Join co-hosts Adrian M. Gibson and M.J. Kuhn as they reminisce on the year that was with podcasters Dylan Marsh and Charles M.C. (co-hosts of The Friends Talking Fantasy Podcast). During the panel they share their top picks for favorite SFF reads of the year (3 each for a total of 12), reflect on the ups and downs 2023, offer some honorable mentions, talk about hikes, make surprise book announcements, split “assets” in a hypothetical “divorce” and more.
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Charlies Top Reads of 2023
Seriously we can only choose 10? Given the unfeasibly difficult task of narrowing down my ten best books from this year was no easy task. 2023 really was the year of indie books for me, that’s not intended as a slight to traditional published books. Just that I have been spoilt for choice with the […]
Review: Death’s Beating Heart (The War Eternal Series #5) by Rob J. Hayes
Synopsis The final book in The War Eternal series. Break Eternity. Sirileth has broken the world. The ground bleeds, the seas rage, the skies are torn asunder. Eska will not let her daughter face the consequences alone, but can she help without donning the mantle of the Corpse Queen once more? And will the people […]
Review: My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon
Synopsis: Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cosy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call. Mavis, Alison’s estranged mother, has been diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live. She wants […]
Review: Heavy Oceans by Tyler Jones
Synopsis: Struggling with the pressures of being a new father and the weight of regrets, Jamie Fletcher travels to Hawaii in hopes of connecting with his estranged brother, Eric. After a shocking act of violence, the brothers end up on a fishing boat–along with the captain and his son–in the middle of the ocean, where […]
Review: The Legend of Charlie Fish by Josh Rountree
Synopisis: As always, Floyd Betts rides into town alone. He arrives for his father’s funeral, but he is returning to Galveston, Texas, with two orphaned siblings he has rescued. Nellie, who is descended from a long line of witches, has visions from other people’s minds. Hank, her impulsive younger brother, just wants to break out […]
Review: Uncanny Vows (Huntsmen #2) by Laura Anne Gilman
Gilman opens up this sequel in one of my absolute favorite ways across media, and that is by zooming in from a seemingly normal and sweeping outdoor scene, into an indoor one of absolute chaos and mayhem. And so it is that months after the events of book one, we find Rosemary and Aaron battling pesky imps wreaking havoc during a routine hunt. Not only is this kind of scene absolutely hilarious but the medias res allows you to hit the ground running back into the action you left off from book one.
Review: Cold As Hell (Black Badge Series #1) by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle
Synopsis In the West, there are worse things to fear than bandits and outlaws. Demons. Monsters. Witches. James Crowley’s sacred duty as a Black Badge is to hunt them down and send them packing, banish them from the mortal realm for good. He didn’t choose this life. No. He didn’t choose life at all. Shot […]
Review: Elder Epoch (Gunmetal Gods Series #3) by Zamil Akhtar
Synopsis The protector of the land is dead. A blood plague infests the soil and sea, eldritch angels vie for dominion over hearts and souls, and holy war boils between four gunpowder empires. The line between truth and falsehood, the righteous and the wicked, hope and annihilation is buried deep beneath blood-soaked sand. Review By […]
DB Rook’s Top Reads of 2023
Top reads…top reads, ok let me think about the few books I actually managed to read throughout this year amongst my ever-growing pile of things I needed to do for; A: my day job B: my family C: my physical and mental health D: my own fledgling author journey E: the world as it crumbles […]
Stuff and Nonsense (Threadbare) by Andrew Seiple
Synopsis Meet Threadbare. He is twelve inches tall, full of fluff, and really, really bad at being a hero. Magically animated and discarded by his maker as a failed experiment, he is saved by a little girl. But she’s got problems of her own, and he might not be able to help her. Fortunately for […]
Review: The Arid Lands by Kate Kelly
Synopsis: The Tyrhennians struggle to survive in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean. Inez knows no other world than this endless cycle of heat and brine, but listens to the stories of a distant land of great cities and endless seas. She never believed them, until the day her brother is injured by […]