Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Fantasy. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta Fantasy. Mostrar todas las entradas

jueves, 25 de enero de 2024

Reseña: "¡Guardias! ¡Guardias!" (Mundodisco 8) de Terry Pratchett

¡Guardias! ¡Guardias! by Terry Pratchett

 Cristina Macía Orio (Traductora)

 395 pages, Mass Market Paperback


First published August 1, 1989
ISBN 9788497931861 (ISBN10: 8497931866)

 My rating: 3.5 stars

BLURB: La ciudad de Ankh-Morpork está gobernada por un Patricio, Lord Vetinari, que ha legalizado los asesinatos, los robos, la mendicidad y la prostitución para tenerlos controlados. El Gremio de Asesinos y el de Ladrones reciben una cuota de asesinatos y robos 'razonables', y el sistema funciona con normalidad. Excepto para la Guardia Nocturna, que se ha visto reducida a tres hombres: el capitán Sam Vimes, el sargento Colon y el cabo Nobby Nobbs. La institución está degradada y envilecida.
Por otra parte, en las montañas, el rey de una mina de enanos decide enviar a su hijo adoptivo Zanahoria a ingresar en la Guardia para que se haga un hombre. Zanahoria mide dos metros, es simple y muy fuerte, y cree que todos somos capaces de llevarnos bien. Además, se ha estudiado las leyes de la ciudad. Zanahoria es capaz de revitalizar la Guardia, que debe descubrir quién anda detrás de las misteriosas apariciones de un dragón, que tienen como fin la restauración de la monarquía en la ciudad. Para ello contarán con la ayuda inestimable de lady Sybil Ramkin, una aristócrata experta en dragones de pantano.


Reto Popsugar #23. Un libro en el que aparezcan dragones.

En esta novela de Pratchett, nos encontramos con su Guardia Nocturna, que esta reducida a tres hombres cuya única labor se ha reducido a ser nocheros y pregoneros de horas (las tantas y sereno) que es tamaña mentira, porque, ya sabes, es Ankh-Morpork: una ciudad cuya mayor virtud son sus gremios organizados de asesinos, ladrones, y demases , que deciden una cuota con sus víctimas y con el Patricio, y mantienen un status quo. Pero no falta el descontento, en este caso una sociedad secreta de esas con capuchas y nombres secretos es guiada por el gran maestro a decidir cambiar esto, traducción: el maestro desea poder. (view spoiler)

Hay guardias cínicos y desengañados. Un Patricio extremadamente maquinador. Magia de libros y del bibliotecario.

People were stupid, sometimes. They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.

sábado, 13 de enero de 2024

Reseña: ""Geist" (Book of the Order #1) de Philippa Ballantine

Geist (Book of the Order, #1)

Geist by Philippa Ballantine

 294 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published October 26, 2010 by Ace
ISBN 9780441019618 (ISBN10: 0441019617)
Language English

 My rating: 4 stars

 

 Blurb: Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists... Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse. But what greets them in the strange settlement is something far more predatory and more horrifying than any mere haunting. And as she uncovers a tradition of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history, Sorcha will be forced to reconsider everything she thinks she knows.And if she makes it out of Ulrich alive, what in Hell is she returning to?


Este libro estaba en mi TBR desde 2011, uno de esos empezados y dejado de lado al par de páginas, pero siempre esperaba leerlo un día, tal vez para algún reto. Ahora pude seguir la historia, una buena idea, con interesantes personajes, pero debo coincidir que la ejecución falló , en especial la escritura hacia el final. De algún modo, aun en medio de una batalla hay una falla en revelar emoción, casi describiendo en forma robótica los hechos. Pero , a pesar de ello, me gustó Sorcha, Raed y Merrick.

¿De qué va? Es una fantasía medieval, con una Orden de Diáconos que combaten seres de Otherland, o sea clérigos combatiendo seres que desean entrar a este mundo en un sentido bastante Lovecraftiano.

