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 of Fantasy Reviews |
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Books for Review should be sent to: Don D'Ammassa, 323 Dodge Street, East Providence, RI 02914 |
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LAST UPDATE 12/31/25
Jingo by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1997
A sunken island rises to the surface, provoking tension between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch. There are also plots within both cities. Lord Rust wants a war so that he can seize emergency power and replace the city administrator. One of the princes of Klatch attempts to assassinate his brother and blame it on Ankh-Morpork so that he can seize power and declare war. Vimes and members of the Night Watch form their own private army in an attempt to track down the assassins – who originate in both cities – and reveal the truth in order to avert the war. The ousted administrator cleverly arranges a political settlement that appears to be a surrender, but the island sinks again and the conflict becomes a dead issue. Not as comical as many of the books in this series, but still very entertaining. 12/31/25
The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1999
Although there are some funny moments, this is in the lower half of the Discworld novels in terms of quality. Rincewind is marooned on the continent of XXXX, which is obviously patterned after Australia. His adventures are full of Australian references, including movies, songs, customs, and other cultural items. Back in his homeland, the head Librarian has come down with a magical illness and a group of wizards decides to visit the past where it is likely they can find a way to cure him. There they run into a god whose experiments with evolution are actually the best part of the book. Eventually they reunite with Rincewind and the various plot problems are all solved, in large part by time travel paradoxes not always explained. 12/31/25
The Dog and the Wolf by Poul & Karen Anderson, Baen, 1989
The final volume in the Ys series. The city of Ys has been destroyed by an angry god. Its king survived, along with many others, and now he is trying to organize them to rebuild. But the barbarians are still menacing them across the border and the Roman Empire has abandoned the area and is no longer a source of protection. This is a very long effort to tie up loose ends and provide a happy ending, but after the cataclysmic climax of the third book, it feels like an afterthought. The series is based in part on actual legends so the plot is not entirely in the hands of the authors, but this did feel like an unnecessary extension. 12/24/25
Dahut by Poul & Karen Anderson, Baen, 1988
Third in the King of Ys series. This is really the climax of the series, although there is a fourth book. The gods who watch over Ys have gone insane or become corrupt. They decree that the king’s daughter must become queen, which would force him to commit incest. She is not a good person either. The barbarians are still knocking at the gates and it is clear that the city of Ys cannot survive, although it is mostly through the anger of a god that it is destroyed. Nevertheless, the king and many of the people survive and they are determined to rebuild. 12/21/25
Gallicenae by Poul & Karen Anderson, Baen, 1987
Second in the King of Ys fantasy series. This is more of an enhancement of the first book in the series than anything else. It doesn’t carry the story very far forward, although it makes it even more obvious that the Roman Empire is withdrawing from the British Isles. The benevolent if somewhat unfeeling king continues to make preparations to keep the city of Ys safe from the enemies beyond its borders. The Celts and the Scots are both aggressive and he can no longer count on support from the mainland. There is more emphasis on characters development – particularly the nine witch queens – although the magical component of the story is even less significant than in the previous book. The authors could have left the fantasy out and this would have been an entertaining historical adventure series with pretty much the same plot. 12/8/25
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1996
A riff on Christmas, among other things. Hogfather is a Santa Claus figure who is being excised from reality by a bunch of cosmic bureaucrats. They have hired a professional assassin to kill Hogfather. He invades the realm of the Tooth Fairy, and with control of the collected teeth, he is able to command the children in Discworld to stop believing in him. Hogfather is reduced to simply a hog. Death tries to intervene, but it is his granddaughter who eventually enters the Tooth Fairy realm, defeats the assassin, restores the status quo there, then returns to Discworld to rescue Hogfather and have a final confrontation with the assassin. One of the best in the series. 12/7/25
Roma Mater by Poul & Karen Anderson, Baen, 1986
First of a four volume fantasy series set in the British Isles during the period when Rome was disengaging from the area. A roman soldier challenges and defeats a local king, thereby gaining his throne. He is aided in this by nine powerful witches. He turns out to be a thoughtful and energetic ruler whose priorities are to improve the defenses of his kingdom and to stimulate the growth of the merchant class. He feels sorry for the poor, but doesn’t spend a lot of time trying to improve their condition. The decline of Roman influence has emboldened the neighboring barbarians to become more aggressive and he is forced to negotiate and make concessions, but eventually the Scots invade. His army and navy are able to defeat the invaders, but the handwriting is on the wall. The magic is real, but is largely part of the setting and is peripheral to the story most of the time. 12/1/25
