Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Elder Race, as you might have seen in this year's best novellas piece, is fabulous. My favorite type of novella is one that knows how to use its limited space to make a point, explore an idea, or execute a premise efficiently, smoothly, and with fabulous flair. Elder Race checks off all of…
Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn has been making a splash on booktok, so I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Ever since I read The Lies of Locke Lamora many years ago, I have been a big fan of fantasy heist novels. However, I have sometimes found that I do not…
Continue reading ➞ Among Thieves – In And Out Without A Trace
It’s no secret: some of us at the Quill to Live unabashedly love Adrian Tchaikovsky. He’s easily one of my personal favorite authors, and I have been on a journey to catch up on his frankly impressive catalogue. Cage of Souls has been on my radar ever since it was released. It sat on my…
Xiran Jay Zhao is a gem, and if you have not picked up their debut novel or stumbled upon their social media channels you are missing out. There is something so magnetic about Zhao, and I find that they always earn my undivided attention. Iron Widow certainly ensnared me, and I was hooked on this…
Much like last year, we read a number of fantastic novellas that deserve a lot more attention. We didn’t want to put these great picks in our best books of 2021 and have them get lost. So instead, here is a shortlist of some of our favorite novellas of the year that we think you…
Last year I started my best-of list hoping that 2021 would be a better year for all of us in many regards. That, unfortunately, did not materialize; and we hope you are all doing well despite the circumstances. But, we did get some good books. As usual, we managed to collectively read over 100 books…
Terra Ignota has been living in my mind like lightning trapped in a bottle ever since I picked up Too Like The Lightning. Ada Palmer’s use of language, her creative vision for the future, and the intricate ways she reveals the workings of her world astounded me. The successive books only cemented my appreciation and…
Continue reading ➞ Perhaps the Stars – To Infinity and Beyond
