Courtney Schafer’s “Readers of the Lost Arc” series of blog posts has been a fascinating source for discovering underappreciated fantasy–mostly female-authored–from decades past. So when I saw a few recommendations for her own debut novel, The Whitefire Crossing, I decided to pick up a copy. The TBR being what it is, there was quite a… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer
I’m not usually much of a horror fan, but M. Shaw caught my attention with their unsettling short story “Man vs Bomb”—one of the best I read in 2021—and the premise of their weird horror novella One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve was intriguing enough for me to close 2022 by taking a… Continue reading Horror Novella Review: One Hand to Hold, One Hand to Carve by M. Shaw
This review is based on a review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. I’ve dipped my toe into Janny Wurts’ catalog on a few occasions, reading the opening novels of The Empire Trilogy and The Wars of Light and Shadow and the excellent standalone epic fantasy thriller To Ride Hell’s… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Gallant by Janny Wurts
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. And Put Away Childish Things will be released on March 28, 2023. Adrian Tchaikovsky has become a bit of an auto-read for me, after I absolutely adored the first three books I read by… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Rose/House will be released on March 31, 2023. It’s safe to say that Arkady Martine has exploded onto the scene, at least in the corners of genre fandom that saw her win Hugo Awards… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: Rose/House by Arkady Martine
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Infinity Gate will be released on March 28, 2023. I’ve read a fair few multiverse stories lately, but well…I have a soft spot for multiverses, and M.R. Carey is an author who has been… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey
They Made Us Blood and Fury is a self-published fantasy novel that—despite my involvement with SPSFC and general awareness of SPFBO—wasn’t really on my radar before I saw it pop up as a Nommo Award finalist. Not sure whether I just missed it, or whether there’s a disconnect between the US/UK self-publishing scene and the… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: They Made Us Blood and Fury by Cheryl S. Ntumy
Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn was one of my biggest positive surprises of 2021. It was my vote for the Lodestar that year (though it’s hard to complain too much about a loss to the also-excellent A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking), and it saw Deonn in my top two for the 2022 Astounding Award. Point is,… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
I may not have been quite as wowed as the general public by the first two books of Naomi Novik’s award-winning Scholomance series, but I had a whole lot of fun with both A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate and was excited to return to the world for the trilogy closer, The Golden Enclaves. … Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Ten Percent Thief will be released on March 28, 2023. I’ve had Lavanya Lakshminarayan’s Analog/Virtual on my TBR for a couple years, after seeing it recommended on a list of underrated speculative fiction… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
