The Ruin of Kings opens Jenn Lyons’ five-book epic fantasy series, A Chorus of Dragons. Despite my love of epic fantasy, I hadn’t gotten to it when it came out. But Tor Books threw their considerable marketing muscle behind the opener—I couldn’t go anywhere in fantasy-leaning corners of the Internet in 2019 without hearing about… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
Tyler Hayes’ debut has run under the radar, but the few reviews I’ve seen have been glowing, and the concept of The Imaginary Corpse was eye-catching enough to immediately put this one on my list. The Imaginary Corpse takes place in the Stillreal, where figments of imagination go when they are too real to disappear… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes
The Vanished Birds is another book that I didn’t know much about before award nominations came out, but Simon Jimenez was nominated for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer on the strength of this debut, so I thought it was well worth a shot. Before starting, I had heard that The Vanished Birds was… Continue reading Science Fiction Novel Review: The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
Nominations for both Hugo and Nebula Awards certainly put Finna on my radar, but I knew next-to nothing about Nino Cipri’s debut novella before reading it—in fact, I mistakenly thought that the title was a reference to the African American slang for “going to” (by way of the Southern US idiom “fixing to”) rather than… Continue reading Sci-fi/Fantasy Novella Review: Finna by Nino Cipri
The title is great, the cover is gorgeous, and Benedict Patrick’s novelette “And They Were Never Heard From Again” was one of the best stories I read all of last year. So dipping back into Yarnsworld for the first full-length novel was a no-brainer. They Mostly Come Out at Night is a dark fairy tale, with… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: They Mostly Come Out at Night by Benedict Patrick
I didn’t see too much hype for Micaiah Johnson’s debut–although it was enough to push my library hold to five months–but what it lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality. Every single review I saw for The Space Between Worlds raves about it. I was hoping to read it before award nomination season ended, but… Continue reading Science Fiction Novel Review: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
There seemed to be some debate about whether Black Girl Unlimited was fantasy or a memoir, but the first reviews were almost universally glowing, and early March was a good time to read some promising 2020 publications before award nominations were due. So I thought I’d give Echo Brown’s debut a shot, and I’m glad… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Black Girl Unlimited by Echo Brown
A couple years ago, I saw Carol Berg’s Lighthouse Duet mentioned on a list of outstanding female-authored epic fantasies that never got the recognition they deserved. After The Lighthouse Duet became one of my all-time favorites, I resolved to dedicate a good chunk of reading time to under-the-radar, female-authored epics. And another on the list… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Transformation by Carol Berg
Amari and the Night Brothers is the first book that I’ve read as a direct result of #booktwitter. My previous book discussion spots didn’t hit middle grade too hard, but my Twitter feed was buzzing about B.B. Alston’s debut, and I’d been looking to dip my toe back into fantasy for younger audiences (Harry Potter… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
I hadn’t heard much about Hench when it came out, but this is the time of year when an interesting premise and a couple people convinced it should be in consideration for a Hugo nomination is enough to give something a second look. And, while I probably won’t include Hench on my ballot, Natalie Zina… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
