Tchaikovsky’s City of Last Chances weaves complex family structures, pantheons, and warring factions into a gloomy, occupied city-scape – Ilmar has long been without hope, long been a city of divided beliefs and downright debauchery and crime, now occupied by the perfectionist Pals. This work wore its inspirations on its sleeves, heavily reminiscent of the Black Iron Legacy and The Last War. Immediately, I was transported back to Jia and Guerdon in these pages, but it was only a passing whiff of their scents because Ilmar itself was a blend of something in itself.
About Dan Smith
Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir
Nona the Ninth is tremendous—there’s maximum intrigue right from the start in true Muir fashion; in the form of, we don’t know who Nona is and neither does she, though there’s rubbish meals, cool t-shirts, a dog with three legs and a looming … something. It reeks of … something punk—cyberpunk?—punk something as we’re treated to a hopeful story of a person called Nona, and her minders Palamedes-and-Camilla, and the ten-thousand-year-old Pyrrha. Our favourite necromancers-in-space series stops off for a break in a desolate city, in the desert of a world besieged by blue light.
The Battle that was Lost (The Ringlander #0.5) by Michael S. Jackson
Jackson’s deft hand paints the strokes of this action-packed battle novella in blood and graveyard humour.
Blog tour & Review: The Children of Gods and Fighting Men (Gael Song #1) by Shauna Lawless
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men is a mix of political intrigue, intimate character-work and vast, effective world-building; it was a joy to read and would certainly appeal to those fantasy fans who don’t necessarily need their action upfront and overwhelming, for its pages are etched with rich characters and a complex storyline.
Review: Starbinder (An Eye of Eternity 0.5) by Mark Timmony
Starbinder is the magical, deftly written introduction to Timmony’s An Eye of Eternity series, in novella form; it’s an action-packed morsel of expert world-building that will surely have you coming back to read book one: The Blood of the Spear.
Buddy read & Review: We Are the Dead (The Last War #1) by Mike Shackle
If you follow me on Twitter or we talk in any capacity you’ll know that I’ve become somewhat of a broken record recently. Truthfully, I’ve been kicking myself for the past few weeks over having waited this long to start this series! As Dan says above, We are the Dead and The Last War trilogy as a whole is an absolute must read. Mike Shackle has to be one of the most criminally underrated authors currently writing.
Review: Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1) by Gourav Mohanty
Sons of darkness smashes open the fountain of originality, spilling insidious plot, incredible characters, and grim violence. I loved this book. Described as the Indian ASoIaF, it has feuding families, politics, war, and deceit in equal measures, but tops this with inspired world-building and a plot that starts as embers and ends as a blazing inferno.
Book Tour/Review: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks for Hire by G. M. Nair
Duckett and Dyer: Dicks for Hire is great, interdimensional fun … wait, interdimensional? Yes, and they’re amateur detectives. This is a great, quick read for anyone who loves books like the Stranger Times series and Rivers of London – both of those being series I enjoy so I immediately felt comfortable, cozy reading this book. The characters are real, flawed and the plot entertaining.
The Spawn of Spiracy (A Disaster of Dokojin #2) by Jesse Nolan Bailey
The Spawn of Spiracy is every bit the successor to the Jealousy of Jalice; the world expands in every direction, the world bigger, the characters familiar. Without needing to really mention it, Nolan Bailey is a great writer, the pages atmospheric, drawing me in once more. The world is rich, and there’s plenty new problems for our cast: the Sachem is banished, but the danger not gone. And there’s an experimental Dokojin that might be the answer. Though, somehow, Spiracy is loose.
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
The Kaiju Reservation Society is wondrous, an adventure in a new world – like Godzilla movies? Read about the ‘real’ thing. This book scratches the Kaiju movie itch for me, I’ve been a huge fan for years, and if you like them, you’ll want to read this.
Book Tour/Review: The Jealousy of Jalice (A disaster of Dokojin #1) by Jesse Nolan
Vivid in its description, bloody and brutal in its execution, the Jealousy of Jalice is a horror of a book that begs you read on. Jesse manages to paint a picture of a complex world without the first few pages, adding to that conflict which spans backwards by years and all while pushing the story forward: Jalice has been kidnapped. But don’t f*** with Jalice.
Review: Soul Stealer Graham Masterton
Soul Stealer is a horrifying and compelling page-turner that really pushes the edge of the genre and what’s readable; there’s no hiding it, some of the scenes in this book are horror in its most acute form.