A war has just ended. The Emperor of the Holy Vaalbaran Empire surrendered to the Ominirish Republic after the death of their daughter. Enitan, a scribe from the imperial territory of Koriko, is hoping to grow her own tea business when disaster strikes. Her sibling is abducted by Vaalbaran forces, and her lover, the Vaalbaran…
Continue reading ➞ The Splinter In The Sky – Stuck In My Craw
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 am left with a lot of questions after finishing Neon Yang’s The Genesis of Misery. The primary one being, “so what?” Described as a combination of Neon Genesis Evangelion meets retelling of Joan of Arc, I would say that Misery lives up to its promises. Yet, while I think this is an imaginative and…
Revelation Space is a big series. Sure, it’s a trilogy, but it also has two related novels and a treasure trove of short stories. I’ve only scratched the surface on the shorter fiction by Alastair Reynolds, but the little I have read has been just as exciting as the sprawling epics. Now I’m writing this…
Continue reading ➞ Chasm City – Not Splitting Hairs On This One
Long has Alastair Reynolds taunted me from my bookshelf. I purchased his debut novel, Revelation Space, years ago as a gift to myself. But since I purchased it when I didn’t understand how to handle my to-read list, my paperback copy languished on my shelf, hidden behind the other books I had accrued over the…
In many ways, Eyes of the Void is simply a continuation of the story started by Adrian Tchaikovsky in one of our top books of 2021, Shards of Earth. Because of this, this review is really going to just boil down to “yea, it's still great, and you should still read it” with some additional…
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
Last year I read Light Chaser, a collaboration between Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, and it birthed a desire to give Powell a deeper look. Having read a lot of Hamilton, my sense was that Powel’s work added a bit of blood to the sprawling imagination Hamilton usually provides. Instead of going with…
Continue reading ➞ Stars and Bones – Missing The Marrow For The Bones
I have been reading The Expanse for close to a decade. It was one of the first stories that I discovered and disseminated among my friends that established me as a reliable place to get fabulous science fiction recommendations. It has been an ace up my recommending sleeve for years, and I am so happy…
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…
