Throne Of The Five Winds – A Brick Of Intrigue

The Throne of the Five Winds, by S.C. Emmett, is a huge, meaty, historical fantasy/fiction that really likes to go into detail. It is a political drama, written like a historical textbook (so many footnotes) that anyone looking for a light fun read will bounce off of like they’ve run into a brick wall. Yet,…

Fortuna – It Favors the Bold, Also the Bad (But in a Good Way)

I know it’s not exactly the best way to get excited about a book, but I was immediately attracted to Fortuna, by Kristyn Merbeth, when the eighties synthwave cover was revealed. When Orbit threw in a blurb likening the work to that of Becky Chambers, I was done for. No need to complete the chokehold…

Ormeshadow – A Little Slice Of Life

Priya Sharma’s Ormeshadow overflows with dark family secrets, generations of lore, and tragedy. Sharma has a knack for pitting characters against one another with beautifully selected words. Ormeshadow reads like a wood-carving: Sharma removes all the excess material and presents a pristine, sharp product that feels at once succinct and sprawling. Gideon Belman’s life completely…

Nevernight – Getting My Masters In Murderology

Magic school lovers rejoice, we have another book review to feed your ever consuming hunger. Today’s entry is Nevernight, by Jay Kristoff, and is a new take on the assassin school variant of magical learning establishments. An intense deadly curriculum, mysterious and lovable teachers with interesting lessons, and a school so dripping with lore and…

The Shadow Saint: Out Of The Shadows, Into The Limelight

Okay, let’s do a checklist here of things I like that The Shadow Saint has in it, yeah? Krakens attacking ships: check. Skeletons with dry senses of humor: check. Horrifying surreal imagery: big ol’ check. Ghouls: still a check there too. I could keep going for a while but I think you all get the…

Crownbreaker – Don’t Need A Crown To Be King

Happy new year everyone! We started 2020 off strong with a whole slew of reads over our break and will have a number of interesting reviews and other pieces in the coming weeks. Up first we have the sixth, and final, book in the Spellslinger series, Crownbreaker, by Sebastien de Castell. This YA series has…