• Blog
  • About
  • Reviews
  • Great Series Read Project
  • Archive

SciFi Mind

Visions of Future Worlds

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Goodreads
You are here: Home / Archives for magic

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

By John Folk-Williams

The Spear Cuts Through Water

Impressed as I was by Simon Jimenez‘ beautiful and moving first novel, The Vanished Birds, I have to say I’m just staggered by his second, The Spear Cuts Through Water. Using the second person, the narrator lures “you” with intensely lyrical but dramatically apt prose into a world between worlds. One of several story tellers […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction Tagged With: dreams, epic fantasy, family, gods, magic, myth, shape-shifting, Simon Jimenez

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

Spear by Nicola Griffith – A Review

By John Folk-Williams

Nicola Griffith Spear

Nicola Griffith’s short novel Spear takes us on a luminous journey deep in Welsh roots of Arthurian legend to record the exploits of Peretur as she seeks to understand her nature and the fate that awaits her at Caer Leon, the stronghold of Arturus and his Companions. As Griffith explains in her afterward, she has […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction Tagged With: Arthurian fantasy, gods, magic, nature, Nicola Griffith, primal Britain, sapphic love

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

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar #WyrdandWonder

By John Folk-Williams

By Force Alone by Lavie Tidhar

I hope no one is so jaded on Arthurian fantasy that they can’t enjoy this glorious retelling and meticulous tear-down of every facet of the over-familiar stories. Every character comes to scurrilous life in By Force Alone, as that title phrase echoes over and over throughout this dynamic, hilarious and strangely moving book. I say […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Fiction, Wyrd and Wonder Tagged With: Arthurian fantasy, fairyland, Lavie Tidhar, magic, myth, primal Britain, violence

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Subscribe to SciFi Mind Posts



About SciFi Mind

nebula SciFiMind

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

Search SciFi Mind

Recent Posts

  • Nine Princes in Amber by Roger ZelaznyNine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny – #VintageSciFiMonth
  • Isle of the Dead by Roger ZelaznyIsle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny – #VintageSciFiMonth
  • Ringworld by Larry NivenRingworld by Larry Niven – #VintageSciFiMonth
  • Do Androids Dream of Electric SheepDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick – #VintageSciFiMonth

Categories

Twitter

John Folk-Williams Follow

SFMind

alwsparrow Thank you for following me!!

Reply on Twitter 1621424477350363137 Retweet on Twitter 1621424477350363137 Like on Twitter 1621424477350363137 Twitter 1621424477350363137

Elizabeth Adwoboa Thank you for following me!!

Reply on Twitter 1621288679166689286 Retweet on Twitter 1621288679166689286 Like on Twitter 1621288679166689286 1 Twitter 1621288679166689286

jenny Thank you for following me!!

Reply on Twitter 1620533386765897730 Retweet on Twitter 1620533386765897730 Like on Twitter 1620533386765897730 Twitter 1620533386765897730

Now this is scary: The Space Review: Space-to-ground capabilities are the answer to deterring invasion of Taiwan https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4522/1

Reply on Twitter 1620416035601154049 Retweet on Twitter 1620416035601154049 Like on Twitter 1620416035601154049 1 Twitter 1620416035601154049

Top Ten Tuesday: first encounters in 2022 https://onemore.org/2023/01/31/top-ten-tuesday-first-encounters-in-2022/ via @imyril

Reply on Twitter 1620414490222432258 Retweet on Twitter 1620414490222432258 Like on Twitter 1620414490222432258 1 Twitter 1620414490222432258
Load More...

© 2023 Copyright by John Folk-Williams · Dynamik-Gen On Genesis Framework