without even an attempt at providing an internal arc, and this bothered me a lot. First book by Elizabeth Bear and not something I'll continue reading any time soon, I think.

Artemis Fowl

by Eoin Colfer · published 2001 · read 2004-02-01

Artemis Fowl was fun at the time – I particularly enjoyed decoding the secret message in the decoration on every page. It was a good thing to read at the time, but nothing I'm going to revisit any time soon – I don't think it would stand up to a re-read.

The Arctic Incident

by Eoin Colfer · published 2002 · read 2004-06-01

Arguably an instance of the second book being better than the first book: We see more of Holly, Artemis is forced to cooperate. There's more banter, there's more depth to both our heroes, and the plot is more intriguing.

The Eternity Code

by Eoin Colfer · published 2003 · read 2005-12-01

Artemis gets more growth and a mind wipe, both completely deserved. Holly gets less growth and more voice, which is also nice. All in all an enjoyable book, up to the standard set by Arctic Incident, and better than the first book.

The Opal Deception

by Eoin Colfer · published 2005 · read 2005-10-01

Artemis does some more Artemis things. I don't have any memories of this book at all.

The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized

by ErraticErrata · published 2015 · read 2022-02-06

More of the same, with the novelty worn off a bit. Some new interesting Roles (Bumbling Conjurer, Exiled Prince), and some hints at future escalation into less of the pedestrian wars with soldiers at borders and more of the world/universe crushing stuff. There's a lot of maneuvering against the protagonist's villainous nemesis, which I didn't really care about. But then, I didn't care about the big battles, either – I just hung around for the worldbuilding (which had some really good moments).

Soulless

by Gail Carriger · published 2009 · read 2020-07-22

Victorian London, just with vampires and werewolves – both of which very proper and integrated – and propriety, corsets, hats, gossip, and all other Victorian stereotypes. It's Urban Fantasy, complete with the sassy, abrasive, clever, female protagonist and a handsome werewolf.

A Feast for Crows

by George R.R. Martin · published 2005 · read 2013-07-01

This is where I stopped reading the series, for lack of caring what happened to the characters.

Starship’s Mage: Omnibus

by Glynn Stewart · published 2014 · read 2019-11-22

I really liked the premise of Glynn Stewart's Starship Mage, but the execution was meh enough to get me to drop the book two thirds in. A world with magic for space travel, with defined rules and organisations and governance? Super cool, sign me up!

A Mist of Grit and Splinters

by Graydon Saunders · published 2020 · read 2021-06-08

Saunders goes back to military fiction here, and I didn't find any part of it particularly compelling, apart from the sneaky worldbuilding updates. The characters had enough personal stories, but didn't interest me, the overarching plot was slow, and the time jumping (there are five parts to the book, all start at the same time and move forward) didn't really work for me and was annoying to keep track of.

The Misplaced Legion

by Harry Turtledove · published 1987 · read 2021-02-16

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ (did not finish)

When a Roman legion fights some Gauls, they are magically placed in a different world. This world has actual magic, has never heard from their world, and the society and politics closely resemble the Byzantian empire. Turtledove clearly knows his history, and makes sure to show how the legion adapts to the different world, the different language, the different gods. He handles that part well.

The Cruel Prince

by Holly Black · published 2018 · read 2021-08-16

Teenagers are pulled from their normal life to grow up with their half-sibling in Faerie. All the tropes included: no lies but lots of politics, cruel magic, muggle-baiting, beauty with sharp edges. The characters are pretty one-dimensional, and every twist is visible from half a book away. I liked how the protagonist made use of her ability to lie and the fae's tendency to not even suspect lies, but it's not enough to carry a book.

The Mechanical

by Ian Tregillis · published 2015 · read 2020-09-30

The Mechanical by Ian Tregellis is a case of the scenario being better than the implementation (though not as bad as it could've been). The scenario: in the late 1400s, a Dutch alchemist manages to create quasi-robots, the titular Mechanicals. With this power, the Dutch take over the world in place of the British. In roughly our time, the only remainder of non-Dutch Europe is a French resistance in North America. The Dutch are extremely Calvinist and say that machines can't feel or think, while the French are naturally Catholic and have decided that the mechanicals do have souls and enslaving them is bad (mostly to spite the Dutch, I think). Also, their spymaster is called Talleyrand (and happens to be female and one of the POV characters). Which is very cool.