Los Diáconos forman equipos en pares de activos que pelean con guantes con runas, y sensitivos que le dan el poder de 'ver' contra lo que están peleando , dando acceso al otro mundo, lo cual es un arma de doble filo. Los sensitivos son bastante herméticos en cuanto a sus poderes y lo que realmente pueden hacer.

Mortals, when touched at the moment of death by the Otherside, usually passed through into it. But some, those touched by the unliving, became shades. The darkling was a form of shade, one created specifically from Sensitives. If they were killed while their Center was away from their body, it would shatter and the pieces could become darklings


sábado, 6 de enero de 2024

Reseña: Illuminations de T. Kingfisher

Illuminations  Illuminations by T. Kingfisher

 260 pages

Published
November 25, 2022 by Red Wombat Studio
ISBN 9781614505778 (ISBN10: 1614505772)
Language English

 My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 Blurb: Rosa Mandolini knows in her heart that her family are the greatest painters of magical illuminations in the city. But the eccentric Studio Mandolini has fallen on hard times and the future is no longer certain.

While trying to help her family, Rosa discovers a strange magical box protected by a painted crow. But when she finds a way to open the box, she accidentally releases the Scarling, a vicious monster determined to destroy the Mandolini family at any cost.

With the aid of her former best friend and a painted crow named Payne, it’s up to Rosa to stop the Scarling before it unmakes the magical paintings that keep the city running, and hopefully save her family in the process!

 

No es mi libro favorito de la autora. No pude conectarme con Rosa (quien tiene diez años casi once), y me molestaba todo el rato que no contaba nada para conseguir ayuda. Y hasta me salte unos párrafos para terminarlo.

La idea de la iluminaciones mágicas es lo mejor. También el montón de personajes de la familia Mandolini con todas sus pequeñas excentricidades, su mundillo tan sencillo aunque pareciera que se están simplificando demasiado las cosas usando la magia.

The Mandolinis painted pictures of radishes with wings to ward off sickness, and they painted great droopy-faced hounds with halos to protect against burglars. They painted flaming swords on shingles to keep storms from blowing the roofs off houses, and they painted very strange pictures of men with hummingbird heads to keep venomous snakes out of people’s gardens.


Se lee más como libro para niños que el resto de los que he leído de ella hasta ahora, junto al de la panadería: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking.


View all my reviews

sábado, 26 de junio de 2021

Reseña de historias cortas: Metal Like Blood in the Dark. Juvenilia. Anchorage. The City of the Tree. In the Space of Twelve Minutes.


Uncanny Magazine Issue 36: September/October 2020

by Lynne M. Thomas (editora). Varios autores.
 

ASIN: B08GKWS4XP
Edition Language: English

 Estas revistas tienen una editorial, relatos y podcasts, además de entrevistas de autores. Por lo gra. leo una o dos hiostorias cortas de autores conocidos o que mis amigos recomiendan.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

-"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher - 3.5 stars sci-fi.
An isolated inventor built two machines on a planet: Brother and Sister. Nanite AIs that later are released to eat and grow. Sister is the main character and her awakening to moral dilemmas.

Or a coming of age of Gretel to save Hansel ;)

https://uncannymagazine.com/article/m...

-"Juvenilia" by Lavie Tidhar - 2 stars. Fantasy.
Meh. going for a gothic tale furbling on metatale. After ww1, a woman took a job as caretaker at Wildfell Hall>; an isolated place and strange rules.

-"Anchorage" by Samantha Mills - 3.5 stars
Space opera scifi short story about a ship, it crew, and Geneve , with a background of internal battles and losing Earth, and an encounter with an Anchorage, a sort of space eremite. Had some twist in it.

-"The City of the Tree" by Marie Brennan -4 stars. Fantasy.
wow, another unknown author. I really like the style of the story, about clans of people of the trees, and invaders, traditions, and bringing help, and choices. Reminds me a bit to Martha Wells in Raksura.

