fantasy Archives

Cruel Prince, The

The Way of Faerie Author: Holly Black Most fairy tales – most real, unvarnished fairy tales – begin with blood and violence. The Cruel Prince is no exception. Madoc, an angry fey seeking his runaway ex-wife and their half-fairy child (Vivi) shows up one day to turn a peaceful cottage scene into one of murder and mayhem. But Madoc has rules, ruthless as he is, and he takes not only his true child, but his ex-wife’s human children by another man, Jude and Taryn, under his wing. It is, after all, the brutal law of faerie. The girls, however, have [...]

Frances Carden2023-01-22T13:19:50-07:00January 22nd, 2023|Tags: book review, fairy, fantasy, read, reading, ya|

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s Adventures in a Drug Induced Psychotic Haze Author: Lewis Carroll I’ve been wanting to read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland since encountering the Cheshire Cat’s delightful conversation with a confused Alice a few years ago. The quote, which is on a delightful magnet in the entrance to my cube at work is: “‘But I don’t want to go among mad people,’ Alice remarked. ‘Oh, you can’t help that,’ said the Cat: ‘we’re all mad here.’” Something about the esoteric insanity, the tongue-and-cheek sardonic nature of the leering cat and the little girl who keeps making increasingly bad decisions seemed charming. For [...]

Frances Carden2022-12-29T09:23:08-07:00December 27th, 2022|Tags: book review, fantasy, fiction, read, reading, reviews, science fiction|

River of Silver

A Look Back at Daevabad Author: S.A. Chakraborty S.A. Chakraborty can write. I would probably read (and enjoy) her grocery list. Heck, I’d probably get it in hardback and add it to my limited shelf space. Chakraborty is that good. She is a literary siren, and you cannot walk away from even the most basic of her stories (as though she ever tells a story that is not multifaceted and rich with history and culture.) So, it’s no surprise that The River of Silver, odd offering that it is, is perfection. Now, I’m not really a short story person, but [...]

Frances Carden2022-11-20T11:59:51-07:00November 20th, 2022|Tags: book review, Daevabad, fantasy, read, reading|