The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar – Book Review

I was surprised to love this story much more than I expected. It’s one of the best stories I’ve read this year. However, I’m learning that I have a much harder time talking about why I love a book than criticizing what I dislike about it. In essence, this is a very classic faerie tale…

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The Fisherman by John Langan – Book Review

Even though this book came highly recommended as a modern take on the Lovecraftian horror story, from the start, I didn’t really know how we’d get from an upstate New York fish story to a tale of eldritch horror. This story is written with deceptively straightforward language, about some down-to-earth characters. The narrator, Abe is…

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The Stone Man (Book 1) by Luke Smitherd – Book Review

When a gigantic stone behemoth appears in the middle of Millennium Square in Coventry, UK, it’s a photo op. When the stone man starts to move and walk relentlessly on its own, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, you’ve got an exciting sci-fi mystery. We follow reporter Andy Pointer, himself a witness at…

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Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Movie Review

Whoever gave this movie its title definitely believes in “truth in advertising”. After five seasons and two prior films, this one is predictably destined to bring the series truly to a close. The only word that might be a bit mischosen would be “grand” because most of the movie is actually relatively reserved and quiet….

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Grave Peril (Dresden Files, Book 3) by Jim Butcher – Book Review

The third volume in the Dresden Files series continues to expand the story universe set up in the first two. The adventures of Harry Dresden, a professional wizard, hiring himself out to investigate and handle all kinds of magical and malevolent cases in contemporary Chicago have so far involved evil sorcerers, demons, faerie and werewolves….

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Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – Book Review

Piranesi is a story set in a fantastical House, one that is more like a world; that has multitudes of grand rooms full of distinctive and enigmatic statutes of both creatures and people. The upper floors contain the clouds and sky, the lower floors contain the tides and seas. This story is told from the…

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The Failures by Benjamin Liar – Book Review

I went into this book not knowing what to expect. Set in a fantasy world known as the Wanderlands, this story has the grand overtones of a legendary epic, the thrills and pacing of a jaunty adventure, and the riddles and curiosity of a complex puzzle. We follow various groups of  characters: immortals planning to…

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