The nitty-gritty: A weird and wonderful trip to the stars and planets, a perplexing and unsettling mystery, and a rather frustrating—but ultimately rewarding—reading experience. Pluto and Charon in a verdant jungle embrace: between them grew vines as thick and long and mighty as the Mississippi river, great lily-lime leaves opening, curling toward the distant star […]
The nitty-gritty: A mind-blowing presentation of an exciting space adventure, and one of the most unique books I’ve ever read! I was lucky enough to land one of the nifty hardcover ARCs of Illuminae, and that made all the difference in my reading experience. This is definitely a book you’ll want to read in physical […]
The nitty-gritty: A poignant and magical tale of feuding families and forbidden love, perfectly written. Embers clung to the edges, dense as a band of stars. The fabric burned and thinned. It glowed translucent, and then crumbled to ash. The thin wood of the porcelain vines released the scent of their blue berries, and the […]
The nitty-gritty: A rip-roaring adventure through time with an awesome premise and complex characters. A fantastic start to a new Wesley Chu trilogy! I absolutely adored Chu’s Tao series (well, me and every other SFF fan on the planet!) and so I was curious to see what else he had up his sleeves. And I’m […]
The nitty-gritty: A fast paced, frenetic story of alien invasion written as only Ernest Cline can write it, with plenty of video game action for gamers and sci-fi movie references for everyone else. As we ascended, my internal monologue went something like this: That isn’t some guy cosplaying at SobruCon IV, Zack. To me, he […]
Uprooted by Naomi Novik Genre: Adult fantasy Publisher: Del Rey Release date: May 19 2015 Source: eARC from publisher via Edelweiss Pages: 448 The nitty-gritty: A glorious, intricate fantasy with strong horror elements, that drew me in and held me spellbound. Next door, Wensa would be cooking chestnuts and dried plums and carrots, with a slab […]
Hexed: The Sisters of Witchdown by Michael Alan Nelson Genre: Young adult urban fantasy Publisher: Pyr Books Release date: May 5 2015 Source: Finished paperback from publisher Pages: 290 The nitty-gritty: An unexpectedly awesome combination of urban fantasy, Buffy-like hijinks and cinematic action scenes, with a dollop of teen angst and emotion thrown in for good […]
When We Were Animals by Joshua Gaylord Genre: Adult speculative fiction Publisher: Mulholland Books Release date: April 21 2015 Source: eARC from publisher via NetGalley Pages: 336 The nitty-gritty: An allegorical story about one teen’s journey toward adulthood, and all the unusual challenges she and her friends must overcome. And it makes me wonder if […]
Bitter Sixteen by Stefan Mohamed Genre: Young adult fantasy Publisher: Salt Publishing Release date: April 15 2015 Source: Finished copy from publisher Pages: 352 The nitty-gritty: A unique take on the superhero story with a funny cast of characters and one talking dog. If coming into London had felt like being swallowed, heading down into its hot, […]
Sing Me Your Scars (Apex Voices #03) by Damien Angelica Walters Genre: Adult horror short stories Publisher: Apex Publications Release date: March 10 2015 Source: eARC from publisher Pages: 200 The nitty-gritty: A powerful collection of disturbing but compelling reflections on pain, abuse and loss, beautifully written. I left the first bridge alone. It didn’t […]