Most Recent
-
The NYC Midnight Micro-fiction 250 Challenge for 2021 is the third time it has been run and, in short, it’s a challenge to write flash fiction stories, in under 24 hours, to three specific prompts and no more than 250 words long. Each round you get a genre, action and word prompt that shapes what…
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John ScalziMy rating: 5 of 5 stars A spectacular modern-day sci-fi romp through an alternate Earth with mountainous creatures and a bunch of nerds trying to study them. Jamie, our narrator, stumbles into a job as a lifter of things for KPS but, for some reason, doesn’t ask what KPS…
-
The Coward by Stephen AryanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars The Coward takes a look behind the heroes in their tales and sagas to reveal who the real people behind the songs and daring deeds are. Written primarily from the point of view of main character, Kell Kressia, The Coward sees a damaged man thrust…
-
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence My rating: 4 of 5 stars Note: I’ve kept this one short given the popularity of the series and the length of time it’s been out. It’s hard to provide a no-spoiler review that doesn’t cover what everyone before me has already mentioned. This was Mark Lawrence’s debut and…
-
We Are the Dead by Mike Shackle My rating: 5 of 5 stars When you think of a rollercoaster it’s fast, frenetic and a little bit scary, which is what you’ll get from We Are the Dead without having to queue for two hours first. WATD is the debut novel from Mike Shackle in his…
-
Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill My rating: 4 of 5 stars Of Blood and Fire from Ryan Cahill is a great debut, marking the start of The Bound and the Broken series, which proved an addictive read. It is a classic epic fantasy with a modern interpretation. Though this starts off in familiar…
-
The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. GreathouseMy rating: 4 of 5 stars An Asian-inspired fantasy steeped in ancestry, obligation and magics. Wen Alder is a child of a Sien father and a Nayeni mother; the Sienese are the conquerors of Nayen (& many other lands) and Alder is torn between the two early…
-
2020 on Goodreads by Various My rating: 4 of 5 stars If there can be one good thing that came out of 2020, it’s that my reading hit an all-time high. I don’t think I’ve read this many books in a single year before! In part, this is due to all the circumstance changes throughout…
-
The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is floating somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5 for me so I’m hedging my bets with a 3. I really enjoyed the folkloric elements of this story especially Vasya’s interactions with the various spirits she encountered as well as…
-
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir My rating: 3 of 5 stars If you’ve come for the “lesbian necromancers in space” then, er, readjust your expectations. There’s no romantic or sexual involvement between anyone. Sure, Gideon fancies women but at no point does anyone identify themselves by a set sexuality – she could be bi…