The Tainted Cup has everything. It’s a murder mystery in a rich second-world fantasy setting. It’s a Sherlock Holmes / Watson duo—where Sherlock is an eccentric woman and Watson is her wash-out apprentice with a photographic memory. And the murder weapon is…a tree. (I...

Let’s talk about expectations. If you are expecting a fast paced action-adventure novel with modern ideals of characterization, description, and POV, you will be disappointed. It’s an old book, and the writing back then was different than most modern novels. That...

I will be honest with you. I am not entirely sure why I liked this book so much. The premise is simple: a battle-weary orc decides to retire from her mercenary life and settles down to start a coffee shop in a town that has never heard of coffee. I bet a lot of...

A Natural History of Dragons is a second-world fantasy, but the initial setting is reminiscent of Regency England. The subsequent traveling and discovering of various types of dragons is highly comparable to His Majesty’s Dragon (and the entire series), except without...

The real question is: Is Watership Down a fantasy novel? Well, I suppose that depends on how you are defining the genre. If fantasy means nothing more than a setting with “magical” elements that cannot actually occur, Watership Down is a fantasy novel. I mean, there...

What does one do as the Chosen One whose prophecy is fulfilled by someone else before you are out of training? This is the position Jian, the prophesied hero, finds himself in when his nation’s immortal enemy dies. He and his teacher have to go into hiding to avoid...

This book is stunning. It’s the heart-wrenching tale of Liesel growing up in Nazi Germany with a foster family. Liesel steals her first book at her brother’s graveside, and from there falls in love with books. The Book Thief is beautiful yet tragic, exploring...