By kestrell, on April 23rd, 2011
When the reader first meets Dominic Glyndwr, Viscount Harlech (he keeps asking people to call him Niki), he is brooding about being the misfit youngest son of the aristocratic family which rules Cymru, a planet which has retained much of the culture of its Welsh ancestors from old Earth. When Niki discovers that the . . . → Read More: Emma Bull: Falcon
By , on March 5th, 2011
Let the fairy-tale begin on a winter’s morning, then, with one drop of blood new-fallen on the ivory snow: a drop as bright as a clear-cut ruby, red as the single spot of claret on the lace cuff.
And thus starts Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners, the first novel in the Riverside series . . . → Read More: Ellen Kushner: Mannerpunk, Klezmer, and English ballads
By Robert M. Tilendis, on March 5th, 2011
Ellen Kushner, in the tradition of writers of fantastic literature everywhere, has built an amazingly detailed and appealing universe in her series of novels and stories about the nameless City that contains Riverside and the Hill and those who inhabit it. The Man With the Knives takes us out of the City for a . . . → Read More: Ellen Kushner: The Man With the Knives
By Robert M. Tilendis, on March 5th, 2011
Every once in a while, being a reviewer offers a special perk, whether it’s a new book by a favorite author, a new find who stands head and shoulders above the crowd, or the chance to take another look at an old favorite. So, when the Chief asked for a fresh look at Ellen . . . → Read More: Ellen Kushner: Swordspoint
By , on March 1st, 2011
Rachel Manija Brown is the author of this review.
The Fall of the Kings, by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman, may not be the best fantasy novel of the year; I haven’t read one that’s better, but China Miéville’s The Scar is its equal, and the year is not yet over. But I feel . . . → Read More: Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman: The Fall of the Kings
By Robert M. Tilendis, on February 23rd, 2011
Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint has the distinction of being among the most intelligent and stylish fantasy novels I’ve ever read. As it happens, I have to go back to a very basic definition of “fantasy” to make that statement, since Kushner’s universe shares no characteristics with traditional fantasy save that she made it up and . . . → Read More: Ellen Kushner: The Privilege of the Sword
