The FanLit Reviewers

Although we each have different tastes in styles and genres, as part of the FanLit team we all insist on well-written and entertaining fantasy. We hope you'll find a few reviewers whose tastes are similar to yours and who can help you decide what to put on your reading list (and what to avoid!).

fantasy literature reviews means that the reviewer Did Not Finish the book either because it was bad, or because it did not appeal to that reader's taste at that time. Read the review for explanation.

We are in the process of moving this material. Please find our newest reviews by clicking on the tags below. Our older reviews (before December 2009) are still listed and linked below.
Amanda Angus Beth Bill Caitlinn Greg Guest Reviewers John H. Julie Justin Kat Kelly Rebecca Retired Reviewers Robert T. Rob R. Ruth Stefan Stephen Todd

Ruth Arnell Fantasy Literature reviewerRUTH ARNELL is a professor of political science in Idaho. From a young age she has maxed out her library card the way some people do credit cards. She started reading fantasy with A Wrinkle in Time and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — books that still occupy an honored spot on her bookshelf today. Growing up with so many readers in the house taught her to be protective of books; If you left one laying about, somebody might claim it. This contributed to her habit of reading multiple books simultaneously. It also taught her what not to do in a review, when, after finishing a book her sister had purchased but not yet read, she cried, “I can’t believe they killed him!” (Twenty years later, her sister has still not read that book.) Ruth's favorite authors include Charles de Lint, CS Friedman, Lorna Freeman, and Midori Snyder. Her pet peeves include magic spelled with a k, one dimensional villains, and bad copy editing. Ruth and her husband have a young son, but their house is actually presided over by a flame-point Siamese who answers, sometimes, to the name of Griffon

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ANGUS FINDLAY BICKERTON practises law in a small town in Eastern Ontario. He lives with his wife, their two youngest children, and their black lab in a 160 year-old stone home, which also holds his law office. He has become, through inadvertence bordering on negligence, an expert in money-pit properties, and in do-it-yourself repair and construction. He has always dreamed of writing novels, but so far he has only self-published a play about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ entitled The Gate. In addition to excellent fantasy, Angus loves historical fiction, and has taken great joy in the Horatio Hornblower books and especially Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey & Maturin tales. Although he enjoys a good stand-alone novel, ever since he read Tolkien’s books he has always loved epic and high fantasy. His favourite modern epic series is The Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts. Angus’ pet peeves about the fantasy genre are books that: (1) perpetuate the stereotype of fantasy being for awkward teenagers hiding in the school library (maybe because he was one); (2) try to be epic by adding weak stories to characters that ran out of steam after the third ho-hum book; or (3) try to be deep but merely end up being preachy. Worst of all, these three often combine in ways that are truly awful to behold. He believes that the only way for epic fantasy to work is to have: (1) strong and distinct characters who grow with each book; (2) strong themes that make the reader look at things in a new way; (3) world-building which makes the reader feel like they are there; and (4) above all, a poetic command of the English language that demonstrates real artistry.

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Justin Blazier Fantasy Literature reviewerJUSTIN BLAZIER does IT work for various corporations and helps his wife run a Thai restaurant in Lawrenceburg Indiana. His life-long goals include winning the lottery, ending world hunger, and finding a canned chili that doesn't taste like sawdust. Like many fantasy enthusiasts, he cut his teeth on Tolkien. Due to lack of space, his small public library would often give him their donated SFF books, and there he met Piers Anthony, Gordon R. Dickson, Douglas Adams, and many more. Currently he's a fan of Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss, and Brandon Sanderson. Justin is a sucker for an unlikely hero and a happy ending, but not adverse to tragedy if he feels it has a point. He also delves into historical non-fiction (Nathaniel Phillbrick) and adventure books (James Rollins). He lives in a small home near the river with his wife and Norman, his mildly smelly dog. He is notably charming, intelligent, and dedicated, and has just learned that there are benefits to writing his own bio. Through his reviews he hopes to change the world. Failing that, then at least to get somebody to buy a book that deserves to be read.

