A biographer of C.S. Lewis once called a collection of preparatory schools a testimony to the fact that English parents do not enjoy the company of their children. However that is, the old system did separate parents from children; such separation is generally, in children’s fantasy books, a precursor to magic. In The Enchanted Castle,…
Tag: reviews
CSFF Blog Tour: Fortress of Mist
Thomas has the city of Magnus, and other things his enemies want even more. He is not entirely sure who his enemies are, much less where they are, but they keep leaving him signs. The slaughtered bulls were a pretty clear hint. He has other hints – hints of help from the people who would…
CSFF Blog Tour: The Orphan King
We have all heard that knowledge is power. But few have ever known it, or demonstrated it, as well as Thomas. An orphan, and in effect little better than a slave, yet he has power. He has a rare ability, the ability to read. Rarer yet, he has books to read. Rarest of all is…
Review: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Stooges come in all shapes and sizes. Some are culpably stupid, some are innocently stupid, some are actively corrupt. Some stooges know that they’re stooges, and some don’t know even that. Many are bought men, and a few are only duped. Jefferson Smith was another type of stooge – a tall, thin, Lincoln-quoting patriot, a…
CSFF Blog Tour: Angel Eyes
When Brielle Matthews returned to Stratus at the beginning of winter, the cold inside her was greater than the cold without. She left a tragedy behind her in the city; she did not guess its players would follow her out of it. Far less could she imagine how the world changes when you see it…
CSFF Blog Tour: Starflower
Eanrin has always known to never get involved in the affairs of mortals. If all Faeries had that policy, the Hidden Land would have lived out a happier story. But as the lost daughter of the Eldest walked a road darkened by Faerie, so her path will fatefully cross a Faerie’s again. And again. In…
Review: The Whipping Boy
Here’s a question: Which would you rather be – a rat-catcher or a whipping boy? On the one hand, rat-catchers catch rats. On the other, whipping boys get whipped. A lot. At least they do when the prince is known throughout the kingdom as Prince Brat. And Jemmy, an orphan plucked from the streets to…
Review: Arthur Christmas
Arthur’s heart was in the right place; it was his feet that usually weren’t. He wasn’t quite harmless – certainly not to the elves he routinely tripped over, whose home he once accidentally melted. But he meant well. Arthur Christmas is a story of Santa, his wife, his father, and his two sons. If you…
Review: Tuck
Blood is thicker than water. That’s why you can’t get rid of your relatives. It’s also why you can generally expect certain things from them – like a place to spend the holidays, or rent when you absolutely need it. Or, maybe, troops to fight your guerrilla insurgency. Maybe. In Tuck, the long war has…
CSFF Blog Tour: The Spirit Well
There are certain things you know. The ground is solid, death is death, yesterday is past, and tomorrow is coming. But if ever you cross the ley lines and slip into the muliverse, you may end up deciding that you never really knew anything. In The Spirit Well, Stephen Lawhead continues the grand adventure of…