Synopsis Severance meets Lovecraft in this surreal tale of corporate horror and existential dread. Joe always had potential, but he doesn’t expect much, and he hopes that his new job as an admin assistant won’t expect much of him. But when he enters the offices of Ponos—a company he’s never heard of and knows nothing about—he […]
Book Review
Review – Mushroom Blues (The Hoffman Report #1) by Adrian M. Gibson
Synopsis ENTER THE FUNGALVERSE. 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 award-winning fungalpunk noir debut, now with a foreword from acclaimed author Nicholas Eames and six pieces of original interior artwork. Two years after a devastating defeat […]
SPFBO XI Review: Blackwater (Serpents and Shadows Book 1) by Emily Blakeney
Synopsis There is much to be done when the kingdom isn’t looking. Iona Strider is a ruthless pickpocket cursed with a disobedient shadow. Violent, too. Worse, she can’t remember who cursed her, or why. But she does know one with each passing day, her control of the shadow dwindles. In her relentless pursuit of answers, […]
SPFBO XI Semi-finalist Review: No More Levels by Benjamin Barreth
Synopsis: Life sucks when you’re a potato farmer. That’s why Rin can’t wait to turn sixteen and conquer the nearest beginner dungeon. Only then can he acquire a powerful class in the Game of the Gods and begin the earnest grind to leveling up. With enough monster kills, he might even become someone truly strong, […]
Blade of Tyshalle (The Acts of Caine #2) by Matthew Woodring Stover
Synopsis On Earth, Hari Michaelson was a superstar. But on Overworld, he was the assassin Caine. Real monarchs lived and died at his hands and entire governments were overthrown—all for the entertainment of millions back on Earth. But now Hari, stripped of his identity as Caine, must fight his greatest battle: against the powerful corporate […]
SPFBO XI Review: Shadows of the Sundered Lands by Korbin Rook
Synopsis The walls that kept the darkness out are beginning to fall. One hundred and fifty years ago, the Sundering drowned Avoni in darkness, twisting every living thing into a nightmare. The only survivors live under the Aurora Shrouds, mystical barriers shielding isolated towns from the horrors outside. When a Vanguard Courier, uncovers evidence that […]
SPFBO XI: One Last Semi-Finalist!
Hello, hello, book fans! We’re back with one last semi-finalist announcement and an update on where we’ll be going from here. We’re also announcing our last cuts. Let’s set with the cuts: Errant Gift by Rhys Price What the judges had to say: Graham: I didn’t enjoy this as much as others seemed to. It […]
Review: The Curse of Dragon Tail Island by Jonathan Nevair
This novel blends pirates with classic fantasy, all in a Robin Hood style package.
Review: The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
Synopsis Get ready to be blown away by this searing standalone space opera where corporate samurai fight beneath merciless stars, and death is always a mere breath away. Isako is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend has to come to an end. When her long-time client unexpectedly retires, she plans to follow–to walk out into […]
The Infinite State, Decurion saga book 1 by Richard Swan
Synopsis WHO GIVES YOU LIFE?PATER AETERNUS.Katherine Fuller’s husband is dead. As an esteemed member of Pater Aeternus – governing party of the fascist, galaxy-spanning Decurion Empire – he has left behind an estate of immeasurable wealth. And Katherine is going to inherit it. WHO GIVES YOU PURPOSE?PATER AETERNUS.Life under the Eternal Father is rigidly stratified, […]
Review: The Bad Apothecary (Ninth Path Book 1) by Keon Shore
Synopsis Diwu stumbles into the capital half-dead, wounded by something no healer can cure. Nestled in her flesh is a strange pathogen carrying corruption, the antithesis of the Natural Order. Desperate, she trades freedom for survival and falls into the grip of the Hierarchy, a ruthless organization that keeps power in check by any means […]
Review: The Iron Garden Sutra (The Cosmic Wheel Book 1) by A.D. Sui
Synopsis: Klara and the Sun meets S. A. Barnes’s Dead Silence with a touch of Becky Chambers’ A Psalm for the Wild-Built in Nebula Award-winning author A.D. Sui’s darkly philosophical murder mystery, as a death monk and a team of researchers trapped onboard a spaceship of the dead encounter something beyond human understanding… Vessel Iris has devoted himself to the […]