What happens when you spend the year devoting all your time amongst rowdy marines and meddlesome gods? Well, it destroys your TBR and you start swearing by Hood’s balls at every opportune chance. This has been my year of Malazan and I rarely ventured outside of the series to read anything else. So, here is […]
Fantasy
Review: The Empress of Salt and Fortune (The Singing Hills cycle #1) by Nghi Vo
Synopsis A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully. Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her […]
Review: The Trials of Empire (Empire of the Wolf #3) by Richard Swan
Synopsis The Empire of the Wolf is on its knees, but there’s life in the great beast yet. To save it, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Helena must look beyond its borders for allies – to the wolfmen of the southern plains, and the pagan clans in the north. But old grievances run deep, and both factions […]
Review: Cold West by Clayton W. Snyder
Synopsis: Bastard. Killer. Husband. Father. His wife cold in the ground, and two young boys to feed, Wil Cutter turns to what he knows: Violence. But a bounty is never just a bounty, and blood is never spilled in drops. Forced to ever more violent acts, he’ll have to ask himself: Is Hell too far […]
Review: Sistah Samurai by Tatiana Obey
Synopsis: Afro Samurai meets The Sword of Kaigen in this anime-inspired novella This is no revenge story. I ain’t got time for that. I’ve got errands to run and things to do and barely enough time to make it home before sundown. I don’t care why folks are going around stealing ink. I don’t care […]
The Bookwyrm’s Best Reads of 2023
Suffice to say, 2023 has been my best reading year by far. And not just for the quantity read, but most importantly the quality. I have read widely across the SFF spectrum, both self-published and traditionally published, reading many authors for the first time, and discovering some new favourites along the way. This year has […]
Charlies Top Reads of 2023
Seriously we can only choose 10? Given the unfeasibly difficult task of narrowing down my ten best books from this year was no easy task. 2023 really was the year of indie books for me, that’s not intended as a slight to traditional published books. Just that I have been spoilt for choice with the […]
Australian & New Zealand Author Showcase No 18 – Richard Swan
Today I have the honour of hosting the Eighteenth author showcase focusing on the awesome talent originating from Australia and New Zealand. The idea came to me whilst seeing so many of the book community gathering at recent conventions in the US and UK. And once my FOMO had subsided, I got to thinking about […]
Review: Voyage of the Damned by Frances White
All aboard for an early contender for 2024’s best fantasy Synopsis For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor’s ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain. Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique […]
The Bitter Crown (The Eidyn Saga # 2) – Interview with Justin Lee Anderson
The Bitter Crown is set to enter the world on 5th December. It’s the second instalment in Justin Lee Anderson’s, The Eidyn Saga, and is the follow up to his SPFBO 6 winning novel The Lost War. Ahead of this momentous event, I have the distinct pleasure of sitting down with Justin and subjecting him […]
REVIEW: Buzzard’s Bowl (Tragedy of Cedain #2) by John Palladino
SYNOPSIS Cedain continues to collapse. Ashmount’s destruction shatters the Magicai while the culprits responsible continue sabotaging the world. All the while, the next season of Buzzard’s Bowl begins and Edelbrock, in his constant fight for survival, desires a vengeance he can only find in the arena. Seradal and Villic find themselves in the middle of […]
Book Review: The Blood Stones by Tori Tecken
TL;DR Review – A brilliant, complex, engaging story that had me reading compulsively from start to finish. A familiar yet fresh fantasy epic. 5 stars. Synopsis: His name is not worthy. A traitor is executed, his name ripped away from history. Now the kingdom stands on the brink of a succession war that could bring […]