My father and I have finished Greenglass House by Kate Milford

My father and I have finished Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

Greenglass House, a creaky old inn for smugglers perched atop an icy tor. But this Christmas Vacation Milo Pine will get little rest but lots of fun as a cast of strange characters arrive out of the cold, none being the regular smugglers but all of whom have unstated goals and interests in the inn. Thus Milo and his new friend Meddy must unravel clues, thefts, and tangled histories woven into the aging, rickety wood and green stain-glass filtered light in a delightful, and delightfully smart, mystery filled with unique in-and-outs, layers and twists in the equally distinctive halls and rooms of Greenglass House. So distinctive that though this book is classified as a Mystery, it felt like a Fantasy. Call it a Mystery quasi-fantasy.

Until next time, my friends.

MURTAGH!

HUZZAH!! Since before and especially after The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm we knew that Christopher Paolini was not done with his wondrous world of Alagaësia, the book giving us tantalizing hints of what was to come. And what has come is the unutterably splendid news of Murtagh, the next and first true full book sequel to The Inheritance Cycle! Truly I cannot adequately express my excitement as my love for this series is second to none save The Lord of the Rings itself, for Eragon was the first great Fantasy book I read on my own in the 6th grade (my father having read LOTR to me the year before)!

Ah, Alagaësia... land of the Dragon Riders and the Ancient Language. Both of which may be under very real threat. So, while Eragon manages rebuilding the Riders, tis up to an old friend, to Murtagh (and Thorn), to seek out this new enigmatic evil on roads both new and familiar; and maybe, hopefully, decide to rejoin friends who miss him. Kvetha Fricai, sé onr sverdar sitja hvass! I cannot wait for November!

I have started The Edge of the World, book one of Terra Incognita by Kevin J. Anderson

I have started The Edge of the World, book one of Terra Incognita by Kevin J. Anderson.

This series has been sitting on my shelf for years, so it is with enormous excitement that I at last set sail to explore these uncharted waters for, ever since I first read Le Guin' Earthsea, I have been fascinated with heavily seafaring Fantasies – rare as saltwater pearls. The question is, which waters are more dangerous? The Ocean, Middle, and unexplored seas rife with sea serpents, storms, and worse, or the political one between Tierra and Uraba? Truly this is terra incognita, and hope lies on the blank spaces on the map marked only by the words "here be monsters."

"When you reach the edge of the world, you can fly." – The Book of Aiden

Just finished Sword-Bearer, volume eight of the Novels of Tiger and Del by Jennifer Roberson

He was Tiger, born of the desert winds. She was Del, born of ice and storm.

Just finished Sword-Bearer, volume eight of the Novels of Tiger and Del by Jennifer Roberson.
Well, that just just tears it. If it is not tamed wild weather magic that uses dust-storms for sheepdogs, it is another Northern bandit; to say nothing of honor codes so inflexible and sword-dance specific they have little honor left. Still, that least that ioSkandic magic finally earned its keep and one enemy is very dead. But only one, and despite this being the last book out I am dead certain there will be another. An-elisua or no, codes or not, some songs need to be cut off - with steel. Regardless, it has been lovely riding with the Sandtiger's woman and Delilah's man, not to mention Neesha, Alric, Lena, and little Sula. Until next time, and the next circle, my friends.

Sulhaya.

Epic Fantasy Music - Coronation

This is my first try at making Epic Fantasy Music using Magix Music Maker. I owe my inspiration to the muses Adrian von Ziegler, Peter Crowley, and BrunuhVille. The image is a pending scene from the only internet comic I read, GhostBlade, which matches the theme (and shares a title with) the song. The girl is Princess Aeolian of the Northern Desert, daughter of the Peaceful Titan and a master warrior in her own right. (Initially I was going to use a completely different AI-generated image of my own design, but then decided to support this master artist and storyteller.)

Hyloscirtus tolkieni

Hyloscirtus tolkieni

A newfound species of stream fog has been discovered on the slopes of the Andes mountains in Ecuador by researchers Juan C. Sánchez-Nivicela, José M. Falcón-Reibán, and Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia. Interesting news certainly, but why is this on a Fantasy blog. Because the trio of scientists are also devout fans of a certain trilogy entitled The Lord of the Rings, and have named the critter Hyloscirtus tolkieni.

"'It would seem that it lives in a universe of fantasies, like those created by Tolkien,' the researchers wrote in a news release. 'The truth is that the tropical Andes are magical ecosystems where some of the most wonderful species of flora, funga, and fauna in the world are present.'...After immersing himself in the works of Tolkien, particularly The Lord of the Rings, Sánchez-Nivicela now sees parallels between the author’s fantastical creations and the mystical jungle world he traverses while on field expeditions." 

This parallelism is owed to the fact that protecting, maintaining, the world's natural beauty is a key theme in The Lord of the Rings, as evidenced in places such as The Shire, Rivendell, Fangorn Forest, Lothlórien, and Ithilien. Treebeard and the other Ents are called Shepherds of the Trees, guarding the Fangorn. Faramir and his  Rangers of Ithilien protect, naturally, Ithilien. While Elrond and Galadriel used their Rings to "ward off the decays of time and postpone the weariness of the world" in Rivendell and Lothlórien. As to The Shire, well, the Hobbits protect and maintain their own. Another parallel which factored Sánchez-Nivicela’s decision to name the new frog after Tolkien lies in the fact that, much as the natural beauty of Middle-earth was threatened by the greed and industrialization of Sauron and Saruman, so is our world's threatened by similar is less supernatural forces. On that note, I shall let the good researchers have the last word.

“In a stream in the forest there lived a Hyloscirtus. Not a nasty, dirty stream, with spoor of contamination and a muddy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy stream with nothing in it to perch on or to eat: it was a Hyloscirtus-stream, and that means environmental quality.”

Quote of the month

"The riddle itself. That draws us all, at heart." – Patricia A. McKillip