Synopsis: “This book is a literary punch to the heart.” —New York Times After a small coastal town is devastated by a hurricane, the survivors gravitate toward a long out-of-service payphone in hopes of talking out their grief and saying goodbye to loved ones, only for it to begin ringing on its own. As more […]
Book Review
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
Synopsis While San Francisco rebuilds from the chaos of war, a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot and start producing some of the tastiest hand-pulled noodles in the city. But there’s just one problem. Someone―or something―is review […]
Review: Stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman
Stay on the Line is a deeply human novelette about the loss of a loved one. It’s the kind of story you can’t help but finish in one sitting.
Residuum by DB Rook
Synopsis: Light dims on humanity’s reign over the galaxy. Charlus Vaughn, a teenage refugee, escapes deadly machine justice with her penitent mother. Rescued by a data-pirate crew, she falls into the path of ancient arachnid machinations that propel her back towards her mysterious origins and the heart of her unknown heritage. Review: DB Rook carries […]
Book Review: The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller
TL;DR Review: Slow in pace but rich in wonder. A quirky character you’ll enjoy following as she discovers the world of magic is real—and there is a threat only she can stop. Synopsis: The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select […]
Review: Death of a Clown by Catherine McCarthy
The joke’s on him… Synopsis Born and raised into the Sacred Order of Tragicomedy, Chester Brown’s path is written in stone. The bulbous nose and gigantic feet define him physically, while The Sacred Church of Razzmatazz ensnares him in its grip.For Chester there can be no escape…or so he believes.But Chester Brown has a secret […]
Book Review: Everybody Wants to Rule the World Except Me (Dark Lord Davi #2) by Django Wexler
TL;DR Review: Beautifully balanced between epic and cozy, it’s an adventure as action-packed as it is heartwarming. Synopsis: Dark Lord Davi rules the kingdom, but she must now break the time loop that binds her in this hilariously bloody conclusion to the Dark Lord Davi duology. After countless failures (let’s not dwell on it), Davi […]
Book Review: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
TL;DR: Van Helsing, but as played by a Murderbot-style ship’s AI, with the delightfully cozy and heartwarming flavor of Becky Chambers The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. Synopsis: Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception. Demeter just wants to do her shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha […]
Review: Cathedral of the Drowned (The Lunar Gothic Trilogy Volume 2) by Nathan Ballingrud
Synopsis: The sequel to Crypt of the Moon Spider, Cathedral of the Drowned is a dripping, squirming, scuttling tale of altered bodies and minds. There are two halves of Charlie Duchamp. One is a brain in a jar, stranded on Jupiter’s jungle moon, Io, who just wants to go home. The other is hanging on the wall of Barrowfield […]
Book Review: Crueler Mercies by Maren Chase
TL;DR Review: Rapunzel meets Man in the Iron Mask. A helpless, naïve prisoner becomes a cunning, revenge-driven queen. Synopsis: “Vita’s rage overflowed until she was prepared to drown in it, and she knew that she would never again dam this anger to please another.” After nine years as the people’s beloved princess in the sun-soaked […]
Review: The Pawns of Havoc by Dave Lawson
Synopsis: No Mercy, No Questions Asked. Cork has quickly made a name for himself among the Kosellan mercenaries, but now his boss has come to him with an unusual job. Cork’s erstwhile countrymen, the Winn, have hired him to travel into the barren Frozen Lands and destroy a convoy, leaving only one survivor. Cork isn’t […]
Review: Eyes of Empire (Hybrid Helix #5) by J.C.M. Berne
Synopsis A baby dreadnought is terrorizing two star systems. A new wormhole has been opened, a new planetary system revealed, populated by a strange and impossible race. A mad god is on the loose. The il’Drach have destroyed an entire planet. They are on their way to Wistful. Rohan just wants a peaceful day of […]