It’s one of the most famous stories in all of twentieth century literature: Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, is given a ring by his uncle Bilbo, who came by it during his adventuring days when he was younger. However, Frodo is informed by the wizard Gandalf that is in fact the Ring of Power, forged by … Continue reading A Cultural Juggernaut Ian Likes: The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Category: Fantasy
The Great Discworld Retrospective: an introduction
Next month sees a significant anniversary of a beloved series. It has fans all around the world who love the amazing adventures that the characters have had in a variety of different settings. I am, of course, referring to Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. On the 24th of November (the day after that other DW-initialed series … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective: an introduction
A Novel Ian Likes: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
Priscilla is struggling to make ends meet as a waitress while trying to create the perfect perfume in her spare time. Alobar has a problem: if he displays any signs of aging, his reign as king will come to an end. Pan, though, is coming to terms with the fact that nobody believes in him … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
A Novel Ian Likes: Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
Peter Lake is a cat burglar. One night he breaks into the mansion of Isaac Penn, newspaper magnate and whaling enthusiast, and meets Beverly, Isaac’s daughter. They instantly fall in love and embark on a mad, whirlwind romance that they know will end in tragedy… because Beverly has tuberculosis, for which, in late Nineteenth Century … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
A Series Ian Likes: The Chronicles Of Amber by Roger Zelazny
Corwin wakes up in a hospital. He’s clearly been in an accident but he has no memory of it… nor of his life up until this moment. Escaping from the hospital he learns that he was put in it by people posing as family members, so he goes in search of them. Discovering a woman … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: The Chronicles Of Amber by Roger Zelazny
A Novel Ian Likes: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Isaac dan der Grimnebulin, a freelance scientist with some dubious ties to the underworld, is commissioned to create a means of flight for a Garuda – a race of humanoid bird-like creatures – who has had his wings removed for reasons that are never made entirely clear until the novel’s conclusion. Isaac throws himself into … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
A Series Ian Likes: The Book Of Years by Peter Morwood (part 1)
It’s pretty easy to pigeonhole a genre because of the similarity of a lot of the stories that you find in it. It’s even easier to sneer at if it’s from a section of the bookshop that you don’t frequent very often. For instance, the plot of The Horse Lord, Peter Morwood’s debut novel, runs thusly: … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: The Book Of Years by Peter Morwood (part 1)
A Book Ian Likes: The Silver Sun by Nancy Springer
The mid-1970s was a great time to be a fantasy fan. Maybe not an especially discerning fantasy fan, but there seems to have been an awful lot going on in the field, a field that was growing and becoming more commercially viable. Following the meteoric success of The Lord Of The Rings, loads of publishers liked … Continue reading A Book Ian Likes: The Silver Sun by Nancy Springer
A Book Ian Likes: Nifft The Lean by Michael Shea
Michael Shea came to prominence in the 1970s with his novel The Quest For Simbilis, a sequel of sorts to Jack Vance’s Dying Earth novel, The Eyes Of The Overworld. But despite much of his work – his brilliant short stories aside – displaying their roots very heavily on their sleeve he has a fantastic originality to his … Continue reading A Book Ian Likes: Nifft The Lean by Michael Shea
A Series Ian Likes: The Dragonriders Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
They’re the most beloved megafauna in all of fantasy. Feared for their deadly flame, famed for their miserliness, they have somehow come to be a symbol for the magical and wondrous places inside our heads. Anne McCaffrey managed to combine the more fearsome aspects with the noblest when she created the series that she is most famous … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: The Dragonriders Of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
A Trilogy Ian Likes: Memory, Sorrow And Thorn by Tad Williams
Memory, Sorrow And Thorn, comprising The Dragonbone Chair, Stone Of Farewell, To Green Angel Tower (1988 – 1993) by Tad Williams. In case you haven’t noticed, fantasy is a pretty hefty part of our literary lives now. But it has really only been the last ten years or so that fantasy authors have begun to shed their … Continue reading A Trilogy Ian Likes: Memory, Sorrow And Thorn by Tad Williams
A Film Adaptation Of A Book That Ian Likes: The Princess Bride
A young boy (Fred Savage) lays sick in bed. His grandfather (Peter Falk) arrives to read him a story to make him feel better. The boy is less than impressed with this but acquiesces. He is horrified to discover that this book - despite his grandfather’s claims to the contrary - is a ”kissing book.” … Continue reading A Film Adaptation Of A Book That Ian Likes: The Princess Bride
A Book Ian Likes: Dragonworld by Byron Preiss and J. Michael Reaves, with illustrations by Joseph Zucker.
Johan is a young boy living in one of the farming villages of the small country of Fandora. One day he steals a glider designed by his friend, the reclusive inventor Amsel. He is killed mysteriously, but his father Jondalrun believes the culprit to be Simbala, the wealthy country across the water, ruled by the … Continue reading A Book Ian Likes: Dragonworld by Byron Preiss and J. Michael Reaves, with illustrations by Joseph Zucker.