It’s easy to be a sucker for fun, memey marketing. Any opportunity for irony instantly draws me in and lights up the dark corners of my irreverent brain. When I initially saw All The Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie, I was slightly interested based on its premise. However, I was sucker punched by the…
Back in the olden times of just over two years ago, I read Sisters of the Vast Black, a charming novella about a small convent of nuns in outer space. Lina Rather’s debut in the novella scene captured my imagination and heart and left me wanting more. Fortunately, Rather has decided to continue the story of…
Continue reading ➞ Sisters of the Forsaken Stars – The Nuns Are Back In Space
Last year I read Light Chaser, a collaboration between Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, and it birthed a desire to give Powell a deeper look. Having read a lot of Hamilton, my sense was that Powel’s work added a bit of blood to the sprawling imagination Hamilton usually provides. Instead of going with…
Continue reading ➞ Stars and Bones – Missing The Marrow For The Bones
The covers of Mike Chen’s books have haunted my Goodreads feed and the genre’s “most anticipated” lists for years. The synopses beckon like a faint siren’s call, but I never found the time to pick one up and dive in. Well, this year I decided to break out of the vicious cycle, and by god…
Continue reading ➞ Light Years From Home – There’s No Warp Speed For Family Drama
Back in 2020, Jesus, yeah, two years ago, I read a little novella by the name of Riot Baby. Tochi Onyebuchi’s novella hit very close to home considering the events of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd. It was one of my instant favorites, and I still feel the righteous anger that poured…
The Nova Vita Protocol series is one I’ve come to enjoy. Kristyn Merbeth’s debut, Fortuna, was a rollicking emotional rollercoaster. Memoria was a stronger follow-up that put the family’s issues on full display as the Kaisers try desperately to right the wrongs of their weapons dealing mother. The finale had some big shoes to fill…
The Tensorate, by Neon Yang, is a tricky set of novellas to review. Each story follows a different character for varying spans of time. They tell different stories and they vary how those stories are told. The latter ones rely on worldbuilding from the first two, expanding the world only slightly. The characters are engaging,…
Earlier this year, Guatam Bhatia reached out to us to review his debut novel The Wall. After reading his bio, and the synopsis of his book, it was easy to say yes. However, 2021 was as much of a beast as 2020, and that promise was harder to keep than I had planned. Fortunately, the…
Continue reading ➞ The Wall – Tear It Down To Lift Yourself Up
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…
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
