Out of everything I’ve read since the beginning of the pandemic, Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility is the book that truly snuck up on me and made me soak in the reality of what we are living in. I write this from a place of relative isolation: I am a stay-at-home dad who makes a podcast, writes and gets most of his social fix virtually. So here we all are, in the midst of a strange world, a strange time, and Sea of Tranquility captures that isolating strangeness with a sublime beauty and simplicity. This book is at once a thought experiment in loneliness and the human condition, while also reveling in the love and connection that binds us a species across time and space. No other story in recent memory has made me think so deeply about what I have experienced during this pandemic, nor to ponder on the realities of what it means, for me, to be human.
Reviews
Book Review/Tour: Memories of Blood and Shadow by Aaron S. Jones
Synopsis Guilt cuts deeper than the deadliest of blades.Tavar Farwan lives alone past the Undying Sands. During a violent storm, he is attacked by two young warriors claiming a need for vengeance for pain from ages past. Tavar defends himself, killing one of the intruders and leaving the other to bleed on the floor. Weary […]
Review: The Searing Stone (The Children of Erym Saga #1) by R.D Neal
Synopsis What if magical abilities weren’t earned, discovered, or innate? What if, before the age of one, your parents were forced to choose either to grant you a specific ability, or to give you none at all? O’Varth, once an island flourishing in peace, now ruled by Levithe, an ageless being who claims to be […]
Book Tour: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August
Synopsis A dying universe. When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilisations, a sea of lifeless grey planets and their ruins. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last civilisation left in the universe, and whatever […]
Review: The Discord of Gods (A Chorus of Dragons #5) by Jenn Lyons
The Discord of Gods is the 5th and final release in Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons series. This is the book I have been anticipating most in 2022, and I could not wait to read it. Now that I have I am excited to tell you exactly how fabulous it is.
Book Tour Review: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August
The Last Gifts of the Universe is a fairly short sci-fi novel (203 pages) and yet it is filled with so much heart.
The Shadow of the Gods (The Bloodsworn #1) by John Gwynne
Synopsis Varg, the thrall with a secret. Orka, the mother with a past. Elvar, the princess with a dream. Spread across The Banished Lands, a land near-destroyed by the war, and death, of the gods, they must fight for what they love. In the shadow of the gods lies dark magic, revenge and…The Bloodsworn. Review […]
Review: The Blood of Outcasts (The Bane Sword Trilogy #1)
There’s a lot to love about TBoO, especially its acronym, but it’s an incredibly bloody, gritty, ronin romp that’s well worth checking out.
Review: Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May
The story is dark, extravagant, and feels as if there is danger lurking around every corner—which to be fair, there is. The writing feels lush and intoxicating, luring you into this life of parties, prohibited magical drinks, and dark magic.
Book Tour and Review: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August
There are stories that are pure escapism, popcorn fueled jaunts through a fantasy world designed to entertain above all else. I love those kind of stories. Hell, I named my company after those types of stories. But, I’ll be damned if it doesn’t feel good to be completely and utterly destroyed by a book every once in a while. I’m talking reaching inside and scooping out all my feelings, scraping me until I’m hollow, leaving me sobbing in the dark with an empty can of Pringles in my lap. :smiley face:
Book Tour Review: The Outworlder by Natalie J. Holden
The Outworlder was a wonderful blend of science fiction and fantasy.
Review: Stones of Light (Threadlight #2) by Zack Argyle
Synopsis Chrys swore to never again let the Apogee take control but, in a moment of desperation, he gave in. Now, he will learn what the Apogee truly wants. In Alchea, Laurel will do anything to get her threadlight back, even if it means working for the leader of the Bloodthieves. But she has no […]