Tag: quest-important

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Starred Recommendations Watchlist

Shogun

Shogun (Season 1 – FX/ Hulu 2024)

I watched this late last year, but only putting up a mini review now for records. First of all, I had no idea it was based on a series of books, Asian Saga series by James Clavell. Second, I had no idea there had already been other TV adaptations in the past. Third, I am waiting for Season 2, due for release in 2026!

We are in Japan in the 1600s. The Taiko, the old ruler, has died and the country is dangerously divided among competing feudal lords. Two very ambitious men from two very different worlds – an English sailor named John Blackthorne and a shrewd Japanese feudal lord Lord Toranaga – collide (and sometimes collaborate) over conflicting interests. So much is changing in the 1600s globally that Japan too is bound to change.

If you haven’t watched Shogun yet, believe me, you are in for a treat.

Categories
Starred Recommendations

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

What a strange and mesmerizing tale! Gilling has incorporated elements of folk legend, superstition, horror, The Gothic, complex mythology and epic knight quests, and made it into a completely new and unique genre of its own.

The simplest description: There is an abbey at the top of a mountain, where people visit for answers from the gods. A bunch of diviners (think: oracles) offer their interpretations of the signs they read. But then many of these diviners disappear, and the last one standing, “Number Six” (think, Brienne of Tarth) decides to find out what’s happening. Her allies are a rather insecure boy-king and his band of knights, who may or may not believe in the gods or the diviners’ great gifts.  

Some parts of the story, especially early on, seem a little implausible, and you do have to suspend disbelief. But it’s a small price to pay, for a very rewarding plotline overall. The characters, all of them, are very well written, each one with a distinct voice. And that ending is something you will never see coming, and yet, it couldn’t have ended any other way.

I read it once, and then I went back and read it all over again. It’s that good. I was a huge fan of Gillig’s Shepherd King duology in 2023, and The Knight and the Moth is no different.

Recommended for fans of: The Gothic, Cozy Horror, Gargoyles, Complex mythology systems, Epic knight quests/ Arthurian adventures, Medieval fare, Dark academia, Folktales, Brienne of Tarth, Oracles/ Divination stories, Darkangel Trilogy, House of Salt & Sorrows, Naomi Novik’s work, The Familiar, etc. etc. etc.

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Books Memes

Have Sword, Will Go On Quest: Books with Magical Swords

For this week’s Top 10 Tuesday, we are looking at books with specific items on the cover. That made me think of magical swords, because that is one trend that never goes out of style. Here’s a list!

Continue reading “Have Sword, Will Go On Quest: Books with Magical Swords”
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Books Recommendations

Plenilune by Jennifer Freitag: Heroic, Medieval Portal Fantasy – Book Review

Plenilune

Margaret Coventry is having a small bout of rebellion against her match-making family, when she is kidnapped and taken by force into the alternate universe of Plenilune. You see, Rupert de la Mare, soon-to-be Plenilune’s overlord, has been challenged whether he can take a human wife, and the nefarious Rupert doesn’t let challenges slide.

This is only a small part of the plot (the blurb would make you think otherwise). Margaret is a fish out of water as she begins to learn – and love – the magical landscape and history of Plenilune and its people. Along the way, Margaret breaks a curse with the help of a dragon, hunts down a wild boar (not intentionally), and rescues a kingdom. Oh, and she meets Dammerung, the War-wolf.

Book Blurb:
The fate of Plenilune hangs on the election of the Overlord, for which Rupert de la Mare and his brother are the only contenders, but when Rupert’s unwilling bride-to-be uncovers his plot to murder his brother, the conflict explodes into civil war. To assure the minds of the lord-electors of Plenilune that he has some capacity for humanity, Rupert de la Mare has been asked to woo and win a lady before he can become the Overlord, and he will do it—even if he has to kidnap her.

(The blurb really doesn’t do the book any justice, but I suppose the book cover art more than makes up for it. Book cover art is by Carlos Quevedo, his amazing work HERE.)

Plenilune. King John hunting, unknown painter.
The wicked King John goes hunting (14th Cent.)
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