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1995
Pratchett borrows from The Phantom of the Opera for this one. The witches want to retrieve one of their number who has joined an opera company. The company is plagued by a murderous ghost, as well as the usual internal rivalries. Pratchett uses this to criticize some aspects of management exploitation of workers, but he also deals with the way people create masks for themselves, artificial personalities, which they display in an attempt to convince other people that this is their real nature. The humor is there, but less omnipresent than in most of his other novels. 11/26/25
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1996
Discworld has a murder mystery, sort of. There is another plot to overthrow the ruler of Ankh-Morpork and restore the monarchy. There is also a secret society of golems who have created one of their own kind whose purpose is to emancipate them. Neither plots goes well, in large part due to the Night Watch, which ends up solving the mystery when the city leader is poisoned and two citizens are murdered. The golem’s golem has gone insane and most of the others commit mass suicide out of guilt. The aristocrats have internal dissensions exacerbated by the Night Watch’s investigation, and the destruction of the building where the lineage of the aristocracy is recorded when Captain Vimes is annoyed by the removal of his own family from the registry. A bit more serious in tone than usual. 11/26/25
Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1994
Rincewind the inept wizard returns from his exile when he is teleported to the Agatean Empire, which is currently being used as a contest between two gods. A local aristocrat wants to assassinate the current emperor and launch a war against Ankh-Morpork. A rebel movement – largely innocuous – has formed after reading a travelogue of Ankh-Morpork written by Twoflowers, a friend of Rincewind who has been absent from his last few adventures. Rincewind meets another old acquaintance, Cohen the Barbarian, who has recruited a bunch of senior citizen warriors and wants to seize the throne as well. And some of the other local aristocrats have their eye on their throne. The usual antics ensue but Rincewind actually contributes considerably to the outcome, which results with the villains mostly dead and Cohen installed as the new emperor. But Rincewind, alas, is in exile once again. 11/21/25
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett, Corgi, 1996
The final book in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy examines a serious theme used from time to time in science fiction. If you could go back in time and provide information that would avert a tragedy, would you have the right to do so? It would obviously affect the timeline and could have more bad consequences than good ones. Maxwell and his friends find themselves in World War II during the Blitz and they know that their home town suffered several fatalities during a bombing raid. Should they warn the populace and save lives or let history play out? Pratchett decorates this plot with the usual comedic antics, but the question is serious and he ends up using some time travel gymnastics in order to justify intervening. 11/21/25
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1995
This was Pratchett’s satire on the music industry. A young musician finds a magical guitar which plays primordial music that becomes instantly popular. The music actually controls him, however, and when Death – actually his granddaughter – comes to harvest him, the music replaces his normal life force and keeps him alive. But the music wants to create a legend and is determined to kill the entire band in a spectacular accident. The granddaughter intervenes and saves the band and Death shows up in time to trick the music and destroy the guitar. Various aspects of the music world are satirized including copycat bands, exploitation, associated merchandizing, and so on. Amusing but not among his best. 11/16/25
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1993
Although frequently funny, this is a surprisingly serious Discworld novel. An assassin has decided to commit a series of murders to destabilize the government, which he hopes will lead to restoration of the monarchy and the improvement of his family fortunes. The Night Watch has to stop him, and later another assassin who pre-empts the plan, and in the process they actually have several deaths among their number, although one of them is subsequently resurrected. The actual heir to the throne has no interest in ruling but he uses his status to coerce the government to improve the working conditions for the Watch. 11/13/25
Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1993
The middle volume of the Johnny Maxwell series switches from SF to fantasy. Maxwell is the only person who can see and communicate with the ghosts in a local cemetery. The town council wants to sell the land to a developer and move the bodies. The ghosts appeal to the boy to help them keep their “homes” intact. He does so after dealing with bureaucratic and financial difficulties. The story is considerably more serious than are most of Pratchett’s novels. It is clearly meant to protest the eradication of small communities at the behest of politicians and business people who have no respect for history. 11/13/25
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1992
