Category: Fantasy

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A transportative fable (and bonus short story!) from a magical mind. Amal El-Mohtar’s novelette THE RIVER HAS ROOTS reads like something both from the past and the future, where fairy realms are taken as one of life’s facts and the physical forms people take are up for grabs, depending on which side of the fae boundary they happen to be on. Plus, it acknowledges the deep power of willow trees, something that anyone who has gone behind a willow’s curtained branches, especially as a child, can attest to. A folktale for any era, this book is as comforting as a dog-eared old fairy tale, read aloud to wide-eyed listeners learning of dangerous promises and healing spells for the very first time.

Also, the short story at the end was so fantastic! I am eager for El-Mohtar’s next collection!



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The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


THE STARLESS SEA by Erin Morgenstern is a party that I am very late to, but after reading it, I feel certain that the story itself was expecting me to arrive, just now, just as I am. This book is an indulgent, comforting, and surreal homage to the power of a literary life. The way Morgenstern builds a spiral of recursive symbols goes up, down, and especially forward. The book is built from specific old rules that govern the magic of reading itself: the same elements can be endlessly remade into new stories, and even the same stories, when they are read at different times in our lives, can meet us anew. The particulars change throughout the epochs, but many stories emerge from the place in imagination where they were born to become important pieces of what we call reality–and this book is surely one of them.

Need to spend some time in another place, entirely away from whatever this timeline is? These 500 pages are a wonderful prescription.



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The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Super fun and jaunty little time-travel mystery that doesn’t take anything seriously. A fun treat for those who will catch the many British literary references and especially who have a love for Jane Eyre–it was very fun for me to read shortly after reading that classic for the first time earlier this year. While a very insignificant part of the book, I absolutely loved the ubiquitous but never explained genetically engineered pet dodos. Caution: the humor is very British. Proceed accordingly.



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Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Complex feelings on Ava Reid’s LADY MACBETH. I don’t think I can rate it fairly, nor do I think anyone with a longstanding relationship to the original play and titular character could. Best to know the story is Macbeth-inspired rather than a true retelling. The departures from the original story and Lady are many. There were lots of things I hoped this book would be, and instead it was something entirely of its own, which interestingly enough is one of the major themes of the novel–the difference between truth and expectation of identity. It really leaves me wondering if this was the same exact book but with different character names if I would have had a different experience.

Many beautiful and evocative moments in the story. I have a deep respect for anyone who attempts to make something new out of Shakespeare–it’s bold and it’s risky. The atmosphere created had gorgeous intensity. I just couldn’t snap out of my own desire to keep looking for Lady Macbeth. The more time I spent with Roscille, the more I just kept thinking, “that’s not her.” But I do think Roscille’s story has merits of its own.



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Black Tide Son by H.M. Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


BLACK TIDE SON is the second installment in H.M. Long’s pirate fantasy trilogy. This book expands the rich universe of the Winter Sea with more cultures, more monsters, and an unraveling knot of forces at the core of a swiftly intensifying war. It’s a constant chase, careening through alleys, waterways, and levels of reality as the core characters all seek their own forms of redemption amid the swelling supernatural power of the Black Tide. A very fun read!



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Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Ok, this novel was my first-ever read by Andre Norton, who (as I have now discovered) wrote roughly a million books and is one of the grandmothers of science fiction as we know it. YEAR OF THE UNICORN (1965) was part of her larger Witch World series, but reads just fine as a standalone. Guys, when I tell you that the phenomenal weirdness and wonderfulness of this woman’s imagination floored me, I mean it. Classic fantasy and yet experimental even by today’s standards.

P.s. There are zero unicorns in this book, but don’t let that deter you.

And Andre, I hope you are resting in peace. Your stories live on.



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