A FANTASY BRIEFING

FANTASY BOOKS FOR SPRING BREAK
By Alex Ness
April 7, 2024

I am sorry but I might be going back on Hiatus. The health issues are getting worse and I hate the idea of an irregular regular appearing column.  I am literally exhausted. But I wanted to offer some wonder filled books for your spring break, if you had winter or not.

I really want to thank the people who wrote to offer help, but I have a health issue the doctors haven't figured out, so, I appreciate it, but I think prayers are my only hope.

FANTASY BOOKS

The point of this is not the best ever, or something that is huge and will take months to read.  It is reading that is entertaining, and can be read within the time limits of a break. (No, not every one of these, but any chosen one... or all if that's your thing.)  I am a fan of the writers of each of these books, so don't assume there is no bias, and for other thoughts, yes, for once more female writers than male. I don't buy books, however, due to the gender or orientation of the writer.  I buy for the content and the language it is written in due to the fact that English works best for me.

SPELLSINGER by ALAN DEAN FOSTER

In a world of heartbreak and disaster, many novels, fantasy and otherwise are pure dystopia. Foster is a positive writer, looking to create works that uplift and entertain, and make you laugh. Over the last 20 years as a blogger, writer, poet, I've shared over 400 of his books with people. Not all were well received, but about 95% were well received. Spellsinger is a journey that follows a bardic human who enters a fantasy world and must use his talents to solve the issues of that world. He attracts beings of all sorts, and it is a genuinely entertaining work. The books shown are the SFBC editions that collect 6 of the books of the series. They aren't long, but all 6 are more than a week of reading for me, I read them savoring the depth and glory of how such a writer does his work.

PAKSENARRION AND GIRD by ELIZABETH MOON

Elizabeth Moon was in the military, worked as an EMT, and is a bright wonderful thinker.  Her take on a warrior risen from a sheep herders is the most clever thing you can imagine, because, whether she is a believer or not in Christ, there are parables of Sheep herders in the bible, and they are the most loyal defenders and guides to their herds. The natural instinct of a sheep herder is as a defender, and through her heroic deeds, Paksenarrion rises to a place of significance and wonder in her people's esteem. Gird is a great leader, but has flaws, and is written about as a man who must overcome issues of esteem, fears for his people, and a need to prove himself. These two books are collections that move me deeply.  Moon knows how to write epic and moving stories, and it is clear here more than elsewhere. I've read people say with various women authors or vice versa men authors, that the voice of the opposite gender doesn't sound or feel right. Moon gets it perfectly. I never second guessed her choices.  A great book for epic series fans.

CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT ISLES by JULIET MARILLIER

The writing of Juliet Marillier is the best part of any of her books. I don't mean to impugn her characters, dialogue, concept, plot or anything about her work, I just find that reading her work brings to me a feeling of comfort and joy. She has a way about her writing that is beyond good, but has a depth, in language and content that makes me feel like I am being told a story by a master story teller.  In the series CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT ISLES but Wolfskin and Foxmask are brilliant examples of telling a work with enormous quality, and using human emotions and action to express how our species are conditioned to respond to threats, and to respond to love. These are not romances, but they have aspects about them that leave you feeling moved by every character in ways that aren't typical for a fantasy novel.  I can't afford to buy all the books I want (by show of hands, how many also have that issue) but Marillier is an author I try to make myself afford. Her works are rewarding in so many ways. These two books follow a Norsman and his wife and eventually hopes for his family in their quest to visit and live in the new world. I am 95% Viking in DNA, so did it work for me? Hell yea

ANNALS OF THE WESTERN SHORE and THE EARTHSEA TRILOGY by URSULA K. LE GUIN

Ms. Le Guin was a kind and bright soul. She considered questions in her writings that didn't yet have answers, and in many ways, she was a poet as much as author, for her works were often more beautiful than they were thrilling or questioning. I'd written her and she wrote back, sending me 5 signed name plates for books she'd written. I was rather blown away that a tiny little blog like mine for the retail store ROBIN GOODFELLOW deserved her time, but the letter was long and gave me an insight into her depths of thought.

ANNALS OF THE WESTERN SHORE features a people with gifts of power, similar to be not the same as the force of Star Wars. They could call animals to gather, speak in the mind with one another, and do amazing things with natural abilities. Not mutants, but gifted.  THE EARTHSEA TRILOGY gets mentioned whenever I talk fantasy, and the reason for me for doing that is rather simple, I think it is an exact example of beauty, wonder and depth of thought, in short volumes, and yes, on the the Earthsea Trilogy, you can read it in a week. But it will take you places mentally that are both pleasing, and memorable.

HEL's CRUCIBLE DUOLOGY by Dennis L. McKiernan

I've been a fan of McKiernan's works for 40 years. Usually I post about his first 5 books, but, this time I am sharing more. Not only do his works almost universally have wonderful cover art, they have a collective quality of being about characters who are no brawny brawlers or marauders, but people thrust into a war, or catastrophe and must find in themselves the resolve to survive or to complete a quest. In the Hel's Crucible two travelers are given an item with a call for them to deliver it to a reclusive king, far from the place the two stand. In their trek they must pass through a region of war, and survive that, before delivering their item of significance. It is a work that through out the writing, you develop a care for both, and know you might face the same sort of challenge, and not do nearly so well. It is inspiring, and beautiful.

I don't know when I will return, but I promise, I will not let this blog die without giving it a final shot to return it to a weekly format.  Bless you all.

LINKS/CONTACTS

I can be found on X, Bluesky or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

My Creative Blogs:

5k poem blog           AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com

My personal blog    AlexNessFiction.Blogspot.Com
Published works     AlexNessPoetry.Blogspot.Com/2007/01/My-Work.html

Social Media:
Bluesky
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