The nitty-gritty: A stellar start to a new series, The Book of Koli surprised me in just about every possible way. I’ve read every one of M.R. Carey’s books—or at least the books he’s written under the name M.R. Carey (he has an urban fantasy series written as Mike Carey that I’m dying to read!)—and […]
The nitty-gritty: An inventive and quirky tale, Hearts of Oak was a surprise from start to finish. Well, this was an odd story! And I mean that in a good way. Whatever you think Hearts of Oak is about, be ready to adjust your perceptions, because it started one way, and at about the halfway […]
The nitty-gritty: A bloody, scary good time, skillfully written and paced, Bent Heavens kept me flipping pages, even though I had some issues with a few elements. I’ve seen some fantastic reviews for Bent Heavens, and so I went into it with high hopes, knowing this was a thriller/horror story revolving around aliens. And without […]
The nitty-gritty: Wormholes, a missing grandmother, relationship drama and even some eldritch god horror infuse this short and lively novella with excitement and heart. Finna was a lot of wacky fun, with some surprisingly thoughtful emotional moments and commentary on identity. I wasn’t sure all these disparate elements would mesh together, but by the end […]
The nitty-gritty: A raw and heartbreaking story about growing up Black, Onyebuchi infuses his tale with fantastical elements and gives us characters who are not willing to sit still. I went into Riot Baby with no expectations at all, and I think that’s the best way to approach this story. This short novella is a […]
The nitty-gritty: An seemingly innocent game turns dark and deadly in Danny Tobey’s latest sci-fi thriller. The God Game is being heavily compared to Black Mirror by other reviewers, but because I’ve never watched that show, I can’t say how accurate the comparison is. But what I can tell you is that I had so […]
The nitty-gritty: A thrilling and completely entertaining read from start to finish, Charles Soule once again knocks it out of the park with Anyone. Anyone is a December release that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get to by the end of the year, but I’m so glad I decided to pick it up. […]
The nitty-gritty: Malka Oldler’s insights into the human condition give these quirky stories heft and emotion, and I thought about them long after I had finished reading. I really enjoyed Malka Older’s serialized science fiction story, Ninth Step Station, so when I was asked if I’d like to read her latest short story collection, I […]
The nitty-gritty: An exciting, action-packed follow-up to Polaris Rising with new characters, plenty of danger, and some steamy romance too. I do love when publishers decide to release an entire series on a short publication schedule, and Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion series is one of those happy instances. I reviewed the first book in the series, […]
The nitty-gritty: A perfect mash-up of fantasy and science fiction, this book is an ambitious tale full of sparkling characters, political maneuvering, a cool magic system and much more. Oh, and Kreshti ferns! OK, I was not prepared to love this as much as I did! I’ve read several reviews where the reviewer did not […]