Christopher Nolan’s big budget, big screen adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey was so exciting to me that it brought me out of a nearly one-year absence from cinema-going. I have been a lifelong mythology nerd. I even read Stephen Fry’s Odyssey retelling a month ago to remind myself of this classical epic tale. This film was…
Category: Fantasy
Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender – Movie Review
It’s been a long time since I reviewed a movie and so it feels appropriate for me to resume with this long-awaited sequel to one of my favourite animated series of all time: Avatar: The Last Airbender. Over the years, I have watched the original series at least four times through (maybe more), and so…
Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman – Book Review
I have had a really good time with Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief and The Daughters’ War, so I was excited to dip my toes into his horror writing with Those Across the River. Instead of being set in a medieval-style fantasy world full of thieves, soldiers, wizards, corvids and goblins, this story is set…
Odyssey (Stephen Fry’s Greek Myths, Book 4) by Stephen Fry — Book Review
Choosing between Homer’s original (read by Claire Danes) and a reimagining of the timeless tale by Stephen Fry himself as part of his Greek Myths series, wasn’t easy. I wanted to prep for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film adaptation, and since I’d read Homer’s epic poem back in university, I decided to give Fry a try…
The Empress of Salt and Fortune (Singing Hills Cycle, Book 1) by Nghi Vo — Book Review
I was very surprised by how much I liked this novella, because I had a challenging time and didn’t understand it. This is a layered tale of a royal consort (named In-Yo) exiled from the imperial court. The story is being told by an old, former servant, named Rabbit, to a wandering cleric, named Chih,…
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle – Book Review
I have a long history with The Last Unicorn, even though I’ve only just finished reading it for the first time. As a child, I won tickets to the animated movie based on this novel and fell in love with the story of a unicorn who leaves the safety of her magical forest and sets…
Murder at Spindle Manor (Lamplight Murder Mysteries, Book 1) by Morgan Stang — Book Review
Lately I’ve been reading a number of books fitting into the category of magical murder mystery, or fantasy detective story, and I’m really enjoying them. That’s not surprising, since I love fantasy fiction, and ever since watching BBC’s Sherlock, I’ve been a fan of Victorian detective stories. Starting last year, I read The Tainted Cup…
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh — Book Review
Since I have a history with Chinese folktales from my childhood, I am always interested in reading new retellings of Asian stories. It’s also cool how they have kind of become a subgenre of their own recently. Because The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (I’m not going to keep repeating this charming yet over-long…
The Grace of Kings (Dandelion Dynasty, Book 1) by Ken Liu — Book Review
I picked up The Grace of Kings because everyone raves about this series, and I was interested in exploring more Asian fantasy novels (especially during Asian Heritage Month). The first time around, I found the plot difficult to follow (it’s the epic history of an empire being torn down by a rebellion) and the many…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 