Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: fantasy

  • Hellalyle and Hildebrand

    Hellalyle and Hildebrand

    Frederick Burton’s painting, “The Meeting on the Turret Stair” 1864, hanging in the National Gallery of Ireland is a stunning artwork capturing a simple and yet divinely beautiful romantic moment in time.

    The work was inspired from a translation of the Danish ballad Hellalyle and Hildebrand, by Whitely Stokes in 1855, a writer who was a close friend of the artist Fredrick Burton.

    The Ballad held great appeal for Tagai Tarutin, who, over a five-year period has crafted the it into one of the most magical, beautiful stories of romance, bravery, tragedy and wonderment in Hellalyle and Hildebrand.

    Set around 1288 Hellalyle is a young woman, beloved of all who know and meet her. She is of great beauty, a pure heart and is watched over by the Divinity, her every step in life carefully taken, as she is not only a woman of blessed purity, but the Kings only daughter.

    The King, having to leave his castle of Preben, gathers together a bodyguard of twelve Knights of the finest reputation, to be led by Hildebrand, a Prince of England, to guard Hellalyle in his absence.

    Over the coming weeks, and as already foretold in a vision sent to Hildebrand some years before he journeyed to Preben, he begins to fall deeply in love with Hellalyle and she with him. This blossoming romance is noted by the Queen Gudrun who sends a message to her husband; this displeases the King mightily which sets in motion a train of events both bloody and tragic.

    Tarutin has written the tale into modern literature with a careful and elegant mastery of words which adds a considerable sense of time, history and emotion, to what possibly began life as a chivalric romance, but could just as easily have been a tale of folkloric, passed down by word of mouth, as it is also considered as a tale in Swedish folkloric.

    Hellalyle and Hildebrand, regardless of what or where it came from, is a most captivating, deeply emotional story wrapped in the mists of time and magic, but still has relevance in the world of today.

  • The Traitors Ruin – The Rising Herald Saga

    The Traitors Ruin – The Rising Herald Saga

    Moving right along with the final book in the Rising Herald Saga, The Traitors Ruin from Chris Moss, all is not well in in the Sacred Realm and Maal’s Court is once again a hotbed of discontent, with friend and foe pitted against each other and serious issues beginning to appear with the withdrawal of the Bloodwyne.

    In book two, the Traitors Empire the Spymistress Julia has risen to the top of the heap and is intent on staying there, getting rid of anyone who might think differently, which is not helping a city under siege settle down. But she cannot be trusted which come to light when murder is once again being committed.

    Treachery abounds and when Dio and Bastion are killed, it paves the way for the discontents to encourage the resurgence of the Hydra once again and the reintroduction of Bloodwyne back into the town.

    With Kestrel having been imprisoned and Eriwestag returning to her village, things are looking bleak, but when the ex-spymaster Harpalus, apparently murdered by Julia, returns, he strikes a deal with Kestrel to secure his release from prison. But is he to be trusted.

    Maal, who was thought to be vanquished, has not been and is now intent on creating as much trouble as it can. When yet another battle is fought for the future of the Realm it is more than challenging to work out who are the real soldiers and who are not.

    Can Kestrel save his beloved city or will he simply walk away and let evil destroy what was once a beautiful place?

    The Traitors Ruin is definitely not a stand-alone book. The various characters appear to be creating a circular flow in a storyline which needs to be read in in continuum, otherwise it is very easy to lose the context of the story completely.

    If you enjoy fantasy fiction The Rising Herald Saga from Chris Moss is well worth the read, as the three books in the series are now are readily available and can be read in conjunction, which will better create the powerful element of the story, while allowing the various characters to develop to their fullest extent.

  • Cuckoo’s Flight

    Cuckoo’s Flight

    Beautifully constructed Cuckoo’s Flight from much loved children’s author Wendy Orr compliments her previous books Dragonfly Song and Swallow’s Dance. In Cuckoo’s Flight she enters the world of fantasy fiction once again through the life of Clio, a young girl who’s talented and much respected grandmother is a potter.

    Clio is no ordinary girl as she is coming of age when the girls of the region are selected as a sacrifice to the Oracle to ensure a prosperous trading season, one also starting earlier than expected, by the dictate of The Lady. Her grandmother is none to keen on this happening to her beloved granddaughter as many years earlier he beautiful daughter had been sacrificed.

