Tag Archives: fantasy fiction

#BookReview ‘Gregor and the Code of Claw’ by Suzanne Collins #fantasy #adventure

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Gregor and the Code of Claw is the fifth and final book in the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. From the first page there is no preamble, no explanation of the back story. If you’ve got this far in the series, you know who Gregor is, where he is, and you know that what happens next may kill him. If you don’t know what I mean, start at the beginning with Gregor the Overlander. Suzanne CollinsGregor could turn his back on the Underland, ignore his destiny and return safe to the New York streets above. He could, but will he? Of course not. An army of rats is closing on Regalia, deep beneath the New York streets, and Gregor cannot abandon his friends. This is the war to end all wars. Central to the defence of Regalia – where the humans have put aside generational divisions to join with their allies; bats, mice, spiders, cockroaches and Ripred the rebel rat – is breaking the rats’ version of the Enigma code. If the humans can unlock the Code of Claw and read the rats’ military messages, they believe they can win the war. According to a prophecy the Princess, who everyone says is Gregor’s youngest sister Boots, will unlock the code. But Boots is causing chaos in the code room until Lizzie, Gregor’s other sister, arrives.
This is a fast-moving story of war and it doesn’t all go Gregor’s way. He’s struggling to be what everyone expects him to be, the Warrior who will save Regalia. At last he has achieved some level of competency at echolocation, useful when fighting in the dark, but he is deemed a limited fighter as he only uses his right hand. His relationship with his bonded bat, Ares, another outsider in Regalia, is close and touching. So is his growing closeness with Luxa. There is also the verbal jousting with Ripred to enjoy.
The final battle is, inevitably, Gregor versus the Bane. The white baby rat which made its appearance in the second book in the series is now a mad giant. How can Gregor defeat him?
Collins doesn’t shy away from the brutality of war, or sad endings, and some favourite characters are lost. There are spies, traitors and resistance fighters, lots of blood and strange animal fluids, and some pretty gruesome injuries. And like life, the ending does not have neat conclusions.
An inventive series that brings adult themes of war, death and betrayal plus love, loyalty, bravery and friendship, to a tweens audience. Well written and thought-provoking.

Here are my reviews of the first four books in the series:-
GREGOR THE OVERLANDER #1UNDERLANDCHRONICLES
GREGOR AND THE PROPHECY OF BANE #2UNDERLANDCHRONICLES
GREGOR AND THE CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS #3UNDERLANDCHRONICLES
GREGOR AND THE MARKS OF SECRET BY SUZANNE COLLINS #4THEUNDERLANDCHRONICLES

And try the first paragraph of THE HUNGER GAMES, also by Suzanne Collins.

If you like this, try:-
‘Viper’s Daughter’ by Michelle Paver #7WOLFBROTHER
‘Dark Earth’ by Rebecca Stott
‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden #1WINTERNIGHT

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview GREGOR AND THE CODE OF CLAW by Suzanne Collins https://wp.me/p2ZHJe-7zj via @SandraDanby

COMING SOON… THE NEXT BOOK I REVIEW WILL BE:- Heather Morris

#BookReview ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ by @PhilipPullman #BookofDust #fantasy

