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…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Tale Of The Flower Bride – Artful Arrangement
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…
Continue reading ➞ The Cage Of Dark Hours – Taking Off The Shackles
We flipped a coin to determine who would get to review this and I said the quarter would get caught in a time paradox so here we are. Children of Memory is the third book in a series that Adrian Tchaikowsky keeps promising won’t have sequels (and I am very glad he wrote them despite…
Continue reading ➞ Children Of Memory – Spooky And Uplifting
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…
Continue reading ➞ Empire of Exiles – Shapeshifting Salty Mysteries
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…
Continue reading ➞ The Stranger Times – Fun Hot Off The Press
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…
Continue reading ➞ August Kitko And The Mechas From Space – Punching, Feelings, And Robots
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…
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…
Continue reading ➞ Daughter Of Redwinter – Two Headstones Way Up
I became a devoted Holly Black fan after reading The Folk of the Air series. It has stuck with me for years, and I find myself revisiting scenes from the books often. It should come as no surprise that I picked up her newest release, Book of Night, and consumed it in three days. I…
Equinox, by David Towsey, has a fabulous premise that drew me in when I saw the advance reading copy description on NetGalley. In this bizarre world, bodies are split like timeshares. Every day, at dusk and dawn, control of every person’s body switches to its other occupant. Imagine if every time you went to sleep,…
