When I got a notification on Twitter that Kristin Cashore’s ready to announce her next book, complete with the cover reveal and release date, I cannot express how utterly surprised and unprepared I was. A new book?? So soon after Winterkeep? I would be lying if I said her previous book lived up to my … More Graceling Realm Book Announcement and Graphic Novel Review
A few weeks ago, I delved into the pacing of a rather interesting novel, A Deadly Education. But that is one novel (admittedly, the first of a series), and it led me to ponder: compared to individual novels, what does the pacing of an entire series look like? And, with those thrilling sneak-peek images for … More Wheel of Time: A Case Study in Series Pacing
I’d heard a lot about The Cruel Prince by Holly Black in the months prior to me purchasing the novel (which was way back in March if I remember correctly). It’s taken me a while to get to it because I can’t seem to stop myself from buying books this year, but I finally got … More A Discussion of Narrative Style: Exploring 1st Person PoV in Fantasy
I was going to put off my RBR until I had at least another book to throw on here, but then I started craving another Fire reread, so I figured I may as well just write up these reviews now before too much of it slips my mind. It’s just as well, because, if you … More Book Reviews: A Deadly Education and Rule of Wolves
A few weeks ago, I broke down some of the major trends in fantasy that might affect what elements of world-building a writer might want to focus on to ensure they had the details they needed to create an immersive world. (See: The 3 Tiers of Fantasy World-Building.) However, that was a general overview based off … More Fantasy World-Building Fundamentals
As a fantasy reader, I am well familiar with book series. And although I’m just as fascinated by standalone fantasy and the rise of the duology (specifically for their tight narratives), I will never complain at stumbling across a book I really love and finding out that it is the first in four, or seven, … More Extended Book Series and the Fallibility of the Human Memory
It is always pleasant to be taken by surprise with a novel, and, a few cultural missteps notwithstanding, A Deadly Education provided just that. (For the concerned reader, I do plan on delving into this in my book review, but this post is already long enough as it is.) The author, Naomi Novik, uses world-building … More A Deadly Education: A Case Study in Pacing
Alright, friends, I’ve read a handful of books in the past two weeks and it’s time for another rapid book review. There’s actually a pretty nice variety in the books–a historic YA fantasy, a YA thriller, an adult epic fantasy, a play, and a YA epic fantasy. So there’s probably something for just about everyone … More RBR: Firekeeper’s Daughter, Kings of the Wyld, etc.
Last week, I wrote a post about genre writing and it got me thinking about how to know when a book has enough world-building and if it has enough of the right kind of world building. (The post was a setting study for Monsters of Verity if you wanted to check it out.) Rather than … More The 3 Tiers of Fantasy World-Building
Victoria Schwab’s Monsters of Verity duology is one that walks two tracks: it follows some unwritten rules of genre writing while carving out a completely new niche in the specific subgenre of Fantasy. In today’s post, I’m going to attempt to extrapolate what, exactly, might make a book feel more of a genre book rather … More Setting Study: Monsters of Verity and the Fringes of Genre
Katie Bachelder 