Rivalries between two covens of witches, one older than the other, erupts in the build up to the marriage of the local king to one of the witches. The barrier between Discworld and Faerie has thinned and the elves – who are nasty and aggressive – are able to cross over. The queen of the elves wants to marry the king herself in order to extend her power. This was a surprisingly serious – although not always – entry into the series, with some brutality and action/adventure in the second half. It is also a parody of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It also is a crossover between the Witches books and the Wizards books, as a large contingent from Ankh-Morpork is invited to the wedding. I found the first half a bit too lightweight, but the second half is more interesting if somewhat uncharacteristic. 11/9/25
Fantasy by Poul Anderson, Baen, 1981
A collection of Anderson’s fantasy shorts. There are three really minor historical fantasies. The more conventional ones include “The Valor of Cappen Varra,” one of my favorites of his work. There is also a sequel to this story that I don’t recall ever reading before, but it is not nearly as good as the first one. Several of the stories are humorous and some of them mix science fiction and fantasy – magically defending a spaceship, for example. There are a couple of essays and a non-fact article, this last also being mildly comedic. Anderson's fantasy leans toward Scandinavian, which is not my favorite, but is fairly varied in this selection. 11/7/25
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 1992
After Mort, this is my second favorite Discworld novel. It is a biting satire about organized religion, and the humor is interspersed with some serious philosophy and some even more serious criticism of the way organized religious groups almost invariably initiate wars and repression. A god named Om is down to a single worshipper and wants to restore his reputation in the world. He finds an acolyte, but they are in a country where the grand inquisitor relentlessly stomps out any religion of which he disapproves. There are rebels who amusingly think the world is round when it is demonstrably flat, and a neighboring city where philosophy is a way of life, but its people are utterly impractical. This was a standalone novel with only cameo appearances by a couple of recurring characters. 11/1/25
Lies Weeping by Glen Cook, Tor, 2025, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-39799-7
It has been too long since I last read a new Glen Cook novel. I have enjoyed the Black Company saga almost without exception, and military oriented fiction is not one of my favorite subjects. The Black Company are essentially mercenaries in a brutal and complex fantasy world. This is the first in a new sub-series, The Pitiless Rain. Our heroes are looking for at least a temporary refuge from the fighting and plan to use a gateway to a place that was formerly a reliable base for recuperation and reorganization. Although it may be a haven, it works changes on some of those who reside there. There is also a mystery underlying what appears to be a calm environment, and naturally that is an implicit threat. Cook's fantasy always has a distinct flavor and he hasn't lost his touch during the gap of several years since the last book. One of the more interesting fantasy realms as well. 10/27/25
Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff, St Martins, 2025, $35, ISBN 978-1-250-24537-3
Final volume in this trilogy about a world ruled by vampires thanks to a magical force blocking daylight. The protagonist and his friends have been trying to overthrow the vampires by using the Holy Grail as a counterforce, but it was lost to them in the second book. They decide on what amounts to a suicide mission, intending to invade the core of the vampire world and kill the immortal king who rules it, even if that doesn't mean the vampires as a whole will be foiled. The Grail has not been destroyed, however, and the reader will rightly and inevitably realize that it will show up again in time for the climax. This is a pretty good trilogy, overall. The characters are much more interesting than in most similar books, and the world building behind the story is more fully realized than usual, and is actually fairly interesting in its own right. I rarely like vampires in fantasy, but this is one of the best exceptions. 10/26/25
The Demon of Scattery by Poul Anderson & Mildred Downey Broxon, Ace, 1979
Another Viking historical fantasy, this one involving the abduction of an Irish nun by a Viking captain who wishes to retire. That event is delayed while he and his followers raid more coastal communities and he and the nun eventually fall in love, although frankly it seems more like Stockholm Syndrome than love. She gets pregnant, meets a pagan goddess, and decides to avenge the victims of the raiders by calling up a giant sea serpent to attack their ships. Profusely illustrated. 10/21/25
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1991
One of the best of the Discworld books, with serious moments sprinkled through the jokes. Death gets fired, and that means that anyone who was scheduled to die cannot transition to the afterlife – which is overpopulated – and turns into a zombie. The undead organize themselves into a political party and advocate for undead rights. Death gets a job working as a farmhand and his interactions with the woman who employs him are quite sentimental without being sloppy. Inanimate objects begin acting as though they are alive while a variety of odd characters – vampir es, fake vampires, a wereman who is normally a wolf, a dwarf who likes to garden and a ghoul who likes to cook, etc. Mostly quite funny and always well written. 10/21/25
