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We are an opinionated group of friends reviewing all sorts of fantasy and science fiction media. Don’t forget to get to know the curators and visit our curated Collection, where we discuss the stories that never cease to transport us to another world.
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- Novel written by Ursula Le Guin
- Published in 2001
- Part 5 of the Earthsea Cycle
Listened to the audiobook with Jenny Sterlin – well-read.
Usually I am a big fan of shorter form fiction: I love shorter stories that focus on ideas, on showing different sides of a character, or that really build a world.
I think Tales from Earthsea tries to be the latter – the final ‘story’ in the book is even a very explicit reference section on the history and cultures of Earthsea. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, while I enjoyed Tales from Earthsea fine, I don’t think it added that much to the worldbuilding Le Guin already did in the previous instalments of the series.
I got the feeling that Tales from Earthsea was three or four Earthsea-novels condensed into one book, just with the stories told in fewer words. Usually I am a big fan of efficiently telling stories. In this case, however, I felt like some tales would have benefited from just a little more time to let the characters grow on me. As it was, the stories moved just a little too quickly for me to ever really be invested the way I was in, for example, Tehanu.
I think this is telling on what makes The Earthsea Cycle great for me: it is the characters in emotionally moving stories against a backdrop of interesting but ultimately very simple worldbuilding that draws me in, not the depth or details of Earthsea itself.
Having said all that, Tales from Earthsea does include a number of moving stories and learning about the history of the school of magic on Roke island is lovely. The collection of stories also continues the feminist theme that Le Guin put at the heart of Tehanu.
The honest truth is that while Tales from Earthsea is a fine book, it felt a bit like a stepping stone between Tehanu and the The Other Wind for me, a quick stop in between the rest of The Earthsea Cycle that Le Guin almost seems to have written for herself more than for the reader.
Still, armed with the knowledge that I have now, I am more than curious to dig into the final instalment of the Cycle, and learn about the final episode in Ged’s and Tenar’s life!
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- Novel written and illustrated by Raoul Deleo
- Published in 2021
Sometimes children’s literature can be works of art, literally. If you ask me, Terra Ultima: The Discovery of a Hidden Continent is a clear example of this. It’s challenging to explain the charm of this book, without risking completely spoiling it. To still reveal something of the premise: Terra Ultima presents itself as a reflection on a few scientific expeditions towards an unknown continent full of wonderful new creatures. We view these expeditions through the eyes of biologist Noah J. Stern, who has compiled the notes and zoological illustrations of fellow scientist and world explorer Raoul Deleo. The result is a truly unique book with stunning, fantastical illustrations and a narrative that transported me back to more mysterious times in which we humans had yet to categorize the majority of our world’s species.
Apart from the imaginative illustrations – I can’t stress enough how cool these are – Terra Ultima consists of writing that neatly balances between pseudo-scientific, humorous and accessible language. Where children might read this book and enjoy a (semi-)realistic adventure story, “grown-ups” can entertain themselves with the numerous little jokes hidden throughout the binomial nomenclature.
- Novel written by Ursula Le Guin
- Published in 2001
- Part 5 of the Earthsea Cycle
Listened to the audiobook with Jenny Sterlin – well-read.
Usually I am a big fan of shorter form fiction: I love shorter stories that focus on ideas, on showing different sides of a character, or that really build a world.
I think Tales from Earthsea tries to be the latter – the final ‘story’ in the book is even a very explicit reference section on the history and cultures of Earthsea. But perhaps somewhat surprisingly, while I enjoyed Tales from Earthsea fine, I don’t think it added that much to the worldbuilding Le Guin already did in the previous instalments of the series.
I got the feeling that Tales from Earthsea was three or four Earthsea-novels condensed into one book, just with the stories told in fewer words. Usually I am a big fan of efficiently telling stories. In this case, however, I felt like some tales would have benefited from just a little more time to let the characters grow on me. As it was, the stories moved just a little too quickly for me to ever really be invested the way I was in, for example, Tehanu.
I think this is telling on what makes The Earthsea Cycle great for me: it is the characters in emotionally moving stories against a backdrop of interesting but ultimately very simple worldbuilding that draws me in, not the depth or details of Earthsea itself.
