“John W. Otte leads a double life. By day he’s a Lutheran minister. By night, he writes weird stories.” Failstate is kind of weird. Robin Laughlin aka Failstate and Robin’s brother Ben aka Gauntlet are both unlicensed superheroes. Failstate is a “cognit” who can mess with the power grid. The theory is that Failstate’s super-power …
Category Archive: Fantasy Fiction
Apr 16
The Drowned Vault by N.D. Wilson
About the first book in this fantasy series by N.D. Wilson, I wrote: The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson. Too much action and it moved way too fast for me. I think there was a sub-text that I just didn’t get, and I think Mr. Wilson is too smart for my Very Little Brain. Reading …
Mar 17
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman and King 2 Hearts
War and peace is a recurring theme in literature, in movies and television, and in history. Seraphina, winner of the Cybil Award of 2012 in the Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy category, is about trust and mistrust between two different species, dragons and humans, in the kingdom of Goredd. My latest (second) K-drama, The …
Feb 01
Mira’s Diary: Lost in Paris by Marissa Moss
Time travel at its most historically teach-y. I learned a lot about the Dreyfus affair, but the time travel elements of this story were too unbelievable. Mira keeps traveling back and forth from our time to various times in the late nineteenth century, and she meets many of the same people at different key points …
Jan 29
Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde
I loved Deadly Pink. This one by the same author was just so-so. Giannine is trapped in a virtual reality video game when protestors from the group Citizens to Protect our Children (CPOC) vandalize the gaming center where she is playing. Because of the damage the protestors caused, the only way for Giannine to get …
Jan 27
Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction: What’s In, What’s Out
Some observations from my Cybils reading: What’s In Clockwork/mechanical animals, birds, monsters, objects, steam-punk: The Dead Gentleman by Matthew Cody, The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, Above World by Jenn Reese, The Brightworking by Paul B. Thompson, Goblin Secrets by William Alexander. Ghosts: Tilly’s Moonlight Garden by Julia Green, The Whispering House by Rebecca Wade, A …
Jan 19
Spirit Fighter by Jerel Law
Angels, nephilim, winged demons, kidnapping, creepy. A not-too-compelling entry in the Christian horror-dystopia-weird creatures genre. I dunno. If you like stories about supernatural creatures but want to keep your reading theologically borderline sound and sexually pure (those vampire/zombie stories get nasty sometimes), then this debut novel from Thomas Nelson Publishers might fit the bill. I …
Jan 18
Horten’s Incredible Illusions by Lissa Evans
I liked the second book better than I did the first, I think. Children who like puzzles and magic tricks would really find this book and its prequel, Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms, quite compelling. I just wanted more character development, more reasons to like or at least sympathize with the children in the two stories. Stuart …
Jan 15
Impossible by Nancy Werlin
Impossible by Nancy Werlin. Recommended by CarrieK at Books and Movies. Lucy Scarborough is seventeen, in her senior year of high school, with a handsome and likable date to the prom, a best friend with whom she can share all her secrets, and foster parents who love her dearly. Her life seems near-perfect. However, seventeen …
Jan 01
12 Favorite Middle Grade Fantasy and Science Fiction Books from 2012
For my Cybils judging responsibilities this year I read 84 of the 151 books nominated. I still have more that I would like to read in the next couple of months. Of those 84, these are my twelve favorites: Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes. Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde. Iron-Hearted Violet by Kelly Barnhill. Princess …
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