Simkitsi gave him a pitying look. “The rituals were meant to placate the archon, to keep him asleep. They won’t do any good now that he is gone.”
“Do we know that?” Aptachi challenged her. “We only know that he woke after the rituals stopped. Maybe their purpose was to strengthen the tree, and he woke because it began to weaken.”


https://uncannymagazine.com/article/t...

-"In The Space of Twelve Minutes" by James Yu - 2.8 stars Scifi
chinese astronauts are hindered by personal problems, so they gave them artificial androids avatars to the spouses. Mmm, a bit awkward idea, and a lot predictable.


martes, 15 de junio de 2021

Reseña de ARC: The Tangleroot Palace: Stories by Marjorie M. Liu

 +My thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the digital ARC.+


The Tangleroot Palace: Stories 

by Marjorie M. Liu

 

 256 pages
Published June 15th 2021 by Tachyon Publications
ISBN: 1616963522 (ISBN13: 9781616963521)
Edition Language: English

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For those that still are confused: NOT A COMIC BOOK.

Anthology of short stories and novelletes , ranging from fantasy to horror and post-apocalypsis.

Apparently a good portion of readers know Marjorie M. Liu from the graphic novel "Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening", but I have been a fan of her ever since I read "The Iron Hunt" from her incredible urban fantasy series Hunter Kiss. Here she presents us with some of her short stories, of which I knew a couple; At the end of these Liu gives some comments from when they were written, some of which she considers to be part of the universe of her ideas (like Dirk & Steel), that is to say full of magic.

jueves, 15 de abril de 2021

Reseña: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune


The House in the Cerulean Sea 

by 

T.J. Klune

 
396 pages
Published December 29th 2020 by Tor Books (first published March 16th 2020)
ISBN: 1250217318 (ISBN13: 9781250217318)
Edition Language: English 
  
 
BLURB: A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe.
 

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


we can find the most unexpected things when we aren’t even looking for them.
(podemos encontrar las cosas más inesperadas cuando no estamos siquiera buscándolas)

Linus Baker es un trabajador social de 40 años con 17 años de servicio que visita orfanatos gubernamentales de niños mágicos para realizar informes. Es un pequeño burócrata que vive en forma sencilla, en horarios extendidos sin quejarse, sin hacer olas, y apegándose estrictamente a su libro de reglamentos. Nunca alza la nariz de los informes para preguntarse que pasa después de que entrega uno de sus informes. Aunque cree que esta haciendo la labor que le corresponde.

sábado, 27 de marzo de 2021

Reseña: The Soprano Sorceress by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

The Soprano Sorceress 

by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

 
672 pages
Published January 15th 1998 by Tor Fantasy (first published February 1997)
ISBN: 0812545591 (ISBN13: 9780812545593)
Edition Language: English
Series: Spellsong Cycle #1

SINOPSIS: The world of Erde is governed by the power of music and song. When Anna Marshall, a singer and music instructor at Iowa State University, is drawn into Erde, she becomes a sorceress - potentially their strongest. Her power soon makes her the target of ruthless political factions.

 
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Anna Thompson Marsali se sale de lo que se considera una típica heroina de libro de fantasía (o tal vez yo he leido demasiado YA y middle grade ;P) , con 47 años , divorciada y con hijos adultos, esta viviendo una etapa difícil principalmente porque una de sus hijas murió hace poco, y el trabajo en la universidad le tiene insatisfecha y en tensión. Ella es una soprano que nunca pudo dar el gran salto, principalmente por cosas conocidas como apoyar al marido, los hijos, y luego por cosas politicas de su trabajo en la universidad donde hace clases como instructora. Sí, ella se queja bastante, aunque es fácil conectar con muchas cosas de ella. 

martes, 2 de marzo de 2021

Reseña de ARC: The Hunt Is On (Aweto #1) by Nie Jun


 +Digital ARC gently provided by Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest opinion+