Having said all that, Tales from Earthsea does include a number of moving stories and learning about the history of the school of magic on Roke island is lovely. The collection of stories also continues the feminist theme that Le Guin put at the heart of Tehanu.
The honest truth is that while Tales from Earthsea is a fine book, it felt a bit like a stepping stone between Tehanu and the The Other Wind for me, a quick stop in between the rest of The Earthsea Cycle that Le Guin almost seems to have written for herself more than for the reader.
Still, armed with the knowledge that I have now, I am more than curious to dig into the final instalment of the Cycle, and learn about the final episode in Ged’s and Tenar’s life!
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- Novel written by Anne Rice
- Published in 1985
- Book Two of the Vampire Chronicles
I bought this book new at the store. That’s unusual for me – normally, I find my books at the thrift store. I’ll read whatever comes my way, I don’t tend to go out of my way to read a specific book. Despite having plenty of books to read at home (relatable, I’m sure), I decided to pick this up because I was genuinely excited to read it.
Like many, I’m sure, I’m a little bit tired of the way we depict vampires nowadays. Vampires have always been cool, but I’d love to go back to the type of vampires who don’t quite fit in. I like classic, flamboyant vampires, like those in What We Do In The Shadows. I guess I just don’t really like it when vampires wear jeans.
I should preface this by saying that Lestat is technically the sequel to Interview with a Vampire, which I haven’t read. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on much, except perhaps at the very end of the book. Even the last chapters are perfectly understandable, as long as you’re aware that the book Interview with a Vampire exists.
Storywise, The Vampire Lestat didn’t start off very strong. It really didn’t grab me until after he was turned into a vampire. Unfortunately, quickly after this, some stuff happened that made me go “Hmmmmmm, no thanks”. This is followed by a whole lot of no plot, until we get some insight into the history of vampires, which I did enjoy. There are perhaps three scenes in the whole book that take place in the “now” – the 1980’s.
Ultimately, I think the strongest part of this book is the exploration of what a creature that’s been alive for over a thousand years might be like. Lestat himself is probably the least interesting character in this novel, but I think he’s supposed to be. He is intentionally kept quite “human” so the audience can connect to him. However, this does mean that I was left wondering if I wouldn’t have preferred to read a book about his mother, Gabrielle, instead.
It’s hard to write an elaborate review on a book that didn’t inspire much emotion in me. I definitely didn’t hate The Vampire Lestat, but I also wouldn’t say it’s particularly… worth reading? You’re probably better off reading something like A Discovery of Witches, which will actually make you feel something (unbridled rage, but at least that’s something).
- Novel written by Ursula Le Guin
- Published in 1990
- Part 4 of the Earthsea Cycle
Listened to the audiobook with Jenny Sterlin – well read.
Of the first Earthsea trilogy, I liked The Tombs of Atuan the best – on the hand hand because it tells the most unified story, but also in particular because it is different: different both from the other two books in the first Earthsea trilogy, but also different from fantasy books in general.
Fantasy stories generally focus on extraordinary people experiencing extraordinary adventures. The extremes of human experience; characters formed by their continent-spanning journeys and battles with monsters and evil men. A Wizard of Earthsea is like that, and so is The Farthest Shore. In Tehanu, however, Le Guin returns to her characters from The Tombs of Atuan – and to the style of story telling that breaks the mould of standard fantasy adventures.
Tehanu focuses on heroic characters that are no longer heroic. Some because they chose a different life, others because they were forced into normalcy. In doing so, Tehanu shows that even the small people are important. They matter. And they don’t just matter because they used to be great, they matter because they are human.
As a result, the story is very personal, and surprisingly tense exactly because the stakes are smaller and more relatable. It is not a story about slaying dragons but rather about raising and protecting children or finding value in yourself outside of your abilities.
Moreover, I like that Tehanu is more explicitly feminist – it was written a fair bit later than the earlier Earthsea-trilogy (long after her commercial and critical success with A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left hand of Darkness), and Le Guin probably felt more at ease adding more political or personal themes to her writing. I like that she tells sexism the way it is – often not overt or even conscious, but rather endemic, ingrained and subconscious.
For example, when told by prophecy to look for an archmage by finding a ‘woman on Gont’, the mages don’t look for a female archmage, but rather assume the women will, in turn, lead them to their (obviously male) archmage. And Le Guin is also clever enough for the story to not then revolve around a female archmage being denied her right and claiming it through revolution, but for this bitter truth to be accepted by all characters as a fact of life.
