Fantasy Book Review

Guy Gavriel Kay's tale of a curse that wipes a country's name from memory. Only those born before the curse can remember Tigana as it was. The sorcerers of the two invading armies are integral to the plot and the themes of love and revenge run strong.

Harry Dresden -- urban wizard, private detective, and Chicago police consultant -- preserves the equilibrium between the human world and The Nevernever (supernatural world). When fellow wizard and nemesis, Donald Morgan, turns up at Harry's door seriously injured he pleads for Harry to hide him from the White Council (world magic regulators). Harry is tempted to ignore this entreaty but his "bleeding heart" compels him to listen to Morgan's story. It turns out that Morgan has just escaped from prison where he awaited sentencing for the assassination of senior council member Aleron LaFortier -- one among seven of the most powerful wizards on the planet. Morgan claims he's been framed -- despite the fact that he had been found standing over the dead body with the weapon. And an investigation had revealed further damaging evidence; like several million dollars recently deposited into Morgan's bank account. Morgan asserts that the killer is among the council members and he wants Harry to find out who it is.

As an avid World of Warcraft player, this day was inevitable. I do not dislike licensed properties, and one look at my library will convince you of this. A love of sci fi and fantasy has seen my library take shape thanks to large donations to Star Trek, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Naturally, my money would eventually end up lining the pockets of the Warcraft creators, beyond that of my gameplay.

A simple, yet eloquent novella, which spawned one of Barker's best known creations: Pinhead and the world of hellraiser. The story follows, Frank, who longs for pleasure. Tired of the thrills women and drugs have to offer him, Frank turns to Lemmarchand's box. A simple looking wooden puzzle, which once solved summons the Cenobites. The Cenobites are creatures from another dimension in search of pleasures of the flesh, however their definition of pleasure is quite different form ours.

Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician Trilogy lived up to all the hype my girlfriend lent it. From the first book I was spellbound, and only for the span of about 20 pages in this last book did I ever find that spell waning. Suffice it to say, Trudi Canavan can write.

The second book in Trudi Canavan’s The Black Magician trilogy continues on from the first flawlessly, almost as if there should not have been a break. Sonea has decided that staying at the Guild is in the best interests of all she cares about, and is not entirely as distrustful of magic as she had been starting out in book one.

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Reasonable rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment. Harry Dresden is the best and technically the 'only' at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they come to him for answers. For the 'everyday' world is actually full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a - well, whatever.

Quentin Coldwater’s life is changed forever by an apparently chance encounter: when he turns up for his entrance interview to Princeton he finds his interviewer dead – but a strange envelope bearing Quentin’s name leads him down a very different path to any he’d ever imagined.

Urban fantasy / magic realism in London. We’re dropped into a body in present day London. Eventually we come to realise that it is the body of Matthew Swift, sorcerer, deceased. Or he was, until now. Bless, he then finds out all his friends are dead, killed by the same thing that killed him – a shadow known as Hunger. Quickly found by a bunch of ‘concerned citizens’ he begins to track who he suspects had him killed, and the author begins to reveal just how Matthew came back – and what he is now. Come be we, come be free.

Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, Eon is training to become a Dragoneye – a powerful Lord able to command wind and water to nurture and protect the land. But Eon also harbours a desperate secret that, if revealed, will mean certain death.

I was pleasantly surprised by the latest from China Mieville. For a while anyway. I was about 50 pages in when I realized it was all grown up. No gun-slinging cacti, or flying birds with no wings. Just people. Full blooded three dimensional people filling up the City of Beszel. Or was it Ul Qoma? It seems through an incident referred to as “The Cleaving”, the city became two cities. But not in the usual way. Somehow they became two cities on top of each other. They physically take up the same space and time, but are not truly in the same location. For example, the fashions, the language, the cars, and the food are all different. Confused yet? Maybe this will help:

The making of the Rings - In 1981, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first episode of the serialisation of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. Brian Sibley recounts. The recording of the Rings - Director Jane Morgan talks about the casting, music and the feeling of euphoria that accommpanied the recording of the BBC's serialisation of The Lord of the Rings.