Tag Archives: fantasy

The Sleeping Beauty

Posted on June 19, 2022 by smellincoffee

A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms #5: The Sleeping Beauty(c) 2010 Mercedes Lackey352 pages Rosamond has the bad luck to be an orphaned princess in a wealthy little kingdom surrounded by larger, hostile enemies, any one of whom will … Continue reading →

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Watership Down

Posted on November 19, 2021 by smellincoffee

Watership Down© 1972 Richard Adams413 pages A small community sits on the precipice of destruction, but the few who realize it are unable to fully warn their comrades. A small band leave everything they’ve ever known behind, to face the … Continue reading →

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Harry Potter Fanfic: They Shook Hands

Posted on November 15, 2021 by smellincoffee

I’m officially reading two nonfiction works. My weekend was spent, however, reading through a fanfiction series called “They Shook Hands“, an alternate-history approach to the Harry Potter adventures. The titular point of departure is that Harry and Draco’s initial meeting … Continue reading →

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The Sword and the Serpent

Posted on April 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

Sword and Serpent © 2014 Taylor R. Marshall411 pages A phoenix from the fire will riseUnchain her and free the worldIn Britannia will rise the eagle whose sign is the CrossIn Britannia will rise the chief dragon whose sign is … Continue reading →

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His Majesty’s Dragon

Posted on April 14, 2021 by smellincoffee

His Majesty’s Dragon© 2006 Naomi Novik384 pages William Laurence’s career was all set: a ship of his own, a fair French prize in his sights, and fiance waiting for him at home.  But then, in the hold of the French … Continue reading →

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Ancestral Shadows

Posted on October 5, 2017 by smellincoffee

Ancestral Shadows: An Anthology of Ghostly Tales© 2004 ISI Distributed TitlesStories written by Russell Kirk 1950s and produced first in various magazines410 pages “Ghost stories” invariably makes me think of legends and folklore,  but Ancestral Shadows is an altogether different … Continue reading →

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Dracula

Posted on October 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Dracula© 1897 Bram Stoker416 pages Every attorney has problematic clients,  but few can claim an actual monster. Such is the case with Count Dracula, as  young lawyer Jonathan Hawker discovers to his dismay and horror when he arrives at the … Continue reading →

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Perelandra

Posted on April 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Perelandra © 1943 C.S. Lewis 322 pages In Out of the Silent Planet, Dr. Erwin Ransom was kidnapped by two malevolent technologists who thought to offer him as a sacrifice to the ruler of Mars, a planet they were interested … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: explosives and Martians

Posted on October 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Tonight I finally gave up on Hayduke Lives!, the sequel to Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang. The plot only arrives four-fifths of the way into the book, having been preceded by lots of stream-of-consciousness rambling, pointless arguments, and enough breast … Continue reading →

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The Sword of Summer

Posted on October 18, 2016 by smellincoffee

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer© 2015 Rick Riordan491 pages Magnus Chase is the Boy Who Lived.  As a youngster he witnessed his mother sacrifice herself for him, dying at the hands of some evil … Continue reading →

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