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1991
The three witches visit another country in this very good Discworld novel. They visit a community whose resident witch, Lilith, wants to change the whole town into an amusement part where, through magic and manipulation, she can make everyone’s dreams come true. Obvious she read too many cutesy fairy tales. Some of the local people, led by a voodoo priestess, are fiercely opposed. The three witches all get drawn into the battle. The novel is large a commentary on the tendency of people to create stories about their lives and then try to live up to their inventions, and conversely how other people’s stories can interfere with our own. The usual variety of idiosyncratic characters, lots of little comedy tidbits, and an undertone of seriousness that one could easily miss. 10/19/25
Eric by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1990
This is a very short Discworld novel, probably meant for younger readers. A teenager wants to conjure a demon and gain three wishes – love, immortality, omnipotence – but he is not very good at conjuring and ends up with Rincewind and the Luggage instead. Rincewind has no power to grant wishes and his attempts to help have predictably unpredictable results. They eventually have to confront genuine demons and Eric is forced to abandon his hopes. Mildly funny but not up to the quality of the more substantial books in the series. 10/17/25
Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1992
This is one of my favorite Pratchett novels, a biting satire on Hollywood and the motion picture business. The alchemists of Discworld have found a way to magically create the equivalent entertainment, and it becomes immensely popular. People with no talent in their previous professions are elevated to fame and fortune. There are lots of references to actual movies like King Kong and The Blues Brothers, some of which are already rather dated. The cast of characters is very large and there are so many subplots that it is difficult to keep them straight. The best is the new head of the Unseen University, who refuses to be a figurehead and shakes up the faculty. Lots of fun.
10/17/25The Merman’s Children by Poul Anderson, Berkley, 1979
The merpeople and humans lived in harmony in ancient Denmark until the spread of Christianity caused trouble. Since merpeople have no souls, religious icons are repelled by them. A priest performs an exorcism which forces the merpeople to leave their home and look for a new one. The main group has various difficulties including pirates and finally decide to be baptized and assimilate into human society. Baptism causes them to lose all memories of their past lives. The smaller group has somewhat different adventures. The morality of the issue as presented is puzzling. The merpeople are not evil, but Anderson does not condemn the Christians either.
Atlas of Unknowable Things by McCormic Templeman, St Martins, 2025, $29, ISBN 978-1-25030349-4
What a pleasant surprise this was - a first novel that immediately places its author on my watch list. It reminded me a little of Jonathan Carroll. The protagonist is a researcher who is visiting a very strange academic community where the occult might be something more than just a subject to study. She is searching for an object that is also coveted by others, and the competition is not a friendly one. The campus is particularly fascinating - a hodge podge of different settings in which the story is slowly revealed in more detail. There is a sense of threat as well as an aura of wonder as she meets a cast of fascinating characters. I don't want to spoil things by telling too much of the story but I finished it in almost a single sitting. It is the kind of quasi-contemporary fantasy that I enjoy far more than dragons and stolen thrones and clashing armies. Intelligent, involving, and entertaining. 10/2/25
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Ace, 1990
Plans to bring about the Apocalypse go awry when the Antichrist is mixed up with another infant. An angel and a demon join forces because they enjoy living among humans and do not want the world to end. A witch has foreseen what is to come and is determined to stop, or at least delay, the reckoning. The Four Horsemen are prepared to ride the Earth. Satan is prepared to leave Hell and rule on Earth. The Antichrist displays amazing powers and can even warp reality, but he is basically a nice kid and changes his mind before disaster strikes. This is actually very funny. I loved the confused hellhound. 9/29/25
Wings by Terry Pratchett, Corgi, 1990
The third and final adventure of the Nomes turns the series into science fiction. The tiny people who have been searching for a new home discover that they actually originated on another planet and they have a spaceship hidden on the moon. So they have to hijack a space shuttle to reach it and find happiness beyond the stars. The series was never even remotely serious, but it gets even sillier toward the end. 9/27/25
Diggers by Terry Pratchett, Corgi, 1990
The second novel about the tiny race of people who live in carpets. They have relocated from the condemned building to an abandoned quarry, but added to the difficulty of learning to live outdoors, they also have to contend with efforts by humans to reopen the quarry. Finally they decide to move again, this time to an old barn, but that presents a number of new difficulties. Written for younger children, this is the middle book in a trilogy. 9/20/25
