Category Archives: Fantasy

The Spirit Ring

Posted on 19 January 2019 by Barbara Howe

Lois McMaster Bujold’s noblebright fantasy The Spirit Ring, set in Renaissance Italy, opens with a young woman, Fiametta, assisting her father, Prospero Beneforte, master craftsman and mage, in putting the final touches on a magical poison-detecting salt cellar. Their richly … Continue reading →

Posted in Noblebright Fantasy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Silence of Medair

Posted on 6 January 2019 by Barbara Howe

I cried over Andrea K Höst’s noblebright fantasy novel, The Silence of Medair. That’s a compliment, you understand. To become so engrossed in a story that the real world gets put on hold for a few hours, to identify so … Continue reading →

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Uprooted

Posted on 4 November 2018 by Barbara Howe

Uprooted, the Nebula-award-winning novel by Naomi Novik, is one of the most captivating fantasy novels I have read in several years. I was hooked within the first page, from the fairytale-like opening paragraphs, and although there are a few things … Continue reading →

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Spindle

Posted on 27 October 2018 by Barbara Howe

Although I love fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty, with its passive princess, is not usually one of my favourites. But in Spindle, Polyhymnia is no princess, Luck, the man who kisses her awake, is no prince, and being dragged kicking awake … Continue reading →

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Pay Dirt

Posted on 5 October 2018 by Barbara Howe

The ghoul claims he’s cursed. Ozzy Turner tells him he isn’t, and Ozzy ought to know. He makes a living breaking curses and finding lost items, and every test he knows has come up empty. He’s right; when the ghoul … Continue reading →

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Thirteen Orphans

Posted on 15 July 2018 by Barbara Howe

Years ago in the Land Born of Smoke and Sacrifice, a China-like alternate reality, the winners in a war exiled the losers into our reality. The exiles—the young emperor and his twelve advisors, each personifying an animal in the Chinese … Continue reading →

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The Lord of Dreams

Posted on 30 June 2018 by Barbara Howe

Be careful what you wish for, as you will surely get it. Claire Delaney, normal American teenager, wishes she could be a hero. She is immediately snatched out of her bedroom by a delightfully dangerous figure, transported into the world … Continue reading →

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Cunning Devil

Posted on 12 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

Ozzy Turner is a man you don’t want to cross. He is a cunning man, aka white witch; a magic user specialising in breaking curses and finding lost items or people. A man dedicated to protecting his community, the town … Continue reading →

Posted in Kiwi author, Urban Fantasy | 1 Comment

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Posted on 5 May 2018 by Barbara Howe

Imagine a world where a human raised by fairies rules three kingdoms: one in Faerie, one in the human realm of northern England, and the third on the far side of Hell. During his three hundred year reign in the … Continue reading →

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The Traitor and the Thief

Posted on 20 April 2018 by Barbara Howe

In The Traitor and the Thief, debut novel by Gareth Ward, a fourteen-year-old boy named Sin is plucked off the streets and given an opportunity to earn a place in the Covert Operations Group (COG). COG is a clandestine organisation … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Kiwi author, Noblebright Fantasy | 2 Comments