Winter’s Orbit – A Hot Romance With Subtlety And Gravity

Winter’s Orbit, by Everina Maxwell, surprised me in a lot of ways. For starters, it is one of our Dark Horses for 2021, so I knew almost nothing about it other than its plot synopsis. Then there is the fact that I wasn’t particularly sure I would like Winter’s Orbit given its stated plot. It…

An Open Mind is… Well You Can Finish the Rest

Joe Abercrombie is an excellent writer. I welcome dispute, but I think you’re playing a losing hand if you disagree. He’s one of the easiest examples to point to when people mention Grimdark, and the only other king I recognize in that field is Glen Cook. They both write delightfully gritty fantasy stories about power…

Descender Vol. 1: Tin Stars – Up Up and Away

Nearly three years ago, I read Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s Descender Volume 1 Descender, starting with a reread of Tin Stars. The bad news: it’s not quite as polished as 2018-me remembers. The good news: Descender still stands out as an excellent sci-fi story. Tin Stars opens with a panoramic shot of a far-future society…

Mostly Void, Partially Stars – Shines Bright In The Dark

I am a latecomer to Welcome to Night Vale, much to my shame. If you are unfamiliar with the famous podcast by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, it’s a humor-based series about a small American town replete with supernatural happenings. The character who narrates the series is a small local radio jockey who does his…

Across the Green Grass Fields – Series Meets Banality

Yet another wayward child discovers a world beyond her wildest dreams in Across the Green Grass Fields. Seanan McGuire’s sixth novella installment in the Wayward Children series hobbled across the finish line, leaving me to draw a personal conclusion: it’s time for me to part with this series. It may not be that time for…

The Mask Of Mirrors – Dressed To The Nines

Boy, do I love tarot cards. There is something I find so cool about them. I am not big on fortune-telling in general but there is something so romantic, so enthralling, about shuffling a deck, laying out some very intricate and beautifully illustrated cards, flipping over the answers to difficult questions, and spending an entire…

Fresh Looks, Great Books: We’re Upgrading The Quill To Live

Hey, hello, and howdy, Quill to Live readers! And thanks for visiting our site, whether this is your first excursion into our TBR-addled brains or you’re a daily visitor.  We’ve been around since 2015, and The Quill To Live has changed very little in that time, aesthetically speaking. What started as a passion project by…