I read this book several weeks ago. I’ve been hesitant to review it, mostly because Aidan over at A Dribble of Ink wrote a fantastic review that expresses my feelings about the book far more eloquently than I could.
The Magicians
By Lev Grossman; Read by Mark Bramhall
Audible Download – 17 hours 24 mins [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks
Published: [...]

At first blush, Warbreaker recycles a lot of elements from Brandon Sanderson’s previous works: a precocious princess à la Elantris and an all-powerful god-king à la Mistborn, to name but two. As Sanderson himself has said in interviews, though, Warbreaker ends up being more a response to his previous books. As the title implies, the [...]

Part coming-of-age story, part Ocean’s Eleven heist, unfolding in a city somewhat resembling Renaissance-age Venice, The Lies of Locke Lamora is a stunning debut effort from Scott Lynch. With intricate world-building, a colorful writing style, and a unique interlocking structure, the novel is satisfying even at its weaker moments.
The Lies of Locke Lamora
By Scott Lynch; [...]

After Audible Frontiers published the entire collection of Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories, I eagerly listened to the first volume, Swords and Deviltry. I enjoyed the stories, but not enough to rush headlong into the rest of the series. Recently, however, I’ve returned to the world of Nehwon, the fictional setting for [...]

Harry Potter and the Half Blood PrinceBB
Directed by David Yates
Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Michael Gambon, et al.
Released: 2009
Due to the round robin of directors tapped for the Harry Potter film series, the quality of the movies thus far has varied wildly, from the solid first and second films to the [...]

I’ve quoted the letters of John Keats here before, and probably will do so again. Keats’s thoughts on literature and the art of creativity, often nestled as if in passing among more prosaic matters in his correspondence, transcend bone-dry literary criticism and illumine the ungraspable spirit of creativity. Furthermore, in my opinion, the Romantic poets [...]

I love my gig as a reviewer. Sure, it doesn’t pay much, but I score the occasional free book, I spend hours reading (mostly) great literature, and I get the satisfaction of sharing my thoughts with others, thereby hopefully directing them toward their own great reading experiences. But am I missing something? Am I merely [...]

The polls have closed, and we now have a winner for the second Twitter #sfbookclub! We’ll be reading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, winner of the 2006 Hugo Award for best novel. Here’s the blurb.

Bad blogger! Bad! Over a week since my last update. Not entirely without reason though. First, my mature, responsible alterego has been hard at work on mundane matters which will support my fantasy consumption habit. Second, I’ve simply been reading too many things concurrently, and therefore have finished none of them. Several books are nearing [...]

As an aspiring fantasy writer, I’ve read and listened to lots of advice on writing in general, and on SF genre writing in particular. One of the axioms repeated by many fantasy writers is that, even though magic is one of the genre’s defining characteristics, it should be presented in a logical, rule-governed manner.
I’m not [...]