Steven Huxley has returned home after recovering from wounds inflicted during the Second World War. He is expecting to find his brother Christian living in the family home with his new wife, a young woman named Guiwinneth. What he finds instead is that Christian has been infected with the same obsession about the nearby forest … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
Tag: Fantasy
Pern Appreciation Month: “Beyond Between”
Thaniel is a runnerbeast farmer (runnerbeasts are horses genetically engineered to be viable on Pern). One day he is met by Moreta, Weyrwoman of Fort Weyr. She is delivering a vaccine against the plague that is threatening thousands of lives on Pern. Thaniel thinks it is odd that she is riding Holth, the queen dragon … Continue reading Pern Appreciation Month: “Beyond Between”
A Movie Ian Likes: Krull
Colwyn and Lyssa are the heirs to their respective kingdoms. They’ve come up with a plan to unite them in the face of a mysterious enemy called the Beast. The Beast has a travelling castle and has been terrorising the world of Krull. Colwyn and Lyssa’s plan is pretty simple: they’re going to get married, … Continue reading A Movie Ian Likes: Krull
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 26: Thief Of Time
Susan Sto Helit, daughter of Mort and Ysabell, granddaughter of Death, has taken up a teaching position, discovering that she is rather good at it, too. She has achieved some degree of normality, and even her ability to manipulate reality has become something that she utilises with much less of the disdain and doubt that … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 26: Thief Of Time
A Novel Ian Likes: Joyland by Stephen King
Devin Jones has taken a summer job at an amusement park hoping to get over the girl who broke his heart. As the summer progresses, though, he becomes embroiled in an old mystery concerning the murder of a local girl and the culprit who was never found… When I was younger I was a huge … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Joyland by Stephen King
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 12: Witches Abroad
When we last left the Witches, all the way back in Wyrd Sisters, things seemed to have settled down a little bit in the mountainous kingdom of Lancre. There was a new king who seemed prepared to give witches the respect they deserved, the coven of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick appeared to … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 12: Witches Abroad
The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 5: Sourcery
It’s tempting to call Sourcery a return to the “roots” of Discworld after a couple of books away from them but, really, using the rest of the series for some perspective, they hadn’t actually gone too far from them. We get Rincewind and his lethal luggage back, as well as the return of the faculty … Continue reading The Great Discworld Retrospective No. 5: Sourcery
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 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: King Of Morning, Queen Of Day by Ian McDonald
Emily is the daughter of a scientist considered… eccentric… by his peers. She also believes that she can communicate with faeries. Jessica is a free spirit confined to a drab world of work and home; she gets caught up with a young man she thinks is a member of the IRA but is in fact … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: King Of Morning, Queen Of Day by Ian McDonald
A Series Ian Likes: The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay
Caius Crispus, known as Crispin, is a mosaicist, mourning his family after their deaths in a recent outbreak of plague. His friend and mentor, Martinian, has been summoned to the city of Sarantium to work on a project for Emperor Valerius. He does not want to go and sends Crispin in his place. But Crispin … Continue reading A Series Ian Likes: The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay
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 Biography Ian Likes: C.S. Lewis by A. N. Wilson
Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) is best known as the author of The Chronicles Of Narnia but was also a professor of English at both Oxford and Cambridge. He was also internationally renowned as a lay theologian and Christian apologist. A. N. Wilson is an award-winning novelist, biographer and popular historian. Both men had relationships with … Continue reading A Biography Ian Likes: C.S. Lewis by A. N. Wilson
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: Beloved Exile by Parke Godwin
Arthur is dead. Betrayed in battle, his kingdom is on the verge of collapse. Guinevere, his queen, needs to escape from Camelot to safety. Unfortunately, disaster strikes, and she finds herself the captive – and then slave – of the invading Saxons… I grew up loving the legends of King Arthur. The idea of a … Continue reading A Novel Ian Likes: Beloved Exile by Parke Godwin