Ominous titles portrayed on stunning covers that fill me with a sense of dread are a sure fire bet to getting my attention. Whether the book is a science fiction epic, or short jaunt through a fantastical realm, I’m always game when that lethal marketing combination is aimed my way. Malcolm Devlin’s tale of horror…
Continue reading ➞ And Then I Woke Up – A Matryoshka Doll of Nightmares
It’s easy to be a sucker for fun, memey marketing. Any opportunity for irony instantly draws me in and lights up the dark corners of my irreverent brain. When I initially saw All The Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie, I was slightly interested based on its premise. However, I was sucker punched by the…
Back in the olden times of just over two years ago, I read Sisters of the Vast Black, a charming novella about a small convent of nuns in outer space. Lina Rather’s debut in the novella scene captured my imagination and heart and left me wanting more. Fortunately, Rather has decided to continue the story of…
Continue reading ➞ Sisters of the Forsaken Stars – The Nuns Are Back In Space
Servant Mage is a nice little novella by Kate Elliott that I read (in ARC form) last year on a plane. I needed something to tide me over for my three-hour flight, and I ended up reading the entire story in a single sitting. When I got to the end, despite feeling engaged the entire…
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Elder Race, as you might have seen in this year's best novellas piece, is fabulous. My favorite type of novella is one that knows how to use its limited space to make a point, explore an idea, or execute a premise efficiently, smoothly, and with fabulous flair. Elder Race checks off all of…
I am never one to shy away from retellings, and I can’t deny Alix E. Harrow presented an intriguing remix of Sleeping Beauty in A Spindle Splintered. I certainly loved what this story tried to be, but unfortunately, there were other forces at play. Zinnia Gray is obsessed with Sleeping Beauty because she’s been cursed…
Continue reading ➞ A Spindle Splintered – Fractured Fairy Tale
Another year, another slamming sword and sorcery novella from Anthony Ryan. Welcome back to the newest installment of “novellas that are killing it that you have never heard of,” starring City of Songs. This is the third installment of The Seven Swords, a novella series published by the independent company Subterranean Press who are famous…
Despite a rough experience with the Night’s Dawn trilogy, I once again find myself enjoying Peter F. Hamilton’s ability to create worlds. I found myself lured by two of Light Chaser’s promises. One, Light Chaser is a novella instead of a 2000 page epic; and two, he has a co-author, Gareth Powell. I figured why…
In The Watchful City, by S. Qiouyi Lu, calls itself a ‘mosaic novella,’ which is a fitting description. The book is organized into two parts. One follows Anima, an augmented human - one of several who oversees the city of Ora. She acts like a foundation for the second part of the story; a series…
Continue reading ➞ In The Watchful City – Seeing Is Believing
“As if Deadpool had slipped into the body of the Witcher Geralt,” reads the NYT book review of K.J. Parker’s Prosper’s Demon. And the NYT is mostly correct in that description. We reviewed (and unilaterally enjoyed) Prosper’s Demon last year, going so far as to give the novella a perfect 10. Prosper’s Demon earned the…
