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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: Ship of Magic – Robin Hobb
The life of everyone in the Vestrit family is about to change when it seems that the current patriarch is close to succumbing to his illness, an event that will also fully awaken the family’s liveship Vivacia. Matriach Ronica Vestrit not only has to cope with her husbands impending death, but also the family’s failing fortune. Althea hopes to succeed her father as captain. Meanwhile, her nephew Wintrow is none too pleased to leave his life in the monastery behind to be with his family again.
At the same time, the ambitious pirate captain Kennit dreams of uniting all of the Pirate Isles under himself as king. To achieve this, he intends to capture one of the rare liveships.
Review: Ex Machina – Alex Garland
When Caleb, a nobody programmer at a Big Tech firm is invited to the isolated home of the company’s CEO, he has no idea that he will serve as the examiner in a test of an advanced artificial intelligence developed by the CEO. Will Caleb believe that AI is capable of thoughts, feelings and consciousness even though he is aware it is artificial? As Caleb and the AI get to know each other, a bond forms that will set in motion a sequence of events going much further than the CEO had anticipated.
Review: A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness
Diana Bishop, a scholar at Oxford, accidentally discovers an ancient alchemical manuscript. Diana is a witch, but she wants nothing to do with the world of witches, vampires and daemons. That is, until 1500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont comes into the picture. When the two fall in love, it throws the entire world of magic into a frenzy.
Review: Ghost in the Shell – Rupert Sanders
Major Mira Kilian is a cyborg, a human ghost in an android shell, who hunts for terrorists as part of Section 9, a shady special ops force of the Japanese government. She remembers little of her past before her brain was transplanted, but when she goes after a cybercriminal who is hunting the very scientists who created her, Major is confronted with some uncomfortable questions on who she really is.
Review: I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
In I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, a collection of short stories, the famous robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin reflects on the history of robotics and how it changed the lives of humankind forever. What is the meaning of the Three Laws of Robotics and how do these laws work in practice? What can we learn from our interactions with robots? And what can they learn from us?
Review: Gideon the Ninth – Tamsyn Muir
“Gideon the Ninth” by Tamsyn Muir is a sci-fi/fantasy/horror novel set in a decaying universe ruled by necromancers. The story follows Gideon Nav, a sword-wielding cavalier, who is forced to join forces with her lifelong nemesis, the powerful necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Together, they are summoned to Canaan house, a derelict palace on a foreign planet to compete in a deadly trial. As they navigate dark secrets, mysterious deaths, and treacherous alliances, Gideon and Harrowhark must put aside their animosity and unravel the truth behind the ancient necromantic conspiracy that threatens to destroy the empire.
