The covers of Mike Chen’s books have haunted my Goodreads feed and the genre’s “most anticipated” lists for years. The synopses beckon like a faint siren’s call, but I never found the time to pick one up and dive in. Well, this year I decided to break out of the vicious cycle, and by god…
Continue reading ➞ Light Years From Home – There’s No Warp Speed For Family Drama
Back in 2020, Jesus, yeah, two years ago, I read a little novella by the name of Riot Baby. Tochi Onyebuchi’s novella hit very close to home considering the events of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd. It was one of my instant favorites, and I still feel the righteous anger that poured…
The Nova Vita Protocol series is one I’ve come to enjoy. Kristyn Merbeth’s debut, Fortuna, was a rollicking emotional rollercoaster. Memoria was a stronger follow-up that put the family’s issues on full display as the Kaisers try desperately to right the wrongs of their weapons dealing mother. The finale had some big shoes to fill…
Earlier this year, Guatam Bhatia reached out to us to review his debut novel The Wall. After reading his bio, and the synopsis of his book, it was easy to say yes. However, 2021 was as much of a beast as 2020, and that promise was harder to keep than I had planned. Fortunately, the…
Continue reading ➞ The Wall – Tear It Down To Lift Yourself Up
It’s no secret: some of us at the Quill to Live unabashedly love Adrian Tchaikovsky. He’s easily one of my personal favorite authors, and I have been on a journey to catch up on his frankly impressive catalogue. Cage of Souls has been on my radar ever since it was released. It sat on my…
Terra Ignota has been living in my mind like lightning trapped in a bottle ever since I picked up Too Like The Lightning. Ada Palmer’s use of language, her creative vision for the future, and the intricate ways she reveals the workings of her world astounded me. The successive books only cemented my appreciation and…
Continue reading ➞ Perhaps the Stars – To Infinity and Beyond
I'm always up to visit the works of well established authors in the genre. Most of the time, I end up reading their newer work because it’s more relevant. So when a book is touted as being the return of an award winning author, my ears perk up and my nose picks up the scent…
Continue reading ➞ Shadows of Eternity – Makes Hades Look Like Heaven
Last year, when I read Axiom’s End, I had to confront my feelings about the book and try to pry them from the influence of Ellis’ work on my own styles. However, with her second book, The Truth of the Divine, I found this process less daunting and I was able to slip into the…
Continue reading ➞ The Truth of the Divine – Heavenly Pessimism
After reading all of Wormwood last year, Tade Thompson became one of my to-watch authors because of his genre melding stories. While I haven’t made time to dive into his horror novella series Molly Southbourne, Thompson did decide to grace readers this year with a rollicking science fiction mystery, Far From The Light of Heaven.…
Continue reading ➞ Far From The Light of Heaven – Breaking Outside the Box
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…