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Todd Burger Fantasy Literature reviewerTODD BURGER is a businessman from Chicago. He fell in love with fantasy after watching The Wizard of Oz in second grade. The next day, he scurried to the library but found the book already checked out. However, the librarian lifted his spirits by showing him thirteen more Oz books by Baum. In third grade, his mother imposed a ban on “those Oz books,” which had become an obsession. Forced to diversify, he tried to check out Huckleberry Finn, but his teacher opposed the idea. When he presented her with a Dr. Seuss book for approval, he quickly found himself cleaning erasers for being “full of too much sass.” Once, he charmed a substitute teacher into approving Huck Finn, and when his duplicity was discovered, he came to know eraser dust intimately. Soon, Todd started reading everything he could find. Favorites are Madeline L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen R. Donaldson, Tad Williams, George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, J.K. Rowling, Eoin Colfer, Rick Riordan, and Audrey Niffenegger.

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Bill Capossere FanLit reviewerBILL CAPOSSERE teaches writing and literature part-time at several local colleges and, thanks to his incredibly supportive wife, uses the rest of his time to write (and read of course). He just completed a Masters in Fine Arts at the Mt. Rainier Workshop under the direction of Judith Kitchen and Stan Rubin. His essays and short stories have appeared in various magazines, journals, and anthologies, been recognized in Best American Essays (in the “notable essay” section), and have also been nominated for several Pushcart Prizes. He's been reading fantasy and science fiction ever since he was old enough to steal his father's books the second the poor man put them down. His tastes run toward the epic, though he often wonders why when he is in the middle of rereading six books so as to better follow the about-to-be-published-two-years-late seventh book in a series of ten (would a “previously-on-Lost” sort of prelude really kill these guys?). But then he runs into something like Erikson's Malazan series, which he loved so much he ordered them from England, and is reminded of what he enjoys so much about the genre (and about free shipping from Amazon in America—England—ouch!). Bill lives in Rochester, New York with his wife and son whom he’s recently enjoyed introducing to dragons.

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fantasy book reviewsREBECCA FISHER earned a Masters degree in literature at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Her thesis included a comparison of how C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman each use the idea of mankind’s Fall from Grace to structure the worldviews presented in their fantasy series. She is a firm believer that fantasy books written for children can be just as meaningful, well-written and enjoyable as those for adults, and in some cases, even more so. She’s not a big fan of epic fantasy, simply because they are often stretched out over several (very long) volumes, whereas fantasy books for children/young adults are more concerned with straightforward storytelling than elaborate world-building and long-winded sentences. Plus, the story usually doesn't last more than three books to reach completion! Her favourite book of all time is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, but when it comes to fantasy her tastes run toward the likes of Garth Nix, Philip Pullman, Meredith Anne Pierce, Susanna Clarke and Jan Siegel: authors who write within the fantasy genre, but manage to break away from the “simple farm-boy discovers great destiny” clichés and write with creativity, wit, and (most importantly) originality.

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fantasy book reviewsSTEPHEN B. FRANK was fantastic even as a child, devouring everything from Baum’s Oz to Tolkien, to the epic fantasies of Piers Anthony, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Robert Jordan, Tad Williams and the Sci/Fi of Orson Scott Card, Ursula K LeGuin, Frank Herbert, and Mike Resnick (though he's currently boycotting space opera until they rename the sub-genre). Stephen didn’t discover what he calls “The One, True Sub-Genre” (urban and contemporary fantasy, of course) until he read Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series. His favorite One-True-Sub-Genre authors are too many to name, but he has a particular love for humor: (eg: Dakota Cassidy, Mary Janice Davidson, Mark Henry, Julie Kenner, Katie MacAlister, Richelle Mead, Christopher Moore). He's even been known to sneak out of speculative fiction to indulge in Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum), Donna Andrews (Meg Lanslow mysteries), Lisa Lutz (Spellman Files), or anything by Miami Herald columnist Dave Barry.

