October is Ghost Month on Fantasy Reads and this year I’m recommending the supernatural fiction of D.K.Broster (1877 -1950). Broster was an historical novelist, best known for her Flight of the Heron trilogy, but she also published two collections of short fiction – A Fire of Driftwood (1932) and Couching at the Door (1942) –… Continue reading
This month I’m catching-up with two Fantasy series whose leading characters each endure a long journey from anti-hero to hero. Curiously, one thing these two characters have in common is an ability to befriend giant female spiders. In spite of my own dread of spiders, these are both series which have kept me enthralled until… Continue reading
At this time of summer I usually recommend something suitable for holiday reading. For anyone stuck at an airport, railway station or port, Opening Gambit (2022) by British author Tilly Wallace might be a good choice. This is the first book in her Tournament of Shadows series and the sequel, A Dangerous Ruse, has already… Continue reading
This month I’m recommending a Young Adult novel which is set in a world based on Eastern and Central Asia but which uses elements from European folklore. Spin The Dawn (2021) by Chinese-American author and composer, Elizabeth Lim, is the first in a two volume story known as The Blood of the Stars. The second… Continue reading
I tried very hard to resist T J Klune’s best-selling feel-good Fantasy The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020) but I failed so here it is as this month’s recommendation. The novel is easy to find in paperback, with charming cover-art, or as an ebook. I think that this is a story particularly suited to… Continue reading
My recommended read this month is Dragonsbane (1985) by the versatile American author Barbara Hambly. In some ways this is a very traditional Fantasy novel populated by heroes, dragons, witches and gnomes; in others it is still ahead of its time. Dragonsbane can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story but there have been three sequels… Continue reading
For the second month running I’m recommending a story with a feline central character but the two books couldn’t be more different. Inges was a long baroque novel set in a dark and violent period of British history. The Cat Who Saved Books (2017) by Sosuke Natsukawa is short, delicate and set in modern Japan.… Continue reading
For this month’s recommendation I’m sticking with Historical Fantasy but Inges (2021) by British author John Brunsdon is set in a very different era from last month’s Regency Fantasy. A subtitle describes this novel as A Jacobean Tragedy of Murder Witchcraft Revenge and Cats and the title character is an imp in feline form. Already… Continue reading
Regency Romance with added magic is now a popular sub-genre of Fantasy Fiction but such books are not all the same. As a contrast to last month’s choice of the charming and funny Teacup Magic novellas, I’m now recommending the first in Canadian author, Olivia Atwater’s dark and distinctive Regency Faerie Tales series. Half a… Continue reading
The Omicron Variant sounds like a trashy SF film but since it happens to be real, 2022 is getting off to a rather dismal start. Cheering people up is still the priority so I’ve decided to recommend something light and funny. My current top pick for entertainment value is Australian author Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Teacup… Continue reading