 

The Hunt Is On (Seekers of the Aweto 1)

by 

Nie Jun


136 pages
Published March 2nd 2021 by Graphic Universe
ISBN13: 9781728420219
Edition Language: English
Series: Seekers of the Aweto #1

Synopsis: Xinyue, his brother Qiliu, and their mother are seekers, hunting aweto--a rare, plantlike treasure--along the legendary Silk Road. After one outing, Xinyue discovers the offspring of a deity that creates aweto--and becomes the little creature's reluctant caretaker. He soon struggles to keep it safe and keep it a secret. And that's before he learns that warriors from the deity's village are on his family's tail...



4.3 colorful stars


Age: 12+
omigosh the colors!
but ends in cliffhanger (I'll read the next one)

En una antigua y fantástica Ruta de la Seda, una pequeña familia de tres (mamá y dos hermanos) son cazadores, perdón, buscadores de 'Aweto' (una planta-cosita que crece sobre deidades de la tierra llamada 'chadolo'). Debo confesar que el 90% del libro estaba profundamente enojada con los protagonistas buscadores porque causan un dolor sin fin con su trabajo, robando a los pueblos de aweto (muy valioso por sus propiedades curativas) y destruyendo su forma de vida en ocasiones.

lunes, 25 de enero de 2021

Reseña: Cartas de Papá Noel de JRR Tolkien

Cartas de Papá Noel

by 

 J.R.R. Tolkien

 Ana Mata Buil (Traductora)

 
112 paginas
Published November 14th 2006 by El Aleph (first published September 2nd 1976)
Original Title: The Father Christmas Letters
ISBN<. 8476697619 (ISBN13: 9788476697610)


 

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Estas cartas son una preciosidad. La esposa de Cristopher Tolkien , Baillie, recopila aquí las cartas que el mismo JRR Tolkien escribió firmando como Padre Navidad a sus 4 hijos por más de 20 años, desde 1920 hasta 1943, cuando ya su hija menor, Priscilla, alcanza los catorce años.

viernes, 22 de enero de 2021

Reseña: Fantasy Magazine, Issue 60 - Dec. 2016

Fantasy Magazine, Issue 60 - Dec. 2016: People of Colo(u)r Destroy Fantasy! Special Issue 

by Daniel José Older (Editor) y Varios Autores

 

 200 pages 
Published December 1st 2016 by John Joseph Adams
ASIN: B01EXJ8P50
Edition Language: English



"The Things My Mother Left Me" by P. Djéli Clark. 

"Eyes of Carven Emerald" by Shweta Narayan. 

"Red Dirt Witch" by N.K. Jemisin 

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


"The Things My Mother Left Me" by P. Djéli Clark - 3 stars

Fantasía mágica donde una huérfana de quince años decide escapar del prospecto de que sus tías la casen , y llega hasta donde un circo con un sujeto que da mala espina y seres encadenados.

jueves, 5 de noviembre de 2020

Reseña de ARC: Weathering with You , Vol.1


Weathering With You, Vol. 1 
by 
Makoto Shinkai



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first volume of 3, so the story is put on hold.

Hodaka Morishima, a 16-year-old boy, leaves his island to go to Tokyo without a clear plan. The city is hostile, the rain permeates everything, and soon he is homeless on the street. An unknown girl is the only one who gives him a meal, and he ends up looking for a man he met on the ship who gives him a job as an assistant in a self-published magazine that follows strange events.

