There’s something truly special about finding a novel that speaks to you, the words flowing from page to mind in a symbiotic creative fusion. That feeling of connecting so deeply with a book is priceless, something to be cherished, and it’s even better when that book becomes an author. For me, that author is P. Djèlí Clark. Ever since reading his short works A Dead Djinn in Cairo and The Haunting of Tram Car 015, I was enamored with his blending of the fantastical and historical. That connection deepened when I read some of his short stories, and then even more when I tore through last year’s Ring Shout. Count me lucky when his first full-length novel comes out a mere seven months later—in A Master of Djinn, Clark’s magically-infused Cairo is back and better than ever.
Fantasy
Review: Seven Deaths Of An Empire by G.R. Matthews
So if you truly enjoy a conspiracy, politically driven fiction Roman novel, Seven Deaths Of An Empire is an impressive addition to your list and fans of Roman times and grimdark will get a blast with this book.
Review: The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson
aisle of a specific section in a library. You grab several large volumes to return to your table and your extensive research thesis you’ve been working on for years. You sit down and in front of you lays a thousand-book-pages book, and you sift through every page, drinking the excitement of investigation and glancing at sketches, pictures and schematics of times of old, slowly taking notes and drawing your own conclusions. This is how I felt while I was reading The Way of Kings. A rich study about an extensive world name Roshar with interesting characters and their history. Even after the first 1000 pages of this grossly engaging and epic adventure (4000-5000 pages total), I felt like I only scratched the surface.
Review: The Liar of Red Valley by Walter Goodwater
Synopsis Red Valley is real boondock country. There’s a Walmart, a dive bar, a diner with a tree growing through it, and a river. There’s also the King. You don’t cross the King. You never, ever, go in the river. Oh, and you don’t trust the Liar … The Liar’s powers allow her to turn […]
Review: The Hand of the Sun King (Pact and Pattern #1) by J. T. Greathouse
Hand of the Sun King is the brand new, erudite voice of an epic fantasy that sweeps you away into an empire reminiscent of ancient China, teeming with culture, doused in war, political intrigue, ancient proverb, philosophy, and a magic system that shares its roots with many others, but strikes out its own path in the genre. It’s for fans of the Poppy War who like their books a little more tame, and a little more hopeful, and for those who loved the Bone Daughter and its dive into traditional intricacies, and intricate plot.
Review: The Pariah (The Covenant of Steel #1) by Anthony Ryan
The Pariah is the first installment in Anthony Ryan’s latest series, The Covenant of Steel. This series is off to a really good start with tons of action, good writing flow, and a cast of characters that make story worth following.
Review: The Coward (Quest for Heroes #1) by Stephen Aryan
Aryan’s character development is masterful. His worldbuilding is expansive and immersive as all fantasy worldbuilding should be.
Review: Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee
“I’ll make an offer you can’t refuse”; those are the words echoed and mocked in so many movies. But they originated in a little book called “The Godfather” by Mario Puzzo in the late 60s and became a movie phenomenon. When I read “Jade City”, those words came to mind as this book is very much an organized crime novel. And if you add the touch of magic included in the story, from the Jade driven powers the characters have, it feels very much like gangster Urban fantasy.
Review: Queensdaughter (The Queensdaughter Trilogy #1) by Amanda Ylva
Queensdaughter is Amanda Ylva’s debut novel, and the first installment in the author’s The Queensdaughter Trilogy. The book follows two sisters after they are attacked by evil creatures called the skaiga. Their home destroyed, each sister must choose her path wisely.
Review: Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir
Harrow the Ninth is the utterly full of mood sequel that we needed for the Locked Tomb; the prose sings old harmonies from an ancient turntable, the needle screeching in eloquent – but drawn out – screams that dig deep into a sense of misguidance, a sense of the unknown dipped into depression and coated in necromancy. This sequel takes the gothic laboratory in space, seeped in mystery and necromantic theorems and flips it upside down with planet-sized Beasts of the Resurrection, terrorist orgs with nukes, God himself, Necrosaints to the Lord Undying, and bones … lots of bones.
Review: The Sword in the Street (The Ink and the Steel #1) by C.M. Caplan
The Sword in the Street has been one of the hardest books for me to review. I’ve been putting it off for a while now, fiddling with the draft over and over. Not because I don’t have anything to say about it or that it was bad in any way. If anything, maybe it’s because I am too close to it. It was a very emotional read for me.
Review: She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan
She Who Became the Sun is the first in Shelley Parker-Chan’s The Radiant Emperor series. Set in 14th-Century China, the books combination of war, politics, and gender identity exploration is certain to please fans of Chinese-inspired historical fantasy.