Synopsis The war-mongering kingdom of Cai has begun to stir once again, the long held peace brought to the brink by a widespread drought. Now, the neighbouring kingdoms of Wei and Shen must ally together to deal with the Cai or see the flames of war spread over both nations once again. Wu Ying is […]
Asian Inspired
Book Review: And the Sky Bled by S. Hati
TL;DR Review: Fascinating worldbuilding, high-stakes adventure, and a subtly, well-crafted message about climate change. Synopsis: Amid the chaos of a dying city ruled by colonizers, three rivals—a thief, a slumlord, and an heiress—race to find a hidden cache of magic that will decide the city’s fate. In the occupied city of Tejomaya, calor—a magical fossil […]
Book Review: Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim
TL;DR Review: Compelling, colorful, and complex. Epic storytelling that sinks into your bones and keeps you turning pages. Synopsis: Powered by the corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is—a lie—and will give […]
Book Review: ShadowBane by Cal Logan
TL;DR Review – Japan-inspired world, a grimdark tone, and packed to the brim with bloody action. An absolutely epic read! Synopsis: One womb, one soul, two fates. One will rise. One will fall. Shura and Jin are the last of a divine bloodline, operating at the bloodiest fringes of society where they wield might and […]
Book Review: The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart
TL;DR Review: A singularly creative and fresh-feeling reading experience. An excellent start to a gripping new series. Synopsis: In this sweeping epic fantasy comes a story of magic, betrayal, love, and loyalty, where two sisters will clash on opposite sides of a war against the gods. A divine war shattered the world leaving humanity in […]
Book Review: Outlaw Mage by (The Dageian Puppetmaster Book 1) K.S. Villoso
TL;DR Review – A wonderfully complex examination of cultural whitewashing and complicated families. Synopsis: Despite Rosha’s best efforts, she will never fit in. To her classmates, she is forever an outsider, a girl from the fringes of the empire just lucky enough to have well-off parents. To her teachers, she is either a charity case […]
REVIEW: Mushroom Blues (The Hofmann Report #1) by Adrian M. Gibson
SYNOPSIS ENTER THE FUNGALVERSE. BEAT THE WINTER BLUES. Blade Runner, True Detective and District 9 meld with the weird worlds of Jeff VanderMeer, Philip K. Dick and China Miéville in Adrian M. Gibson’s hallucinatory, fungalpunk noir debut. Two years after a devastating defeat in the decade-long Spore War, the island nation of Hōppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko […]
Review: Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades #1) by Mai Corland
Hello book that involves court politics but is so easy to follow & I mean that as the biggest compliment ever. I’m forever getting lost in court politic books and while this one isn’t really set in a court at any point it’s all about assassinating the God King so it’s basically court politics, you get me?
Review: The Sword of Kaigen (A Theonite War Story) by M.L. Wang
Synopsis: On a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire’s enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name […]
Review: Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu
Synopsis Japan, 1625 A new Drum Master has risen, and soon the nation will fall to the curse of Izanagi. Answering the call of his kotsuzumi, dead warriors abandon their peace to once again roam the land of the living, swinging rusty blades and chattering rotten teeth at his behest. Japan’s last hope lies in […]
Review: The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg
Synopsis Ambitious Phi Hunter and perpetual lone wolf, Ex, finds his road to glory interrupted when a heavily pregnant runaway enlists his help to escape through the ghost-infested forest… Ex, the youngest member of the Phi Hunters Order, has spent his life slaying the ghosts and demons of Suyoram Kingdom. While he takes great pride […]
Review: The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) by R.F. Kuang
Synopsis: After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially […]