Tag: Fantasy

Book Thoughts3 Comments

Buddy Reading A Darker Shade of Magic with Lynn

bkfrgr

Not long ago, Lynn and I read Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic together and agreed that Wyrd and Wonder would be a great time to post our discussion, and so here it is. For anyone who doesn’t know Lynn (and I am side-eying you vehemently) she is an awesome blogger, one of the very first I started following and responsible for a goodly wedge of my TBR, both stacks and lists. She also takes part in SPFBO every year and has done since the beginning I believe (please correct me if I’m wrong there, Lynn?), which is no mean … Continue reading Buddy Reading A Darker Shade of Magic with Lynn

Book Thoughts11 Comments

Desert Island Reads (a Wyrd & Wonder tag/challenge/prompt)

bkfrgr

  This is a very special Wyrd and Wonder tag/challenge/prompt created by our one and only imyril, because she’s the frigging BEST!! I’ve quoted the rules directly from her post, below, and while I can’t force anyone to do this, I will hunt you down if you don’t.   Just kidding. *snorts with laughter*   The Rules: Desert Island Discs – the classic BBC radio show that inspired this post – allows players to take eight musical tracks (not albums!), a single book (plus the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible or a more appropriate religious/philosophical book of choice as a … Continue reading Desert Island Reads (a Wyrd & Wonder tag/challenge/prompt)

Book Thoughts9 Comments

I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young

bkfrgr

  Welcome to Fairyland. It’s a candy-coloured, bat-crackers world where all your dreams can come true … And who’s that coming over the brow of the hill? Why, it’s Gertrude! She’s six-years-old, an adorable little dot with bright green hair and a pretty pink dress. Fairyland’s latest guest. And alongside her? Larrigon Wentsworth III, Gertrude’s trusty guide to Fairyland, possessor of the map and a hat more impressive than Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. Here they come now, let’s see if we can grab a word with th… ERK! Skottie Young’s four-volume comic series I Hate Fairyland is one that has … Continue reading I Hate Fairyland by Skottie Young

Book Thoughts9 Comments

Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 1)

bkfrgr

Before I start – I was so so jealous of all the people who received the B-E-A-U-tiful ARC copy of this book last year! I wanted to read it from the first moment I saw that elegant golden wave on its plain dark cover, not knowing anything about the story or the author, but just needing this book. When the Fantasy Hive did an interview with Andrea Stewart I was even more intrigued, so I am massively grateful that this was picked for this year’s Wyrd and Wonder read-along (about which all details can be found here). Just so you … Continue reading Read-along: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (week 1)

Book Thoughts17 Comments

Fun for Monday: Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag

bkfrgr

The marvellous Maddelena did this tag for Wyrd and Wonder last year and I’ve been sitting on it since then. She, in turn, discovered it over at the lovely Jessticulates. Ah, these lovely threads that are woven back and forth across the blogisphere between us all! *heart eyes* Let’s do this thing!   What is the first fantasy novel you read? Roger Llancellyn Green’s Tales of the Greek Heroes and The Adventures of Robin Hood and Wise Child by Monica Furlong. I don’t know which of these came first, although I know I read them all at around the same … Continue reading Fun for Monday: Get to Know the Fantasy Reader Tag

Book Thoughts17 Comments

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

bkfrgr

  It’s Wyrd and Wonder month! Hurrah hurray! I want magic, I want dragons, I want all the fantastical things I can possibly get! I can’t wait to read about what everyone else is reading and get started on this year’s read-along title: The Bone Shard daughter by Andrea Stewart (join ussssss! It’s never too late). But to get in the mood it seems only fitting to begin with that most noble of beasts, representative of all things Fantasy the world over – the dragon. So I decided it was time to catch up with Laurence and Temeraire… After all … Continue reading Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik

Book Thoughts6 Comments

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

bkfrgr

SPOILER WARNING: While I have tried to keep SPOILERS to a minimum for book one of this series, The Diviners, some spoilery-ness has been unavoidable. Tread carefully.   At the end of The Diviners, in a typical Evie move, our pretty Miss O’Neil announced to the newspapers that she was a Diviner able to ‘read’ objects belonging to other people. In this second installment of Bray’s series, Evie now takes a backseat so that we can become better acquainted with some of the other characters who have displayed unusual powers and abilities – some of which are a lot less … Continue reading Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray

Book Thoughts6 Comments

Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones

bkfrgr

A curse bound with three Powers. Three young siblings. Three Gifts. Three types of magic. Three groups of people unable to see what they have in common. As in all of the books of hers that I’ve read Diana Wynne Jones’ plays with multiple story threads in her standalone novel Power of Three, only pulling them all together to show the pattern at the very end. It’s a trick she pulls off beautifully every time and one of the things that brings me back to her books again and again. Three peoples live on the Moors: the Lymen, the Dorig … Continue reading Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones

Book Thoughts7 Comments

Read-along: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey (week 6)

bkfrgr

It’s the end. Some plans come to fruition and some are thwarted, Phèdre keeps her vow to the goddess Asherat, Joscelin reminds us all of just how badass he can be and Melisande is faced yet again. Middle books are notoriously difficult to get right and maybe I’m side-eyeing some of Carey’s decisions in this final week’s reading, but ultimately I’m satisfied, and quite pleased to meet Phèdre’s official consort. So, without further ado, let’s talk about the end of Kushiel’s Chosen using the prompts provided by Lisa of Dear Geek Place. Links to other readers’ responses can be found … Continue reading Read-along: Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey (week 6)

Book Thoughts13 Comments

The Diviners by Libba Bray

bkfrgr

Evie O’Neill gets into a spot of trouble in her hometown of Zenith, Ohio, and her parents send her to live with her Uncle Will in New York as punishment. Clearly, her parents don’t know her all that well. It’s the Roaring Twenties and Evie is delighted to find herself in the big city, even if her Uncle does work at the boring old Museum of Creepy Crawlies (aka the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult). And life gets even more interesting when a killer begins his work… I picked this up one very exhausted weekend to while … Continue reading The Diviners by Libba Bray