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Greg Hersom FanLit.net reviewerGREG HERSOM'S addiction began with his first Superboy comic at age four. He moved on to the hard-stuff in his early teens after acquiring all of Burroughs’s Tarzan books and the controversial L. Sprague de Camp & Carter edited Conan series. He compares his addiction of reading heroic tales to morning beer and after-work coffee. (Whoops! I got that backwards. Really I did.) “You can survive the day without caffeine and alcohol.., but for the love of all-that’s-holy, why would you want to!?!?” Greg reads historic fiction, sci-fi that leans-toward-fantasy, and the occasional hard-boiled/noir crime novel. He has a real soft-spot for Westerns, but his favorite reality-escape-pod is fantasy. His favorite all time author is Robert E. Howard (REH just doesn’t get the credit due him) and subsequently has a certain preference for Sword-and-Sorcery. Greg also admits that he’s a sucker for a well-illustrated cover—the likes of a Frazetta or a Royo. Sorry ladies, but this 5’6”, middle-aged, salt-n-pepper stud is spoken for. His wife has made an honest man of him and he’s the father of a teen-aged son and a two-year old little girl. Greg’s family lives in a small house owned by a dog and two cats in a Charlotte, NC suburb.

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Katherine Hooper FanLit.net reviewerKAT HOOPER is a professor at a university in Florida where she teaches neuroscience, psychology, and research methods courses. She occasionally gets paid to review scientific textbooks, but reviewing fantasy is much more fun. Kat has five young children and no time (or desire) to read inferior literature, so after being frustrated about the lack of a free, reliable source for information about excellent fantasy fiction, she started this website. Kat's first criterion for the novels she reads is that they be excellently written. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for grammatical errors, bad sentence construction, dull prose, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Dark elements are fine, but not horror. And it helps if there's a tall good-looking man wielding a sword (Joscelin Verreuil is HOT, Thomas Covenant is NOT). Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Lois McMaster Bujold, Robin Hobb, Roger Zelazny, and Guy Gavriel Kay.

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John Hulet Fantasy Literature reviewerJOHN HULET is a captain in the Utah Army National Guard. He began reading fantasy in the 4th grade when his reading teacher ran out of things to keep him occupied and suggested he try The Chronicles of Prydain. From such humble beginnings are addictions born. John’s experiences have often left a great void that has been filled by countless hours spent between the pages of a book lost in the words and images of the authors he admires. During a 12 month tour of Iraq, he spent well over $1000 on books and found sanity in the process. He enjoys books that challenge the mind and ensnare the heart. An interesting story is not enough to make up for shallow characters. Gimli Gloinson, Flint Fireforge, Tasselhoff Burrfoot, Prince Kheldar(Silk) and the totally debauched Dakar the Mad Prophet are all brilliant examples of the combination of humor, loyalty and courage that makes characters live. John particularly loves epic fantasy's use of the concept of honor which is often considered outmoded and naïve by modern society. He loves to escape into a world where good people do good things for the right reasons and believe that duty can truly be its own reward. John lives with his wife and four children in Utah and works slavishly to prepare soldiers to serve their country with the honor and distinction that Sturm Brightblade or Arithon s’Ffalenn would be proud of.

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Beth Johnson FanLit.netBETH JOHNSON discovered fantasy books at age nine, when a love of horses spurred her to pick up Bruce Coville's Into the Land of the Unicorns. Magical creatures have always fascinated her, but they're not required for a place on her favorites shelf: Stories full of intriguing twists and turns have a special place in her heart, especially when they include equally fascinating characters, adventure, and action. She likes romance, but too-sappy love stories will quickly find themselves on her 'to sell' list. As a firm believer in things new and different, she greatly appreciates books by authors who don't think that archaic words and worlds are necessary for good fantasy. Beth writes more genres than she reads and is generally good at biting off more than she can chew, be it writing or reading that she's involved in. She promises to never write a long, drawn out series of long, drawn out books, and requests that friends, family members, and associates smack her silly should she so much as consider it. Friends, family members, and associates have graciously agreed. She currently lives in Sweden with her husband, but is definitely not writing (or reading) in Swedish yet. When she isn't working on novels, research, or reviews, she writes short stories at her own site, The Airplane Experiment.