1

 

 

domingo, 7 de junio de 2020

Reseña de ARC: Rewritten (Unwritten 2)

+Digital ARC gently provided by Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review+ {English|Spanish}


Rewritten (Unwritten #2)

by  

Tara Gilboy



 200 pages
Published April 7th 2020 by Jolly Fish Press
ISBN: 163163433X (ISBN13: 9781631634338)
Edition Language: English
Series: Unwritten #2

BLURB: After learning the truth about her own fairy tale, twelve-year-old Gracie wants nothing more than to move past the terrible things author Gertrude Winters wrote about her and begin a new chapter in the real world. If only things were going as planned. On the run from the evil Queen Cassandra, the characters from Gracie’s story have all been forced to start over, but some of them cannot forget Gracie’s checkered past. Even worse, Gracie discovers that as long as Cassandra has her magical book, the Vademecum, Gracie’s story is still being written and none of the characters are safe, including her mom and dad. In a desperate attempt to set things right, Gracie finds herself transported into another one of Gertrude’s stories—but this one is a horror story. Can Gracie face her destiny and the wild beast roaming the night, to rewrite her own story?"

3 manage-your-storyline stars


This is a middle grade fantasy very much in the vein of "Once Upon a Time". {Even if Cassandra wish for in her best day to be like Regina (maybe she is more alike Cruella) ...


and Gracie wish for to be like Henry}

Gracie is a 12 year old that, after the first book, has abandoned the literary world of Bondoff to the real world. 

viernes, 29 de mayo de 2020

Reseña: Falcondance (The Kiesha'ra #3)

{Review in English | Reseña en Castellano}

Falcondance (The Kiesha'ra #3)

by 

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

 
183 pages
Published September 13th 2005 by Delacorte Press (first published January 1st 2005)
ISBN: 0385731949 (ISBN13: 9780385731942)
Edition Language: English
Series: The Kiesha'ra #3
SYNOPSIS: Nicias has never felt completely at home among the avians and serpiente in Wyvern's Court, despite his loyalty to Oliza Shardae Cobriana, the heir to both thrones. He is a falcon, the son of two exiles from Anhmik and images of this distant island have always haunted his dreams. But when Nicias's visions become more like reality, his parents have no choice but to send him back to the homeland and a royal falcon they've tried their best to forget.
If Araceli won't bind Nicias's newfound magic, it could destroy him. In a place where everyone is a pawn, only one other woman has the potential to save Nicias. But she holds the keys to a dangerous power struggle that will force Nicias to choose between his duty and his destiny.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The truth is, I didn't remember the first 2 books in this series at all. And by the way, there is no romance in this book, there is quite a lot of fantasy and magic. And many women in power.

What is it about? Well, of shapeshifting breeds that live in permanent conflict (snake and avians), with mistrust and prejudice for thousands of years. The reason seems to be generated in a split of the races by magic, and the conflict has been helped by the falcons.

lunes, 23 de diciembre de 2019

Reseña de ARC: The Singer's Crown: The Author's Cut

+Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+
{RESEÑA BILINGUE}

The Singer's Crown: The Author's Cut 
by 
Elaine Isaak

589 pages
Published July 2nd 2019 by Rocinante (first published October 11th 2005)
ASIN: B07RL81CB5 
Lenguaje: Inglés

BLURB: When his uncle murders his family to take the throne, Prince Kattanan DuRhys is the only royal left alive. . . at a terrible cost. Stripped of his manhood, Kattanan travels as a court singer from one wealthy patron to the next. Given as a courtship gift to the young Princess Melisande, Kattanan feels the stirring of emotions he thought were denied him. But her jealous fiancée has other plans--and the sinister magic to carry them out.
Must Kattanan sacrifice his song to win his kingdom, and the woman he loves?

My rating: 2.8 stars 


The wimpiest and lame protagonists of all. The secondary are a bit better and more interesting.

This is a medieval fantasy.