    Her grandmother decides to craft a beautiful statue of the Goddess to be used as sacrifice rather than a young girl, possibly her granddaughter Clio. She makes several and then chooses the best, enhancing it with all the power she has to make it special, her last gift to Clio; her final gift to the girls of the future. Clio, it also appears seems to be incapable of following instructions left by her grandmother in regard to the kiln full of precious pottery.

    Clio goes off to check on her beloved very pregnant mare Grey Girl and while she is away she notices a black raiding craft off the shore, apparently on a training run. The ship turns about and Clio realizes that it could be a raiding party arriving considerably earlier in the season.

    Add another dimension and Clio and her father have an unusual love of horses which people find unusual, as horses are for manual work, nothing much else, but as her father is a chariot driver, he has begun to teach Clio the art, building her a special chariot to allow her to drive, even with her crippled leg.

    As the days move on things do begin to become chillingly dangerous and it eventually comes down to Clio and her beloved horses to help the townsfolk fight off the marauding raiders, which will see her once again defying her father’s orders in order to not just save her friends’ life but that of the villagers.

    In the introduction Wendy Orr explains where the inspiration came from to create the character of Clio, a little of whom is drawn from Wendy Orr’s life, she and her sisters love of horse and a wonderful clay figure of a Minoan woman riding a horse discovered in a tiny museum in Crete.

    Clio is a very real girl based in a time of old, making way for new, somewhat like today’s world, and as she copes with the changes and the expectations of her family, many young readers will relate to her journey.

    The Cuckoo’s Flight sees several storylines intersect which look at the many aspects of friendship, jealousy, acceptance and growing up, that make this a mature read for all young readers.

  • The Dragon and Her Boy

    The Dragon and Her Boy

    A cataclysmic upheaval on the streets of London sees Stick, one of the child tumblers who perform to earn a few coins, fall into a tunnel under the street. Sparrow and Spud his friends, along with Mr Punch and Judy are all gone and in his frantic search, Stick comes across a dragon who has been also stuck in the tunnel; a dragon who is in none too happy about being stuck! She unlike Stick has been there a while!

    From the dragon’s perspective Stick looks like he could be her next meal, even if he looks a bit too skinny, but after all she reasons, something is better than nothing. Stick thinks maybe Sparrow and Spud have been eaten by the dragon, but by the time he and the dragon get out of the tunnel, he realizes more kids than just his friends are missing!

    He has the dragon with him, who is every vocal about many things. She gets shot in the foot by guards on the prowl, and as if things are not bad enough, they go on to be terrible, if not worse. One of the other street boys, Turnip-Tom, has a family who farm in the country and so they decide to go there in search of all the children who are missing. People everywhere were blaming the dragon, or dragons, for eating them all. Dragon is not too happy about this but does admit to eating a couple. She really prefers to eat crumpets!

    But as the plot unfolds, it seems that Stick and the dragon have a special connection; he is the only one who can hear her speaking, others believe it is just roaring, which as it turns out, proves to be the one thing that saves him from a plot even more terrible that you could ever imagine.

    In The Dragon and Her Boy, Penny Chrimes has created a fast paced romp through medieval times, old worlde English and all, knights, dragons, hero’s, villains, serious villains along with a heap of fun to return you to time when maybe dragons were for real and knights in shining armour did good deeds, well sometimes.

    One final thing: as the book is written in King Billie’s English there is a dictionary for your use at the end of the book, just so you can understand what they are talking about especially when it gets a little bit tricky to say the least.

  • The Little French Bridal Shop

    The Little French Bridal Shop

    Do not be fooled by the cover and title of The Little French Bridal Shop. While it is indeed charming, it also raises issues that many of us must face. The main character, Larisa, has returned to her small seaside hometown. Her great aunt has died, and Larisa wants to stay in the beloved house for a last time. In fact, she is running away from everything, and reality is slipping away from her.

    The young woman decides to renovate the grand house and then sell it. As a child, she spent a great deal of time with her great aunt who taught her many things. One of the local boys, Jack, used to come to the house as well. Aunt Ursula gave the children lessons in music appreciation and discussed many and varied topics to extend the children’s knowledge and experience. They both loved her dearly.

    When Jack discovers that Larisa is back, he helps her to renovate the house, and they discover ease and comfort in each other’s company. However, Jack is married, and Larisa is undecided about her current partner. As an only child, Larisa adores her parents, but cannot cope with the fact that her mother is beginning to develop dementia. Larisa has so many worries and fears to cope with. Grieving for her aunt, terrified of losing her mother, uncertain of her future, it is no wonder she begins to fob off the local villagers with strange tales.

    There are many obstacles for Larissa to overcome. She must maintain a hold on reality to logically continue with her life. This story is one that reflects times when we all have struggled, but the understanding that hard times do not last forever, ensures the final conclusion to the story is more than satisfactory.

  • The Traitor’s Reliquary

    The Traitor’s Reliquary

    Book one of any saga is always interesting, as it contains much without giving too much away, which is the case with The Traitor’s Reliquary from Chris Moss. Set in the world of fantasy fiction the plot begins slowly with the hero, although he does not yet know it, manacled to stones watching the Hydra circle above him. He is the sacrifice and is not happy about being there, as he is pretty certain he did not murder anyone!

    Based around a corrupt society that relies heavily on mysticism and the protection of the Hydra, a seven headed monster, the plot, once it gets moving is fast paced and addictive, a bit like the Bloodwyne made from the Hydras blood, that makes or appears to make men invincible, at least for a short period of time.

    Kestrel is rescued from certain death at the last minute, but has also discovered he was betrayed by this love, his Goddess, Lychra Maal and that their relationship was nothing but a lie, which does not make what has happened to him any easier to bear.

    He finds once he is rescued and in a safe location, courtesy of what appears to be a band of pirates, he is facing another woman, older and much wiser, The Prioress, who seems to have the wisdom of the ages in her eyes and knowledge that is timeless. It seems she has made the decision that he, Kestrel, is the chosen one to help reinstate the Empire and then The Angel who guards over all can be summoned once again, so people can live a good life, free from the terror of Maal and the Hydra.

    There is a very quirky, slightly satirical vein running throughout the plot line which makes entertaining reading and the hero, who would rather be anyplace other than taking on the certain, he hopes death of the Hydra, otherwise it will be his certain death, adds to the general chaos of carrying out what he has been assured, is his true life’s work.

    Fans of Terry Pratchett and his slightly left of centre fantasy plots, will love The Traitors Reliquary  as Kestral and his band of not always happy compatriots, take on the massive challenge of hopefully righting a centuries old wrong!

    What will book 2 bring to the mix? Only time will tell!

  • How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (The Folk of the Air series)

    How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (The Folk of the Air series)

    Fantasy: It’s an interesting genre and by interesting I mean I have had an interesting past with it, growing up reading Harry Potter which I loved, didn’t mind the Hunger Games and couldn’t get into the Twilight Saga. As for the Song of Fire and Ice series, I struggled to get through one book a year, despite it being such a good read. So it’s fair to say I have a conflicted relationship with the genre and now I can add How the King of Elfhame learned to hate stories to the fantasy books I have read.

    How the King of Elfhame learned to hate stories is a fantasy book by Holly Black and is the third book in The Folk of the Air series. Now I will be honest, I haven’t read the other three books in the series therefore I struggled with this book. The book is told from the perspective of a certain Prince Cardan, who taking from the blurb of the book, eventually becomes a High King of the land of Elfhame. The book reads as a bit of an origin story and Prince Cardan is an unpleasant person; a trait he apparently carries with him into adulthood.  Elfhame itself consists of a series of large islands rather like the Philippines or Indonesia. The story is told in third person. 

    Unlike other fantasy books I have read How the King of Elfhame learned to hate stories dedicates a quarter of its pages to illustrations.  The artwork in this book is done by Rovina Cai and is quite good. I won’t comment on the style of the illustrations as I am neither an artist nor have any academic knowledge in art. However, though the illustrations make the book physically more attractive I feel that it would have been better to have used those pages to add more to the story.

    As I said previously I struggled with this book, although had I read the other books then perhaps this wouldn’t have been the case. However the story is good and the illustrations add a nice, if slightly unnecessary, touch. The book is not that long and can easily be finished within a day. From reading it I believe it is more geared to a younger audience such as early teens rather than adults or young children.

