Synopsis Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveler […]
Book Review
Review: The Failures (The Wanderlands #1) by Benjamin Liar
Synopsis From a debut voice comes a genre-breaking blend of apocalyptic sci-fi and epic fantasy about a scattered group of unlikely heroes traveling across their broken mechanical planet to stave off eternal darkness. A tightly-coiled puzzle of a thrill ride, The Failures launches The Wanderlands trilogy Welcome to the Wanderlands.A vast machine made for reasons […]
Review: Deadhouse Gates (Malazan Book of The Fallen #2) by Steven Erikson
Synopsis In the vast dominion of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha’ik and her followers prepare for the long-prophesied uprising known as the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in size and savagery, this maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust will embroil the Malazan Empire in one of the bloodiest conflicts it has ever known, shaping […]
Book Review: Scales of Balance (A Vengeful Realm #1) by Tim Facciola
TL;DR: Spartacus meets Game of Thrones. Magic, manipulation, insurrection, and bloody spectacle galore. Synopsis: Peace bought by blood seldom lasts, for vengeance knows no end. The same is true for mortals and Gods alike. Decades, centuries, eras may pass, but the cycle remains. As war and revolution rise again, Zephyrus finds himself at the center […]
Review: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Synopsis Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time. To fix the world they must first break it, further. Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service. When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they […]
REVIEW: Mushroom Blues (The Hofmann Report #1) by Adrian M. Gibson
SYNOPSIS ENTER THE FUNGALVERSE. BEAT THE WINTER BLUES. 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 hallucinatory, fungalpunk noir debut. Two years after a devastating defeat in the decade-long Spore War, the island nation of Hōppon and its capital city of Neo Kinoko […]
REVIEW: Face the Night by Alan Lastufka
SYNOPSIS She has an eerie gift for drawing faces. Will one terrifying vision tear apart everything she loves? Ohio, 1987. Adriana Krause hasn’t slept in weeks. Desperate for work to keep her three-year-old son out of her powerful father’s controlling clutches, her vivid illustrations land her a job as a police sketch artist. But the […]
Book Review: The Thirteenth Hour (The Cruel Gods #1) by Trudie Skies
TL;DR Review: Magic-based steampunk with a colorful cast of characters, wicked gods, and a lovely slow-burn romance. Synopsis: WHEN THE SAINTS FAIL, THE SINNERS STEP UP.Cruel gods rule the steam-powered city of Chime, demanding worship and tribute from their mortal subjects. Kayl lost her faith in them long ago, and now seeks to protect vulnerable […]
Review: When Shadows Grow Tall by Maressa Voss
Come for the cosy, stay for the being burned alive Synopsis In the Grasp, a realm on the threshold of enlightenment, the dactyli guard the fading embers of their ancient brotherhood, dedicated to the pursuit of absolute truth. Lovelace and Gunnar are rangers, two of the orders’ last who find themselves on the precipice of […]
REVIEW: Cicada (Killer VHS Series #4) by Tanya Pell
SYNOPSIS Ash is stranded at a rural horror film festival about a giant killer cicada and can’t decide what’s worse, the movie or her idiot boyfriend, until she realizes she’s starring in the bloody sequel when people start dying and the locals won’t let them leave. REVIEW For the fourth time, the Killer VHS Series, […]
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Synopsis Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz―a magically sentient spider plant―have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. When a revolution begins and the library goes up […]
Review: The Ministry of Time (#1) by Kaliane Bradley
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK “This summer’s hottest debut.” —Cosmopolitan • “Witty, sexy escapist fiction [that] packs a substantial punch…It’s a smart, gripping work that’s also a feast for the senses…Fresh and thrilling.” —Los Angeles Times • “Electric…I loved every second.” —Emily Henry “Utterly winning…Imagine if The Time Traveler’s Wife […]