Tade Thompson’s first contact novel Rosewater was released by a small press in 2016 and quickly generated enough attention for a Nommo Award and an acquisition by Orbit, who rereleased the book in 2018 in advance of the trilogy continuing with a pair of 2019 installments. Like so many highly-praised novels, it’s been on my… Continue reading Science Fiction Novel Review: Rosewater by Tade Thompson
After reading and immensely enjoying the winners of the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, I decided to start following the competition more closely and checking out the books that looked most intriguing. The 2020 SPFBO delivered one of my favorite books of the year in the semifinals, and when The Lost… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson
Last summer, I read and really enjoyed Kate Elliott’s co-written The Golden Key, and I’ve been meaning to grab some of her solo work ever since. She has an extensive enough catalogue to make the choosing difficult, but I’m a sucker for big fantasy epics, so I finally dived in with Spirit Gate, which opens… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott
A couple years ago, I saw Carol Berg’s Lighthouse Duet mentioned on a list of outstanding female-authored epic fantasies that never got the recognition they deserved. After The Lighthouse Duet became one of my all-time favorites, I resolved to dedicate a good chunk of reading time to under-the-radar, female-authored epics. And another on the list… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Transformation by Carol Berg
Amari and the Night Brothers is the first book that I’ve read as a direct result of #booktwitter. My previous book discussion spots didn’t hit middle grade too hard, but my Twitter feed was buzzing about B.B. Alston’s debut, and I’d been looking to dip my toe back into fantasy for younger audiences (Harry Potter… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
New epic fantasies always give me more apprehension than any other book. The ones that hit tend to really hit, and secondary world fantasy series dominate my all-time favorites list. But they try to accomplish so much that it’s easy to get bogged down in the setup, and I DNF epics more than anything else.… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
K.B. Wagers’ A Pale Light in the Black promises a heartwarming tale of finding family in a military setting, complete with lots of sci-fi sporting competition. As someone who grew up reading sports novels as much as speculative fiction, I had to check it out, and, as promised, it was a lot of fun. A… Continue reading Science Fiction Novel Review: A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers
After years of mostly sticking to adult fantasy, Legendborn is my second young adult book in the last five weeks (third if you count A Deadly Education, which sits somewhere between YA and dark fantasy), and if Tracy Deonn’s work is representative of the quality in YA fantasy, I’m going to have to read more.… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
I’m a sucker for academy settings, and I’d been hearing great things about Naomi Novik for a long time, so when A Deadly Education debuted this fall, putting my name on the library wait list was an easy decision, and ultimately a rewarding one. A Deadly Education is very clearly a post-Harry Potter magic school… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Full disclosure: nautical stories are not usually my thing, and this colors my review. But I’ve read some really good books that might not have grabbed me based on the blurb, and The Bone Ships (and its sequel, released last month) had been getting such rave reviews that I thought R.J. Barker’s offering may be… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker
