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Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

By John Folk-Williams

Bliss Montage

One of the things that makes Ling Ma’s stories in Bliss Montage so extraordinary is her ability to blend keen perceptions of human relationships with fantasy elements that somehow make the fantastic an intimate part of ordinary life. There is the house in “LA” the narrator shares with a hundred ex-boyfriends, the pickup date in […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction, Short Fiction Tagged With: fantasy, identity, Ling Ma, love, memory, rebirth, relationships, self-worth

The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford – A Review for Wyrd & Wonder

By John Folk-Williams

The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford

John M. Ford’s The Dragon Waiting is a brilliant reshuffling of fantasy tropes and alternate history but at heart also a beautiful study of a group of extraordinary characters. First published in 1983, this is the first of Ford’s novels to be republished since his death in 2006 when, apparently because no one could trace […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction, Wyrd and Wonder Tagged With: alternate history, deception, dragons, empire, England, fantasy, John M. Ford, magic, power, vampire

Moon Witch Spider King by Marlon James, A Review for Wyrd & Wonder

By John Folk-Williams

Moon Witch Spider King

Marlon James’ Moon Witch Spider King (second book of the Dark Star trilogy) impressed me at first as everything I had missed in the first novel, Black Leopard Red Wolf. There was a story of emotional depth I could link into and a brilliant character I could care about, as opposed to the strangely alienating […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction, Wyrd and Wonder Tagged With: fantasy, identity, immortal, Marlon James, memory, power, story-telling, supernatural

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott

In a recent interview at Before We Go Blog, Ken Liu mentions Kate Elliott as one of the very best fantasy writers of today and Servant Mage, this gem of a short novel, reveals Elliott as a master story-teller. Servant Mage tells the story of a young woman raised in servitude and taught to despise […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction Tagged With: class structure, demons, fantasy, mage, magic, power, self-worth, unmasking

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s tour de force, Elder Race, we first encounter Lynesse (Lyn), Fourth Daughter of the tough minded Queen of Lannesite, climbing the steep rugged slopes of a mountain to call forth a powerful wizard. As only the fourth daughter, Lyn is never taken seriously, but she is determined to change that by destroying […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction Tagged With: Adrian Tchaikovsky, communication, fantasy, language, magic, science, science fiction, technology

The Bone Ship’s Wake by R. J. Barker – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

The Bone Ship's Wake

The first two books of R. J. Barker’s The Tide Child trilogy (The Bone Ships and Call of the Bone Ships) blew me away with a sustained level of sheer excitement, inventive detail of a sea-faring world of two archipelagos, a great set of characters and incredible staging of naval battles. These books brought me […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction Tagged With: adventure, battle strategy, conscience, fantasy, redemption, ships

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Something is struggling to be born in this damaged and inspiring world, and I believe science fiction and its speculative cousins are helping us figure out what it is. It’s pushing the imaginations of fiction writers to bend and twist familiar forms to try to capture the forces that are hurling us into a barely conceivable future. This blog is my small way of exploring the half-perceived … Read More about About

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