Space Opera is the sub genre that pulled me into the greater science fiction pantheon. It always promised a sweeping narrative that jumped across the galaxy, luring you in with interpersonal drama paired with sparkling, or sometimes, barely held-together starships. Its call always has been, and always will be intoxicating to me. My biggest issue…
Continue reading ➞ New Adventures in Space Opera – Beam Me Up
Well, folks, I got my hands on a copy of L. M. Sagas’ follow up to Cascade Failure, Gravity Lost, and I’m a little disappointed. Partly because I don’t think the sequel really pushes the story any further, but some of the thematic elements of the first book that felt open-ended became closed off in…
This year, I’ve tried to take a sizeable step back from relying on ARCs and limit the amount of times I peruse that old standby, NetGalley. Partly because I still have some books from last year I need to get to and partly because chasing new releases was burning me out. But earlier this summer,…
I’ve unfortunately sat on this book for longer than I should have. The Fractured Dark—the second book in Megan O’Keefe’s The Devoured Worlds trilogy—is an excellent follow up that sets the stakes for the final installment, raising new questions and creating new fears. Spoilers for The Blighted Stars follow. Naira and Tarquin are struggling to…
Continue reading ➞ The Fractured Dark – A Confusing But Worthy Sequel
It’s rare that I get excited about a series originally planned as a trilogy being expanded, but here we are. Apostles of Mercy, Lindsay Ellis’ third book in a planned series of five books, paves the way for a deeper and richer experience that does not want to tidy loose ends. It’s a science fiction…
Continue reading ➞ Apostles of Mercy – A Slower But Worthy Translation
My tastes have always been a little off kilter within science fiction, and lately they’ve become even weirder. The use of spirituality and religion to inform science fiction in non-Christian cultures has opened a need for me to dive into Christian themes as well. I’ve already stated my love for Lina Rather’s novellas involving space…
Continue reading ➞ Our Lady of the Artilects – Bless This Undoubtable Mess
My one experience with Rivers Solomon’s growing library of work has been with The Deep. An ambitious little novella that transcended the future and envisioned a world that has grown out of communal suffering. I decided to pick up their debut, An Unkindness of Ghosts because it took place on a generation ship - much…
Continue reading ➞ An Unkindness of Ghosts – An Inspiring Haunt
Often I feel weird reviewing a novella. Sometimes they feel too short to warrant a full review, but other times I find myself wanting to dissect them even more than the standard length novel. This makes their brevity a vulnerability when it comes to trying to avoid spoilers. But luckily, these kinds of novellas are…
Continue reading ➞ The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain – Casting Off Long Held Beliefs
I’ll be honest folks, this next one snuck up on me. Even though I adored Micaiah Johnson’s debut, The Space Between Worlds, I wasn’t quite ready to return to Ashtown. My current aversion to exploring sequels does not help either. But on a whim, I decided you know what, the library has it, I might…
While they aren’t nearly as pervasive as they appeared to be, first-contact stories are still a mainstay within the science fiction genre. Depending on the era that they come from they are laden with different ideas on how aliens might function, and what a proper response would be to said lifeform. Instead of doing a…
