November 3, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Emperor’s Blades is the story of three royal siblings, two princes and a princess, whose lives are thrown into chaos when their father, the king, is assassinated. The eldest, Kaden, the heir to the throne, was sent away to a remote mountain monastery at the far reaches of the …
September 9, 2019 by Cindy McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Tennessee is a state awash in folk tales, legends and tall tales including the well-known stories of Davy Crockett, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind and Casey Jones. A Snicker of Magic is a charming tale filled with magical realism that fits right in with the spirit of Tennessee storytelling. Although …
August 7, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is the story of a 17 year old art student, Karou, who lives in Prague. When she gets together with her friends they share the art they have been working on, Karou has wonderful drawings of fantastical creators in her journal that tell stories about …
June 13, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Fell Sword is the second book in Miles Cameron’s five book “The Traitor Son Cycle” series. It picks up where the first book left off. The book is about a company of mercenaries and their captain, the Red Knight. In this installment, the company comes to the rescue of …
April 21, 2019 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Red Knight by Miles Cameron is a sword and magic type of fantasy story. The Red Knight is a bit of a mysterious character. He is the leader of a mercenary company and is unusually young to hold that position. In the early part of the book we know …
December 21, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
Fire & Blood, by George R R Martin, provides the background history for the Game of Thrones series. Purportedly, the narrative is the piecing together of the various histories of the Targaryen royal family’s uniting of the seven kingdoms and rule of Westeros, so as to present the most accurate …
Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin Read More »
November 3, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy, Romance | No Comments
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a pretty amazing book. It is a story that takes place in a dystonian future and is about Juliette, who has survived alone in prison without seeing another person. This isn’t a story of someone wrongly accused. Juliette is in for murder and she believes she …
October 19, 2018 by David McCan | Fantasy | No Comments
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater is a young adult paranormal story about Blue, her family, and some boys from a nearby private school. Everyone in Blue’s family is psychic … except for her. Blue does have a gift, she acts as an amplifier for other psychics. Blue has had …
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 »