Oh my god. OH MY GOD. The grandfather of fantasy, Conan the Barbarian, sets the stage for all the ridiculous sexism that shows up in later fantasy novels. I wish I could say it was kind of a guilty pleasure like Starship Troopers but it’s not. It’s just…upsetting. There are a lot of stories, so … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Fantasy
Book review: Ringworld
This book was a bit of slog. You would figure 278 pages of 2 humans and 2 aliens being shipwrecked on an alien built ringworld would fly by. You would be wrong. There doesn’t seem to be anything fundamentally wrong with the idea, it was just a bit badly written, I think. Also, some of … Continue reading
Book review: Magician
So, apparently back when this was first published, Raymond E. Feist was told to make it shorter. However, after he became famous, he expanded it and it was republished – much to my dismay. 841 pages of dismay. So, the plot is interesting enough: a rift is opened between two worlds and a war-mongering empire … Continue reading
Book review: Furies of Calderon
The tragedy about this book is that it had a fairly good plot but was pretty much let down by several shoddy characters and the fact that we’re still basically left in the same position as we were at the start of the book. The plot is: a newly minted Cursor (like a secret agent) … Continue reading
Book review: Gardens of the Moon
This book had A LOT going on in it. A lot of it seemed to be like “Ooo! This is a neat idea…” and then it went NOWHERE. How do I describe the plot: there’s an Empress who is hell bent on expansion, taking over cities there’s a lot of people who don’t like her … Continue reading
Book review: The Last Unicorn
Okay, so maybe there’s some inverse law where a book is really good, the film has to be crap and if the film is good, the book is crap. This is how I feel about The Last Unicorn and The Princess Bride. Seriously, does anyone remember how weird the animation of The Last Unicorn was? … Continue reading
Book review: The Sword in the Stone
This was supposed to be about The Once and Future King but I can’t get into the next book. It feels entirely nonsensical but also just really dull. The Sword in the Stone was entertaining enough, though it did entirely have that feeling that the author didn’t even remotely entertain the idea that women or … Continue reading
Book review: Homeland
So this book has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to your face. Given that, it’s still sort of enjoyable? But by about page 200, you’re a bit tired of all the sneers and plotting. It’s not even subtle plotting – everyone’s motivations are just told to you, rather than having anything come together slowly. … Continue reading
Book review: Assassin’s Apprentice
I’m trying to muster up the enthusiasm to write this review but it’s kind of hard as nothing really happened.So plot: a young boy is dropped off at a castle (he is the illegitimate child of the person next in line for the throne) and is treated alternatively really nicely or really badly, depending on … Continue reading
Book review: The Crystal Cave
The first of three Arthurian-themed books on this list and it was disappointing on more than one level. First: the tone Basically, Merlin, is a bit of a prick. The tone of his voice is insufferable know-it-all. Considering one of the things he does is organise adultery, it’s…wearing. As well, it was just too forced … Continue reading
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