The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport – Rubs You The Right Way

The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, by Samit Basu, is a captivating science fiction retelling of the classic Arabian tale of Aladdin. It is set in a futuristic cyberpunk city called Shantiport which was once a focus of culture, trade, and importance. Now the city has become a wasteland, a dumping zone for the universe, and a…

Lords Of Uncreation – Building Inwards

Adrian Tchaikovsky is certainly on fire this year with three books, in three separate series, all coming out in a short period. How one man can have so many disparate interesting thoughts in the course of a single year is astounding. He even has a fourth book coming out in December, and we have multiple…

The Sun And The Void – Loud, Bright, And Missing Something

As my most anticipated book of the year, I had high hopes for The Sun and The Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz. The back cover touts a lush world inspired by the history and folklore of South America, a sweeping epic fantasy of colonialism and ancient magic, as two young women's quest for belonging unfolds. More…

Saint Death’s Daughter – Straddling Humor And Drama

Saint Death’s Daughter, by C.S.E. Cooney, is a complicated book to review. It is a clunker of a story with an almost 700-page count, and it has a strange identity that is going to be very appealing to a small niche of people but will frustrate a broader audience. Ultimately, its biggest point of contention…

The Unseen World Duology – Shadow Carpentry

I have been reading a lot of urban fantasy lately, more by an artifact of my review schedule than by conscious effort. My high-level takeaway from this experience has been that I don’t actually like urban fantasy. I often find their worlds surprisingly shallow, their themes uninteresting, and their characters somehow less relatable than those…