Cold Magic – Kate Elliott

I have a love-hate relationship with Kate Elliott’s work. I have never thought Elliott was a bad author; I usually have problems with the overall story being told. That being said, I was incredibly skeptical when I picked up Cold Magic. It took me about five or six chapters to get into the book, as…

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Elfland – Freda Warrington

(For some reason the spacing is completely off when I preview this, but blogger won’t let me fix it, so I apologize) From Publishers Weekly:  Prolific British author Warrington (the Jewelfire Trilogy), mostly unknown in the U.S., puts a distinctive spin on human/nonhuman relations in this sensuous, relationship-driven story, the first of the Books of…

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Prospero Lost – L. Jagi Lamplighter

From Publishers Weekly:  Lamplighter’s powerful debut draws inspiration from Shakespeare and world mythology, infused with humor and pure imagination. Four centuries after the events of The Tempest, Prospero’s daughter Miranda runs Prospero Inc., a company with immense influence in the supernatural world. When she discovers a mysterious warning from her father, who has gone missing, Miranda…

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The Scar – China Mieville

Publisher’s Weekly: In this stand-alone novel set in the same monster-haunted universe as last year’s much-praised Perdido Street Station, British author Mieville, one of the most talented new writers in the field, takes us on a gripping hunt to capture a magical sea-creature so large that it could snack on Moby Dick, and that’s just…

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Wings of Wrath – C.S. Friedman

Publishers Weekly Overview: Friedman delivers a rushed second installment of the Magister Trilogy (after 2008’sFeast of Souls), set in a casually grim world where cloak-and-dagger political intrigue is necessary for survival. Kamala, witch turned immortal Magister, flees north to the barrier called the Wrath of the Gods in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth…

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Feast of Souls – C.S. Friedman

About the book by Publisher’s Weekly: In this imaginative, deftly plotted fantasy from Friedman (The Wilding), the first of a new trilogy, a female witch’s magic comes at a terrible cost: her own finite life force, which drains away with each spell. Nearly immortal male Magisters, on the other hand, tap a more murderous fuel…

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Son of the Shadows – Juliet Marillier

I really enjoy Marillier’s writing. I think the book itself is written well, the concept is engrossing. I thought the characters were a little bland. Toward the end, the main character really grated on my nerves with her nearly constant weeping. Without giving too much away I will say the characterization is what bothered me…

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Daughter of the Forest – Juliet Marillier

I read this book in one day. I haven’t done something like that in years. I started it at 11 and stayed up late to get through the last page. It truly is a stunning work that deserves the classification as “art” rather than “novel.”  Marillier is an amazing author. Every part of this book…

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The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N.K. Jemisin

What if the gods were real, and were slaves to the king? That is the premise for Jemisin’s ground breaking work and that is why I wanted to read this book in the first place. Such an idea is very new and unique in fantasy, a genre filled with perfect and unperfect; black and white;…

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