I have always been shy and overthink new experiences, so I typically just don’t do whatever it is. I hate that about myself, but I struggle to overcome it. That’s why the werewolf has always fascinated me. The wolf knows no fear, either of people or experiences. The wolf is freedom from all the constraints of human society, and to be able to call up the wolf, transform, and leave all the expectations of humanity behind and live free, relying on your instincts, is very appealing to someone who doesn’t like crowds or cities or answering to a boss at work.
Ordinarily, a werewolf novel with a strong emphasis on the romance angle wouldn’t rate so highly with me, but Kelley Armstrong’s book was the right one at the right time. Elana, our heroine, is the world’s only female werewolf; her job has been killing rogue shapeshifters. She gets tired of that and tries to retire and live as a normal human, but that doesn’t work out.
What I liked about this was that it was my first exposure to a werewolf novel that really dealt with the political and social dynamics of a worldwide werewolf pack. Fortunately, Armstrong is a great storyteller, so there is more here than politics or romance. Her worldbuilding is fantastic, as evidenced by the fact this became the first in a long series of Otherworld novels.
THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING OTHERWORLD SERIES.
"Frisky...Tells a rather sweet love story, and suggests that being a wolf may be more comfortable for a strong, smart woman than being human."-The New York Times Book Review
Elena Michaels is the world's only female werewolf. And she's tired of it. Tired of a life spent hiding and protecting, a life where her most important job is hunting down rogue werewolves. Tired of a world that not only accepts the worst in her-her temper, her violence-but requires it. Worst of all, she realizes she's growing content with…
I grew up on a steady book diet of child detectives, fairy tales involving monsters in the woods, and historical fiction about the black plague. The same themes go through the books I love to read and write, transporting me with world-building set in realms or historical settings with technology so strange it could be fantasy. Characters are shaped by the world around them and the more perilous the world, the more it challenges the characters. If there are monsters, I’m in.
Alan Campbell set the mixed steampunk science-fantasy genre for me, with his high fantasy worlds where machines and magic go hand in hand, to prison cities surrounded by poisonous waters that can turn you into permanent sea-dwellers, and telepathic abilities worth killing for.
This is a world where a trip to the beach might kill you if the telepaths don’t find you first.
Leaving the behind the imaginings of Deepgate, Alan Campbell introduces a new world, a new cast of characters in a novel that reads like a cross between Stephen Deas and Joe Abercrombie.
With non-stop action, beautiful characterization and Alan's usual flair for imagination and lyrical writing, welcome to a world of water - where dragons are used as weapons and countries are separated by power, greed and fear...
Thrown out of the Graveyard corps by a corrupt and weak emperor, Granger has to turn to running his own prison. It's not a lucrative business but if he keeps his head…
I'm a long-time role-player/gamemaster and reader of SFF, and I've read, created, and played (and written!) a lot of stories.Good stories come from good characters. We all know that. But part of what makes characters good is that they're believable, and to me their believability is inextricable from the worlds they come from. A world-build—setting, weather, technology, magic, science, cultures, and languages—should BE as much of a character as the protagonist(s). While I admit a fond nostalgia for ye olde semi-Euro-medieval setting, I lovea world-build that challenges or surprises me, and I love the characters and stories that come out of those worlds. I hope you do too.
I love a good re-imagined fairytale, and Tidbeck delivers...except it's more like she took all the fairy tales, smashed them, and reassembled them in a mosaic that's both familiar and alien at the same time.
Dora and Thistle are two among many children trapped in the Garden, servants to the fairy-like overlords who, when those children grow up, will eat them. Dora and Thistle escape, but so does one of the wicked overlords....
The prose is gorgeous, and the story is all the things fairytales should be: magical, terrifying, fantastic, with journeys and helpers and—well. I won't tell you if the ending is happy or not. Read to the end and find out.