One Fell Sweep

by Ilona Andrews · published 2016 · read 2021-04-29

Ensemble casts are very hit and miss for me, and this one was a miss. The Innkeeper Chronicles have an ensemble cast by design, but this book added more family (the protagonist's sister and niece) to the mix, and that one plus a siege story just didn't do it for me. Still a nice comfort read, but not generally it.

Clean Sweep

by Ilona Andrews · published 2013 · read 2021-03-13

Ilona Andrews, who I only knew from her Kate Daniels series, with the magical tavern/innkeeper trope. This is significantly worse than Kate Daniels – writing quality, plot quality, worldbuilding, characters: Everything. Apparently this series grew out of an online serial, which accounts for some of it.

Son of a Liche

by J. Zachary Pike · published 2018 · read 2022-01-15

Second part to the series started in Orconomics, this book toned down its predecessor's drawbacks … but also its features. It has lessed forced humour, but also less actually emotional content. It's told at a slight distance, and turns into a mediocre blob instead of Orconomics and its mix of really good and really meh.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

by J.K. Rowling · published 2008 · read 2017-05-31

Meh. I expected more (in volume, at least), and the Dumbledore parts reminded me awfully of Kästner in Pünktchen & Anton, where he felt the need to explain lots of stuff, especially the political implications. I think Rowling might have done better to trust her readers to think for themselves.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

by J.K. Rowling · published 2003 · read 2003-01-01

My low point of the series. I remember getting this book, at a midnight release party, and then reading it within the next day. I wasn't immediately disappointed, but I hated the whole "teenager yells at cloud" thing, and while Umbridge was delightfully evil, I just wasn't on board with the weird plot shape and the growing pains.

The Silmarillion

by J.R.R. Tolkien · published 1977 · read 2008-01-01

The big unreadable but brilliant book of Middle Earth. I have a love-hate relationship with that thing, not gonna lie.

The Black Tides of Heaven

by J.Y. Yang · published 2017 · read 2021-06-10

Asian-inspired genderfun fantasy. Didn't compel me at all: the plot wasn't as focused as the short length warranted, and the characters didn't stand out to me at all. The plot was compressed and considering the high odds and tragedy, didn't make me care at all.

The Just City

by Jo Walton · published 2015 · read 2020-03-10

A very cerebral, nearly clinical book, and I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I'm very here for the character of Socrates, and … not much else, to be quite honest. It's a fun concept, but I felt that even where it tried to go past the clinical, detached nature, it remained off. High quality, but not for me.

Jewel of the Endless Erg

by John Bierce · read 2020-10-22

More Mage Errant: Learning magic and running into catastrophes. Our plucky heroes predictably save the day at scale, and also experience personal growth and friendship and blah blah. The story isn't bad, as YA goes, and the worldbuilding is in many ways cool, but the writing is shoddy.

A Traitor in Skyhold

by John Bierce · published 2019 · read 2020-10-23

Isn't it weird how fanfics often are obsessed with presents that characters give one another? It's as if the author yells "birthday o'clock motherfuckers" and has to follow up with a list of presents, and then, of course, also fit all of the presents into the future storyline. I call it Pavlov-Chekhov's Present. It's obnoxious and one of the things that makes the Mage Errant books read like fanfic, and great passages to illustrate how the writing could be so much more.

The Lost City of Ithos

by John Bierce · published 2020 · read 2021-01-26

Currently the last part of the Mage Errant series, I was not all that much in love with this book. It's the set-up to drag the whole series out, in that Fantasy spiral of upping the stakes forever. Characters were still okay (though mostly carried by the work of the previous parts), but the plot turned very generic..

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

by John Tiffany · published 2016 · read 2016-08-08

I'm very much not impressed by this bood.

Widdershins

by Jordan L. Hawk · published 2012 · read 2022-01-13

Popcorn read: Victorian encounters with the paranormal continue, but this time it's in the US. A timid philologist from a wealthy family (have to do without nobility in the US, after all) meets a Dresden-style magician for hire. They need to solve a mystery that has its solution foreshadowed so strongly, I nearly couldn't see the text under all the shadow.

