Of all the titans of fantasy fiction I read growing up – Howard, Moorcock, Eddings, Tolkien – Fritz Leiber was not among them. I knew of his most famous characters, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, yet somehow I never got around to reading any of his books. But when I discovered earlier this year that…
Of all the books I read in 2019, Lost Gods by Brom was my favorite. It’s rather mind-blowing that it’s taken me a half-year to blog about it, but then again, basically everything that’s happened in 2020 has been a distraction from writing. But as they say, better late than never! Long before I discovered…
It’s the middle of the holiday season, and although things are crazy-busy, I found some time to review Mirror Gate by Jeff Wheeler. Review The sequel to Storm Glass trades sky manors for a school of magic. Muirwood Abbey serves as Wheeler’s version of Hogwarts, and there is even a Dumbledore-like headmaster named the Aldermaston….
After finishing Traitor’s Blade, I moved right along to Knight’s Shadow, the second book in Sebastien de Castell’s excellent Greatcoats series. Here is my review. Review The mystery at the heart of Knight’s Shadow is even more complex and intriguing than the one behind Traitor’s Blade. Someone is murdering the dukes and their entire families….
I’m back again on the blog, and this time with a review of Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell, the first book in his four-part Greatcoats series. Review Traitor’s Blade is a swashbuckling adventure, filled with clever mysteries and thrilling swordfights, in the spirit of Alexander Dumas’ The Three Musketeers. Falcio val Mond, First Cantor of the Greatcoats,…
I’m glad to be back after a four-month hiatus from the blog! Writing my next novel is what’s kept me away, but I promise there’ll be several more posts before the year’s end. I’m kicking off my return with a review of a wonderful novel I just finished: Storm Glass by Jeff Wheeler. Review Imagine a…
George R.R. Martin promised a “bittersweet” ending to A Song of Ice and Fire. Nothing about that promise suggested there would be a fairy tale ending where Daenerys and Jon lived happily ever after. And after reflecting on the finale of Game of Thrones, I am convinced of one thing: Game of Thrones was meant…
When the bells tolled, Daenerys had a choice. She could have accepted the surrender of King’s Landing, as Tyrion encouraged her to do. Instead, she chose to become the Queen of Ashes and burn them all. Is Daenerys Beyond Redemption? Once upon a time, Daenerys Targaryen stole our hearts. She was the Breaker of Chains,…
With only two episodes left, “The Last of the Starks” has set up the endgame of Game of Thrones. Here are my thoughts on where the show seems to be heading. Cersei Is Winning … For Now Last week I predicted that some of the characters who survived “The Long Night” won’t survive Cersei Lannister….
The ending of “The Long Night” was one of the most jaw-dropping moments ever on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Never in a million years did I expect the episode to end the way it did—and only halfway into the final season no less! But now that the Battle of Winterfell has reached its shocking conclusion,…
The second episode of the final season of Game of Thrones, titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” could very well have been titled “the Night Before Everyone Dies.” Because I fear the cast of characters we’ve grown to love is about to be thinned out dramatically. Here are three thoughts heading into the battle for…