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…
Continue reading ➞ The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport – Rubs You The Right Way
Here we are closing out another Anthony Ryan series— the man is a writing machine. Today we are here to talk about The Traitor, the third book in Ryan’s The Covenant of Steel series. This brick of a book tells the end of the story of Alwyn the scribe, a man of many hats who…
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…
Today I am excited to present one of the best romances I have read in a while that is out here masquerading as a fantasy mystery thriller. The Hexologists is the first book in the latest series by Josiah Bancroft, of Tower of Babel fame. It stars a duo of mature protagonists, husband and wife,…
I am back with a report about another Darkwater Legacy book. For those unfamiliar, The Darkwater Legacy is an epic fantasy series by Chris Wooding that currently comprises two gigantic volumes: The Ember Blade and The Shadow Casket. The Ember Blade came out all the way back in 2018 and followed the story of an…
Boy, do I have a tasty box of treats for you today. Under My Skin, by K.J. Parker, is a collection of novellas and novelettes all taking place in the same collective universe and focusing on the subject of people who are not what they seem. Parker is a master of short stories and even…
Mammoth at the Gates, a Singing Hills novella by Nghi Vo, continues Vo’s tradition of absolutely killing it. Considering this is the fourth entry in my favorite novella series, no one should be surprised at this point. Vo has once again paved the way and led by example on what a novella series should look…
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…
Continue reading ➞ The Sun And The Void – Loud, Bright, And Missing Something
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…
Continue reading ➞ Saint Death’s Daughter – Straddling Humor And Drama
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…
Continue reading ➞ The Unseen World Duology – Shadow Carpentry
