I often find myself in a place of contention as I sit in many social circles around fantasy and discuss favorite books. This is because I think the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb is…fine. These books are often cited as readers’ favorite fantasy books of all time, and I didn’t resonate with them that strongly.…
Welcome to a somewhat mysterious review about a somewhat mysterious book. I would hazard a guess that most of you have heard of the incredible breakout success, The Will of the Many by James Islington. If you haven’t, great news, you have a justifiably popular book awaiting you with a number of cool stuff–check out…
Continue reading ➞ The Strength Of The Few – Triplicate Triumph
Josiah Bancroft is back with a new entry in his Hexologists series. Book two is called A Tangle of Time, and it appears that Bancroft is aiming for a more episodic take on his fantasy mystery series, very reminiscent of how the original Sherlock Holmes stories were organized. Iz and Warren Wilby have found themselves…
Continue reading ➞ The Hexologists: A Tangle of Time – Discordant Chronomancy
Sherlock, but she's a crotchety elderly woman dragging around a himbo Watson? Sign me up. That is the premise of The Last Vigilant by Mark A. Latham. A debut book and the first in a trilogy, The Last Vigilant is a mystery fantasy that harkens back to the golden age of sword and sorcery. Calling…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Vigilant – Sword And Sherlockery
Short, sweet, and to the point: this is one of my favorite books I have ever read. It feels very odd to be reviewing the ninth book in a series, but Dead Hand Rule is a strong contender for my best book of 2025, and that is saying something in a year that is so…
Every year, the members of this site hold an internal book club where we each get to force the other to read a book to the top of their to-read list. It's a fun time, but I always take my choice very seriously and really ponder what book I think the other people need to…
An unusual review from me today. The subject of my ire for this piece is The Sword Triumphant by Gareth Hanrahan. The final book in the Lands of the Firsborn trilogy, this was one of my more anticipated reads of 2025. Hanrahan has been one of my authors to watch recently. I am now six…
Continue reading ➞ The Sword Triumphant – No Gas, All Ending
I found myself delightfully surprised while reviewing the list of notable Fantasy and Science Fiction releases of 2025 to see a book by Louis Sachar, of Holes fame, on the list. The Magician of Tiger Castle is an adult standalone historical fantasy (Sachar’s first) about a recalcitrant alchemist trying to potion his way out of…
Continue reading ➞ The Magician of Tiger Castle – A Potion Of Many Stripes
I am taking a bit of a detour today. Among my reading goals for 2025, I had planned to try to read all the volumes of Vagabond (by Takehiko Inoue). Instead, I got distracted and did a full reread of Trigun by Yasuhiro Nightow instead. Trigun was one of the pivotal science fiction stories of…
On September 1st of 2025, the conclusion to one of my favorite recent fantasy series is releasing. With seven installments, this novella saga is criminally underread, and the final entry sticks a ten-point landing. I am talking about The Infernus Gate, novella seven of The Seven Swords by Anthony Ryan. I don’t know what I…
