Fantasy Books - Page 6

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3)

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 82 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

H*ll on Rollerskates 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Harry Dresden, Chicago's favorite wizard, battles ghosts and vampires in this third renewal of Jim Butcher's excellent noir fantasy series. Some of the best points of GRAVE PERIL include an action-packed plot that can be read independently from the previous books and a new engaging character in the person of Harry's devout Christian friend, Michael Carpenter.

Michael is Harry's friend and partner in battling an outbreak of ghosts that is terrorizing Chicago. Given what seems to happen to Harry's friends, it's a miracle he has one left. Micheal's a doughty man, strong in his Faith, who wields a sword that contains a nail from the True Cross. He keeps trying to reform Harry in between battles with unearthly agents of evil. He tends to raise ethical questions that Harry doesn't want to answer such as Harry's failure to carry out an old bargain he made with Lea, his faerie godmother.

Michael and the issues he raises aside, the story in this book is similar to FOOL MOON, except we have vampires and sexual shenanigans instead of nice clean werewolves. The parallels are striking: even the season of the year is the same: autumn. Other plot elements repeat in differing degrees: Harry's troubles with the Law and his magical exhaustion. Less visible blood and more ectoplasm, vampire spit and other types of goo, that's the difference here. Also, there are so many bad guys (and gals) out to get Harry it's hard for any tension to build. Personally, I think vampires are getting cliched, but I really liked the ending.

Paradoxically, the strong points of this book are also its weak points. The action-packed plot prevents exploration of Harry's inner soul and there's only so many times Harry can deal with a) a demon possessed ghost, b) another attack by twin vampires or c) another ambush by the evil faerie godmother. Harry isn't the only one to be burned out by too much magic. One wonders what would happen if an ethical issue was allowed to play out naturally. Hum, now I'm curious about the next book...Jim Butcher, you sly devil, you did it again.

Editorial Review:

Harry Dresden's faced some pretty terrifying foes during his career. Giant scorpions. Oversexed vampires. Psychotic werewolves. It comes with the territory when you're the only professional wizard in the Chicago area phone book.

But in all Harry's years of supernatural sleuthing, he's never faced anything like this: the spirit world's gone postal. All over Chicago, ghosts are causing trouble--and not just of the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent, and deadly. Someone--or something--is stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn't figure it out soon, he could wind up a ghost himself . . .

Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4)

J.R. Ward

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 190 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Black Dagger Brotherhood series - see my review for all 6 under Dark Lover 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

See my review of the first six books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series under the first in the series, Dark Lover.

Wake me up for Book 5 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Out of the 4 book in the series this one was the most boring for me. Butch's presence was always too awkward since book 1. I thought this was the most predictable plot thus far and Marissa was even more uninteresting than Butch. The whole lesser side of the book I just skimmed through. This whole book was a yawn fest. I liked alright but it just wasn't as thrilling as the others.

Editorial Review:

Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.

But fate curses him with the very thing he wants. When Butch sacrifices himself to save a civilian vampire from the slayers, he falls prey to the darkest force in the war. Left for dead, he's found by a miracle, and the Brotherhood calls on Marissa to bring him back, though even her love may not be enough to save him.

Heart Fate (Celta's HeartMates, Book 7)

Robin D. Owens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Disappointed. . . 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Tinne story line grabbed my attention with the first mention that he had married someone other then his heart mate. I had hope that we would get his story, and was excited when I heard about Heart Fate.

Maybe in my mind I built up too much anticipation or this series has just run it course.

The story opens with Tinne's heart mate(Lahsin) running away from her husband. She is about to go through her second passage, marking her as an adult, and she has the right to repudiate her husband. Then we find out that Tinne's wife wants a divorce. They suffered a lost that severely damaged their marriage, and Genista doesn't want to live apart, but wants all ties broken.

The rest of the story is about both Tinne & Lahsin recovering from bad marriages. Neither wants a relationship right now, but Tinne feels an obligation to protect his heart mate.

The story was very readable, and kept me turning the pages. However, it wasn't really a romantic story. There is a lot of angst about their previous hurts, and broken relationships and not enough about the passion between the two couples. Neither seem to feel the need or desire for each other until the very end. Quite different from T'ash story and his need for his heart mate.

Editorial Review:

Wed to a wealthy older man when she was just a girl, Lahsin Yew runs away from her abusive home to find a new life. At seventeen, she’s about to enter her Second Passage, when her Flair—and perhaps her HeartMate—will be revealed.

Lahsin finds sanctuary in a secret garden, where she meets Tinne Holly. Though he is her HeartMate, he cannot tell her, and her troubled past prevents her from trusting any man. Pretending to find her by chance, Tinne helps her through her Second Passage. But when the truth is revealed, can she forgive his deception, and learn to trust in her destiny?

