Tag Archives: fantasy novel

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (book review)

By monnibo | Published: May 8, 2012

I wanted to read Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones because of the movie adapted by Hayao Miyazaki. Terrible, I know, but I’m a huge Miyazaki fan and now I want to read more by Diana Wynne Jones, so win-win. In the land of Ingary, where seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility do exist, Sophie Hatter catches the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste and is put under a spell. Deciding she has nothing more to lose, she makes her way to the moving castle that hovers on the hills above Market Chipping. But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the souls of young girls… There she meets Michael, Howl′s apprentice, and Calcifer the Fire Demon, with whom she agrees a pact. But Sophie isn′t the only one under a curse – her entanglements with Calcifer, Howl, and Michael, and her quest to break her curse is both gripping – and funny! From the Canadian publisher, HarperCollins. Originally published in 1986 in England. I had trouble getting some of Miyazaki’s imagery out of my head, especially with descriptions of Sophie, Howl, the castle, and even Calcifer’s voice (courtesy of Billy Crystal). But none of that impeded my enjoyment of the novel, and the thrill of the quiet adventure within the pages.

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Kynship by Daniel Heath Justice (book review)

By monnibo | Published: December 20, 2011

Kynship is the first book in The Way of Thorn and Thunder series by Daniel Heath Justice, published by Kegedonce Press, an Aboriginal owned and operated publisher. The Everland has been home of the forest-dwelling Kyn and the other Eld-Folk since time immemorial, a deep green world of ancient mystery and sacred shadow. The wyr-powers of the Kyn and their kith have preserved this lush region from the ravenous greed of Humanity for over a thousand years, since the catastrophic Melding that merged their world with the mortal world of Men. But the wyr powers are now under siege, for the assimilationist Kyn Shields seek to purge their people of the wyr, seeing only savagery in its mysteries and in its guardians, the Wielders. As the power of the Shields grows—and as the hungry eyes of Men turn once more to the Everland and its rich bounty—the leaders of the seven nations of the Folk gather together to seek a way of surviving the growing storm. Born into a town dominated by the Shield creeds, Tarsa, a headstrong Kyn warrior, awakens to the long-suppressed wyr-ways after an act of courage goes horribly awry. Exiled from Red Cedar Town, and struggling to understand her new calling as a Wielder, Tarsa is swept into a dangerous world of political and spiritual struggle, where the old wyr-ways clash with the fragmenting intrigues of the “civilized” Shields and their allies. As the Everland is torn apart by treachery and the ever-encroaching threat of Humanity, [...]

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A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (book review)

By monnibo | Published: November 6, 2011

And so A Song of Ice and Fire series continues with the third installment, A Storm of Swords. I finished this book in late August / early September and—without going bit by bit through the novel—let’s just say I enjoyed it. It was a strong book and, page count alone, it is about 200 pages longer than A Clash of Kings. Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival and Uncle, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister Sansa hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . . But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others–a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, [...]

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Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (book review)

By monnibo | Published: July 8, 2011

The good news is that I didn’t cry as much reading Voyager (book three in the Outlander Series) as when I read Dragonfly in Amber. But I still fell hard for the story and the characters. Diana Gabaldon just has a way with words that draws the reader in completely and holds you there. Warning: Minor spoilers of earlier books are contained in the book description. If you are interested in the series but don’t want to ruin anything, start by reading my review of Outlander, the first book in the series. Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her… and her body still cries out for him in her dreams. Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her…the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland… and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite—or forever doom—her timeless love. From the publisher, Seal Books (an imprint of Random House) My only complaint with that synopsis [...]

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Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (book review)

By monnibo | Published: June 17, 2011

Nearly immediately after finishing Outlander, the first book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, I picked up book two, Dragonfly in Amber. [Click here for my review of Outlander] The first book had immediately drawn me in to Claire and Jamie’s story with adventure, romance, history, and a little bit of science fiction. It ended on a cliffhanger (as all good series tend to) and I picked up the next book in eager anticipation. I was immediately distressed — Dragonfly in Amber begins twenty years after the end of Outlander. I will admit that I went to read the back of book three (Voyager) to ease my mind and heart. Fortunately, the beginning chapters are set in 1968 to frame the story for new  readers and then proceeds to tell what happened since the end of Outlander. For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland’s majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones …about a love that transcends the boundaries of time …and about James Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his. Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire’s spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles [...]

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