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, Signet, 1989
The first of the Discworld Night Watch series. The guard contingent mostly hides from criminals and their captain is always drunk. But then a new volunteer begins to actually enforce the law, which makes life more difficult for everyone concerned. As if that was not trouble enough, a small group of renegade wizards has managed to summon a dragon – which is intelligent, telepathic, and potentially destructive. All of this is delivered with a wealth of jokes, puns, and absurdities in the usual Pratchett fashion. This was one of the best of the Discworld novels. 9/13/25
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1989
This is a standalone Discworld novel set in a kingdom modeled on ancient Egypt. The king dies young and his son, who is abroad learning to be an assassin, finds himself on the throne he does not particularly want and for which he is ill trained. He has to deal with magical pyramids, an unruly priesthood, draconian rules of behavior, and amorous handmaiden, sacred crocodiles, restive gods, and would be usurpers before finally deciding that he is not suited for the job. He leaves the kingdom in other hands and goes off to make a new life for himself. A bit more serious than most of the series, but that still leaves it wildly comedic. 9/9/25
Truckers by Terry Pratchett, Corgi, 1989
First in a series not set in Discworld and for younger readers. The Nomes are tiny people, thousands of whom live beneath a department store that is about to be torn down. Another community lives separately in a hill. Masklin is one of the Nomes, and he slowly becomes the leader in the effort to relocate before their world is utterly destroyed. Some humor, although not as much as you might expect, and some satire, probably more than you would expect in a children’s book. I hadn’t read this trilogy before so I’m looking forward to the other two books. 9/6/25
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett, Roc, 1990
Pratchett twists another venerable fantasy meme into a new shape in this story. The king of a small nation is murdered. His infant son is smuggled away by three witches who find him a home among a troupe of travelling actors. The usurper is clearly insane and gets more so as the story progresses. Eventually he offends the witches who cannot act against him directly but who can retrieve the legitimate heir and help him to regain the throne – although he actually doesn’t want to be king. Throw in some restless ghosts and stir forcefully. The plot sounds serious but every incident is colored by the author’s humor. 9/2/25
Shifter and Shadow by Sharon Shinn, Fairwood Press, 2025, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-958880-36-4
I have long enjoyed Shinn’s approach to fantasy fiction because by and large she avoids the melodramatic tropes that dominate the genre – major wars, stolen thrones, evil sorcerers, adventurous quests, and so on. This new novel is no exception. The protagonist is a shapeshifter who settles down in a small village after an unfortunate romantic entanglement. The village hosts a number of children who are afflicted with a disease whose only cure involves ingesting a poison that is fatal to humans, which sort of defeats the point. But she has the power to temporarily shapeshift other people, and if the children in question can be changed temporarily into animals which can tolerate the cure, she can save their lives. The problem, of course, is that many people fear magic and will not allow the process to be completed. I assume this is a sidewise swipe at the anti-vax movement. The resolution involves another shapeshifter who has long been in love with the protagonist, although he believes that love can never be consummated. The relatively low key plot is surprisingly gripping and I read this through in a single sitting. 8/30/25
September Castle by Simon Raven, Panther, 1983
This is a very strange dark fantasy novel much of which is rationalized, after a fashion. An academic believes that an historical figure may have been possessed by a demon and that she was buried with a magical artifact. He and the usual crew of oddballs set out on a quest to locate the grave and acquire the object. Along the way they have to deal with the possibilities of demons, ghosts, curses, and magic, much of which is explained away. This is a very odd novel overlooked by fantasy readers for the large part and packaged as a “romance.” It is a bit uneven but often compelling reading. 8/16/25
Sourcery by Terry Pratchett,
Through a violation of tradition, a sorcerer is born who is more powerful than all of the wizards in Discworld combined. He uses his powers to attempt to conquer all of Discworld and even imprison its gods. Rincewind the inept wizard and a couple of companions set out on a quest that takes them across the world to deliver a magical artifact. They are eventually able to free the imprisoned gods, who take revenge on the upstart Sourcerer. Episodic humor and satire that is often quite clever and almost always entertaining. By this point in his career, Pratchett was pretty well committed to Discworld and very little that he wrote afterward does not share that setting. 8/16/25
The Roses of Picardie by Simon Raven, Granada, 1980
This is a surprising good adventure story with fantastic overtones that I had never even heard of until a couple of weeks ago. A supposedly cursed bracelet disappeared during World War II and two men, separately, are determined to discover what happened to it. This involves a lot of European travel and delving back into various historical periods, but it also includes what appears to be a genuine vampire, mutant rats under Paris, a possibly real curse, and a host of idiosyncratic characters and bizarre situations. There is also a good deal of humor. You might want to give this one a try. 8/10/25
