Synopsis An idea—one that spreads and takes root—is a dangerous thing. It can corrupt, betray, mislead. Reality warps under the weight of an idea firmly planted. Cultures and countries descend and die because of ideas. Those simple philosophies become gods. They become an Ethos. A dark fantasy anthology featuring six novelettes conjured by the Arcanist […]
Reviews
Truthwitch (The Witchlands, #1) by Susan Dennard
Synopsis In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home. Safi must avoid capture at all costs as […]
Review: Night of the Jack-O’-Lantern by E. Reyes
Synopsis In Twilight Falls, Halloween has always been a night of tricks, treats… and old stories meant to scare the kids. But this year, the legend is real. It’s 1998. Julie Carpenter is just trying to survive her senior year in the sleepy Arizona town she’s always called home. But when a figure emerges from […]
Review: Recipes for an Unexpected Afterlife by Deston J. Munden
Synopsis: An undead orc knight leaves battle behind for a new kind of afterlife—one with good food, good friends, and maybe even fatherhood. Rottgor is worn out. Literally. Barely held together by dark magic, he has protected the Necropolis for centuries. When he’s forced into retirement, he’s faced with a new challenge: to forge a […]
Review: Brigands and Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Synopsis: Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails […]
Book Review: Extremity by Nicholas Binge
TL;DR: Murder mystery with a little bit of horror, and a whole lot of “WTF is going on?” Engaging, zippy pacing, and an all-around great read. Synopsis: A time-traveling, end-of-the-world police procedural, Extremity is True Detective if written by Philip K. Dick. When once-renowned police detective Julia Torgrimsen is brought out of forced retirement to investigate the murder of […]
Book Review: Ironbound (Ironbound, Book 1) by Andrew Givler
Full transparency: I’m the Director of Publicity for Aethon Books. However, this review is 100% honest, unbiased, and based solely on my reading experience. TL;DR Review: Addictive, fast-paced, and beautifully dark. A progression fantasy I’m still thinking about weeks after reading! Synopsis: Arcane Ascension meets The Blade Itself in the epic fantasy adventure IRONBOUND, where the will to survive – […]
Review: All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu
Synopsis: Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb. But when a lawyer named Piers—whose famous artist wife, Elli, has been kidnapped by dangerous criminals—barges into her life, Julia decides to put the solitary life she […]
The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
Synopsis Monster hunters tangle with court politics in this horror adventure by the critically acclaimed author of Leech. Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard. In a complex, chaotic metropolis, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile. As an […]
Review: An Ambitious Woman and Her Very Normal Pet by Lily Greene
Synopsis: After a devastating invasion, the necromancers of the kingdom of Led are executed for their crimes against the sanctity of life. One such necromancer, Sybil Whitman, finds all of this really, really, really dumb. All she wanted was to have her own farm and work alongside her skeleton constructs, providing food and warmth to […]
Review: Nightshade (Sorrowsong University #1) by Autumn Woods
Synopsis: When Ophelia Winters accepts a scholarship at a prestigious Scottish university to prove that her parents’ death was the fault of Cain Green, an American aviation tycoon, her plan is simple; keep her grades up and her head down. The last thing she wants is to wind up in a mafia war or step […]
Review: Futility by Nuzo Onoh
Synopsis: Betrayed by the men in their lives, two women seethe with rage and bitterness. When a trickster spirit offers them the gift of revenge, they cannot resist. Chia runs one of the best restaurants in Abuja, Nigeria, and is renowned among the male clientele for her captivating beauty and delicious hot pepper soup. But […]