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 3)

George R.R. Martin

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 750 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Is George R.R. Martin for real? Can a fantasy epic actually get better with each new installment? Fans of the genre have glumly come to expect go-nowhere sequels from other authors, so we're entitled to pinch ourselves over Martin's tightly crafted Song of Ice and Fire series. The reports are all true: this series is the real deal, and Martin deserves his crown as the rightful king of the epic. A Game of Thrones got things off to a rock-solid start, A Clash of Kings only exceeded expectations, but it's the Storm of Swords hat trick that cements Martin's rep as the most praiseworthy fantasy author to come along since that other R.R.

Like the first two books, A Storm of Swords could coast on the fundamentals: deftly detailed characters, convincing voices and dialogue, a robust back-story, and a satisfyingly unpredictable plot. But it's Martin's consistently bold choices that set the series apart. Every character is fair game for the headman's axe (sometimes literally), and not only do the good guys regularly lose out to the bad guys, you're never exactly sure who you should be cheering for in the first place.

Storm is full of admirable intricacies. Events that you thought Martin was setting up solidly for the first two books are exposed as complex feints; the field quickly narrows after the Battle of the Blackwater and once again, anything goes. Robb tries desperately to hold the North together, Jon returns from the wildling lands with a torn heart, Bran continues his quest for the three-eyed crow beyond the Wall, Catelyn struggles to save her fragile family, Arya becomes ever more wolflike in her wanderings, Daenerys comes into her own, and Joffrey's cruel rule from King's Landing continues, making even his fellow Lannisters uneasy. Martin tests all the major characters in A Storm of Swords: some fail the trial, while others--like Martin himself--seem to only get stronger. --Paul Hughes

Fatal Revenant: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Stephen R. Donaldson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 65 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Simply Engrossing 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As other reviewers here have written, it would be difficult in the extreme to discuss aspects of this book, without giving away important plot and story concepts/secrets.
So, let's deal simply with it's strengths.
Like all good genre fantasy or science fiction, the first and foremost important feature of a well crafted book is its ability to draw you in and completely immerse you in an 'alternate' reality.
Stephen Donaldson has never failed to provide this visceral thrill. His 'Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' books have been a fan favorite since the late 70s and Fatal Revenant is no different.
There are some who will complain about his verbose writing style, while others revel in the sheer detail such density provides. My personal benchmark for whether or not a book is 'delivering on the goods', is whether or not the world it describes is at all times believable. If so, I usually cannot put the book down. That was the case here.
Every character unique and exquisitely fleshed out, plot twists that were at times somewhat predictable, were always well executed and the unenviable task of having your characters adventure across time with all the inevitable paradoxes that could ensue... being able to keep all those story elements in line, clear and concise for the reader? Not an easy task.
As a second installment of a trilogy... Revenant did exactly what it was designed to do, left you thirsting for more.
What exactly happens when you break all the laws of nature to bring back the 'Land's' greatest savior/threat?
I'm not sure... but can't wait to find out.

Editorial Review:

The instant New York Times bestseller, and the return of the Thomas Covenant series— “a landmark fantasy saga.”(Entertainment Weekly)

In the most eagerly-awaited literary sequel in years, Linden Avery, who loved Thomas Covenant and watched him die at the end of Book Six, has returned to the Land in search of her kidnapped son, Jeremiah. As Fatal Revenant begins, Linden watches from the battlements of Revelstone while the impossible happens—riding ahead of the hordes attacking Revelstone are Jeremiah and Covenant himself, apparently very much alive. But Covenant is strangely changed…

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8)

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 89 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Wiseguy Gets Wise 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

In the eighth installment of the Dresden Files, Chicago's favorite wizard battles creatures from famous horror flicks in desperate battles in and around Chicago (including the Winter Kingdom which must be a northern suburb). Handicapped by a shriveled hand and an inner demon who tempts him to the dark side, Harry Dresden steps out of his role as lone wolf and actually asks for help from the dishy Lt. Karrin Murphy.

Jim Butcher has always portrayed Harry as a balancing on a sharp edge. As a young wizard, Harry fell into the hands of an evil master. His first contact with so-called "good wizards" was a tribunal trying him for killing his master in self-defense. That bit of personal history comes full circle as Harry discovers that Molly, the daughter of his friend Michael Carpenter, has magical talent inherited from her mother Charity. Furthermore, Molly has, with all the best intentions in the world, broken one of the Seven Laws of Magic that could earn her an automatic death sentence. In a very real sense of the world, Harry's battle to save Molly is a struggle to save himself.

This looks less like boffo fantasy and more and more like literature. Am I still allowed to read this for fun? Is there a category called kicka** literature?

Editorial Review:

The White Council of Wizards has drafted Harry Dresden as a Warden and assigned him to look into rumors of black magic in Chicago. Malevolent entities that feed on fear are loose in the Windy City, but it's all in a day's work for a wizard, his faithful dog, and a talking skull named Bob...

Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 107 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The tie between two worlds 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I've read the Shannara series but never the Knights of the Word. With this series Terry has created the bridge between the two piquing my interest for the latter. In this book, the author shows the destruction of our world by humanity's decisions (although the physical destruction is aided by demons) and plays with references to contemporary acts. Although the action is sometimes slow (few of these) it makes a good point of showing despair, stagnation, delusion, "xenophobia" and other societal ills that are sprinkled with glimpses of hope to keep the heroes going. I'm looking forward to see how this Earth becomes Shannara.

Editorial Review:

If you have never read anything by beloved fantasy writer Terry Brooks, take your chance with Armageddon's Children, a rich and absorbing epic in which the world lies in ruins as the powers of darkness and light battle for control. Want to learn more? Watch our video featuring Terry Brooks:

Watch the video (high bandwith) Watch the video (low bandwith)

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Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 55 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Ties of Blood 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book opens with a trademark Harry Dresden move: fleeing a burning building. It's the fault of the giant monkey demons who are hurling napalm pooh. Harry races to his car, which has been eaten by mold demons...With a chortle of laughter, the reader settles in for another wild ride in Chicagoland as imagined by Jim Butcher.

Harry gets to live every boy's dream: he's hired to help out on the set of a porn picture because the director thinks someone has cursed him. In previous books the bad guys popped up with such monotonous regularity one could mark one's page with them. There's more focus and a greater sense of urgency to this plot.

BLOOD RITES is the sixth in the series but it is the first to link strongly to the previous books and the first to explore Harry's past. Harry was given a little more depth in book five, but in this book, without any break in the action, Harry learns things he didn't know and confronts unpleasant truths about his mentor Ebenezar McCoy. I don't want to give any spoilers so all I will say is that Harry helps out his half-brother and gets adopted by a puppy. The ending is solid and as happy as anything ever gets for Harry, but certain elements provide great foreshadowing and sent me racing down to the bookstore to get the next one. Thanks, Jim!

Editorial Review:

Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, takes on a case as a favor to his friend Thomas-a vampire of dubious integrity-only to become the prime suspect in a series of ghastly murders.

Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5)

Jim Butcher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Before a Live Audience 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The astonishing thing about Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is that after 4 standout books, he just hits his stride with book 5, DEATH MASKS. The book opens with Harry Dresden nervously working a spell to suppress his magic as he waits to be interviewed on TV. Wizards and technology don't mix and Harry has to endure the TV host's scorn when he refuses to demonstrate magic. Then the host introduces the next guest. Harry recognizes the new arrival as an evil vampire lord. His concentration slips and he starts losing his temper...and accidentally trashes the TV studio. No other author could exhibit such a comic touch while putting his fictional hero in deadly peril.

As always the action is nonstop. But for the first time, Butcher allows us a glimpse of the inner Harry. Harry's ex-girlfriend is in town for the formal breakup. It's not going to work because she might give into her vampire tendencies and kill him. As Harry's character deepens, new philosophical depth creeps in to the other characters as well.

Other than that, Harry battles the full component of gangsters, vampires and deadly demons. The Vatican hires him to hunt for the stolen Shroud of Turin. The wisecracks never stop. Fabulous fantasy!

The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House

Neil Gaiman, Malcolm Jones III, Mike Dringenberg, Michael Zulli, Clive Barker

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The immense popularity of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is due in large part to the development of his characters. In The Doll's House, the second book of the Sandman magnum opus, Gaiman continues to build the foundation for the larger story, introducing us to more of the Dream King's family of the Endless.

The Sandman returns to his kingdom of the Dreaming after nearly a century of imprisonment, finding several things out of place; most importantly, an anomaly called a dream vortex has manifested itself in the form of a young girl who unknowingly threatens to rip apart the Dreaming. And there's the smaller matter of a few nightmares having escaped. Among them is Gaiman's creepiest creation: the Corinthian, a serial killer with a miniature set of teeth in each eye socket. Because later volumes concentrate so much on human relationships with Gaiman's signature fair for fantasy and mythology, it is sometimes easy to forget that the Sandman series started out as a horror comic. This book grabs you and doesn't let you forget that so easily. --Jim Pascoe