Kvothe recounts his life story, telling the Chronicler it will take no less than three days for the truth behind the legend to be put to paper. From his childhood growing up with his family’s troupe of performers, to his studies at the University Arcanum, The Name of the Wind tells the first third of Kvoth’s tale.

The book’s story flows well and the characters have a realistic quality that together make it hard to stop reading for the night. I more than once stayed awake reading far longer than I intended.

The Name of the Wind is one of the best epic fantasy novels I’ve read in a long time, and I look forward to reading the second book. (I don’t know what I’m going to do while waiting for the third book in the trilogy…) It’s really a prime example of the genre, and one anyone who considers themselves a “fantasy fan” should definitely read.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is a post from Fantasy Folder

The stakes are high, and there are a couple of plot twists that should catch you off guard. For instance, the identity of the LaGuardia shooters from the previous book is revealed. Hint: “no more coincidences.”

Harbingers is one of the most dramatic and action-packed installments in the series. The primary “fix-it” in this book isn’t just a job. This time, it’s personal.

Harbingers by F. Paul Wilson is a post from Fantasy Folder

Infernal breaks the usual formula of “fix it” jobs with a larger encounter with something related to the Otherness. This book is a bit more personal, dealing with some of Jack’s family, but there’s still plenty of supernatural adversity going on. It sets up a major plot twist for the next book, which is even darker…

If you haven’t read any of the Repairman Jack books, do yourself a favor and start with one of the earlier books. (The Tomb, Legacies or All the Rage are good choices.) Infernal one may be important stepping stone in the series, but you don’t really see Jack at his best.

Infernal by F. Paul Wilson is a post from Fantasy Folder

Whereas the first book introduced the enigmatic Jack and his childhood friends, as well as some of the supernatural oddities of the town he grew up in, Secret Circles and Secret Vengeance show clear signs of his path toward being the vigilante he will become. (Readers who are already familiar with the Repairman Jack series will enjoy the prequels for the references to the other books. Don’t worry about them being “YA” novels; they’re solid stories that just happen to have younger characters.) The third book, especially, has the key elements of a Repairman Jack novel: vengeance, through cunning subtlety, rather than simple violence.

The prequel trilogy is definitely worth reading if you’re already an RJ fan, and it makes a great entry point for younger readers, as it was no doubt intended.

Secret Histories, Secret Circles and Secret Vengeance by F. Paul Wilson is a post from Fantasy Folder

Dorrin is an Order wizard who grew up in Recluce, learning to heal and to smith iron. When he expresses interest in building steam-powered machines, the council of Recluce, who ignorantly think them “chaotic,” sends him away from the island nation on the infamous dangergeld. Dorrin, of course, has a more developed sense of the balance between the forces of Order and Chaos, and sets out to build his steam engine. After time spent apprenticed to a blacksmith in distant Spidlar, he eventually sets up his own shop and builds an ironclad steamboat that is just the thing Recluce needs to break Fairhaven’s blockade of the island. Though not before years of setbacks, and attacks on Spidlar from the Chaos wizards.

The Magic Engineer is the most different from the other Recluse novels that I have finished, though it still suffers from some of Modesitt’s writing quirks. Like onomatopoeia. But, really, when was the last time you read a (non-steampunk) fantasy novel with steam engines in it?

The Magic Engineer by L. E. Modesitt is a post from Fantasy Folder

Lord Waxillium Ladrian was a gun-slinging Misting lawman out in the frontier lands, until his uncle died in a carriage accident. Wax has to hang up his guns and take on the responsibilities of the Lord of House Ladrian.

After only a short period of going about the tiresome business of handling House Ladrian’s accounts and dealing with the aristocracy, a series of kidnappings and train robberies (not to mention a visit from a wisecracking colleague) is just the excuse to come out of retirement and bring his law-keeping talents to the big city…

The Alloy of Law has the same riveting action sequences of the original Mistborn trilogy, but with a fresh new twist. Between firearms and the existence of metal everywhere, combat is quite different. The lack of Mistborn (they’re now a legend of the past) and the rise of “Twinborn” Mistings with one Allomantic and one Feruchemical power also nerfs the magic side of things and makes gunfights less one-sided than they would be otherwise.

