The Quill to Live favorite author, Sebastian de Castell, has a weird little project going on that I am a big fan of. de Castell is the author of many books at this point, but his original major series was the fantastic Greatcoats Quartet. Now, many years later, de Castell is writing a sequel series…
Ever since The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler has been a writer to watch for me. Like some monster out of the cosmos, he has several eyes looking in several directions at once. His stories often explore the relationships between consciousness, intelligence, governance, and power that call to me like a rock opera composed…
Continue reading ➞ Where The Axe Is Buried – I Think I Lost It
The Fourth Consort is a new standalone science fiction novel from the currently red-hot Edward Ashton (writer of Mickey 7). The premise is relatively straightforward, but interesting. The dialogue is funny, but thoughtful. The book isn’t reinventing the wheel, but I still had a good time. Dalton Greaves is one of humankind’s first representatives to…
Are you interested in hearing a legendary tale from a crow god about a political clusterfuck during the succession of a richly written fantasy empire? If so, stick around. The Raven Scholar has exploded out of nowhere from a book that I hadn’t heard of to one of my top contenders for best of 2025.…
A new Quill to Live tradition we started last year is to allow each reviewer to recommend one book that has to jump to the front of your to-read pile. Brandee’s choice for 2023 was The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, and I liked it so much that I ended up reading the entire six-book…
I’ll be honest folks, this next one snuck up on me. Even though I adored Micaiah Johnson’s debut, The Space Between Worlds, I wasn’t quite ready to return to Ashtown. My current aversion to exploring sequels does not help either. But on a whim, I decided you know what, the library has it, I might…
Cassandra Clare began teasing Sword Catcher’s publication years ago, and I have been waiting in the shadows reading every one of her newsletters to track the book’s progress. Now that it’s here, it doesn’t feel real, but I am so happy it is. I devoured this book and must now convince you to read it…
Up Against It, by Laura J. Mixon, was a novel I missed upon its initial release in 2011 (published with the pseudonym M.J. Locke). I was only a wee sci-fi book baby, lost in the bookstore, lured by flashy titles and flashier book covers. But with Tor Essentials providing readers with a reprint and a…
Continue reading ➞ Up Against It – Between Many Space Rocks and Several Hard Places
With The Expanse sadly ending this year, I have been on the lookout for new space operas to fill the void, and I have found a new contender. Site favorite Adrian Tchaikovsky has put out the first novel in a sweeping science-fiction epic titled Shards of Earth, and it is a wild ride. Tchaikovsky has…
Boy, do I love tarot cards. There is something I find so cool about them. I am not big on fortune-telling in general but there is something so romantic, so enthralling, about shuffling a deck, laying out some very intricate and beautifully illustrated cards, flipping over the answers to difficult questions, and spending an entire…
Continue reading ➞ The Mask Of Mirrors – Dressed To The Nines
