Nine Goblins Cover Photo

Nine Goblins – Mischief And Mystery

I suffered an intense movie hangover after watching Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” so I needed to read something on the lighter side. Luckily for me, T. Kingfisher’s latest novella, Nine Goblins, has been waiting patiently on my TBR. So I decided to see what shenanigans a group of goblins got up to while I mended…

Player Piano – A Recognizeable Tune

The only Kurt Vonnegut I ever got introduced to at school was Harrison Bergeron, a short story about physically enforced equality. My grandparents furthered my reading of his with his short story collection Armageddon In Retrospect. And over the years I’ve slowly picked up his novels in the most insane ordering I can think of.…

QTL – Picture Book Recommendations Vol. 1

While reading and writing for The Quill is one of my passions, I also have two young daughters who are the joy of my life. Each week, we go to the library and pick out 5-10 new picture books from their incredible selection and make our way through them (purchasing those that we find outstanding).…

A Curse for True Love Cover Photo

A Curse For True Love – Broken Hearts Unite

And so we’ve reached the end of Evangeline and Jack’s love story in Stephanie Garber’s A Curse for True Love. Will it be a happy ending for the pair? Or will the doomed lovers suffer the curses at work in this tale? Spoilers ahead if you have not started the Once Upon a Broken Heart…

The Automaton – A New Future History

The Automaton, by Ian Young, is an indie darling that has been teasing me from the aether for a while now. Its striking and bold cover with an old school automaton, staring at the reader, was a sniper shot trained on me. Throw in some concerns about the difference between a digital human being and…

The Great Work – Ozymandias Be Damned

There was one last book on my schedule for the end of 2025 that made its way onto store shelves in late December. Its cover features a delightfully large white salamander looking coy and suspect as it crawls all over the page surrounded by a vibrant and lush forest. The Great Work, by Sheldon Costa,…

The Best Of Adrian Tchaikovsky – Fantastical, Scientific, And Weird

You might think from today's title that we have put together a composite list of our top books by site favorite author Adrian Tchaikovsky, which is a great idea for a post we should do. However, today I am reviewing a new short story collection from Subterranean Press, all by the weird and magical author…

Quill To Live Crossword: Grayscale

QTL readers, welcome back to the grid! I'm publishing crosswords on a highly irregular basis now, and I've had this one in the queue for months. Get to solving, or don't. I'm not your dad! QTL Crossword: Grayscale Need More?! For more puzzles, subscribe to my newsletter, The New Dork Times. It's now completely free, with three…

The Swan's Daughter Cover Photo

The Swan’s Daughter – Magnificent

Roshani Chokshi reminds us that a heart’s a heavy burden in her newest standalone, The Swan’s Daughter. This magical, funny, and thoughtful fairy tale explores all the ways love can be a boon or your doom. Prince Arris wants to fall in love without his heart getting cut out. Unfortunately, his untimely death is practically…