Lirael, by Garth Nix - Book Review
July 23rd, 2008 by Robert
Garth Nix emerged from nowhere with his novel, Sabriel, the first volume of the Old Kingdom Trilogy. With its blend of richly imagined magical rules and a fascinating relationship between the realms of life and death, it established him as one of the world’s most exciting young fantasy authors. In the second volume, Lirael, Nix fleshes out the Old Kingdom with greater detail, more realised characters and, most importantly, more hordes of shambling zombies! Read the rest of this entry »
Not content to rest on his laurels between the second and third volumes of his Revelation Space series, Alastair Reynolds felt compelled to provide us with a couple of novellas set in the same universe, but outside that story arc. If he’s happy to keep churning this stuff out, we’re more than happy to read it! 
By those in the know, Tim Powers is often cited as one of the most original and influential fantasy writers of all time. A close friend of Philip K. Dick (who went on to dedicate his most celebrated book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, to Powers), he has gone on to influence such modern fantasy luminaries as Neil Gaiman and China Mieville. So it’s a fascinating experience indeed to delve into his very first novel and get a glimpse of his first (faltering) steps towards greatness. 
As volume six of The Dark Tower series, Song of Susannah, rolls toward us, we are beset by one burning question. Can Stephen King rescue the plot of his magnum opus from the wayward excess of self-indulgence that dominated the last two instalments in the series, Wizard and Glass and The Wolves of the Calla? 
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