Sean Guynes's Blog, page 2

Reading “Shadow” by Anne Logston (Shadow 1)

Anne Logston’s Shadow (1991) introduced a talented new fantasy writer with a tightly plotted, elegantly written, hilariously bawdy adventure about an expert thief who gets in over her head when she robs the wrong person. If you like Xena: Warrior Princess or Baldur's Gate 3, then you'll love Shadow.

Reading “The Eye of the World” by Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 1)

Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World (1990) is the titanic first novel in his Wheel of Time series (1990-2013), yet for all its prominence in the fantasy field, it has rarely been given serious critical attention by fantasy scholars.

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #6: Charles R. Saunders’s “Imaro” (1981) and “The Quest for Cush” (1984)

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #6: A look at Charles R. Saunders's first two Imaro novels, Imaro (1981) and The Quest for Cush (1984), groundbreaking sword and sorcery novels drawn from African history, culture, and traditions.

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Reading “Titus Groan” by Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast 1)

The fifth essay in my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series, which looks at Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan (1946): an atmospheric, richly wrought novel about power and social hierarchy in a castle populated by absolute weirdos, and how it all starts to crack up.

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #5: Leslie Barringer’s Neustria Trilogy (Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library)

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #5: A look at Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy Library and their 1970s re-editions of Leslie Barringer's Neustria trilogy (1927, 1928, 1948).

Ballantine Adult Fantasy: Reading “A Fish Dinner in Memison” by E.R. Eddison (Zimiamvia 2)

The fourth essay in my Ballantine Adult Fantasy reading series, which looks at E.R. Eddison’s A Fish Dinner in Memison (1941): a novel that lays out plainly Eddison's concerning philosophical vision.

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #4: S.P. Somtow’s “Riverrun” (1991) and “Forest of the Night” (1992)

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #4: A look at S.P. Somtow's first two Riverrun novels, Riverrun (1991) and Forest of the Night (1992).

Reading “Firedrake” by Richard A. Knaak (Dragonrealm 1)

Richard A. Knaak’s Firedrake (1989), the first in his Dragonrealms series, is a atrociously written male fantasy that represents some of the worst excesses of 1980s fantasy fiction, perfectly captures the era's crisis of masculinity, and features an ancient empire of armadillo-people.

Orientalist Fantasy Novels, 1970s–1990s: A Bibliography

A bibliography of orientalist fantasies published in the genre fantasy market c. 1970s–1990s.

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #3: Thomas Burnett Swann’s “How Are the Mighty Fallen” (1974) and “The Minikins of Yam” (1976)

Dispatch from the SFF Archive #3: A look at two novels by Thomas Burnett Swann, How Are the Mighty Fallen (1974) and The Minikins of Yam (1976), two of his numerous historical fantasy novels from the 1970s.