Mort by Terry Pratchett, Signet, 1987
This is probably my favorite Discworld novel. Death wants to take a vacation so he recruits an apprentice, Mort, to collect souls during the interim. But Mort falls in love with a young girl from an aristocratic family and cannot bring himself to take her. But since she was supposed to die, people begin to forget about her and are puzzled when she shows up. Death considers a change of career. Mort puzzles over the possibility that helping a bad man might have a better effect than thwarting him. The usual Pratchett humor throughout, and a more focused story than is true in most of his work. 8/6/25
A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson, Ballantine, 1974
I struggled with this fantasy novel, partly because the dialects – while probably historically accurate – did nothing except slow down my reading speed, and partly because it sometimes feels padded. The setting is an alternate 17th Century England during its civil war – this is technically a sequel to Three Hearts and Three Lions, which is far superior. The king’s nephew has various adventures, captured, escaping, meeting fairies and other characters – the premise is that Shakespeare’s plays were all factual – and eventually reaches Prospero’s island where he meets Caliban and others. This did not age well. 8/5/25
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett, Signet, 1988
Through a mistake, a dying wizard transfers his powers into an infant girl instead of a boy. A benevolent witch tries to raise the girl in witchcraft, but is unable to train her properly or control her developing abilities. They set off for the Unseen University, which trains wizards, have some adventures along the way, and arrive. The wizards are perplexed by the application of a girl. They are also troubled by some shapeless creatures from another dimension who have become more active since another young applicant has arrived. Granny Weatherwax tries to sort everything out while the nine year old Eskarina deals with the creatures, a staff with a mind of its own, and the rigidity of the status quo. 7/22/25
A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett, Harper, 2023
The second and final collection of Pratchett’s rare short fiction. These are all very short, several just vignettes. They include several stories with Christmas themes and several set in the fictional town of Blackbury. All of them are intended to be humorous and I thought that only a couple of them failed in that regard. A few of them could have been much better if developed at greater length, but Pratchett acknowledged that he struggled with anything not novel length. “The Gnomes from Home” is the best story in the book. 7/9/24The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett, Dufour, 1986
Rincewind the wizard has sole possession of a magical spell and that situation has caused a crisis in Discworld magic. He has in his mind the only copy of a spell which he stole from a mystical library. Various wizards and other groups want to acquire it and send minions to steal it back. He and his companion encounter trolls, dwarves, talking trees, a witch’s house, and other adventures, all comedic and sometimes satirical. Eventually he restores the spell to where it belongs because his life has been ruined by possessing it. This was the beginning of the really successful series of Discworld novels which had begun in The Colour of Magic. 7/7/25
The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett, St Martins, 1983
This was the first book about Discworld, consisting of four novelettes. The first introduced Rincewind the wizard, who is coerced into acting as bodyguard for the first tourist to ever visit Discworld. The second involves a board game played by the gods which almost causes Rincewind to lose his life to Death personified. In the third, they are pursued by a sorceress who can conjure up dragons. And in the last, they find a community near the very edge of the world. Although the later books in the series were richer in content, this was an amusing outing vaguely reminiscent of Jack Vance. 6/27/25
A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett, Corgi, 2012
This is not a complete collection of Pratchett’s short fiction, despite suggestions otherwise. The first half of the book are random stories, the second half all related to Discworld. Most but not all of them are fantasy. Most but not all of them are humorous. Pratchett mentions that he struggles with short stories more than with novels and it sometimes shows. The Discworld related stories are probably of more interest to his fans, but the satires in the first section are often better as stories. “Once and Future” is the best of the former – a man gets trapped in Camelot and alters the future. “The Sea and Little Fishes” is the best of the latter, the longest story in the book, about the consequences of a competition in witchcraft which is always won by the same person. 6/23/25
The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett, Clarion, 2013
This is a revised version of Pratchett’s first published novel from 1971. It is a children’s fantasy set in a tiny world that exists inside a carpet. A peaceful kingdom is plunged into chaos when a rival leader decides to disregard generations of tradition and extend his rule beyond his borders. Two brothers have to engage in a quest to stop him. Lightly humorous and a fairly standard story of its type. The carpet setting is mostly irrelevant and the reader is likely to forget about it most of the time. 6/11/25
