The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah is a fascinating tale Inspired by stories from One Thousand and One Nights. It feels like a melding of traditional oral storytelling and modern epic fantasy to create a very unique product. The first part of The Sandsea Trilogy, The Stardust Thief tells a tale resembling a Matryoshka doll,…
Author: Andrew Mather - The Quill to Live
Equinox – Dusk Set On My Interest
Equinox, by David Towsey, has a fabulous premise that drew me in when I saw the advance reading copy description on NetGalley. In this bizarre world, bodies are split like timeshares. Every day, at dusk and dawn, control of every person’s body switches to its other occupant. Imagine if every time you went to sleep,…
Eyes Of The Void – The Abyss Is Lovely
In many ways, Eyes of the Void is simply a continuation of the story started by Adrian Tchaikovsky in one of our top books of 2021, Shards of Earth. Because of this, this review is really going to just boil down to “yea, it's still great, and you should still read it” with some additional…
One Foot In The Fade – Another Step Into Madness
With the third and clearly not final installment of the Phillip Fetch Archives, this series has become the only fantasy cop series that I actually endorse. Many fantasy cop books I have read tend to be problematic from a conceptual standpoint. They love to take the fun part of detective tropes and meld it with…
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The Atlas Six – Feet Under
I am going to level with you right off the bat, I did not like The Atlas Six. Olivie Blake’s self-published hit has littered my TikTok feed for months and I feel I was peer pressured into trying the book out. The book has recently been picked up by a major publisher and they were…
The Hunger Of The Gods – Ravenous For More
I am torn in many directions, all of which are good, when talking about The Bloodsworn series by John Gwynne. This is an amazing series that sucks you in like a whirlpool, and I have enjoyed both of the installments I have read immensely. However, my only real struggle with the second book, The Hunger…
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Absynthe – Substantive Themes, Illusory Execution
Quill To Live favorite Bradley P. Beaulieu has started branching out into science fiction novels. He is writing as Brendan P. Bellecourt for his “debut” Absynthe, an alternate history post World War I that focuses on the powers of illusion and questioning reality. The book has exciting ideas and concepts that were brought to life…
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Last Exit – A Scenic, But Bumpy, Road
Last Exit, by Max Gladstone, is a beautifully written character story that I had an extremely hard time connecting with. Many readers who pick up this standalone adventure will find a mesmerizing story about self-discovery, penance, and the nature of the world. Max Gladstone is a favorite author of mine for his work on The…
The Bone Orchard – Ghosts, Ghouls, And Whores
I am going to try and avoid the endless skeleton puns that are rattling my bo-... as I review The Bone Orchard, by Sara A. Mueller. This stand-alone science-fantasy necromantic who-dun-it has a great premise, compelling writing, and a fantastic world. The only thing that kept it from being one of my top picks of…
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Seven Epic Fantasy Series Worth The Time Investment
Picking up any epic fantasy series can be an intensely intimidating experience. With their huge page counts, multiple volumes, expansive worldbuilding, and intricate magic systems, fantasy epics can easily overwhelm readers. These enormous series are often recommended by fantasy fans as “must-reads,” but how can you tell if you will like something that big before…
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