Amid epic battles and dazzling spells, the best fantasy is often about people. In some novels the protagonists are so complex, their development so intense, that they take over the story and make us ache in every nerve ending when bad things happen to them. We almost become the character as we’re reading, so invested […]
When Tad Williams first announced plans for a new trilogy returning to Osten Ard—the setting of his landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy—after over two decades away, I was nearly euphoric with excitement. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is one of modern fantasy’s finest epics, and its influence has rippled through the genre since its release […]
When I think of the evolution of secondary world fantasy through the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, familiar names come to mind: Terry Brooks. Katherine Kurtz. Stephen R. Donaldson. Raymond E. Feist. Robin Hobb. Anne McCaffrey. George R.R. Martin. J.K. Rowling. Each of these authors impacted fantasy in ways that still ripple through the genre, influencing new authors who in turn reshape the genre […]
For nearly two decades, Jim Killen has served as the science fiction and fantasy book buyer for Barnes & Noble. Every month on Tor.com and the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, Jim shares his curated list of the month’s can’t-miss new SFF releases.