Tsalmoth – The Old Bear And Chain

Vlad Taltos, by Steven Brust, is a sleeper series that has now officially been coming out for 30 years. Planned as a nineteen-book series and still going strong, Tsalmoth is the sixteenth entry in the story and one of my favorites. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this series and feel like I…

‎Night Will Find You Cover Photo

Night Will Find You – Starry Eyes

My decision fatigue is taking me into new reading territory this year, which has been great because I’m not overthinking my next book and it has pushed me to read different types of stories. This week’s unanticipated read was a suspenseful mystery tinged with the paranormal called Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin. The…

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride Cover Photo

The Last Tale Of The Flower Bride – Artful Arrangement

You all know the stories. The tales where a man marries a mysterious woman with secrets she begs to keep. But the man’s curiosity always wins out in the end, and he learns something that causes irrevocable damage. Even when I was told not to, I decided to pull back the layers of Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada…

The Cage Of Dark Hours – Taking Off The Shackles

The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter was one of the most complicated and confusing books that I read in 2021. It was a strange murder mystery in a dystopian bubble world where people could summon the skills of the dead to empower them through masks. The book was so complicated that reading the…

Empire of Exiles – Shapeshifting Salty Mysteries

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to another year of The Quill to Live. Our first review of the year is of a fabulous book I read over the holidays that greatly impressed me. Empire of Exiles, by Erin M. Evans, is a hit-the-ground-running mystery about four POVs in a giant society locked in a…

The Stranger Times Cover Photo

The Stranger Times – Fun Hot Off The Press

I took a break from my normal fantasy churn and picked up The Stranger Times by C.K. McDonnell. It came highly recommended by a friend, and it’s the only reason this quirky tale would have crossed my path. The book is a charming paranormal mystery filled with humor and wackiness and it was delightful from…

August Kitko And The Mechas From Space – Punching, Feelings, And Robots

Right off the bat, I would love to take a moment to recognize how good Alex White is at naming things. Everything in their books has such fantastic and memorable names; whether that's the long evocative titles, the cool nomenclature of the magic system, character names/nicknames, or the locations/settings. Everything White touches comes away with…

Eversion – Delightfully Subversive

I have been spending the better part of this summer catching up on Alastair Reynolds’ intimidating library. I have nearly finished the Revelation Space series (Looking at you, Inhibitor Phase) and have been having an absolute blast. Lo’ and behold Andrew shows up at my door with an ARC of Eversion, I couldn’t have been…

Daughter Of Redwinter – Two Headstones Way Up

Introducing another surprise hit for 2022, Ed McDonald’s Daughter of Redwinter. I have read McDonald’s other fantasy series, Raven’s Mark, and enjoyed myself greatly. There was definitely room for improvement, but the core of his last series was great (you can find reviews about it here) and McDonald has a real talent for bringing life…