The One Kingdom (2001) & The Isle of Battle ‘The Swans War’ (2002) by Sean Russell I’m fond of Sean Russell because he is a good writer, and because he writes duologies. I like knowing that a series will not stretch on interminably. So a year or two ago I picked up The One Kingdom […]

The Novels of Tiger and Del Sword-Dancer (1986), Sword-Singer (1988), Sword-Maker (1989), Sword-Breaker (1991), Sword-Born (1998), Sword-Sworn (2002) by Jennifer Roberson I am quite fond of the first book in this series, Sword-Dancer. I like the characters, I like the writing, and I like the story. I particularly like Tiger, who sounds quite a bit […]

Moontide and Magic Rise: World Without End (1994) and Sea Without a Shore (1996) Sean Russell Every time I read Sean Russell, I am always surprised at how good his books are. I pick them up knowing they are going to be good, but the pessimistic part of me always says, “they can’t be that […]

Favorite African Folktales (2002) edited by Nelson Mandela This is a small but excellent collection of old and new African folktales. In addition to the stories, the book tells where each tale is from, a little something about the creatures within, and the name of the translator or author of the story, and sometimes a […]

Rotten Relations edited by Denise Little I was really disappointed in this collection. I had, as the song goes, high hopes, but was, in the end, let down. I picked up the book because the idea of it sounded great: villains from fairy tales and literature telling their side of the story (much like Gregory […]

Twice Upon A Time (1999) edited by Denise Little Fairy tales seen from another perspective–the wife of the giant from the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. The hunter in the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The Wolf who appears in multiple tales. This book is hit and miss. Some of the stories are […]

Emerald Magic (2004) edited by Andrew M. Greeley This book first caught my eye because I didn’t expect to see Andrew Greeley’s name in the fantasy section. Then I looked at the list of authors who wrote in this anthology: Charles de Lint, Diane Duane, Elizabeth Haydon, Morgan Llywelyn, Judith Tarr, Peter Tremayne, Jane Yolen. […]