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Oddly The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman feels like the first of a trilogy rather than the second in The Book of Dust. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book but the first half is taken up with world-building and the introduction of new characters, relationships and enmities. But this is the first time we see Lyra as a young woman ten or eleven years after we left her at the end of The Amber Spyglass, so much has changed. Oxford seems more modern, Lyra is surrounded by old friends and potential new enemies and, crucially, she is not getting on with her daemon Pan. Philip PullmanThis latter fact, at first unthinkable, is the power driving the narrative. When Pan despairs of Lyra, who he thinks has changed unrecognisably, he sets out to recover the thing he fears she has lost. Her imagination. And Lyra, being Lyra, charges off in pursuit. Except she doesn’t know where Pan is going. Both are driven by love.
Add to this a changing political landscape with a new generation of scholars, scientists, politicians, priests and criminals and it soon becomes clear that Lyra and Pan are separated from each other in an increasingly toxic and dangerous world. Meanwhile the farmers of roses and makers of rose oil are being persecuted across Asia. Prices are rising as rose farms are burned and those who make their living from the flowers are destitute. A new rose oil with powerful and mysterious properties has been discovered in the East, and the Magisterium wants it all.
There is a sense of inevitability that Lyra will embark on a new quest taking her to strange lands. Quite how everything connects together is not clear and that is Pullman’s magic, he tells us just enough to puzzle us, to keep the curiosity burning and the pages turning, without allowing us to become bored or impatient.
What an enjoyment to encounter old friends from His Dark Materials and some new ones made in La Belle Sauvage, the previous book in this second trilogy. I won’t name these friends as I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of meeting them again. As ever, this is a brilliantly imagined, intricately plotted world from Pullman with a modern story of refugees seeking safety from an oppressive and unforgiving regime. The refugees are fleeing the places through which Lyra and Pan are travelling. Will they be safe? Or will they be outwitted by old and new enemies.
Excellent.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS BOOK

Read my review of LA BELLE SAUVAGE, first in ‘The Book of Dust’ trilogy.

If you like this, try these:-
‘The Bear and the Nightingale’ by Katherine Arden, #1 Winternight Trilogy
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen, #1 Tearling Trilogy
‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth, #1 Divergent Trilogy

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH  by @PhilipPullman https://wp.me/p5gEM4-4tnvia @Sandra Danby

#BookReview ‘The Girl in the Tower’ by @arden_katherine #folklore #fantasy

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There is so much to The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, follow-up to The Bear and the Nightingale. A strong female heroine, magical mystical Russian folklore, fighting, horses and danger. Katherine ArdenVasya is an awkward teenage girl in the mythical Middle Ages of old ‘Rus who does not like her traditional choice of marriage or convent; in The Girl in the Tower she is older and more defiant. You just know she is heading for trouble. She leaves home to wander and look at the world, refusing to worry about survival in the winter forest, and in so doing stumbles into banditry and violence that has implications for the power of the throne. I read the second half of this at a pace, wanting to know the outcome, not wanting it to end.
A faster-paced book than the first of the series, the two are tightly linked and so I hesitate to give away too much plot. Disguised as a boy, Vasya cannot help but attract attention despite the warnings of her magnificent stallion Solovey. Her exploits bring her to the attention of Dimitri, the Grand Prince of Moscow, and red-haired lord Kasyan Lutovich. Feted for her fearless fighting, Vasya’s disguise becomes more difficult to protect. Reunited with her brother Sasha, the monk who is Dimitri’s best friend and adviser, Vasya must maintain her disguise or risk the lives of her family. The secret must be kept at any cost.
It is a pleasure to read these books, confident that author Katherine Arden has a supreme hold on her material, the legends and the world she has created. And in Vasya she has a heroine who confronts evil in its many forms – the human sort of swords, ambition, bigotry and malicious words – and the superhuman sort of gods and demons, a firebird and magic jewels that confer control. Arden describes this world, and Vasya’s adventures, beautifully. In this second novel she grows from a teenager to a young woman, bringing with it an awareness of attraction and a kiss with a frost-demon. In parallels with heroes of other fantasy fiction – Philip Pullman, JK Rowling – Vasya shows respect for people and creatures which others may ignore and demean, so earning their loyalty and support at critical moments.
These are adult fantasy tales, complicated, dense and a rollicking read. A quite unusual combination. Can’t wait for the third in the series.

