For this coronation month I’m recommending Miss Sharp’s Monsters, a trilogy by Australian author Suzannah Rowntree which has an unusual take on Europe’s royal families. The series begins with The Werewolf of Whitechapel, continues with Anarchist on the Orient Express and comes to a dramatic conclusion in A Vampire in Bavaria. All three volumes were… Continue reading
This month I’m returning to the work of Anglo-Irish author Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett (1878-1957) better known as Lord Dunsany. I wrote about his wonderful short stories in an early Fantasy Reads post (June 2012) but I’m now recommending one of his novels – The King of Elfland’s Daughter (1924). During the last few… Continue reading
This month I’m recommending you to set sail with The Bone Ships (2019). British author R.J.Barker’s acclaimed novel was the first volume in his Tide Child Trilogy. It was followed in 2020 by Call of the Bone Ships and in 2021 by The Bone Ship’s Wake. All three books are available in paperback or as… Continue reading
February is often a dismal month but this year I’ve decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day by recommending something romantic.This has brought me back to the work of Australian author W.R. Gingell (see my Fantasy Reads post on Spindle, July 2016) because her Lady of Dreams is probably the most unusual love story I have ever… Continue reading
My January recommendation has to be The Ten Thousand Doors of January by American author, Alix E.Harrow. This novel about a girl called January who discovers doors leading to other worlds was first published in 2019. It is easily available in paperback or as an ebook and, because it consists of two first- person narratives,… Continue reading
For my `Christmas Classic’ this year I’m choosing Mistress Masham’s Repose, a novel for children by T.H.White. It was first published in 1946 and was dedicated to White’s goddaughter, the splendidly named Amaryllis Garnet. White is best known for his Arthurian sequence The Once and Future King but Mistress Masham’s Repose is set in the… Continue reading
This month’s recommended read is a book by Canadian author, Victoria Goddard, who has written numerous interlinked novels and novellas set in her Nine Worlds Fantasy universe. Dr Goddard is an author who delights and infuriates me in equal measure so it has been quite hard to pick an example of her work that I… Continue reading
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