R.F. Kuang seems to be a divisive author, but while I understand and agree with many of the criticisms, her engaging prose style and hard-hitting thematic work has consistently drawn me in enough to leave me with overwhelmingly positive impressions. So while a quest into Hell is a little bit outside my wheelhouse as a… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
I’m not much of a horror person, but I do have a soft spot for “people are the real horror” historical pieces, with Tananarive Due’s The Reformatory and Victor LaValle’s Lone Women among my favorites of the last few years. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter seemed another entry along those lines, and given some glowing reviews… Continue reading Horror Novel Review: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
House of the Rain King by Will Greatwich is one of the few self-published novels that I’ve actually picked up in its publication year. A glowing review from someone who likes a lot of my favorites and a selection for an online book club was enough for me to take the plunge and see what… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: House of the Rain King by Will Greatwich
The Phoenix Pencil Company seems to have gotten more hype in general fiction circles than speculative fiction ones, but author Allison King caught my eye with her interview in Clarkesworld, and given my recent fascination with stories that play with memory and family, it moved up my TBR quickly. The Phoenix Pencil Company is essentially… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The Summer War will be released on September 16, 2025. I haven’t read much of Naomi Novik, but I’ve liked what I’ve read, and given that I’m always looking to try novellas from… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The Summer War by Naomi Novik
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. These Memories Do Not Belong to Us was released on August 12, 2025. Over the past year or so, I’ve noticed myself immensely enjoying stories that play with memory in interesting ways. So… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Ma
Despite an impressive collection of genre awards, Amal El-Mohtar had not published a solo work longer than a novelette until this year. So perhaps it’s no surprise that her first solo novella would be one of those books with hype levels that were off-the-charts. It was only a matter of time before I got to… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. The Memory Hunters was released on July 29, 2025. Seeing a romance reference and an Indiana Jones name-check in the first line of the blurb had me ready to skip Mia Tsai’s new fantasy, The Memory… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Memory Hunters by Mia Tsai
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. Uncertain Sons and Other Stories will be released on September 16, 2025. I’ve been reading Thomas Ha’s work for about four years now, and even though his most natural genre (weird horror) is one I… Continue reading Sci-fi/Horror Short Fiction Review: Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Inner Space will be released on July 15, 2025. Jakub Szamalek wasn’t an author I’d heard of before this year, but I’m always looking for intriguing books from outside the US, UK, and Canada,… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Inner Space by Jakub Szamalek
