Dr. Greta Helsing Books #2 and #3 from Vivian Shaw: Quirky Contemporary Fantasy (Book Reviews)
In her Dr. Greta Helsing series, author Vivian Shaw mixes weird science, likable characters, and tongue-in-cheek humor in a contemporary fantasy brew. Not as gritty as some urban fantasy, the books are built around Helsing’s career as a medical doctor to supernatural...Book Review: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (Sorcerer Royal #1)
The publisher summary of Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho focuses on Zacharias Wythe, who is England’s young Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers. But for me, this imaginative fantasy is as much about the female lead Prunella, as it is about Zacharias. And Cho...Book Review: Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Zone One from Colson Whitehead isn’t your typical zombie novel. Not that I’m a regular reader of the genre. But I know my fantasy and horror. What Whitehead does is show us the mind of one man in his post-pandemic world. (Yes, I read another pandemic book.) This world...Book Reviews: Nora Roberts – Chronicles of The One, Books 2 and 3
I never thought about Nora Roberts as a fantasy author until she published Year One in 2017. When I finally listened to the audiobook last fall, I thought it was a gripping 4-star combination of post-pandemic survivalist epic and magical (or magickal as Roberts spells...Book Review: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Marion Zimmer Bradley creates King Arthur’s story from a female-centric viewpoint in The Mists of Avalon. Instead of focusing on the men—Arthur, Lancelet, the various Knights—she uses the perspectives of the women in their lives. Her main characters are Arthur’s wife...Book Review: The Midsummer Wife by Jacqueline Simonds (The Heirs of Camelot #1)
Jacqueline Simonds offers an urban fantasy with a side helping of Arthurian legend in The Midsummer Wife. It’s a tantalizing reading combination, especially in a time when we know our leaders by their tweets rather than by their ancestry. Set in the near future, the...Book Review: Year One by Nora Roberts
Year One by Nora Roberts is an interesting choice to follow my recent reads by Tosca Lee and J. D. Horn. It combines elements of each book into a satisfying post-pandemic adventure with a magical twist. It’s more about escaping the big city than Lee’s focus on the...The Final Days of Magic by J. D. Horn (New Orleans Witches #3)
The Final Days of Magic is my last shot at the New Orleans Witches series. And I’ve discovered that none of the characters matter very much to me. Even if author J.D. Horn writes another book in the series, I won’t be following along. I’m disappointed to be leaving...Book Review: The Oyster Thief by Sonia Faruqi
Sonia Faruqi writes her debut novel as a mash-up of mermaid fantasy and oceanic conservation information. Unfortunately, it’s more mashed than up. I abandoned it after 100 pages.The parallel story lines of a human and a mermaid are a trope that goes back to old-school...Book Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Madeline Miller tells a story replete with Greek gods, kings, warriors, battles, and death. And yet what it’s really about is the love between Achilles and Patroclus. Both young men are high born princes. Achilles is also half god, with a human father and goddess...Book Review: The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston (Found Things #1)
In the first of a new series from Paula Brackston, Xanthe Westlake and her mother Flora move to small town Marlborough to rebuild their lives. Flora bought the property and stock from a now-deceased fellow antiques dealer and retailer. He left the place in a pretty...Book Review: Ghost Gifts by Laura Spinella
Ghost Gifts from author Laura Spinella was a good balance for my recent more serious reads. But it wasn’t much more than a fluff piece. Main character Aubrey Ellis is a journalist, working on real estate features at a small town paper. She’s also a medium, willingly...Book Review: Angel Time by Anne Rice
In Angel Time, Anne Rice tells the story of a present-day hit man, a former parochial school student. The narrator is his guardian angel. After learning about his depressing descent from down on his luck school boy to a life of crime, we meet said angel. And together...Book Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard #1) by Scott Lynch
Scott Lynch creates a fantastical world with intriguing characters in The Lies of Locke Lamora. As the first in a series, he must do plenty of world-building in his island city of Camorr. But that never overshadows the action and excitement of the story line. And his...Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book from Neil Gaiman is a charming, middle-grade, coming-of-age story. I listened to the full-cast audiobook, and followed along via ebook.Nobody Owens (called Bod by his friends) is a human, orphaned boy who just happens to live in a graveyard. His...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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