From the award-winning author of Amatka and Jagannath—a fantastical tour de force about friendship, interdimensional theater, and a magical place where no one ages, except the young
In a world just parallel to ours exists a mystical realm known only as the Gardens. It’s a place where feasts never end, games of croquet have devastating consequences, and teenagers are punished for growing up. For a select group of masters, it’s a decadent paradise where time stands still. But for those who serve them, it’s a slow torture where their lives can be ended in a blink. In a bid to…
I’m a lifelong fantasy reader, but all too often, I find myself grousing at the characters: “Listen! You could solve all your problems with a really confident lie!” Or: “...by revealing the truth in a public campaign before the villain gets you!” Or: “May I suggest a well-placed arrow?” Or: “Is he really the villain? The infrastructure seems pretty sound, and you have no expertise in governance!” Every now and then, I’m delighted to find characters as pragmatic as I am (or as I would be if I were a fantasy hero). These are my favorites.
In this series, the paladins are generally noble, honest, and wholesome – they are paladins, after all, even if their god is dead. But I don’t read these books for the paladins. What I most adore are the backdrop machinations of the Temple of the White Rat, a religious order interested in saving the world in the most sensible of all ways: with lawyers, doctors, social workers, and a sound understanding of economics.
At least once per book, the delightful – and very, dangerously practical–Bishop Beartongue will turn up to throw a wrench into events, and it delights me every time. I hope she gets her own book someday. Even if she doesn’t, I will continue to eat up this series like the most scrumptious chocolates.
Stephen’s god died on the longest day of the year…
Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…
From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far…
I have taken part in the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge #atozchallenge since 2014. I volunteered on A to Z founder Arlee's group early on. I was elevated to co-host in 2017 and became the Team Captain in 2018. In 2019, I ran the "#AtoZChallenge Book Reviews, Tour, and Blog Hop!" My own book, Writing Book Reviews As An Author: Inspiration To Make It Easier, was created because of the challenge. I used my method of writing book reviews, broken down alphabetically, to create a month of blog posts. Then compiled those posts into a book. Authors depend on book reviews, but struggle to write them for others.
I love that the dedication is to the A to Z Challenge bloggers of 2014. (I was one of them!) Here's a well-written and comprehensive reference guide. There's a strong author voice and a great amount of information. It covers the importance of including diverse characters. I recommend The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch to writers building a fictional world, and to writers using an unfamiliar setting. A necessary reference tool for authors.
Worldbuilding is the ultimate act of creation for speculative fiction writers, but how exactly do you worldbuild? You ask 'what if' and use each answer as a springboard to more questions and answers about your fictional world.
In The A-Zs of Worldbuilding, that ‘what if’ process is broken down into 26 themed chapters, covering topics ranging from architecture to zoology. Each chapter includes a corresponding set of guided exercises to help you find the ‘what if’ questions relevant to your story’s world.
Fair warning, though: worldbuilding is addictive. Once you get started, you might never put your pen down again.
It seems that all of the fictional main characters I create have anti-hero tendencies. There is always some voice in their head telling them to do right when they are expected to do wrong, or to do wrong when it is supposed they will do right. I find this flaw very compelling, and universal for those of us of flesh and blood. Do sneering, evil characters exist? Well, maybe, but they aren’t very interesting, and I think a weak trope.
This lighter fare is a collaboration of well-known writers (John Brunner, Poul Anderson, Andrew Offutt, Marian Zimmer Bradley, et al) creating a world where each of their characters also live in the other authors’ minds.
In the fantasy city of Sanctuary, their stories and their lives intertwine where a cast of anti-heroes rule the day, or are ruled by the day, depending on the authors’ whims. The cast of morally questionable characters at times are both protagonists and antagonists, depending on the point of view, and each story’s main character and writer.
And though each is, in turn, loved and loathed by Sanctuary and its denizens, the city has no mercy for them.
Contains all of the stories of the first two Thieves' World anthologies (Thieves' World and Tales of the Vulgar Unicorn), with additional material.
Return to the Olden Days of Sanctuary!
Sanctuary, a seedy, backwater town governed by evil forces, powerful magic, and political intrigue
See how Thieves' World all began!
