From the back cover: Shurei Hong, destitute but of noble birth, has always dreamed of working as a civil servant in the imperial court of Saiunkoku, but women are barred from holding office. The emperor Ryuki, however, refuses to take command, leaving everything to his advisors. Shurei is asked to become a consort to the emperor to persuade the ne'er-do-well ruler to … [Read more...] about The Story of Saiunkoku 2 by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino: B+
Historical Fantasy
The Story of Saiunkoku 1 by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino: B+
From the back cover: Shurei Hong, destitute but of noble birth, has always dreamed of working as a civil servant in the imperial court of Saiunkoku, but women are barred from holding office. The emperor Ryuki, however, refuses to take command, leaving everything to his advisors. Shurei is asked to become a consort to the emperor to persuade the ne'er-do-well ruler to … [Read more...] about The Story of Saiunkoku 1 by Kairi Yura and Sai Yukino: B+
Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead: C+
From the back cover: It was a time of legend, when the last shadows of the mighty Roman conqueror faded from the captured Isle of Britain. While across a vast sea, bloody war shattered a peace that had flourished for two thousand years in the doomed kingdom of Atlantis. Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation … [Read more...] about Taliesin by Stephen R. Lawhead: C+
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 1 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill: B-
From the front flap: London, 1898. The Victorian Era draws to a close and the twentieth century approaches. It is a time of great change and an age of stagnation, a period of chaste order and ignoble chaos. It is an era in need of champions. Allan Quatermain, Captain Nemo, Hawley Griffin, Dr. Henry Jekyll, Mr. Edward Hyde, and Mina Murray are those champions and together they … [Read more...] about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 1 by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill: B-
Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, and Richard Isanove: B
From the front flap: The year is 1602, and strange things are stirring in England. In the service of Queen Elizabeth, court magician Dr. Stephen Strange senses that the bizarre weather plaguing the skies above is not of natural origin. Her majesty's premier spy, Sir Nicholas Fury, fends off an assassination attempt on the Queen by winged warriors rumored to be in service to a … [Read more...] about Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, and Richard Isanove: B