The Amber Spyglass is the thrilling conclusion to Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Our young heroes, Lyra and Will, have been separated and need to find each other. Once they do it’s a grueling trip to literal Hell and back for them. Elsewhere mortals and angels fight Heaven for true free will. [Warning: Spoilers from The Amber Spyglass are below!
Read MoreThe story of Lyra that began in The Golden Compass (Northern Lights outside the US) continues and expands in Philip Pullman’s The Subtle Knife. At the end of The Golden Compass, Lyra leaves her world and enters an entirely new universe and that is where we start in The Subtle Knife. For a quick recap of the first entry in Pullman’s
Read MoreThe Golden Compass (Northern Lights outside the US) by Philip Pullman has been a favorite book of mine for literally twenty-seven years. I bought my copy from a book order in the third grade and I have read it… more than twenty-seven times! Something about this fantasy world where people have daemons and polar bears can talk caught my eight-year-old imagination
Read MoreThe Cuckoo is the third installment in the Under the Northern Sky trilogy from writer Leo Carew. His first two books in the series The Wolf and The Spider were released to a great deal of both critical and reader acclaim. He has been called the next George R.R. Martin by some and fans have been eagerly awaiting The Cuckoo. It
Read MoreThe Heart of Iuchiban by Evan Dicken is set in the mystical world of Rokugan. From the popular Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying and card games, Rokugan is a fantasy world based roughly on feudal Japan. There are seven clans (Crane, Lion, Crab, Scorpion, Unicorn, Phoenix, and Dragons) that divide the land of Rokugan and there is little love or
Read MoreMagic and mystery, trust and betrayal, Empire of Exiles has it all. Set in the walled city of Semilla, Erin M. Evans spins an intriguing tale of murder and secrets that are forced into the light in the devastating aftermath of a seemingly unexplainable attack. Quill, an apprentice scribe, must decide who he can trust as he investigates further into the
Read MoreMost fantasy books tend to be set in a medieval or, at best, Renaissance, time period. Or they take place in some alternate world that mimics our notions of these times. With The Last Raven by Steve McHugh, we’re offered a rare fantasy novel that is set in both modern times and the real world. I mean, the FBI is a huge
Read MoreWe all love to ask these questions when thinking about our favorite stories. What if Cinderella didn’t lose her shoe? What if Belle hadn’t shown the villagers the beast? And what if Tiana had accepted the Shadow Man’s deal? How would these choices have changed their stories? Well, Disney’s Twisted Tale series allows us to indulge in these fantasies and see
Read MoreUncanny Times: A Huntsmen Novel tells the story of sister and brother Rosemary and Aaron Harker. They have been trained since birth to hunt down and kill the uncanny. The uncanny are supernatural creatures of all different varieties. It’s basically the TV show Supernatural, set in 1913 and it’s great. Uncanny Times is the first of a potential series by author Laura
Read MoreWelcome to Blunder, a kingdom cut off from the rest of the world by a strange mist. Here magic is real and dangerous. There is sanctioned magic connected to providence cards that are allowed and “wild” magic that comes from the mist and is outlawed. Most people live in fear of the mist and the wild magic but some think that
Read More29 years ago we were blessed with possibly the best Halloween movie ever, Hocus Pocus. Now there is a sequel coming out on Disney + on September 30 and I can’t wait. Luckily I didn’t have to; well sorta. That’s because a sequel to the original story, Hocus Pocus and The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha was released as a novel
Read MoreHBO’s upcoming House of the Dragon, a prequel to their highly successful Game of Thrones series, is based upon George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Blood, itself a prequel to his Song of Ice and Fire books. In anticipation of the series, it seemed fun to go ahead and read the source material but it turned out to be a very boring
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