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Kelly Lasiter FanLit reviewerKELLY LASITER is a mild-mannered academic administrative assistant by day, but at night she rules over a private empire of tottering bookshelves, guarded by a ruthless hellhound. (All right, so her manners aren't always mild and the hellhound is actually quite friendly, but the shelves do totter.) She came late to the fantasy genre, wandering into its enchanted lands nearly by accident in her early twenties, by way of Pamela Dean's Tam Lin and the suggested reading list provided in the back by Terri Windling. She is most fond of fantasy set in a historical setting (a la Jo Graham) or in a setting that echoes a real historical period (a la George RR Martin and Jacqueline Carey). She also enjoys urban fantasy and its close cousin, paranormal romance, though she believes these subgenres' recent burst in popularity has resulted in an excess of dreck. Her pet peeves include atrocious grammar, protagonists that are either impossibly perfect or insufferably nasty, being beaten over the head with a moral, and books in which female characters are absent or cardboard. She is a sucker for pretty prose (she majored in English, after all) and mythological themes.

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Tia Nevitt Fantasy Literature reviewerTIA NEVITT started reading fantasy in her early 20s, starting with T.H. White's The Once and Future King and the Dragonlance Chronicles. Fairy tales for adults, she thought. How cool is that? Once she started reading fantasy, she preferred it to every other genre. Its inherent playfulness appealed to her inner child — even when the stories were dark and gritty, because how dark and gritty can it be if there's magic involved? Over the years, she's been a mechanic in the Air Force, a factory worker, a civilian supply weasel for the military, and finally, an office worker. She's been an IT professional for 13 years, and has dabbled as a freelance writer. When she's not writing reviews for Fantasy Literature, she keeps her own review blog at Debuts & Reviews.

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Stefan Raets FantasyLiterature.com reviewerSTEFAN RAETS read every book in the children's library when he was a kid, so an exasperated librarian directed him to the “grown-up” library to get him out of her hair. He was immediately attracted to books with colorful covers and unwittingly picked out his first SF novel: Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance. He read his way through most of the SFF section and never looked back, only agreeing to read “serious literature” (not his term) while completing his Master's degree in English literature and linguistics. After a decade of insane hours and high stress as an executive for a training firm, he is now a happy refugee from the corporate world. When he is isn't reading, writing, or editing, he's chasing his bouncy toddler son in a playground. Stefan was born in Belgium, lived for almost a decade in New York City, and is now settled in San Diego with his wife, son, and a book collection that is threatening to take over the house. Favorite authors include Guy Gavriel Kay, Steven Brust, and Robin Hobb, and more recent discoveries are China Mieville, Janny Wurts, and Scott Lynch. Stefan looks for strong characterization and solid world-building wrapped in well-styled prose and delivered at a gifted story-teller's unique pace.

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Robert Rhodes Fantasy Literature reviewerROB RHODES was graduated, magna cum laude, from The University of the South and The Tulane University School of Law and currently works as a government attorney. A lifelong reader of fantasy fiction, he has published several short stories and book reviews and is a co-author of the essay "Sword and Sorcery Fiction," published in Books and Beyond: The Greenwood Encyclopedia of New American Reading. In 2008, he was named a Finalist in The L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest. Rob's favorite forms of speculative fiction include medieval fantasy (e.g. A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay; A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin; The Briar King by Greg Keyes) and sword-and-sorcery (e.g. The Hour of the Dragon by Robert E. Howard; the tales of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser by Fritz Leiber; the tales of Persimmon Gaunt and Imago Bone by Chris Willrich). His favorite form of non-fictional sustenance is dark chocolate. You can read his latest news on his blog. Here are a few of his works: The Hero of Hawk's Field, Chasing the Wind, The Play of Her Life. He has also recently published the story To Be A Man in The Return of the Sword Anthology.

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Robert Thompson Fantasy Literature reviewerROBERT THOMPSON is the creator and former editor of Fantasy Book Critic, a website dedicated to the promotion of speculative fiction. Before FBC, he worked in the music industry editing Kings of A&R and as an A&R scout for Warner Bros. An avid reader as far back as he could remember, Robert grew up on comic books and horror novels before Tolkien flamed his passion for fantasy. Favorite authors range from Steven Erikson, George R.R. Martin, Jacqueline Carey and Robin Hobb to Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, James Rollins, Charlie Huston and many others. Besides reading and music, Robert also loves video games, football, and art. He lives in the state of Washington with his wife Annie and their son Zane.

