Tag Archives: Silk Road Fantasy

Bardugo Caps One of the Best YA Series of the Young Century with Ruin and Rising

Posted on March 23, 2021 by H.P.

“I am not ruined.  I am ruination.” Ruin and Rising brings Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Trilogy to a close.  I was in at the ground floor, reading the first and second books right around the time they came out.  I inexplicably … Continue reading →

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Siege and Storm is The Empire Strikes Back of the Grisha Trilogy

Posted on March 9, 2021 by H.P.

Siege and Storm is the second book in The Grisha Trilogy and the follow-up to Bardugo’s very promising debut, Shadow and Bone.  Rest assured there is no sophomore slump.  The second act of a trilogy can be the high point … Continue reading →

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Shadow and Bone is an Inspired, and Russian-Inspired, Fantasy

Posted on February 23, 2021 by H.P.

Alina, an orphan turned military cartographer, has her life changed forever when her military unit attempts a crossing of the Fold, a mysterious, flesh-eating monster-filled swath of darkness that cuts her home country off from vital sea trade.  The army’s … Continue reading →

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Throwback SF Thursday: Changa’s Safari by Milton Davis

Posted on May 18, 2017 by H.P.

Teen boys get a bad rap.  David Hartwell sneered that “the Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12.”  John Rogers gibed that “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.  One … Continue reading →

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Review of Of Sand and Malice Made by Brad Beaulieu

Posted on September 13, 2016 by H.P.

Of Sand and Malice Made is not, as I had originally thought and hoped, the sequel to last year’s wonderful Twelve Kings of Sharakhai.  Should you wait, then, until With Blood Upon the Sand comes out in February?  You could, … Continue reading →

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Review of The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster

Posted on January 19, 2016 by H.P.

The cover to The Drowning Eyes immediately grabbed me when I saw it—the ships and storms crashing in the background, the woman standing against the storm, compass in hand.  I was sold on weather magic.

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Review of Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Brad Beaulieu

Posted on September 1, 2015 by H.P.

In part a reaction to Western European, medieval-based fantasy, arguably the two biggest trends in fantasy today are Silk Road Fantasy and Flintlock Fantasy/Mannerpunk. I’ll talk about the latter tomorrow when I review Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho. … Continue reading →

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Review of The Scar by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, translated by Elinor Huntington

Posted on August 11, 2015 by H.P.

Crime & Punishment & Sorcery The Scar is the type of book that makes you weep for the limitations of sub-genre delineations. Not epic in scope and apparently intended to stand alone despite being part of a larger cycle. The … Continue reading →

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Review of Genghis Khan by Frank McLynn and Commentary on Mongols in Fantasy

Posted on July 16, 2015 by H.P.

Genghis Khan was the greatest conqueror the world has ever known. He consolidated the disparate clans and tribes of Mongolia. He conquered the Jin (northern China) and Kwarezmian (Persia) empires. “The Mongol empire covered twelve million contiguous square miles—an area … Continue reading →

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