August 25, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
A Dance of Cloaks is a story with a very large cast of characters. At it’s heart there is Thren Felhorn, master of the Spider Guild, and his son Aaron. There are several other thieves guilds with their leaders and lieutenants. There is the king and his main adviser. There are …
August 18, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy, Historical Fiction | No Comments
Sky in the Deep is an amazing, well written book based on Viking lore. It is an incredibly rich well told story about a young Aska warrior, Eelyn. The story begins on the battlefield where once again the Aska face off against their traditional enemy, the Riki. Five years previously, Eelyn …
August 17, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Daughter of the Pirate King is a fun story. Like many pirate tales, there is a good mix of action, adventure, and romance. A difference is that the main character, Alosa, is female. She is the daughter of the pirate king and captain of a ship in his fleet. The …
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller Read More »
August 10, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
First off, let me say that Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is not Harry Potter fan fiction. There are a ton of parallels. Simon, the main character, is the “Chosen One.” He was an orphan. He is attending a school for magicians in England. His roommate Baz, and the start …
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – Or Harry Potter in the Fun House Mirror Read More »
July 31, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I love creative fantasies with rich, unique world building. In A Darker Shade of Magic V. E. Schwab brings that to the table. In the story, there are parallel worlds which are each very different, but have one thing in common: they each have a London. There are four Londons: White, Grey, …
June 3, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
In many ways, Blood of the Four is an amazing story. There are Four gods buried below the city. The priesthood protects and grows powerful from their magic. The monarchy is descended from the Four and the blood of the gods flows in their veins. A mad queen wants all …
Blood of the Four by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon Read More »
December 31, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Have you noticed the tendency of authors to focus on books and reading? Take The Reader by Traci Chee as an example of this self-reflective preoccupation. This is not surprising given that writing and books, and readers and reading, are at the center of an author’s life. However, there are …
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine – Of Books and Libraries Read More »
August 25, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I listened to the audiobook version of The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler, read by Kate Rudd. The story opens with the Duke of Kiskaddon returning home from battle. His side was victorious, but there was a small problem, or rather a major problem. At a crucial point in the battle, …
June 14, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I’m a big Scott Westerfeld fan and was pretty psyched to start reading Zeroes. It is the story about 6 teenagers who each have a unique, special power. I wouldn’t call them “super powers,” though they were pretty cool: Flicker is blind but can see through other people’s eyes. Crash …
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti Read More »
April 2, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Star-Touched Queen takes place in the milieu of Hindu mythology: the worlds of gods, goddesses, demons, illusion, and reincarnation. The story is about Maya, a young princess in a kingdom that has long been at war with the many surrounding kingdoms. In a bid to bring peace, her father …
February 21, 2017 by Cindy McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Fifth Season is a compelling and multifaceted story set on a geologically unstable and volatile “Earth”. Earthquakes and volcanoes are a constant threat and if severe enough can cause a fifth season, or extended winter, due to the amount of dust and ash sent up into the atmosphere. Tsunamis …
February 19, 2017 by Cindy McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I just finished listening to The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman. The narrator, Fiona Hardingham, an accomplished actress and reader, picked me up, transported me to Regency London and set me down among the aristocracy. It is 1812 and Lady Helen Wrexhall is 18 and ready to go out …
February 18, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
I was immediately hooked by The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. As an anthropologist, I had read a number of works by “armchair anthropologists” that tracked the history of science through the Victorian era, the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, the gradual unearthing of fossils that called into question …
February 16, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Cindy spoke highly of Truthwitch, by Susan Dennard, so I decided to read it also. Her review of Truthwitch really does a good job of summing up the book, so I won’t cover the same ground. Rather, I’ll report that the book was fun to read and that its fast pace …
January 14, 2017 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Sefia, the main character of The Reader, had a happy childhood and was loved by her parents and close to her Aunt. However, they had prepared her a hiding place in case something bad happened. One day assassins come and kill her parents and she goes into her secret room …