The nitty-gritty: A fascinating concept, political intrigue, plenty of mysteries, but written in a format that might not work for every reader. I love reading hyped books like Sleeping Giants, because I like to form my own opinions. Sleeping Giants has received all sorts of starred reviews from review journals, but in the blogging community, […]
The nitty-gritty: Intricate and otherworldly, emotional and thought provoking, Tidhar’s vision of the future is both familiar and alien at the same time. With each season a new godling appeared in the streets and alleyways of Central Station. They were nebulous things, more than human, less than Other, like semi-sentient sculptures which straddles both the […]
The nitty-gritty: A short tale that’s packed with action, humor, and some old favorite characters. I fell in love with Wesley Chu’s Tao series, which ended last year with The Deaths of Tao, and so I was thrilled to discover he was writing a novella set in the same universe. The Days of Tao is […]
The nitty-gritty: An instant classic, Railhead deserves a spot up there with some of the best young adult fantasy/science fiction ever written. The train was gone, but he could still see her, striding along beside him in the sodium glow from the trackside lamps. The smell of space clung to her, rich and smoky. What […]
The nitty-gritty: A fast-paced sci-fi adventure, with one of the coolest concepts I’ve ever run across, and a twist that you won’t see coming. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about Will McIntosh’s adult novels (Love Minus Eighty and Defenders) but this is the first book of his I’ve read. In his YA debut, McIntosh has come […]
The nitty-gritty: A fantastical gathering of Apex’s best of the last six years, showing a broad range of styles and talents in speculative fiction, with something for everyone. Apex Magazine has been going strong for six years, and I’m so happy to have read this group of stories selected from among hundreds published over the […]
The nitty-gritty: A very short but powerful story about a girl leaving home for the first time, with a strong theme of dealing with prejudice, but a little too short, in my opinion, to fully develop that theme. This is the second work of fiction that I’ve read by Nnedi Okorafor, and I have to […]
The nitty-gritty: A time travel story with loads of potential and an important message about feminism, which could have benefited from more editing. I’m always up for a good time travel story, and Weighing Shadows seemed like it was going to be a good one. And it was—to an extent. There were many things I enjoyed, […]
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: An intense and fast-paced story, with several mysteries that aren’t revealed until the end, but with an unexpected turn of events that I found disorienting. Planetfall has been getting stellar reviews, and I’m definitely on board with this highly readable story that I literally could not put down. However, I also had a […]