The story opens up as many stories of a bloody royal succession, the murdered family, and with the youngest prince to whom they forgive his life but at the same time neutralize to prevent it from being a threat of succession - they castrate him.

domingo, 8 de diciembre de 2019

Reseña de ARC: The Dragon's Banker

 +Digital ARC gemtly provided via Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review+
{COMENTARIO BILINGUE}

The Dragon's Banker 

by 

Scott Warren


255 pages
Published September 25th 2019 by Scott Warren
ASIN: B07TX1SJKF
Edition Language: English 
BLURB: Finance: The lifeblood of any country’s beating heart and the life’s work of Sailor Kelstern — Merchant Banker. While wizards brood in their towers and great warriors charge into battle Sailor is more interested in the price of ore, herbs, and alchemicals carried by the trade ships. But when a spell of bad fortune and bitter rivalry leaves him scrambling to turn a profit on little more than winds and whispers, one such whisper catches Sailor’s ear— a dragon has been seen in the west. Sailor soon finds that the dragons are very real, and not at all what he expected. And they practice a very different sort of economy — one of subterfuge and fire.

With bonus novelette: Forego Quest
.  What if you were the hero of every song, story, and legend?
What if you didn’t want to be?



My rating: 3.3 pecuniary stars

Master Sailor Kelstern is a banker who goes through difficulties after losing the fortune of a nobleman who is not at all satisfied with that; but that is nothing when faced with the challenge of satisfying a dragon (which is not supposed to exist) towards a new era of change towards paper money.

Kelstern is an interesting character, he is not the hero we are used to, and yet he is no stranger to risk his own skin when necessary. But where he is most comfortable is behind a desk with his esteemed account books, and developing strategies to earn money for his clients and his bank.

lunes, 15 de julio de 2019

Reseña: The Wolves in the Walls

The Wolves in the Walls 

by 

Neil Gaiman


56 pages
Published 2003 by HarperCollins
ISBN: 0380810956 (ISBN13: 9780380810956)
Edition Language: English




"If the wolves come ot of the walls,
then it's all over."
"What's all over?" asked Lucy.
"It,", said her mother.
"Everybody knows that."
Traducido como LOS LOBOS DE LA PARED este es un cuento que es tanto para niños como para que algunos mayores disfruten. Gaiman se caracteriza por esas cosas tenebrosas, extrañas, divertidas y fantasiosas. A mi me encanta.

El arte usado es una mezcla de dibujos, pegados , fotos y algo de 3D muy interesante.



jueves, 20 de junio de 2019

Reseña: The Dark Crystal (novelización)

The Dark Crystal 

(Jim Henson Archive Series)

by 

A.C.H. Smith


186 pages
Published October 1st 1982 by Henry Holt & Co (first published January 1st 1982)
ISBN: 0030624363 (ISBN13: 9780030624360)
Edition Language: English

THE DARK CRYSTAL reveals the coming-of-age of last  Gelfling on the planet of Thra. From his quiet, dreamy existence in the secluded valley with the ponderous but cerebral urRu, Jen must suddenly depart on a Quest whose details are not fully explained to him. Jen's goal is to find a special crystal shard and reunite it with the mother crystal -- now dark with grief and anger at the senseless destruction. This crystal is coveted and guarded in the Dark Castle by the vicious race of Skeksis, who terrorize the planet with their bat spies and insect zombies. Our unlikely hero has only his flute and his wits to guide him, but several surprise friends offer help and advice along his dangerous odyssey--including the last girl Gelfling. Together they race against celestial time, as the Great Conjunction of the triple suns is imminent.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



"I was born under a shattered sky," he finally got out.

the-dark-crystal-still-4

 

Esta es pura nostalgia ochentera, y me consegui el libro navegando por el archivo digital. Es una novelización de la famosa pelicula de ese genio que fue Jim Henson mediante animatronics dieron vida a esta suerte de cuento de hadas oscuro acerca de un muchacho huerfano criado por unos sabios en un valle aislado que se encuentra de pronto, tras la muerte de su maestro y una vaga nocion de una profecia (porque siempre hay una , ¿no?), y una conjunción planetaria en una busqueda de un objeto que traera el bienestar del planeta . 

Hay villanos, una historia antigua que se desentraña, pero el filme presenta una suerte de criaturas extrañas que son un deleite para la imaginacion.

