It takes a really talented pair of authors to take a subject I am actively disinterested in and transform it into one of the most fun and compelling books of 2026. M.A. Carrick is a pair of authors (Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms) who wrote the incredible Rook & Rose series, which I am obsessed…
Theo of Golden is the literary equivalent of a "Live, Laugh, Love" sign in the Trump era. Allen Levi spins a hopeful yarn that's worth the occasional smile but ultimately fails to hit the mark with its message of kindness and left me thinking "read the room." The result is a book that reads like…
Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma is a convoluted dark academia vampire story filled to the brim with morally grey characters. It’s got some bite to it, but it really struggles to find its footing. Can you take this book’s heat if there’s not a solid world to back it up? Let’s find out. After witnessing…
The Dragon Has Some Complaints, by John Wiswell, is a premise that is absolutely packed with clever ideas and promising concepts. Our main character is a once four, now three, headed hydra-esk dragon named Garrodigh, the Great Terror. I am assuming he takes inspiration from King Ghidorah, of Godzilla fame, from the name and design,…
Continue reading ➞ The Dragon Has Some Complaints – Hydralarious And Hydrafelt
Tchaikovsky has a firehose of books headed down our way this year and we’ve had to split the stream. Since I’ve been having a blast with the Tyrant Philosophers despite my lean towards science fiction, I decided to take another dive into Tchaikovsky’s world of the god-killing, magic decanting, and faith improving Pallaseen Sway. Pretenders…
Continue reading ➞ Pretenders to the Throne of God – Gaze Into the Abyss
Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe is an action-packed story about an executioner and an assassin colliding to either kill each other or destroy the system that oppresses them both. If you like enemies to lovers, sticky situations, and some strong ladies taking back their power, then this one is for you. The elites of New Found…
My wife says I have great ears. She says our toddler also has them. I know she means the appearance of the ears rather than the skills they can perform in conjunction with the brain. I am sometimes a good listener, but other times I just say "damn, that's crazy" after my wife tells me…
For Human Use, by Sarah G. Pierce, very nearly became a DNF for me. It had that perfect heady concoction of having an intriguing concept that is poorly introduced but examined through a lens that beckoned me like a fresh pie in an open window. Unfortunately, I should have stuck with my overall gut feeling…
Heartless by Marissa Meyer is a prequel story about how the Queen of Hearts came to power in Wonderland. The book pays homage to Lewis Carroll’s world and the well-known characters of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But Meyer expands the story, giving us insight into the fury-filled, unreasonable queen Alice eventually meets. Catherine would rather…
The long-awaited sequel to Natalie Zina Walschots’ Hench is an extremely weird follow-up titled Villain that goes in directions I absolutely was not expecting. This itself is not surprising, given how refreshing and weird Hench was when it burst onto the scene, so it remains doubly impressive that Walschots was able to still surprise me.…
