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Welcome to StephenBarkley.com. This is where I post all the stuff I've been thinking, praying, speaking, and writing about. Thanks for reading.
The Light Princess and Other Stories © 1980 Eerdmans 171 pages This is the third of four volumes Eerdmans put together in 1980 to collect all the short fantasy works of George MacDonald. I have been pleasantly surprised to discover that MacDonald, whose Victorian novels span six to eight hundred pages, is able to develop [...]
The Golden Key and Other Stories © 1980 Eerdmans 165 pages Eerdmans has done the modern world a fine service by collecting the short fantasy stories of George MacDonald into four volumes. The Golden Key and Other Fantasy Stories is the second of the four I’ve read (Here’s my review of The Wise Woman and [...]
The Fantastic Imagination: An Anthology of High Fantasy © 1977 Avon ix+325 pages This is the good stuff. While I admit enjoying the odd swords & sorcerers style of pop-fantasy, it’s work like this that really inspires me. This is more than mere genre-fantasy—it’s literature in its own right. Boyer & Zahorski’s collection is broad. [...]
The Wise Woman and Other Fantasy Stories © 1980 Eerdmans x+172 pages What comes to mind when you think of fairy tales? Children’s stories? One-dimensional fables? Moralistic illustrations? George MacDonald mastered and elevated the genre of “fairy tale” to something greater. The Wise Woman and Other Fantasy Stories is one of four books published by [...]
The Book of Lost Things © 2006 Washington Square Press: Simon & Schuster 469 pages Usually the expression, “coming-of-age” steers me away from a book. With the exception of King’s The Body (later: Stand By Me), coming-of-age stories smack of Hallmark made-for-tv-style drivel. So why did I buy this book from an author I had [...]
Elantris © 2006 Tor Fantasy 656 pages How does a world carry on when its gods die? How does the political machine grind on in an immediate catastrophic power vacuum? Can a dystopic future can be reversed? Sanderson tackles all these questions in the form of a mystery novel set in a fantastic setting. The [...]
Warbreaker © 2010 Tor 688 pages Warbreaker is a large stand-alone fantasy novel with sequel potential. In it, Brandon Sanderson did what he does best: created a magic system that provides mystery and depth to character interactions. Having read the Mistborn trilogy, it was nice to see some twists on the themes he developed. In [...]
The Hero of Ages: Book Three of Mistborn © 2009 Tor Fantasy 784 pages I think I’ve finally been able to put my finger on what’s so compelling about this trilogy. If you’ve ever read early Asimov novels, you’ll realize they’re essentially good mystery-adventure stories that happen to be set in space. Well, strip away [...]
The Well of Ascension © 2008 Tor Fantasy 816 Pages Middle volumes of a trilogy are supposed to be weak. They advance the plot to setup the finale without the same sort of world-altering excitement of volume one or climactic rage of the final installment. The Well of Ascension is not your typical middle book. [...]
Shadowheart: Volume Four of Shadowmarch © 2010 Daw 730 pages The end is near here. Once again, I received the fourth book of a Tad Williams trilogy with excitement. In one way this review is pointless. If you’ve read the first three volumes, you’ll read this one. If not, start at the beginning. Even so, [...]
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