Classic stories by:
Robert Lynn Asprin Lynn Abbey Poul Anderson Marion Zimmer Bradley John Brunner David Drake Philip Jose Farmer Joe Haldeman Janet Morris Andrew J. Offutt A. E.van Vogt
Because sometimes I think they go further than the formulas set by traditional publishing. I love fantasy and similar genres because there are no limits for the imagination. The books I’ve chosen fulfill what I think is important – world-building, imagination, thought-provoking, intelligent, and wonderful characters on a mission of some kind.
This is my favourite series by Michael Robertson; its world-building is so real that it’s scary because this dystopian world could really exist. The world has its defined structure and the characters within it are believable, even if not all likable. It’s a complex series and yet is simple in its reading; compelling at the very least.
In Edin, when you turn eighteen, you have to do national service.
Six-months outside the city's walls, fighting the diseased hordes.
Only half the recruits survive.
Spike refuses to be just another statistic.
Beyond These Walls is a post-apocalyptic epic. Join Spike, Matilda, and their friends as they leave their city for the first time to face the brutal reality of national service. Some of them won’t return, and for those who do, their lives will never be the same again.
I love to read (and write) books about badass heroines who do the saving. They’re not passive. They’re not dragged along by the alpha a-hole, swooning over his muscles and domineering personality. They take charge. They wield the sword, or the gun, or their fists and rescue the dude in distress, who may act the monster but is really just a secret cinnamon roll who wants to be loved. These heroines are the real role models, the women I want to be like. Their stories are the ones I get lost in and remember long after I’ve put the book down.
I have never come across a writing style quite like this. The author has a truly unique voice that some may detest at the first sentence, but I adored it. The prose in this book is a wild ride, but I was along for it.
I loved the monstrous fae male character. He appeared cruel on the outside but was just broken and lonely on the inside and wanted someone to love him. All my favorite things in a male love interest.
In writing character-driven space fantasy, heavily influenced by my training as an electromechanical engineer, I’ve realized a love for stories with a heavy emphasis on moral dilemmas and shifts in thinking. How does a character change direction after realizing much of what they always believed was a lie? When well-trained instincts pull them backward instead of propelling them forward? I love these stories, mirroring my own messy self-discovery journey through life. The settings and stakes are more fantastical, but that makes them more appealing. A way to confront my own trials without becoming burdened by them. If the characters can do it, so can I.
I’m a sucker for unique worldbuilding, and this book's combination of military traditions and the age of sail with magic space travel scratches that itch nicely. Dianne Morrison tells a heartfelt and deeply emotional tale that is at once both a coming-of-age story following a young elf’s pursuit of dreams as a star-pilot and a gritty cautionary tale on the horrors of war.
I felt for Shaundar and friends as they struggled through their own challenges to pursue their dreams, their patriotism as they snuck away to join the new war effort, and their horror as those dreams fell apart and survival became paramount. Check the content warnings on this one, as the narrative leans heavily beyond heroes and into the dark sides of war.
Toy Soldier: A derogatory slang term for an elven marine.Battles great and terrible, small and bitter, raged across Known Space as the wars of Elves and Orcs played out their legacy of hatred across the stars themselves. Epics would be written, songs would be sung; but wars are fought by real people with loves and families and homes.
All Shaundar Sunfall ever wanted to be was a Star-Pilot. Raised on his father's ship, he has found an affinity for the stars -- although as a mixed-race elf and a bit of troublemaker, he often runs afoul of his commanding officers.…
Because sometimes I think they go further than the formulas set by traditional publishing. I love fantasy and similar genres because there are no limits for the imagination. The books I’ve chosen fulfill what I think is important – world-building, imagination, thought-provoking, intelligent, and wonderful characters on a mission of some kind.
This author is a ‘master’ at creating fantasy worlds; his writing is intelligent and gripping. This particular series focuses on a battle between two immense powers with amazing descriptions, yet it is character-driven, making it relatable and believable. It’s thought-provoking and immerses you into a world that feels very real, its descriptions potent, its characters intriguing – I loved it.
For thousands of years they have sought the world from which they were cast out. Now, at last, Aona has been found. The younger races of this world will all be swept up in a struggle for survival, as their ancient, malevolent masters, guardians of all Aona's secrets, rise to do battle with their foes, remorseless destroyers of world after world throughout the known Existence.