Jen es el Gelfling, bastante ingenuo aunque valiente, que se lanza en esta aventura sin saber muy bien a lo que va ni que pasará.

miércoles, 17 de abril de 2019

Reseña: Sun, Moon, Dust

 Sun, Moon, Dust 

by 

Ursula Vernon

 

Relato corto
Publicado por: Uncanny Magazine Issue 16: May/June 2017

My rating: 4.5 stars

La última voluntad y herencia de una abuela es una espada enjoyada que deja a su nieto. La espada es mágica y alberga 3 espiritus que se encargan de enseñar el arte al portador de la espada por varias generaciones y generaciones. Sin embargo , el joven no es más que un apacible granjero cuya mayor ambicion es tener un cultivo bueno para no pasar hambre.

Ursula Vernon (A.K.A. T. Kingfisher) es una de mis autoras favoritas, tiene enorme imaginacion y buena pluma. Siempre es un deleite leerla.

miércoles, 10 de abril de 2019

Reseña: Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World

Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World

by

Dominic Barker

319 pages
Published February 1st 2006 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (first published 2006)
ISBN: 074758074X (ISBN13: 9780747580744)
Edition Language: English
Series: Blart #1

BLURB: Blart is not an average boy. He lives on a pig farm with his grandfather and doesn't care about being heroic or famous or legendary, but he does know that if you want to catch a pig you have to sneak up behind it and take it by surprise. So when a great wizard visits and explains that humankind depends on Blart joining his quest, Blart says no - until the wizard threatens his pigs. Reluctantly, Blart embarks on a very epic quest stuffed with brilliant characters: a feisty princess who likes dragons, a warrior who's a big softie at heart, a disaffected dwarf, and evil Zorab, trapped in a mountain, waiting for his minions to dig him out...

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Shelves:  adventure-and-action, anti-heroe, fantasy, magia, parodia, read, teen-protagonist, witches-wizards


Blart is a 14-year-old swineherd, coward and selfish and ugly , who is taken by force by a magician to stop a supervillain.

‘My name’s Blart. I look after pigs and I’m with Capablanca who doesn’t.’

I was going to give it 3 stars until it got pretty boring and dumb from the middle almost to the end.

Imagine a parody of The Hobbit in a basically Python-esque way, with a Dudley Dursley at its worst as the protagonist.

martes, 12 de febrero de 2019

Reseña: White Stag (Permafrost #1)


 +e-Arc gently provided by Netgalley and publishers for an honest review+

White Stag (Permafrost #1)

by  

Kara Barbieri


368 pages 
Published January 8th 2019 by Wednesday Books
ISBN: 1250149584 (ISBN13: 9781250149589) 
Edition Language: English
Series: Permafrost #1
BLURB: As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.
Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

My rating: 2.6 iced stars


Trigger warning: rape and PTSD. Tons of angst.

Janneke was abducted by a goblin, Lydian, at age 17, and was brutalized, raped and tortured, by him. Then, and no one explain the reason, she was delivered as a slave to his nephew, Soren. One hundred years later, the Erlking dies and the ritual hunt of the White Stag begins.

I have a question: how can they say that this is Y.A. when the protagonist is the youngest with 118 years of age? Yes. That's what I thought. Soren is about eight hundred years old btw. Of course, they all look young.

Goblins stole humans for work the Permafrost wouldn’t let them do themselves. So many of the things they had — their clothing, their agriculture, their buildings were because humans lived among the monsters doing the skills they couldn’t. Humans created, goblins destroyed. It was known.

The Barbieri's Goblins are more Fae than the subterranean sort, they are beautiful and cruel - more similar to the Malediction Trilogy than the Tolkien kind. They live in the magical land of Permafrost of the eternal winter where when you kill something you absorb therir power.(think of the Quickening in Highlander the series)

Soren, in the other hand, is super comprehensive and patient. And has lilac eyes...hehe.(I know!)