When James S. A. Corey, the pseudonym for the combined brilliance of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck of Expanse fame, announced a new space opera in 2024, I couldn’t have been more excited. The Expanse was an incredible monument to science fiction greatness, with nine books, all of them fantastic. So, when I read Mercy…
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…
It has barely been a week, and we are back with another Guy Gavriel Kay book. This time, we are taking a look at his newest release, Written on the Dark. Set in a historical fantasy version of France, this is the story of a man with the most dangerous job in all the land:…
If I was going to say only one thing about Speaking Bones, the final book in Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty quartet, it would be that it is certainly its own thing. I know all of that sounds inelegant, but I got into a heated Reddit argument about this series earlier today, and arguing on an…
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…
Reviewing a first Abraham book is always a challenging prospect. Looking back at A Shadow in Summer and The Dragon’s Path, both were clearly designed as foundational books that are heavily expanded on in the sequels. Though I was lukewarm in my reception of both those series beginnings when I read them, I ended up liking…
Continue reading ➞ Age Of Ash – Heat Like A Sleeping Volcano
Azura Ghost, by Essa Hansen, is the perfect example of a great book that science fiction needs more of while simultaneously being “not my jam.” I didn’t really have a fun time with this book; many of the plot elements are drawn directly from story concepts I am just not that interested in. I will…
The Pariah is the first book in Anthony Ryan’s latest series, The Covenant of Steel. Ryan is a pretty beloved author in the fantasy genre at this point, with multiple large epics under his belt. We have reviewed a number of his books already: The Waking Fire, Queen of Fire, The Pilgrimage of Swords, and…
Continue reading ➞ The Pariah – Journals Of An Observant Rogue
At a high level, it is really easy to tell if you should read The Witness for the Dead, by Katherine Addison. Have you read Addison’s famous book, The Goblin Emperor? If you have and like it, you will like this book a lot. If you haven’t, well, you should go read Emperor first. I…
Continue reading ➞ The Witness For The Dead – Come Take A Look
Matthew Ward needs to calm down, because this is the second enormous fantasy book of his that I have reviewed this year, and it is becoming a lot. I am going to assume that he had multiple books already written when Orbit acquired this trilogy because otherwise, he is churning out 1000 page epics every…