Hrolf Kraki's Saga by Poul Anderson, Ballantine, 1973
For some reason I never cared much for Norse mythology, so fantasy based on it has a bit of a slog to get my attention. This novel is based on legends and apparently some actual factual basis and follows the career of a minor but very competent and successful Viking lord. He was a success in both military and diplomatic terms and was motivated in part by the murder of his father. Parts of the novel are pretty slow moving - presumably Anderson tried to stick close to the real story as far as it is known - and the fantasy elements feel like impositions on what is otherwise an historical novel. 6/11/25
Venus Burning: Realms by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2018
This is a collection of all fifteen stories that Lee had published in Realms of Fantasy magazine. They are generally excellent. “Doll Skulls” is one of Lee’s best stories, understated but effectively weird. Doomed lovers are a recurring theme in the collection. There are two Flat Earth stories and a Paradis story. “En Foret Noire” is another of her best works, dealing with a forest that has a bad reputation. There are no bad stories in the collection and several that are quite good, as you would expect given where they all originally appeared. Lee is one of the few fantasy writers with a healthy body of short fiction rather than trilogies or open ended series of novels. 6/5/25
Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson, Lancer, 1971
Four novelettes set in an alternate world where magic works. The protagonists are husband and wife, werewolf and witch. The first pits the couple against an afreet in the middle of a world war. The second involves a salamander that escapes and tries to burn down the world. The third is about a college professor who loses control of an incubus. The fourth and last is the best in the collection, though it is perhaps a bit too long for its plot. Anderson would later write a novel in this world, but the series is overall among his less interesting efforts. 5/24/25
Strindberg’s Ghost Sonata by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2019
This is a large collection of some of Lee’s uncollected short stories. They are all fantasy, although a few have horrific elements. Several are based on actual historical periods, or alternate versions of those settings. Two of them are set in the author’s Flat Earth series. The title story is the best in the book – a student explores an apartment building tenanted by some very strange residents. Others involve evil sorcerers, Death personified, sentient swords, children kidnapped by elves, curses, variations of Greek legends, and similar subjects. Lee was at her best in fantasy, so this is one of her best collections. 5/2/25
Love in a Time of Dragons by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2019
Only two of the stories in this large volume had been previously collected. I found them to be average for Lee or below average, for the most part, although the title novelette is pretty good. They cover the author’s usual range of settings and her frequent use of vampires and werewolves, although not always in horrific ways. A couple of the stories struck me as very minor. “The War That Winter Is” was my favorite of those assembled here. They tend to be less idiosyncratic and more mainstream fantasy than Lee’s work overall. The prose is, of course, very good to brilliant throughout the entire collection. 5/2/25
A Wolf at the Door by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2019
This is a substantial collection of disparate stories, mostly fantasy. The settings range from contemporary to fantasy worlds to future societies. There is a good sequel to Poe’s “Berenice,” another about a man who marries a shapechanger, and a good one about a phantom dog. There are stories about vampires and werewolves, but they are not the traditional versions of these legendary creatures. Some are just fantasy, not horror, despite the supernatural content. Overall, the quality is about average for Lee with a scattering of very good stories. Only four of them had been collected elsewhere. 5/2/25
The Heart of the Moon by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2020
The title story is a novella and is accompanied by an unrelated shorter piece. Moon Island is the scene of strange magical transformations every seventeen years. A female warrior who believes that she has offended the magical world and incurred a curse is chosen to be part of a small party sent by a priestess to witness these events. Although she suspects that she will meet her doom at last, she and her companions are about to discover things they did not suspect as they visit a place where reality and illusion are sometimes interchangeable. Pretty good but it felt rushed. 4/25/25
Greyglass by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2011
Although the cover blurbs suggest that the large house in this novel is transforming magically, the process is actually quite mundane – consisting of a number of conventional and unconventional renovations. The owner and only resident is an elderly woman who dies quite early in the story. The protagonist is her troubled grand daughter, who grows from adolescent to adult during the course of the novel. The only ongoing fantastic content consists of occasional poltergeist activity, and it is no surprise that a ghost shows up at the end. Very nice reading but it felt as though it was unfinished. 4/25/25
