I started Wall of Storms right after the first book, Grace of Kings, since I didn’t want to lose momentum on this Dandelion Dynasty series. Grace of Kings introduced us to Dara, an empire of island nations, through a story of rebellion leading to civil war, culminating in a new empire under protagonist Kuni Garu….
Tag: fiction
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz — Book Review
I don’t read much cozy sci-fi (though this is my second one this year), but there’s something about Automatic Noodle that grabbed me. I want to say that it wasn’t just marketing, but it kind of was. From the colourful cover art, to the cute title, to the low-stakes story premise of a ragtag group…
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…
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,…
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers – Book Review
This novella from one of the proponents of “cozy” sci-fi was impressive in both scope and fullness. We follow the perspective of Ariadne, an engineer/scientist who’s part of a 4-person crew of explorers being sent by Earth to reach and study distant planets. As we get to know the four scientists waking up from the…
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…
