Synopsis: 20 Climbers. 20 Watchers. 5 Hunters. 1 Colossus. After both their parents die during the live broadcast of the Tournament of the Colossus, Quinne promises to always keep Benn safe. Even from the deadly Hunters who scour the slums for those who can wield magic. But when Benn’s rare ability manifests during a public […]
About Will Swardstrom
SPFBO XI Review: Threadbound by M.E. Moirin
Synopsis: When a powerful vizier curses Jasna, a red thread draws her toward his palace while death follows close behind. Her soul, bound to stone, begins to splinter until a desperate spell casts her into Syanka, a realm shaped by old stories. To reclaim what was stolen and rescue Iliya, once her betrothed, who begged […]
SPFBO XI Review: Butcher Boy (Votker Archives #1) by Aaron Daggit
Synopsis: After having spent entirely too long stuck in a parallel dimension hunting supernatural beasts, Calvin Ryder has found his way home. Much to his chagrin, the monsters are here too; he just never knew about them. Now he’s expanded his traditional private detective business to include eradicating dangerous mythological creatures and tracking down rogue […]
Review: Copper Skin, Oaken Lungs (Copper & Ash #1) by Adam Bassett
Synopsis: For a thousand years, The Old Town has stood as humanity’s last bastion against the maalkonis, malignant black mists that reduced the rest of the world to ash. They are kept at bay by rusty machines on the town’s walls. In order to survive, the dwindling population depends on one another. Since a young […]
Review: Queen of Faces by Petra Lord
Synopsis: A desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it’s rotting from the inside out. In Caimor, where the magical elite buy and […]
Review: Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur by Ian McDonald
Synopsis: Come one, come all to the dinosaur circus! Tif Tamim wants nothing more than to be a dinosaur buckaroo. An orphan in search of a place to rest his head and a job to weigh down his pockets, Tif has bounced from circus to circus, yearning for a chance to ride a prehistoric beauty […]
Review: After the Fall by Edward Ashton
Synopsis: Part alien invasion story, part buddy comedy, and part workplace satire Would humans really make great pets? Humans must be silent. Humans must be obedient. Humans must be good. All his life, John has tried to live by those rules. Most days, it’s not too difficult. A hundred and twenty years after The Fall, […]
Review: A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes by Jake Halpern & Peter Kujawinski
Synopsis: Every scent tells a story. The last thing Nia wants is to be branded a “Sinsory.” Where she comes from, that’s just as deadly as the devastating plagues that sweep through their land. That’s why she keeps her unusually keen sense of smell a secret. Only two people in the city of Yerat know […]
Review: The Cyprian (Elemental Masters #18) by Mercedes Lackey
Synopsis: A cozy, cottage-core Regency fantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton Elena Whitstone and her seven brothers, abandoned by her mother, find themselves with a new stepmother. At first she seems more neglectful than evil, until just after Christmas she proves herself to be worse than evil; she is an actual magician, a Master of […]
Will’s Favorites of 2025
So…the end of the year is (checks the calendar) just a few sleeps away. Apparently it is the job of a book reviewer like myself to provide a BEST OF THE YEAR list and I have honestly been keeping a list like this in mind since January 1 of this year. Now, I have 9 […]
Review: I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
Synopsis: Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to […]
Review: The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson
Synopsis: Arlo and Drienne are ‘mades’—clones of company executives, deemed important enough to be saved should their health fail. Mades work around the clock to pay off the debt incurred by their creation, though most are Reaped—killed and harvested for organs when their corporate counterparts are in medical need. But when the impossible happens and […]