Read my reviews of the other books in this trilogy:-
THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE #1WINTERNIGHT
THE WINTER OF THE WITCH #3WINTERNIGHT

If you like this, try these:-
‘The Quick’ by Lauren Owen
‘The Seventh Miss Hatfield’ by Anna Caltabiano
‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE GIRL IN THE TOWER by @arden_katherine http://wp.me/p5gEM4-2YK via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘The Magician’s Land’ by Lev Grossman @leverus #fantasy #magic

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Thrown out of Fillory and back in the non-magical world, Quentin Coldwater retreats to his former magical university in Brooklyn. Brakebills. He becomes a professor where he teaches his discipline, described as ‘mending small things.’ Remember this, it will be important later. The Magician’s Land is the final book of the magical trilogy by Lev Grossman and like book two, The Magician King, this final instalment is action-packed. Lev Grossman The story moves between present and past, Fillory and earth, above ground, in the air and underground. Seeking adventure, and money, Quentin meets a new group of underground magicians and accepts a task for payment of $2m. On the team is Plum, who admits she once attended Brakebills too.
In parallel we get the stories of Quentin, Eliot [still in Fillory] and Plum. In order to understand the threat in the present, we have to go back in time to fill in the real story of what happened to the Chatwin children [whose true adventures inspired the novels of Fillory]. And it becomes plain that the Fillory known by Quentin from his childhood love of those novels, is incorrect. The novels were fictional and Fillory is not what it seems.
Depending on them all, is the very existence of Fillory.
A cracking finale.

Click the title below to read my reviews of the first two novels in the trilogy:-
THE MAGICIANS #1THEMAGICIANS
THE MAGICIAN KING #2THEMAGICIANS

If you like this, try:-
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #1TEARLING
‘The Invasion of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #2TEARLING
‘The Lost Girl’ by Sangu Mandanna

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview THE MAGICIAN’S LAND by Lev Grossman @leverus http://wp.me/p5gEM4-1rD via @SandraDanby

#BookReview ‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth #YA #fantasy

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Divergent by Veronica Roth is a book that had passed me by until I read online reviews, which prompted my Kindle purchase of the trilogy. Veronica RothI wonder what percentage of Young Adult [YA] fiction currently published features a dystopian world. Are our teens disenchanted with their own real world and so want to read fantasy? Certainly Suzanne Collins and Stephanie Meyer have a lot of responsibility for this, their two series have dominated the bookshelves and cinema screens. And they are all entertaining, in different ways.
Divergent is set in a city which was once Chicago where every citizen belongs to one of five factions. Each faction represents a human virtue: Candor [honesty], Amity [kindness], Dauntless [fearlessness], Abnegation [selflessness], Erudite [searching for knowledge]. At 16, teenagers are assessed for their affinity to the factions and can choose the faction they will be for the rest of their life. Anyone whose test results are inconclusive is labelled ‘divergent’. Tris, the protagonist, is divergent. This is her story and is the first of a trilogy.
Tris embraces her non-conformity. She is brave enough to be true to herself even though at times she is not sure what that is. She learns to be suspicious of labels, not to pre-judge people. But for me some factions verge on cliches. In particular, the fearlessness of the Dauntless verges on stupidity, danger for the sake of it. It is that particular computer-game type of violence that doesn’t hurt on the page but would seriously damage/kill in real life.
I’d like to see more character development, none of the depth here of The Hunger Games, but this is the first book of the trilogy so there is a world to set-up. Also I’d worked out the ending before I got there. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the book but just that it seems superficial in comparison with The Hunger Games, which from page one gives you the sense of the deep back story. My expectations are set high.

Click the title to read my reviews of the other books in this series:-
INSURGENT #2DIVERGENT
ALLEGIANT #3DIVERGENT

If you like this, try:-
‘Gregor the Overlander’ by Suzanne Collins #1UNDERLANDCHRONICLES
‘The Queen of the Tearling’ by Erika Johansen #1TEARLING
‘The Magicians’ by Lev Grossman #1THEMAGICIANS

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
#BookReview DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth http://wp.me/p5gEM4-Jq via @SandraDanby