Smorgasbord Fantasia

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is my first book by the author - a mystery whodunit that am reading after such a long time - and definitely the first of her many other books, I have decided. With strong shades of Agatha Christie about this mystery novel, The Guest List was one of the best-sellers of last year and with the right good reasons to be. The intriguing premise here is that of a 'destination' wedding happening in a remote island off the coast of Ireland where Jules, a successful entrepreneur is about to get married to the man of her dreams, Will a rising TV star. The story starts off on the wedding night where the storm is blowing in and a waitress discovers a 'body'. And then we start peeling off the layers to figure out who the dead body 'was'. That's of course half the fun, the main part being the grubby grimy details of the past of the main guests who have been invited for the wedding. Watching the sordid past come alive in their own words as we ...

 This week, on Waiting on Wednesday meme where we feature some of the most anticipated SFF Titles releasing later this year, we bring you the much-awaited ( and super hyped but rightly so!) The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne , book one in this new series called the BloodSworn Saga. A new world inspired by the Vikings, this promises so much action and excitement in vintage John Gwynne style. I cannot wait to dive into this one, lucky to have snared the ARC :)  Set in a brand-new, Norse-inspired world, and packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance, The Shadow of the Gods begins an epic new fantasy saga from bestselling author John Gwynne. After the gods warred and drove themselves to extinction, the cataclysm of their fall shattered the land of Vigrið. Now a new world is rising, where power-hungry jarls feud and monsters stalk the woods and mountains. A world where the bones of the dead gods still hold great power for those brave - or desperate - enough to seek them ...

 With her first foray into Epic Fantasy, Rebecca Roanhorse has jumped straight up to the top pantheon of my go-to writers for anything fantasy. I was already a fan of her writing, having devoured the urban fantasy books, The Trail of Lightning and The Storm of Locusts . And now, with this stunning towering feat of imagination inspired by Pre Columbian civilisations, The Black Sun, she just blew my expectations away.  The Black Sun is set in a time and place, possibly inspired by the early pre-columbian civilisations that dates back to the times before America was discovered by Columbus. Myths, magic, Gods and faiths rule the society. There are class divides, painfully evident in both the history and the present of this world on the edge of a cataclysmic event - that of the Winter Solstice and an impending solar eclipse. Now we know the Sun God has been a chief deity worshipped during such times but Rebecca's fertile imagination weaves up multiple 'clans' in this society ...

 This week on our Waiting on Wednesday feature - our infrequently recurring meme to celebrate the best of anticipated titles in SFF - we feature the amazing Carter Archive noir fantasy series set in the gritty and brilliantly realized town of Titanshade. Yes! Carter and his friends are back for another adventure as the third book, Titan Song by Dan Stout releases in April.  The third book in the acclaimed Carter Archives noir fantasy series returns to the gritty town of Titanshade, where danger lurks around every corner. Forbidden magic, murder... and disco. Carter's day keeps getting worse. With the return of spring, new life floods into Titanshade. The sun climbs higher and stays longer, the economy is ascendant, and ever more newcomers arrive to be part of the city's rebirth. Even pop culture has taken notice, with a high-profile concert only days away. When a band member's murder threatens to delay the show, the diva star performer demands that the famous Detective ...

The Moonsteel Crown was also on my most-anticipated releases in Feb 2021 , from the stables of Angry Robot books. Stephen Deas ' memories of flame series was an absolute fun romp - with dragons, backstabbing empires and all around ashes and ruins. In this series opener, Stephen employs all his strengths sprinkling in sprightly dark humor, crackling action and an intriguing plot full of mystery and twists to make The Moonsteel Crown a flat-out fun read.  The city of Varr comes across as a typical medieval city full of gangs that control and run different parts of a crowded market (Gangs are named Spicers, The Unrulys, the Weavers etc) and this is where our three protagonists, Seth Fings and Myla have eked out their living. Seth is smart but has been bullied all his life for being a scrawny coward. He always wanted to be a priest and trains hard as an acolyte within the Temple once he gets this coveted opportunity but he gets thrown out for reasons, he doesn't quite comprehend...

 Dhrishyam set the standards for crime-thrillers in Malayalam movies pretty high when it released in 2013 and was subsequently remade in multiple languages across different states in India. And on Friday, Feb 19th, the sequel to this superb Murder-Mystery, Dhrishyam - Part 2 (The Resumption) released on Amazon Prime. (Prime by the way does a fabulous job of bringing the 'right' kind of blockbusters to OTT platform - recently watched Lokesh Kanagaraj-Vijay movie Master, an absolute cracker of entertainment and action!)  Does the sequel live up to the hype? Can Jeethu Joseph+Mohanlal duo re-create the magic of the original? Is there an angle that needs to be pursued here? What could possibly happen post that humdinger of a twist by the end of Dhrishyam-I?  Naturally, the expectations were stratospheric and the audience ecstatic about the possibilities. The trailer gives us hints, that the sword is still hanging above George-Kutty and his family's head and there is no peace ...

 The Forever Sea was one of my most-anticipated releases for the year 2021 - Billed as an "Environmental Fantasy" - this is the debut of Joshua Phillip Johnson and came out in the last week of Jan.  A sea of grass that runs for ever, ships running on a magical hearthfire, tended to by the magically-abled 'keepers', a mythical land called the "Once-City" with that retains the secrets from the old ages, monsters galore - and pirates on the sea of grass. It is a blockbuster mix of heretic ideas, blended in with lyrical almost poetic language and a narrative that promises adventure, mystique and a lot of fun.  This should have been a book I loved to bits and gone to town about. Alas, it was not to be. I am kind of disappointed with how it finally panned out, maybe because my expectations were stratospheric to begin with. It's not a bad book at all but despite a strong beginning, one of the most gorgeously detailed world building and innovative magical syste...