Synopsis Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns to his popular alternate Cairo universe for his fantasy novel debut, A Master of Djinn Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the […]
Fantasy
Review: The Traitor God (Age of Tyranny #1) by Cameron Johnston
Synopsis A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast, or lose everything, in this crushing epic fantasy debut. After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened […]
Australian & New Zealand Author Showcase No 19 – Joshua Walker
Its 2024 and the Showcase you didn’t know you needed is back! 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 who might be gathered together if we had similar conventions […]
Review: Night of Knives (Novels of the Malazan Empire #1) by Ian C. Esslemont
Synopsis: The empire is named for the tiny island and city of Malaz, now a sleepy, seedy backwater port. Tonight however, a once-in-a-generation Shadow Moon brings demon hounds and darker beings. Also, a prophecy promises the return of long missing Emperor Kellanved to the contended imperial throne. This night will determine the fate of the […]
Review: Undead Samurai by Baptiste Pinson Wu
Rating – 9 /10 Synopsis ” His hand moved before his brain could. His left hand pulled on the saya, while the right drove the blade forward.” Japan, 1625 A new Drum Master has risen, and soon the nation will fall to the curse of Izanagi. Answering the call of his kotsuzumi, dead warriors abandon […]
Harry’s Top 10 reads of 2023
Without further ado, here are my top 10 reads of 2023!
Review: Elegy of a Fragmented Vineyard by Kaden Love
TL;DR Review: A stunning complex, thoroughly fleshed-out world and a terribly grim premise heralding from a talented new voice in fantasy. Synopsis: Forced to appease the policies of a foreign fiefdom, Phenmir must do the unthinkable: harvest organs from infants. Ten years ago, a new generation of children began to manifest abilities from the gods. […]
REVIEW: Heliotrope by Palmer Pickering
SYNOPSIS Teleo is a retired soldier descended from Mages, who were cast out of power generations ago. After years of war and sorrow, he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life on his farm and work his stonemason’s craft. His wife and daughter had been murdered during a war raid several years earlier […]
The Way of Renegades (The Bards and Dragons Saga #1) by Steve D. Wall
Synopsis Ulric, former war hero, has been living a quiet life of exile in the frontier city of Quinport and wants only to continue hiding from the mistakes of his past. But then he discovers the invention of a revolutionary new kind of rifle, and worse, the ruling Coalition discovers his identity. Rather than be […]
The Horns of Grief (Blood and Steel Saga #2) by E.J. Doble
Synopsis In a quiet tower, in a black stone keep, a new era of man had begun… The Imperial Army has been routed.Rebellion strikes in the Provenci homeland.A champion is sent north to serve the Iron Queen with every intent on exacting her demise.And the Successor of the All-Mother, champion of the known world, discovers […]
REVIEW: His Ragged Company (Testimonies of Elias Faust #1) by Rance D. Denton
SYNOPSIS A pissed-off warlock with a taste for revenge. An army of sand-golems with fistfuls of magic. A wishing well with a mind of its own. No wonder Blackpeak, Texas never got its spot on the map. Town marshal Elias Faust thinks that he can make any problem go away if he throws enough lead […]
Review: Murtagh (The Inheritance Cycle #5) by Christopher Paolini
Synopsis The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. Throughout the […]