Marysia Kosowski profile

Place of birth: Korbach, Germany

Marysia Kosowski's 11 reviews

Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Veteran author Juliet Marillier delivers a strong young adult fantasy novel in Shadowfell, the projected first in a new trilogy.The Kingdom of Alban lies under the tyrannical rule of King Keldric, who has outlawed all use of magic unless he can harness it for his own purposes. Sixteen-year-old Neryn is on the run from the King’s hen...

9.5/10

Read our full review

Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia McKillip

Patricia A. McKillip needs no introduction. Her surreal, poetic, lucid-dream fantasies have been enchanting readers for more than thirty years. Her work has won and been nominated for several awards, and won the World Fantasy award twice.Harrowing the Dragon collects the author’s short fiction from the first half of her prolific car...

9.5/10

Read our full review

The Life in the Angel Carving by JS Warren

In a post-apocalyptic Earth, Miranda is a sentient spirit trapped inside an angel statue carved of stone. As war destroys the world, the statue falls through an intergalactic vortex and lands on the planet Arbarron. Miranda soon learns that she can turn into a flesh-and-blood angel for extended cycles under the light of a double sun. There she d...

6.5/10

Read our full review

Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton (Witch World)

Knowing which Andre Norton novel to choose from her prolific output can be a daunting task. I confess the late great Ms. Norton is not my favorite author. I’ve liked a few of her novels, while many of her co-authored books published in recent years suffered from lack of editing and an over-reliance on archaic language. Year of the Unicorn ...

9.5/10

Read our full review

Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Young Keturah loses her way in the forest and nearly dies of thirst, hunger, and exhaustion. Death comes to her in the form of a handsome man. Unwilling to die young or exchange anyone’s life for her own, Keturah wins the sympathy of Lord Death, who grants her only a few days to find true love and win back her life - or else go with him to...

7.0/10

Read our full review

Ajjiit by Sean A Tinsley

Ajjiit means “likenesses” because that’s what this book represents: a collection of original short stories written in the tradition of Inuit folklore. According to the book’s introduction, the authors are “not retelling any pre-existent Inuit stories; not playing the role of mythologists, but only of writers.”...

7.0/10

Read our full review

What Happened in Hamelin by Gloria Skurzynski

What Happened in Hamelin is undeniably a gripping novel, but I had major reservations. "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" is a fascinating story, all the more so because it is one of the few commonly known fairy tales that has basis in documented historical fact. Modern retellings are as motley as the colours of the Piper's cloak, but ten...

6.0/10

Read our full review

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

The Norwegian “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” is one of my favourite folktales, so I dove eagerly into yet another modern retelling, Ice by Sarah Beth Durst. For those unfamiliar with the story, think Scandinavian Beauty and the Beast with the beast as a polar bear, the heroine first betraying a promise to her husband and then se...

7.0/10

Read our full review

Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley

Both terrific authors in their own right, Robin McKinley and husband Peter Dickinson team up on Fire: Tales of Elemental Spirits to give us five new stories of fantastical worlds. Unfortunately it remains a half-baked collection. Robin McKinley's and Peter Dickinson's Water collection was not perfect but a joy nonetheless, all the storie...

5.0/10

Read our full review

Archangel by Sharon Shinn (Samaria)

Award-winning author Sharon Shinn delivers a strong novel in Archangel, the first in her unusual Samaria series, where Biblical mythology exists side by side with the remnants of a futuristic civilization, where a caste of angels guards over vying human cultures… where angels and mortals are encouraged to love, and the fate of the world r...

8.0/10

Read our full review

Heir of Sea and Fire by Patricia McKillip

By the vow of her father and her own desire, Raederle was pledged to Morgon, Riddle-Master of Hed. But a year had passed since Morgon disappeared on his search for the High One at Erlenstar Mountain, and rumors claimed he was dead. Raederle set out to learn the truth for herself, though her small gift of magic seemed too slight for the peril...

6.0/10

Read our full review