  • Descendant of the Crane

    Descendant of the Crane

    Within the realms of fantastical literature, particularly the young adult variety, it is becoming more common that a lot of entries read very similar to one another. From the release of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, much fantasy thereon has set to the mould left by its footprint.

    Joan He’s Descendant of the Crane, set itself apart from its brethren and becomes a remarkable read. Yan’s Queen, Hesina; formerly Princess, cannot sit with the unease caused by the circumstances around her father’s death… the King’s death. This unease she spurs her into action to, pursue avenues to the secrets and truths she covets. Many of these paths are illegal, but all of them pose danger to someone of her stature. What follows is an unravelling of much she did not know about her own Yan, and a further insight into the long-outlawed magic and its history.

    It is here where the charm and awe of the Descendant of the Crane lies. Though not ground-breaking in terms of plot, its setting, and universe are packed with excitement and discovery. It is a book where I felt a little more learned and cultured with each read, which I believe is due to its heavy Chinese influences; I now know what death from a thousand cuts is.

    Overall, this story is driven by a pursuit for the truth, and the unravelling of a conspiracy, both of which it pays in full. Despite being a standalone (debut) entry, the author has admitted that there is room for a twin novel, perhaps somewhere in the future. Fans of high-fantasy and well-structured worlds will love this book, others will appreciate the tight storyline and pursuit for truth.

  • All the Stars and Teeth

    All the Stars and Teeth

    Magic and its wondrous powers are the drivers in this Fantasy fiction All the Stars and Teeth from Adalyn Grace, a storyline beloved of fantasy fans that leaves the imagination to the luxury of dressing the themes and surrounds as the reader chooses.

    While the storyline, like much fantasy, is not new, the way in which Adalyn Grace weaves the tale is captivating and enchanting.  Effectively, Princess Amora Montara is facing the biggest challenge of her life, as she has had to master some of the most dangerous magic in the Kingdom in order to secure her place to the throne.

    Facing her final test things go terribly, horribly and dangerously wrong, forcing her to accept the help of Bastian, the captain of what appears to be a Pirate Ship; a strange but gloriously beautiful ship but a ship without a crew.

    Bastian and Amora join forces and a rollicking, but treacherous and dangerous journey begins to save not just Amora Montara and the future of her country Visidia, but also Bastion’s land, that of Zudoh.

    Kavan is the man causing most of the problems, with a new and powerfully destructive magic. When Amora realises her father the King has not told her everything she needed to know to understand her magic, the magic she needs to master, she and Bastian decide the only way forward for them both, is to take up the challenge to face pure evil.

    As the days pass on board the Pirate ship, Amora also begins to realise that life outside the Kingdom of Vasidia holds a strong fascination for her, as does the life of a Pirate. All the Star and Teeth has a little bit of everything; danger, evil, romance, power and monsters woven into the story, which ultimately makes for a fascinating time out in Fantasy land.

  • Tuck Everlasting

    Tuck Everlasting

    Tuck Everlasting was first published in 1975. There has been a movie made from the story and it has just been re published in 2020. There are several reasons for republishing the book primarily for a story to be considered a classic, it must pass the test of time, and re reading Tuck Everlasting, it does.

    The original and unusual tale set in the 1800’s raises many issues which can be challenging for children….life and death, loyalty, and friendship, to name a few. Language and descriptions assist the reader to picture the setting and the surrounds, as well as the tone of the family, with gentleness to the people, and the care shown by the family of Winnie, the main character, very obvious. Winnie’s parents protect their only child with many rules and structures.

    However, within that framework of love, Winnie is desperate for adventure. It is here that she meets and witness’s death, raises the question of “Living Forever, “and experiences her first love. Loyalty is another issue that the young girl struggles with. She deceives her family to help a friend in desperate need; the weight of her deception is not lost on Winnie.

    An unusual ending to the story makes it memorable. This is such a unique opportunity for adults and young readers to discuss the concepts raised and to share thoughts about matters that are not usually talked about. With the wonderful descriptions, “The sky was a ragged blaze of red and pink and orange..” make Tuck Everlasting a joy to read.