Parenthetical

4 out of 5! When the king comes for a surprise visit to Evie’s tiny village, she gets the chance of a lifetime: to go to university in the capitol, where she can study to become a healer like her parents were. Her grandfather is devastated to lose her, but he lets her go… provided [...]

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When Lucinda was small, her parents died in a terrible accident on their way to a royal ball. Now she lives a Cinderella existence in her grasping, abusive Aunt’s jewelry shop — until an urchin thief named Peter and the mysterious Amaranth Witch change Lucinda’s life forever. The broad strokes of this book are your [...]

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When Lucy was small, her mother went crazy and disappeared, leaving her in the care of her beloved foster parents. She doesn’t believe it, of course, when she finds pages from her mother’s diary claiming that the family has been under an Elfin Knight’s curse for centuries — each woman is doomed to get pregnant [...]

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And it comes down to… Howl vs. Eugenides. Go vote, but read the battle first; it’s brilliant. (Spoiler alert: they go have a beer together a la Giles and Ethan Rayne.)

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This link combines three of my favorite things: cover art, fantasy novels, and charts. Check out Orbit Books’ annual intern-generated Chart of Fantasy Art. A few highlights: Swords and “glowy magic” are down, but still incredibly popular. Wolves are down; elves and fae are way down (we can only hope this category includes vampires) New [...]

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Remember back in October, when I encouraged you to Kickstart Tu Publishing, a new independent press dedicated to multicultural YA genre fiction? Good news! Tu (now Tu Books) has been acquired as an imprint of Lee and Low! (Yes, I’m a little late to the party on this one; sorry.) They’ll publish 3 books per [...]

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Magic is most interesting when it works like a physical weapon: the character is given it (or learns she has it), and has to learn how to use it. It behaves according to rules, and she has to learn those rules in order to use it effectively. In a historical novel, you never see a [...]

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Another very complicated story by the author of one of my recent favorites, Jellicoe Road. She’s trying out fantasy this time: when Finnikin, son of the captain of the guard of Lumatere, is a child, the ruling family is murdered and the city occupied. It’s also sealed off, Sleeping Beauty-style, by the dying curse of [...]

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Now that the Cybils winners are all official ‘n stuff, I can review the finalists from the Middle Grade Fantasy & Science Fiction category. Here they are, in one speedy blowout: The Prince of Fenway Park, Julianna Baggott Check this premise, people: the famous Curse on the Red Sox is a real curse, brought on [...]

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This recent xkcd makes an excellent point. This is why I always loved the end of Labyrinth when all the critters tell Sarah that they’ll come “should you need us” — and then she cries that she needs them and they come rock out in her bedroom! Because they didn’t just mean the life-or-death kind [...]

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