I like the Earthsea Cycle, but I think Tehanu is easily the best of them so far – subtle and subdued but no less powerful than any of the others. In and of itself a reason to start reading the Earthsea Cycle if you still needed encouragement!
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- Video game developed by Hazelight Studios
- Directed by Josef Fares
- Published by Electronic Arts
- Released om March 6, 2025
- Action-adventure, 2 players
- Platforms: PC, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S
- Playing time: 10-15 hours
This is not the first game from Josef Fares that I have experience with. Years ago I was charmed by Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Furthermore, I enjoyed watching a playthrough of It Takes Two, also a game focused around co-op gameplay. Ever since the first trailers, I had no doubts about giving Split Fiction a try. I mean, a story about (fantasy) authors? That’s kind of a no-brainer…
As expected, Jasmijn and I had a lot of fun with this game. Hazelight Studios seems to fully understand that a co-op game like this not only benefits from multiple puzzles, but also from small opportunities where players can just muddle along and explore the stunning environments in hope of finding little easter eggs or crazy things to do – to simply play without an overarching goal. I mean, did the swimming pool area in the futuristic science-fiction city serve a narrative purpose? No. Did we spend a half hour fooling around there nonetheless? Certainly!
Similarly to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, the story of Split Fiction isn’t very complicated. However, it is delivered in a heartfelt manner by the two amazing voice actors and efficient writing. When emotions need to hit, they hit. Additionaly, there seems some clever commentary on the use of AI versus human creativity hidden between the lines…
If you’re in need for a game to play with a friend or partner, fun but not too difficult and with a nice story to boot, Split Fiction certainly is a recommendation.
Review: Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve
Tom Natsworthy is an apprentice historian in the traction city of London – a mobile metropolis chasing other traction settlements across the hunting grounds to devour their resources and enslave their people. Tom’s life is turned upside down when he meets heroic explorer and head historian Thaddeus Valentine – and witnesses a failed attempt to assassinate Valentine.
Review: Delicious in Dungeon – Yoshihiro Miyajima
When an adventure deep within the dungeon results in the death of his sister, Laios convinces his adventuring party to rely on unorthodox sources of food to try and save her before time runs out. After all, who’s to say monster parts can’t be just as tasty and nutritious as normal food?
Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea – T.J. Klune
Linus Baker is one of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth’s most experienced case workers: his knowledge of the Rules and Regulations is impeccable, and his reports are precise, professional and unbiased. When he is called before Extremely Upper Management, he still fears his job is on the line – but instead, he is tasked with writing a report on one of the Department’s most classified orphanages, hidden somewhere on an island near a fishing village, far away from the city. Equipped with a thin stack of files on the children in the orphanage and its master, Linus boards the train with Extremely Upper Management’s warnings still ringing in his ears. Though Linus Baker has met his fair share of magical youth, what he will find in the house on the cerulean sea is a shock even to him…
Review: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – Ubisoft
The peloponnesian war is raging in Ancient Greece, and you are a mercenary trying to reunite your broken family and stop the mysterious cult of Cosmos. Throughout your quest, you meet philosophers and historians, and you fight ancient warriors and mythical beasts.
Review: The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
The boy is a shepherd on the plains of Andalucía, with a recurring dream of treasure. When a gypsy fortune-teller tells the boy that his treasure is buried near the pyramids of Egypt and a mysterious man tells the boy that he ought to seek out his personal legend, the boy decides to leave behind his life as a shepherd, to sell his flock and to set out on a journey to find the treasure at the foot of the pyramids.
Review: Od Magic – Patricia A. McKillip
Brenden Vetch likes to talk to plants more than he likes talking to people – but when the great wizard Od invites him to become a gardener at her school of magic, he sets out to the capital of the kingdom to take up residence. Meanwhile, the capital is enthralled by the presence of the mysterious illusionist Tyramin, the King and his wizards wondering whether the illusive enchanter practices real and illegal magic of if perhaps it is all just tricks. Finally princess Sulys, the King’s daughter, finds that her betrothal to the cold wizard Valoren, one of the King’s counsellors, makes her question her father’s laws and judgment.
