Fantasy Archives - The Gilmore Guide to Books

The Tapestry of Fate

Catherine — Wed, 27 May 2026 07:05:47 +0000

The infamous pirate Amina al-Sirafi is back. She made her debut in Shannon Chakraborty’s novel The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, where she was brought out of retirement to retrieve a kidnapped girl. When Tapestry of Fate, the newest novel in the series, begins it is years later and she’s happily living in her isolated home […]

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I, Medusa

Catherine — Mon, 25 May 2026 07:03:38 +0000

Is there anything worse than being the ugly duckling in a family of gorgeous women? Yes. You could be mortal and they could be goddesses. That’s life for 17-year-old Meddy in I, Medusa by Ayana Gray, a refreshing retelling of the Greek myth about the monster Medusa. Meddy is a tomboy who loves books and […]

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The Poet Empress

Catherine — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 08:28:19 +0000

The Poet Empress is a debut by Shen Tao, set in 650AD China in the kingdom of Tensha. The current emperor is dying and two of his sons are vying for the throne. One of them, Terren, needs a bride and concubines, so a nationwide search is begun. During the approval process he randomly chooses […]

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Spinning Silver

Catherine — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:46:45 +0000

In Spinning Silver author Naomi Novak takes the components of the fairytale Rumpelstiltskin and separates them in the same way the heroine in that story had to separate the straw to weave into gold. From seemingly unimportant, innocuous bits of chaff, Novak spins an entire storyline and then brings it all together for mesmerizing reading. […]

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Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

Catherine — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 07:39:19 +0000

I’ve read and enjoyed both of R.F. Kuang’s adult novels (Babel, Yellowface) so was looking forward to her latest, Katabasis. A Greek word meaning “going down or descending” this chunky novel is about Alice Law, an American student getting her graduate degree in Magick from Cambridge. The title refers to Alice’s descent into Hell to […]

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Starter Villain

Catherine — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:12:23 +0000

Hello, lovely readers! You may have noticed that The Gilmore Guide to Books doesn’t look the way it usually does. Instead of brief excerpts of the books I’ve reviewed, the landing page now contains the full review for every book. It is clunky and not how I like things to look. Sadly, it’s been almost […]

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The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

Catherine — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 07:10:39 +0000

Sometimes all you need in your reading is a raucous tale of adventure and fun and I found it in Shannon Chakraborty‘s novel, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. Amina is a middle-aged woman, a mother, a former pirate who once captained the ship that terrorized merchants and the wealthy alike throughout the Indian Ocean. After […]

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Those Fatal Flowers

Catherine — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 08:54:28 +0000

While my fascination surrounding the legend of Troy has waned (I can only watch Eric Bana and Brad Pitt in the movie so many times) my curiosity about mythology has not. Those Fatal Flowers is a genre-bending tale of a handmaiden to a goddess who is cursed for her carelessness, but has the opportunity to […]

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November Reading Wrap-Up

Catherine — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 08:06:49 +0000

November. I’ve been cautioned about staying out of politics and overreacting. Thanks for the advice, but it’s my blog and there are times when staying silent is not an option. The good news is that my rage of a thousand suns and despair for the future have subsided. The majority has spoken and now I’ll […]

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A Song to Drown Rivers

Catherine — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 07:42:58 +0000

There is a Chinese folk tale about four sisters so beautiful they could be denied nothing. One of those sisters is Xishi and in Ann Liang’s novel, A Song to Drown Rivers, she is called upon to use her beauty for vengeance and destruction. For Xishi, growing up in a tiny village in the […]

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