A Poem

 How do They Rise
So many stories
So many lives
How do they rise?

Are they authored by confusion?
Are they a pack of lies?
Maybe so
Maybe not
Maybe they are truths retold
Of places we never behold.
Except in dreams of course,
Which make a force
Of stories old
Waiting to be told.

So pick up your pen
Writer of the glen.
Don't be a has been.

So many stories,
So many lives,
How do they rise?

audio books and fantasy

Although I love to read books there is something about the dramatic world introduced by a properly read audiobook. Depending on the reader the story takes on new meaning and life. For fantasy I believe the audiobook format to be an excelent option. Fantasy worlds come to life through the reader's voice. Also,  your connection to a character is difined by the way in which the narrator voices each character. For series of books you listen to on audio I suggest choosing the book with the same narrator. An audio book can sound like a completely different book when read by a different reader. Often I find myself attatched to the reader of a book and if I don't pay attention I will listen to the next book with a different reader. I am then disapointed because the characters just don't sound like the same characters from the book before.  Most fantasy readers are quite good at giving voices and switching between characters. One of my favorite readers is the award winning Jim Dale, narrator of the Harry Potter series. I hope he reads more fantasy soon as I so enjoy his reading.

Terry Brooks

Terry Brooks is a fantasy writer who creates characters and scenes which are vivid and real. Often his characters take two journey's simaltaneously. The litteral journey of a character is a reflection of the inner journey to discover self identity.  The scenes and word pictures come to life in audio. Dramatic and lively Brooks stories lend themselves to audiobook format. My favorite character of Brooks is Allanon although not really the main character of the original Shannara Trilogy he acts as the antagonist of all three books.

Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold!

The start of a marvelous series by Terry Brooks, begins with a startling twist. Ben Holiday a successful but depressed lawyer buys a magic kingdom. Duped by a magician but extremely driven Ben overcomes the odds to become the true king Landover needs. Brooks creates a kingdom where faeries are dangerous misty creatures and other magical creatures are only slightly less so. The supporting characters of Abernathy, a talking dog, and Quester, the fumbling court wizard, make this book funny with thier constant friendly bickering and scheming. Ben's character is deep and much of this story surrounds his discovery of who he is, the struggle between who Ben wishes to be and his true identity is revealed by the physical struggles he goes through. Ben's struggle is so true to life that even though the story is fictional fantasy, readers are able to connect with him. Although it often seems that the people which Ben rules are non-existent, they are simply in the background. The story is enjoyable and made even more so in audio format.  This book is another of Terry Brooks excellent works of art.


This blog is meant to be a review of fantasy books which I consider to be clean. What is meant by clean you might ask. First I consider fowl language. As I take offense at the use of even borderline fowl language, I rarely listen to an audio book which includes it. Second I consider erotic scenes. These scenes rarely offer any true content to a book I have found and they are offensive to me when erotic pleasures are detailed. So if you are looking for erotic fantasy this is not the site for you. So with this in mind, Magic Kingdom for Sale-Sold! is a fairly clean book. Fowl language is infrequent and borderline. The erotic scenes are not too detailed the worst depiction is of Ben's eventual lover, the sylph Willow,  appearing naked in the river.