Summary: Joe Abercrombie’s Last Argument of Kings is the third and final book in The First Law Trilogy. As the Union’s war in the north continues to rage, Logen Ninefingers is reunited with the Dogman and his other companions, who have joined forces with Collem West. Meanwhile, intrigue in Adua heats up as a new king is crowned and [...]
Summary: Joe Abercrombie’s Before They Are Hanged is the middle book in The First Law Trilogy. As Collem West enters a bitter war in the north for the Union’s holdings in Angland, Sand dan Glokta is sent to the southern port of Dagoska to root out a conspiracy and coordinate the city’s defense against the Gurkish Emperor’s [...]
Summary: The Blade Itself is the seductive and brutal opening act of Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy. Set in a vast fantasy world of kingdoms vying for power in an ever-shifting geopolitical landscape, Abercrombie introduces a host of characters from different regions who appear to have nothing in common. He then proceeds to slowly draw them together, [...]
Summary: Well over a century since its original publication, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a classic that stands the test of time. This captivating epistolary novel tells the tale of a small group of people who encounter a mysterious and daunting horror. Throughout their harrowing adventure, these heroes leverage their capacities for friendship, love, cooperation, courage, and loyalty [...]
Summary: Stories of Your Life and Others is the first collection of short stories by Ted Chiang, a man who will surely be remembered as one of this era’s finest writers. Ranging from reimagined biblical fables to ethical examinations of near-future technology, Stories contains a batch of bizarre narratives brimming with emotional poignancy and intellectual depth. With [...]
Since they were released around the same time and are both very short, I decided to write just one review covering my thoughts on Magic Tides and Magic Claims. I’m going to assume that readers are already familiar with the basics of this series, so if that doesn’t apply to you, do yourself a favor and go [...]
Summary: Naomi Novik’s The Golden Enclaves is the third and final book in her Scholomance trilogy. Still reeling from the chaos of graduation day, Galadriel and her companions are tossed into a complex tangle of international conflicts threatening to disrupt the lives of magic users everywhere. Through providing aid to compromised enclaves across several continents, they learn [...]
Summary: Naomi Novik’s The Last Graduate is the second book in her Scholomance trilogy. Now in their senior year at the Scholomance, Galadriel and her classmates are generating every bit of mana they can muster and practicing to take on the horde of maleficaria that awaits them on graduation day. As the end of their final term approaches, [...]
Summary: Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education is the first book in her Scholomance trilogy. The book drops readers into a grim fantasy world in which magicians are constantly threatened by “maleficaria,” a ravenous horde of magical monsters eager to devour the mana that each magician carries inside them. Adolescent magicians have a particularly high mortality rate, so [...]
Summary: Charlie Jane Anders’s All the Birds in the Sky is a fantasy novel about Laurence and Patricia, two protagonists who meet first as children and then reconnect as young adults. Laurence has a gift for inventing advanced technology, and Patricia is a witch who excels at communing with nature and channeling its power. As they struggle [...]