Flight of Magpies

by K.J. Charles · published 2014 · read 2022-01-23

by K.J. Parker · published 2019 · read 2021-04-27

Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City

Badass titles are the clickbait of the literary world, and this one worked very well on me. The book was not quite as good as the title. It was a bit too smug and too self-involved and too busy being clever. It's pseudo-Roman military engineering with a snarky first-person narrator. Fantasy Rome doing Fantasy Roman things: the book.

Salt Magic, Skin Magic

by Lee Welch · published 2018 · read 2022-01-12

More Victorian urban history queer romance with an aristocrat with evil family and a lower-class magician – please somebody tell my why this is such a huge thing. I could do without the repetitiveness and the everything while just enjoying parts of the setting.

Der Glanz des Mondes

by Lian Hearn · published 2004 · read 2006-05-01

As set up by the previous book, everybody is being stupid and then there is a lot of battling and death. Not a fan.

The Curse of Chalion

by Lois McMaster Bujold · published 2001 · read 2021-04-25

Bujold has a type. The type here being "adult physically broken but very clever reluctant hero, who meddles with aristocracy without being a ruler himself". It's not like they are the same person: there are differences between Miles Vorkosigan and Cazaril. Caz had a much worse life and less privileges, and is also less (over-)confident. But the parallels are very much there.

Shadows Return

by Lynn Flewelling · published 2008 · read 2021-07-20

This is where I stop reading the Nightrunner series. The protagonists are kidnapped after a lengthy exposition part. The kidnappers are, well, how do I put this? From a country where rich men keep harems and slaves, and where the masters have darker skin and curly beards. That's not even fantasy racism, it's just regular racism. Evil arabs seem to have been acceptable way longer than most other lazy racist stereotypes.

Stravaganza: City of Masks

by Mary Hoffman · published 2002 · read 2007-09-01

Intrigue in magical Venice that our protagonist can dream himself into. Not terrible, not great. I liked the premise more than the execution.

Lexicon

by Max Barry · published 2013 · read 2020-08-21

Neat enough premise: NLP is magic, special words can persuade and coerce humans into any action. With a few well-chosen questions you can figure out any person's category (out of <1000), and then apply magic words that bypass consciousness and allow for deep manipulation and commands. These words are taught in a school that is – surprise – not exactly lawful-good.

Clay’s Ark

by Octavia E. Butler · published 1984 · read 2019-01-08

Man, Octavia Butler doesn't do nice – in the end, there's always violence/rape/horror. I'm starting to see a little too many parallels between her books in terms of characters involved, and the general feeling/direction, so I'll probably lay off them for a while. I still enjoyed Clay's Ark (which is part of the Patternmaster series, although VERY loosely connected), but it's not a book I'd care to read again.

God Stalk

by P.C. Hodgell · published 1982 · read 2021-07-01

God Stalk is a lot, and I think it's too much. The world is rich and the author glosses over much of it – which is something I like when done well (the city the book takes place in has strong China Mieville vibes!), but here it feels hasty and unfortunate.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

by Patrick Rothfuss · published 2014 · read 2018-09-28

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella in Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle and didn't work for me at all. It's very lyrical, with beautiful, lyrical prose for its own sake, but it didn't touch me. It's like Rilke without any substance.

The Daylight War

by Peter V. Brett · published 2013 · read 2018-07-28

Ugh. The start of the series seems to have raised a bar the other books can't quite meet. While my criticism of the second volume (too little character development) is met and answered beautifully on all counts, the story drags along a lot. While showing known scenes from a second viewpoint was cute in the second volume, it grew tedious here, and I felt that the pacing between story development and flashbacks was uneven.

Canticle

by R.A. Salvatore · published 1991 · read 2022-03-16

Canticle by R.A. Salvatore is just D&D style fantasy. As you'd expect from the early 90s (no offense, present company excluded): It's pretty generic, with flat characters, badass fights, and a very good vs evil outlook on life.

Pala und die seltsame Verflüchtigung der Worte

by Ralf Isau · published 2002 · read 2004-11-01

Pala is a book about language, about literature, about poetry – and yet, I didn't really like it. Maybe it's that I had high expectations from Franz Fühmann's masterwork, or that it just felt like it was trying too hard. Whatever it was, despite all the reasons I should love it, I don't.

