fantasy Archives

Thirteenth Child, The

“I couldn't have a lifetime, but I could have this moment.” Author: Erin A. Craig Hazel’s parents never wanted her. As a matter of fact, they gave her to The Dreaded End as an infant. Since then, they have none so patiently waited for this thirteenth child of theirs to be taken by the Dreaded End, her supposed godfather. But he never comes. And so Hazel waits for him, year after year, unwanted, unloved, un-celebrated. On her twelfth birthday, after watching her closest brother be given to the dissonant Fractured Ones, The Dreaded End finally comes for Hazel and whisks [...]

Frances Carden2025-09-22T11:22:22-07:00September 22nd, 2025|Tags: book review, botm, fantasy, read, reading|

Sorceress Comes to Call, A

"This was like... fear at first sight." Author: T. Kingfisher Cordelia is lonely and scared. In her mother’s house, she is forbidden to close doors. Her only friend and confidant is her mother’s beautiful white horse (Falada). The object of Cordelia’s every waking moment is to do everything in her power to keep her mother appeased so that she will not be made “obedient” again. You see, Cordelia’s mother, Evangeline, is a powerful and cunning sorceress, immoral and violent. Evangeline will do anything to gain wealth and riches. She will sell her own daughter to an elderly suitor. She will bewitch [...]

Frances Carden2025-06-30T15:06:18-07:00June 30th, 2025|Tags: A Sorceress Comes to Call, book review, dark fantasy, fairy tale, fantasy, horror, read, reading, T. Kingfisher|

Hera

A New Look at an Old Villian Author: Jennifer Saint Hera – the raging goddess of marriage – is a much-hated figure from Greek mythology. While it is her husband, the mighty Zeus, who tricks and rapes his way through both mortals and goddesses, it is Hera that catches our ire. Shouldn’t she, we reason, be gentler, know better, and stop perpetuating a vicious culture of victim-blaming? Shouldn’t her vengeance, her impotent rage, be directed towards the one who really deserves it (her philandering husband) instead of in fits of jealousy towards his often-unwilling paramours? Well . . . author Jennifer [...]

Frances Carden2025-03-23T08:40:21-07:00March 23rd, 2025|Tags: book review, botm, fantasy, fiction, Greek mythology, mythology, read, reading, retelling|