Lord Yamas Fantasy Book Review

Michael Moorcock is best known for his series of books featuring the albino anti-hero, Elric, and his soul-drinking sword, Stormbringer. They are classic sword and sorcery fantasies and well worth reading. But he also had a deft touch with other forms of fantasy. Perhaps my favourite books by him can be found in his Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. Charming, whimsical and at the same time extremely thought provoking.   

My favourite fantasy author is ROGER ZELAZNY.  Best known for his Chronicles of Amber, he was also a dab hand at science fiction. He was also the master at blending the two genres.  His Lord of Light is the best-known example of how he did this but a much darker novel called Jack of Shadows is more to my taste.

This is another in my occasional series on Hugo Award-winning novels. The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin not only won the Hugo for the first book, The Fifth Season, but she also won the award in the following years for Books 2 and 3. Something never done before.

In last week's podcast, I covered the Hugo Awards held in Los Angeles, where the award for best novel went to The Everlasting by Alix Harrow. Some of you have requested a fuller review of the book.  It’s a great read and a departure from the type of fantasy that usually features in the most prestigious award  in Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Different perhaps but a deserved winner.

There was a surprise winner for best novel at this year's Hugo Awards. The Everlasting by Alix Howell.  Although there were some who'd dismissed it as a Romantasy, the award was well deserved and indicates a new direction and bright future for the fantasy genre. I would call it a Grimdark fantasy.

I have a big problem with complicated magic systems which now seem very popular in the fantasy genre. They irritate me. I don’t want my magic to be explained as a logical process. You might as well call it science. Perhaps we should have a new sub genre – Science Fantasy. Let’s face it. Magic is the mysterious and unexplainable. Once you start to explain it, it stops being magical.

As a fan of Grimdark fantasy, I am not big on the modern concept of a hero. You know the type: noble and willing to sacrifice themselves for others. I identify far more with the amoral, selfish and cowardly anti-heroes. Nevertheless, there are some heroes in fantasy it is impossible not to like, even root for.  Here are some of my favourites.

Everyone who does a fantasy podcast seems to do a top ten list of their favourite books. I find this too much of a challenge as so many books are part of a series and cannot stand alone. So I have compiled a list of my ten favourite authors instead. I don't expect anyone to agree with it. But perhaps it will point you toward some great books you haven't read yet.

The Library of the Dead by T L Huchu  may be Young Adult Fantasy but it is so well written it can be enjoyed by anyone interested in the genre. Grimdark but with a light touch. A great read and a great introduction to a very gifted writer. .

If you're looking for a character driven epic grimdark fantasy then books by Robin Hobb will be right up your street. And there is no better place to start than the first in her Farseer Trilogy, Assassin's Apprentice.  She crafts a great story but her path to becoming a best seller was not an overnight success story. It was only after she'd chosen an adrogynous name, where she could be mistaken for a male writer that her books started to fly off the shelves.