Smorgasbord Fantasia

WolfHound Century is a debut that defies any genre and thus manages to be delightfully original, free of the trappings of existing fantasy sub-genres. Gollancz comes up with yet another winner in Peter Higgins who has woven a magical tale set in alternate Russia where folklores come alive, hunger and revolution is still the language the poor understand, giants live amongst humans and a totalitarian regime has plunged the state into a hopeless endless war. It’s beautiful, it’s grim and dark as the starless black of the night and yet so starkly fascinating. A noir- thriller that twists into a surreal dark horror introducing us to darker corners of the mind we never thought existed. That quote from Richard Morgan definitely captures the feel for the book. Definitely among my top reads for 2013.  The book starts off like any typical noire– introducing us to Vissarion LomMagical, an investigator down on his luck being summoned to the Capital state of Mirgorod to app...

Sacred Band is the concluding book in the Acacia trilogy following the four Akaran royal children to their destinies as decreed by fate, history and a lot of magic. Sweeping, ambitious and a shining example of what EPIC fantasy should be – one of the few modern tales that is self-contained within three volumes and packs in a knock-out punch deadlier than most volumes in the running today that spans more than six volumes ( Yeah, you…old man with long white beard and a sailor’s cap who has kept me waiting for more than ten years now to finish what was then my ever- favorite fantasy series!) Unlike most authors who start off with a promise of a trilogy and then milk their franchise as a money-making never-ending series keeping us readers in doldrums of frustration. This series will be the perfect antidote for all of you twiddling your thumbs and bemoaning their fates having started to read such series. A wonderful and eminently laudable effort that combines the old world Tolkien-esq...

Prince of Thorns is about a charming fourteen year old sociopath hell bent on carving a bloody path of revenge after having witnessed the heinous murder of his mother and younger brother stuck helpless in patch of briar thorns. The prince comes back after four years to extract revenge but his father’s castle might no longer be the place he grew up in, instead it becomes a treacherous labyrinth of back stabbings and swirling dark magic. It’s a little shit kicker of a book that blows up in your face and clinically butchers any preconceived notions you might have had about this typical fantasy trope of a young boy growing up into his destiny. I absolutely loved it. All my initial qualms of reading up about a young boy twisted by his overarching desires to extract a bloody revenge who doesn’t give a second thought to sacrificing blood brothers or young girls started slipping as I got caught by the mesmerizing manner in which Mark Lawrence has fleshed   out his tale. Ful...