Helliconia is an unremarkable planet. Its primary orbit is around Batalix, with a year equal to about 480 Earth days. But Batalix is in an irregular orbit around Freyr, a larger star. This orbit causes some unusual fluctuations in Helliconia’s climate, with the result that it experiences a second year, which the inhabitants refer to … Continue reading A Trilogy Ian Likes: Helliconia by Brian Aldiss
Tag: epic
A Novel Ian Likes: Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
Ash is an orphan girl who has become the leader of a respected mercenary company in late 15th Century Europe. Her company enjoys its success because of the “voices” in her head. These voices advise her on battle tactics and strategy. While other women might be taken as being insane, Ash is seen as touched … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle
A Novel Ian Likes: Legend by David Gemmell
The Nadir are on the rise. The fractious northern tribes have been united under one ruler – Ulric – and he is marching them south, conquering every country in his path. Only the fortress of Dros Delnoch stands between him and the Drenai nation. It’s undermanned, poorly maintained and run by a dying duke and … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Legend by David Gemmell
A Novel Ian Likes: Illusion by Paula Volsky
Eliste is the daughter of a minor noble in the kingdom of Vonahr. She secures a position as a maid of honour to Queen Lallazay, wife to King Dunulas. But Eliste arrives at the palace in a time of political unrest which soon bubbles over into outright revolution. She manages to escape from the palace … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Illusion by Paula Volsky
A Novel Ian Likes: Heart Of The Comet by Gregory Benford and David Brin
In the year 2061, humanity has launched an inspirational expedition to explore Halley’s comet on the occasion of its lifetime-spanning orbit around the solar system returning it to the neighbourhood of Earth. It’s supposedly a celebration of technology and ingenuity but the crew appears to be comprised largely of political embarrassments, has-beens and troublemakers. And … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Heart Of The Comet by Gregory Benford and David Brin
A Book Ian Likes: Titan by Stephen Baxter
Titan begins with the crash of a space shuttle on re-entry in 2003 and the realisation that people just aren’t that interested in going “out there” very much anymore. So Paula Benacerraf, grandmother, astronaut and nobody to trifle with, joins forces with a rogue scientist and a NASA administrator who knows that the agency’s number is … Continue reading A Book Ian Likes: Titan by Stephen Baxter
A Series Ian Likes: The Fey, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Blue Isle is placed several days sailing from the nearest port. An independent island, it has kept its nose out of international affairs for several hundred years. The Fey, a warlike race of magical beings, have just conquered the last country on the nearest landmass and are looking for a staging post to launch their … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: The Fey, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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 Book Ian Likes: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Adaptations of art into different mediums most often fall without trace into the collective memory, occasionally dragged out by a teacher trying to show their class that what they taught had some cultural currency once, when they clearly just aren’t engaging their students properly. More often than not, the adaptation is soon forgotten while the … Continue reading A Book Ian Likes: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
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.
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