cover photo by shadesofword.com An urban fantasy story set in contemporary London UK seems right up my alley (Sorry, I couldn’t find a river-based expression). I love London, having visited the city a few times on vacation, and I’ve watched many British TV shows set there. I have also enjoyed urban fantasy: stories set against…
Category: Fantasy
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher – Book Review
I had read another T. Kingfisher story late last year called Thornhedge that was, like Nettle & Bone, revisiting of a classic fairytale. While I really enjoyed Thornhedge, I came to Nettle & Bone prepared for more of the same. Nevertheless, in this story, T. Kingfisher was not only able to tell a story with…
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang – Book Review
The Poppy War is a fantastical tale inspired by Chinese historical events (of which I am woefully under-educated) involving conflicts with Japan. The novel follows a young orphan named Rin, a foster child of opium dealers in a village in Nikan (a fictionalized China). In her efforts to leave an unhappy life of mistreatment, she…
Six Fantasy Novellas
I love fantasy fiction. As a genre, it brings the reader to so many wonderful, scary, imaginative, and vivid worlds and realities. Having magic in a story really opens up the possibilities for fun exploration and creativity. Over the last few months, I’ve read six novellas (i.e. short novels) that represent a pretty good variety…
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – Book Review
I had high expectations for Mexican-Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s acclaimed novel, but was pretty let down. Given the book’s title, yes, there was everything classically gothic, but very little Mexican, aside from the geographic setting (and the occasional Spanish word). This tale of a rich city girl going out to a country mansion to rescue…
The Summer Tree (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book 1) By Guy Gavriel Kay – Book Review
With our national pride in full bloom, I was eager to revisit a classic written by Canada’s premier fantasy author, Guy Gavriel Kay. I think I read The Summer Tree back in the 80s (for a class project on a Canadian writer), but sadly I have forgotten almost the entire story. Inspired in many ways…
The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell – Book Review
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but with a title like “The Malevolent Seven”, I knew it was going to be fun. Though it’s got mages and spells and a quest to stop evil other-dimensional beings from taking over the world, it’s not your typical epic fantasy nor is it a…
Wicked – Movie Review
I am a big fan of the Wicked musical. It’s one of my favourites. So I came to this movie with love for the material, along with high expectations. Shockingly, and happily, this film adaptation exceeded them all, and brought the musical wonderfully to cinematic life. I enjoyed the stage musical primarily for its soundtrack….
Creepily Catching Up With It & It Chapter Two
To celebrate spooky season this year I read some scary stories, and decided to finally watch the movie adapting Stephen King’s It (from 2017) and It Chapter Two (from 2019). Despite being old enough to have watched it on TV when it originally aired in 1990, I decided not to check out the Tim Curry…
Alvin's Adventures in Pop Culture 