TL;DR Review: Fascinating worldbuilding, high-stakes adventure, and a subtly, well-crafted message about climate change. Synopsis: Amid the chaos of a dying city ruled by colonizers, three rivals—a thief, a slumlord, and an heiress—race to find a hidden cache of magic that will decide the city’s fate. In the occupied city of Tejomaya, calor—a magical fossil […]
Book Review
FLASHBACK REVIEW: Dragon Mage (Rivenworld #1) by M.L. Spencer
SYNOPSIS Aram Raythe has the power to challenge the gods. He just doesn’t know it yet. Aram thinks he’s nothing but a misfit from a small fishing village in a dark corner of the world. As far as Aram knows, he has nothing, with hardly a possession to his name other than a desire to […]
Review: The Alchemy of Sorrow edited by Sarah Chorn and Virginia McClain
Synopsis Here be dragons and sorcery, time travel and sorrow. Vicious garden gnomes. A grounded phoenix rider. A new mother consumed with vengeance. A dying god. Soul magic. These stories wrestle with the experience of loss—of loved ones, of relationships, of a sense of self, of health—and forge a path to hope as characters fight […]
Review: The Jaguar Mask by Michael J. De Luca
Synopsis Felipe K’icab doesn’t know who he is. He only knows he was born different than his human family, and he can’t relax unless he’s blasting reggaeton in his cab weaving through the streets of Guatemala City. The jaguar mask and his other human faces keep him safe–until El Bufo, a corrupt ex-cop, commandeers his […]
Book Review: A Pocket of Lies (Amefyre #1) by R.A. Sandpiper
TL;DR Review: A beautiful balance of magic and intrigue, action and romance, underscored by a lovely “Persephone and Hades” flavor. Synopsis: BLOOD BOUND AND PENNILESS. EXILED INTO CURSED LANDS. HUNTED BY DEATH. When the thief Suri suffers a humiliating robbery, she has one day to pay off an ugly debt. Her solution: abduct and impersonate […]
Book Review: The Land Herself (A Tale of Cirilliarc) by Ainy Cormac
Synopsis: This faith is a double-edged sword, indeed. In the deserts of Utter Ung, there lies a great stone dagger, buried in the heart of the dead goddess. Sahul. The mother. The land herself. For hundreds of millennia, the artefact has drawn broken people to it; those in search of answers, and those in search […]
Review: The Wishing Stone (Chronicles of Gam Gam Book Two) by Adam Holcombe
Synopsis A mythical relic believed to have the ability to grant any wish. A map, leading the way through ancient and sealed catacombs. Gam Gam’s return to Capital City is not what she expected when she stumbles upon her first clue to the Wishing Stone’s whereabouts. Joined by Mina and her new friend Emil, along […]
Book Review: Gift of the Shaper (Highglade Series #1) by DL Jennings
TL;DR Review: Familiar-feeling classic high fantasy with some wonderfully surprising twists. Synopsis: Armies will clash and gods will die… For thousands of years, the Breaker of the Dawn has been locked away in the ethereal plane of the Otherworld. Now, a young blacksmith’s apprentice finds himself trapped in a war between the noble Athrani, a […]
Book Review: Dark Space by Rob Hart and Alex Segura
TL;DR Review: A classic spy thriller…in space! Fast-paced, gripping, and intriguing. Synopsis: If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission […]
Book Review: Spark of the Everflame (The Kindred Curse Saga #1) by Penn Cole
TL;DR Review: A spitfire of a heroine. A lovely balance between warrior and healer, fighter and caretaker. Synopsis: When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn. In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village. […]
Book Review: Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim
TL;DR Review: Compelling, colorful, and complex. Epic storytelling that sinks into your bones and keeps you turning pages. Synopsis: Powered by the corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is—a lie—and will give […]
FLASHBACK REVIEW:Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion #1) by Krystle Matar
SYNOPSIS Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack. Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three […]