No Flame But Mine by Tanith Lee, Tor, 2007
Final book in the Lionwolf trilogy. I was a bit disappointed in this one. Lionwolf is reborn after a magician and a sorceress produce a child that is actually his reincarnation. He will ultimately shape the fate of the ice covered world of humans which is dominated by an evil god and torn by various human groups and individuals, all seeking to improve their own standing. All of the various story lines are brought to a conclusion, but it feels more like a summing up than a climax despite the fact that the novel is fairly long. Lee may have lost interest in the world at some point. 4/9/25
Here in Cold Hell by Tanith Lee, Tor, 2005
Since this is the middle volume in a trilogy, not much is resolved in any of the several story lines. Lionwolf has been killed and as one of the undead, he labors for a mysterious king in a frozen version of Hell. There he meets a one time lover and now enemy. His mother, meanwhile, his become a minor deity and is leading her followers in a migration after a plague virtually destroys civilization back in the world of the living. Another godling who lives under the sea has decided to assert his authority over the surface world and a sorceress tries to help a magically talented friend into escaping a trap of his own making. The small odd details keep the momentum going through what is, as usual in book two, a further development of the concepts introduced in book one. 3/7/25
Light Fall by Ed Crocker, St Martins, 2025, $30, ISBN 978-1250287731
First volume in a trilogy. First of all, this is a combination of very familiar fantasy elements, but arranged in a very different fashion, which makes them feel at least reasonably new. The world it portrays is, or rather was, dominated by vampires until a new kind of creature showed up. The surviving vampires have all retreated to a single city where they have set up a class based culture with different rules for rich and poor. The protagonist is a poor vampire who works as a scullery maid for the ruling class, but she isn't happy with her status and she is very ambitious. The murderer of a high ranking vampire provides the opportunity to improve her lot because she has some information which she can use for blackmail purposes, although that obviously entails some risk. But the murder is not as simple as it first appears and she may in over her head. Also features a werewolf and a sorceror, whose roles are a bit more conventional. The prose is straightforward, the plot moves well, and I will probably read the next volumes as they appear. 2/5/25
Vivia by Tanith Lee, Immanion, 2018 (originally published in 1995)
This is one of Lee’s lesser known novels, although it is quite good, perhaps because it is as close to horror as fantasy can get, and it includes a cast of horrid characters without anyone to like, and is sprinkled with some of the most overt violence in any of Lee’s work. The title character becomes a concubine after her violently inclined father’s castle falls to an enemy. But she has discovered a supernatural entity in the tunnels beneath the castle and has been changed. The reader will soon realize that she is turning into a vampire. Her new master discovers this and caters to her appetite for drinking blood, sacrificing victims regularly in order to do so. Depressing events throughout and the ending is not a cheerful one. 2/4/25
The Shadow on the Glass by Jonathan L. Howard, Aconyte, 2024.
Although this is a Call of Cthulhu novel, it actually does not make use of any of Lovecraft’s pantheon. It has much the feel of the Mythos, however, and involves the presence of three different alien races secretly on Earth. Two of them have been technically at war for millions of years but the Enemy has been imprisoned in an underground installation in Australia. The more benevolent race, the Yith, really live in the distant past but occasionally swap minds with humans from the present in order to monitor the situation. When an unscrupulous businessman makes contact with the Enemy, he forces a member of a third alien race to build a device that will allow them to emerge and wipe out their opponents. Most of this is seen through the eyes of a fake medium and her partner after she becomes possessed and he finds himself engaged in a war to save the world. Very enjoyable. I hated reaching the end. 1/15/25
Nightshades by Tanith Lee, Headline, 1993
A collection of twelve short fantasy stories and a mundane novella set in the 1960s in the Mediterranean. Several of the stories have historical settings – among the Borgias, with Percy Shelley, during the French Revolution, and not all of them have any fantastic content. A couple of them are horror, and I actually liked them best. Several of them appeared in very obscure publications so this collection is probably the only way that most people will have a chance to read them, and as far as I know, it has never been reprinted in the US. 1/9/25
Redder Than Blood by Tanith Lee, DAW, 2017
This was Lee’s second collection of stories inspired by classic fairy tales and legends. Several of the stories are vignettes and sometimes the connection to the original fairy tale is very tenuous. Some of them, like the title story and “Snow Drop” are as much horror as fantasy. Several are variants of the Cinderella story. “Kiss Kiss” is one of my favorites. The princess kisses the frog who reverts to being human, but she ends up having liked him better as a frog. The longest story is a retelling of Swan Lake, and I found it much too slow. Overall slightly above her already high average quality. 1/9/25
