Sky Raiders by Brandon Mull We got this book as an audiobook for a car trip, reasoning that YA was one of the few things we would both enjoy. My kid had started reading it, saying that it was one of those “kid from our world goes to fantasy world” tropes, but quite a bit …
Tag: magic
Apr 23
Book Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray This book had a few rough patches and a few bursts of brilliance that evened each other out. I liked this book overall, especially for the surprising feminist undertones, but it had a rough start. It starts out in India, on the day of Gemma’s 16th birthday, …
Oct 25
Book Review: Fated
Fated by Benedict Jacka This fantasy novel has a great premise. Alex Verus is a mage whose main power is that he can see the future. He can’t throw fireballs, he can’t make wards, he can’t turn people into stone, but with divination, he can hold his own among people who do. He runs a …
Aug 25
Book Review: Scumble
Scumble by Ingrid Law This is a charming middle-grade fantasy about a boy in a magic-wielding family finally getting his own “savvy” on his 13th birthday. Ledger (all the kids in the family have bizarre names) hopes that he will become a super-fast runner, the track star that his father hopes for. Instead, his talent …
Feb 20
Book Review: Queen of Blood
The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst While the era of the western novel may have come and gone, this book, which came out in 2016, proves that high fantasy is still going strong. It has all the elements of an archetype of this trope: magic, queens, men with swords and armor, danger, a …