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Julie Thibault FanLit.net reviewerJULIE WAINEO earned an MBA at Bowling Green State University. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with a minor in French. Now living in Virginia with her husband and dog (Clover), Julie is an avid reader of not only fantasy, but historical fiction, the occasional "chick lit," and children's literature. Julie detests watered-down fantasy literature, unbelievable characters, and long, drawn out-descriptions of hay fields...or other such trivial things. Julie enjoys intense battles, cliff hangers, heart-stopping (but not overly cheesy) romances, and is a sucker for mythical creatures — the more dragons, the better. Julie dabbles in her own creative writing, enjoys knitting, reality TV, and taking long walks with Clover. She tends to be on the critical side (just try riding in the car when she's driving), so taking her reviews with a grain of salt (or sugar in her case) is good advice. Her favorite authors are J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin, Brian Jacques, and Christopher Paolini.

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Caitlinn Sky WalkerCAITLINN SKYE WALKER is a teenager from southern Ontario. She is growing up in a small town, in a house much like Meggie and Mortimer Folchart’s house in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart books — full of books from floor to ceiling. She has two brothers; The older one studies physics at the University of Toronto and the younger one is continuously asking for something else to read from her bookshelf. The first fantasy novel Caitlinn ever read was A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, and she has loved the genre ever since. Her favourite authors are Chris Wooding, Ursula Le Guin, Cornelia Funke, P.B. Kerr, Zilpha Keatley Snider, and Susan Cooper. Fantasy and science fiction books are her escape from the real world — to places beyond imagination. She also likes to draw maps that may someday be the setting for her own books… SOME DAY…

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Guest Reviewers:  

David Ackerman is a composer in Columbia, Missouri. He lives with his girlfriend and their dog while attempting to find a way to sell symphonies to his friends and compatriots.

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Will Daniels FanLit.net reviewer

William Daniels lives in Chicago, USA.

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fantasy literature reviewer Tom Dare

Tom Dare is a medical student in London.

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John Ottinger guest reviewer at Fantasy Literature

John Ottinger III runs the Science Fiction / Fantasy blog Grasping for the Wind. His reviews, interviews, and articles have appeared in Publisher's Weekly, The Fix, Sacramento Book Review, Flashing Swords, Stephen Hunt's SFCrowsnest, Thaumatrope, and at Tor.com. We are pleased to showcase some of them at Fantasy Literature.

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Mark Pawlyszyn Fantasy Literature reviewerMARK PAWLYSZYN has always tended toward the creative side of life and had careers in music and painting before settling into his current position as the owner of Unique Images Photography. Able to read on his own since the age of two, he has literally spent a lifetime scouring the shelves for gripping fantasy novels. Perhaps due to his own leanings towards creativity, he most enjoys novels that are different to the norm and not stamped from familiar molds. His two pet peeves with novels are predictability, and uniformity in characters. Like Kat, he also prefers sword-wielding male heroes, though he swears it's not for the same reasons. Apart from the prerequisite veneration of Tolkien, Mark's favourite authors include Joe Abercrombie and Patrick Rothfuss. Mark has visited and lived in twelve countries and can ask for directions to the bathroom in several languages. He currently lives in Canada with his wife, Sherri.

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Gert Sønderby lives in Malmö, Sweden.

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Charles Tan guest reviewer for Fantasy Literature

Charles Tan is the owner of the blogs Bibliophile Stalker and Comic Quest. He also edits Philippine Speculative Fiction. You can read his fiction in that publication and in The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories. He has conducted interviews for The Nebula Awards and The Shirley Jackson Awards, as well as for online magazines such as SF Crowsnest and SFScope. He is a regular contributor to sites like SFF Audio and Comics Village.

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Sarah Webb FanLit guest reviewerSarah Webb grew up in a house where books were as important as food and shelter and she has passed on the joy of books to her younger siblings, her children, and even her husband. She reads almost any fantasy and dabbles mostly in the space opera end of the science fiction universe with an occasional break to catch up on the mystery scene. Favorite authors include Madeline L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley, Caroline Stevermer, Elizabeth Moon, and she has recently discovered Patricia Briggs, C.E. Murphy, and Patricia McKillip. She likes interesting characters, intriguing storylines, retold fairytales, and dragons. She dislikes dull plots, glaring errors, horror and series that don’t know when to die. Someday, she will have a house with enough bookshelves to house her collection correctly.

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