Nine Princes in Amber

by Roger Zelazny · published 1970 · read 2020-06-29

I wish I could have liked Nine Princes in Amber. It has a lot going for it: It is Fantasy, but very nonstandard, all the while playing with the default Fantasy tropes. It's unapologetically weird. I adored the weirdness. I could even have lived with the lame storytelling device of "protagonist loses memory, brings reader up to speed", if only …

The City of Brass

by S.A. Chakraborty · published 2017 · read 2021-09-04

Set in Napoleonic Egypt, this is the story of Djinn, Daeva and related beings. Didn't do much for me – the concept of a hidden city of supernatural beings with tons of infighting sounded intriguing, and the stagesetting very promising, but. The protagonist is kind of flat and predictably Chosen (doesn't remember her childhood, knows magic language, has special powers, is very poor), and the dynamic between her and her semi-romantic sidekick fell extremely flat.

Romanitas

by Sophia McDougall · published 2005 · read 2020-07-29

After reading The Dragon Waiting, I wanted more Alternate History, and Romanitas seemed like an obvious choice. It's, to say it with the recommendation, Fatherland but with Rome. In a world with current-time tech, the Roman Empire has never fallen, it never even moved to Byzantium. All of society is just as in the Rome of Tiberius, only with tech. So we have no emancipation, an Imperial family with an Emperor choosing his successor, and of course: slavery and crucifiction, with high-tech iron crosses along major roads.

Stoker’s Wilde

by Steven Hopstaken · published 2019 · read 2021-03-14

Imagine, if you will, Bram Stoker: a dour, somewhat dull man who is always out of place in the illustrious company of his fellow fantastical authors – like a clerk joining a circus. Do you really believe that this man came up with Dracula, of all things?

The Dirty Streets of Heaven

by Tad Williams · published 2012 · read 2017-07-11

In the end it was horribly predictable, sometimes fun urban fantasy with angels and demons and stuff.

Wizard’s First Rule

by Terry Goodkind · published 1994 · read 2016-10-24

This book could have been classic fantasy. It has all the right ingredients: Richard, the Woman, the Wizard, the Quest, the Traitor, the Evil Antagonist. Boring? Yes. Schematic? Couldn't be more so. But still, a lot of Fantasy works like this. It's not a crime, and in some regards, this book is just one of those very mediocre SFF books:

The Wild Girls

by Ursula K. Le Guin · published 2011 · read 2018-07-13

The Wild Girls by Ursula K. Le Guin contains a short story/novelly named like the book, two essays, a couple of poems, and an interview with the author. I liked the short story well enough, but it was like the remainder of the book: agreeable but inconsequential. The essays held opinions I liked, without anything actionable, and the interview showed a person I liked, but nothing more than that.

A Darker Shade of Magic

by V.E. Schwab · published 2015 · read 2020-07-18

A Darker Shade of Magic should be a book I like a whole lot: Decent writing, imperfect characters, parallel worlds – particularly parallel Londons – connected by magic, this book has it all.

Knightley Academy

by Violet Haberdasher · published 2010 · read 2020-06-04

Knightly Academy is, in a sentence, a conservative Harry Potter knockoff without magic.

Zamonien. Entdeckungsreise durch einen phantastischen Kontinent. Von A wie Anagrom Ataf bis Z wie Zamomin

by Walter Moers · published 2012 · read 2020-12-27

Even though I love the Zamonien books as much as anybody, this … was not it. This book is an encyclopaedia for the fictional continent Zamonien, as a tie-in for all the other books by Walter Moers. And I understand everybody who loved it, in a nostalgic way, thinking back to when they first read the Zamonion books. But damn, this is so limited, like a big missed chance.

Der Schrecksenmeister

by Walter Moers · published 2007 · read 2008-07-01

I wasn't the biggest fan of this book, possibly because I thought that I had to read the book it was satirising first. I didn't have to do that, and it wasn't a lot of fun. I was impressed with the food porn though – when Moers sets his mind to really describing something, you're going to notice.

Das Labyrinth der Träumenden Bücher

by Walter Moers · published 2011 · read 2011-10-01

Well, this was an exercise in disappointment. The follow-up book to the City of Dreaming Books is strictly worse than its predecessor. It reads as if Moers needed money and so decided to make a bad B-movie following his great blockbuster. Nearly put me off reading future Moers books entirely.