Overall, it’s a solid book that fits right in with the rest of the series, while adding a bit more humor to the equation. Sanderson has mentioned that his original plan for the Mistborn series was to have a trilogy with a medieval-type setting, one set in a time period like the present day, and one in the future. The Alloy of Law ended up being an impulsive side project that fits somewhere between the first two trilogies. I do hope he decides to write another book or two continuing this storyline, though. It turned out rather well.

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson is a post from Fantasy Folder

Snuff reminds me a bit of Thud! and it fits right in with the other Vimes books, which are one of my favorite branches of the Discworld series. It has the usual humor characteristic of Pratchett and Vimes, though the book is slightly more serious than some of Sir Pratchett’s earlier works, but that goes with the police procedural territory. The other Watch books were like that as well.

If you’re already familiar with Commander Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, you’ll definitely enjoy Snuff. And if you’re not, it’s still not a bad place to start. (Though if you’re the sort who insists on reading books in order, you may want to read Guards! Guards! instead.)

Snuff by Terry Pratchett is a post from Fantasy Folder

It takes awhile to get into Towers, not only because you’re unceremoniously dumped into a world still different from the first book, with completely different characters, but partly because of one of the book’s odder quirks: the narrative was written in the present tense.

Anyway, the main protagonist is a future Order wizard known simply as Creslin. To escape an impending arranged marriage, he plots a clever ruse to flee from the guards traveling with him and ski down to the lands to the East. From there, he slowly becomes aware of just how skilled he is with both sword and sorcery…which makes him some dangerous enemies.

The Towers of the Sunset is sort of a three-act book. The first part is Creslin’s escape to the the Western lands, and begins his quest to learn about his magical abilities. In the second part, he journeys to the city of Fairhaven (home of the conniving Chaos wizards), where they make it quite clear that they view him as an enemy. He also meets Megaera, the red-haired sorceress he ran from but ends up marrying anyway. The third and largest part is the story of Recluce. To elude the Chaos wizards, they both flee to the desert island of Recluce with a couple more Order wizards. There, they must re-shape the land and build a defensible city-state before the Chaos wizards crush them.

Modesitt’s style is decidedly different from most authors, and Towers has a good measure of frustrating to go with the good, but it was an enjoyable book overall.

The Towers of the Sunset by L. E. Modesitt is a post from Fantasy Folder

Yes, Harry Dresden—Chicago’s undead-fighting wizard detective—is now a ghost. After the deal he made with Queen Mab and the annihilation of the Red Court vampires, his unseen assassin certainly raised a lot of questions. Such as “who shot him?” and “I thought Butcher was going to write twenty-something books! Why is the main character dead?!”

Harry is sent back to Chicago as a ghost to investigate his own murder, and as usual, stop yet another villainous entity from gaining phenomenal cosmic powers. It’s just going to be a bit harder this time.

Ghost Story struck me as a clever for the author to shake the story up a bit, evolving the paranormal scene in Chicago and doing some major character development, while also throwing in some back story from Dresden’s past and setting up some new ideas for future books. (Like the ambiguity surrounding the death of his old mentor, Justin DuMorne. I’m starting to wonder if he might come back in some form.)

The ending of the book was pretty intense. Just when you were thinking that there was no way to top Changes…

Not many authors are able to keep a series fresh and interesting for thirteen books, but Butcher manages it very well. It’s really not going to be easy waiting for the next book.

Ghost Story by Jim Butcher is a post from Fantasy Folder

The book is action-packed as usual, and there’s plenty of character development all around. Fidelias’s secret becomes known to Tavi and his entourage, and Attis Aquitaine even changes dramatically (for the better). Octavian’s extensive furycrafting skills are thoroughly put to the test as well.

In short, First Lord’s Fury is just about everything you could want for the end of The Codex Alera.

It’s always sad to reach the end of such a compelling series, but there is some good news. Jim Butcher has mentioned in passing that he “isn’t ruling out the possibility of returning to [Alera] at some point in the future, but he doesn’t have any immediate plans at this stage.”^[Source] So we might eventually see something set in the Alera universe again, whether it is set in the same stage in history or not. (I would really like to see more books centered around Octavian, especially since he clearly has solid “what’s next” plans in the epilogue.) In the meantime, the author is planning something like another ten Dresden Files books, so you can still get your Butcher fix…

First Lord’s Fury by Jim Butcher is a post from Fantasy Folder