Sorcerer to the Crown

by Zen Cho · published 2015 · read 2020-05-03

Really didn't like this one, partly because I'm not in the target group (not female, not PoC), partly because I thought the worldbuilding was shoddy. Pre-victorian British wizards have been done better, and I thought the Montague siblings series did a better job of portraying racism in Great Britain at the time.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

by C.S. Lewis · published 1950 · read 2002-06-01

Confession: I hated the Narnia books when I first read them, and I don't care enough to update my opinion. I hated the transparent religion shilling going on, I hated everything about the dour moralising, and I felt personally offended at Lion Jesus. Man.

Prince Caspian

by C.S. Lewis · published 1951 · read 2002-10-01

After the first Narnia book, I thought that things might get better, or that this was a series that just had an unfortunate first book.

Captive Prince

by C.S. Pacat · published 2013 · read 2022-01-25

Word to the wise: this is not an "m/m fantasy romance". It's m/m, and it's fantasy, but mostly it's … slavery harem smut? I don't even know. Wouldn't have thought twice if this had been on AO3, but billed as fantasy, the lack of any serious reflection on the horrors or downsides of slavery, rape and oppression is a bit stunning. I'm guessing this is like a small-scale Fifty Shades thing, where people enjoy the horny parts and forget to also use their brain when later recommending the story to people.

City of Ashes

by Cassandra Clare · published 2008 · read 2016-11-20

Works as a second volume. Clary is still an annoying teenager and gains powers. Nobody really dies, but that's ok. The evil father Valentine is very generic in his evilness.

City of Glass

by Cassandra Clare · published 2009 · read 2016-11-22

Very generic, predictable YA. Yawn.

Eragon

by Christopher Paolini · published 2002 · read 2003-12-01

Sometimes it's just down to the order or operations. I read Eragon after the Lord of the Rings, and so I disliked it and thought much of its plot was a cheap knock-off version with more wish fulfillment. That was not entirely fair, but I was ten at the time and being angry about bad books was my thing. It's certainly an impressive book considering the age of the author at the time.

The Shadow of the Torturer

by Gene Wolfe · published 1980 · read 2018-03-12

Really not sure what to think. Odd pacing, odd descriptions, odd … everything? I just didn't find my way into this world and this rhythm. The storytelling is a stylistic choice that makes sense within that world, but requires a dedication I don't feel motivated for (think Tolkien).

The Core

by Peter V. Brett · published 2017 · read 2018-10-24

The Core concludes the Demon Cycle series by Peter Brett, and it was a disappointment to me. While we still get a couple of cool side characters, the main cast has grown unrelatable to me. The story often felt like a mix of fanfiction and a detailed narration of a video game: hack, slash, get your dreams, feel mandatory doubt and off you go to your heroic journey, filled with never-too-difficult enemies. The bit of relevant character development itself (Renna, mostly) seemed to have taken place between books.

Der Galerie der Lügen, oder, Der unachtsame Schläfer

by Ralf Isau · published 2005 · read 2017-01-28

Horrid amounts of weirdly religious propaganda... Very similar to Narnia, only for adults.

Die Träume des Jonathan Jabbok

by Ralf Isau · published 1995 · read 2007-10-01

Too much christian undertones, overtones, and everything in between. Very Narnia style.

Twilight

by Stephenie Meyer · published 2005 · read 2008-10-01

First famous for the bad love story and the sparkling vampire, then famous for the SM fanfic. I dutifully read it right when I was the correct age and hated it.

Gardens of the Moon

by Steven Erikson · published 1999 · read 2019-01-05

I did not finish Gardens of the Moon – I gave up after a month, and that's saying something with 180+ read things in 2018. I just wasn't feeling it. It dragged on and on and on and – I'm sure this is a good book to many, and I have the feeling that the thing missing in Dune is also costing me Gardens of the Moon, but I won't even try this again.

Das Paradies der Schwerter

by Tobias O. Meißner · published 2004 · read 2022-01-19

Well, at least I'll learn to not trust /r/fantasy recommendations blindly. Praised as a really good piece of German Fantasy, where the author increased the tension by letting dice rolls decide the outcome of battles, I was cautiously optimistic.

Vicious

by V.E. Schwab · published 2013 · read 2021-06-20

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ (did not finish)

Villain protagonists are cool in theory, but hard to do well, and I didn't feel like Schwab got it right. It's not that there is no motivation or background, it's more that the protagonist is an asshole and I don't enjoy spending time with assholes.

Divergent

by Veronica Roth · published 2011 · read 2016-10-11