Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith
Nicole Singer
Karina Sumner-Smith’s debut novel is an edgy tale of friendship and the dark economies of magic. She twists traditional fantasy elements in utterly unique ways and creates an overall enjoyable…
Reviews
Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
Joie
Just when I think the series can’t get any better, I am proven wrong. Boy, was I wrong. One would expect book number eight in the series to be simply…
Exile by James Cormier – SPFBO Review
Sonia Grace
I read this book as part of Mark Lawrence’s Self Published Challenge. James Cormier’s Exile pleasantly surprised me. I’ve never had any luck with reading self-published work, although I know…
The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato
Jo Niederhoff
I think it can safely be assumed that healers have a certain reputation in fantasy works: they’re good for saving people’s lives but not much else. If someone in a…
Unicorns! edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois
Raymond K. Rugg
My regular readers know that I’ve recently revisited some old-school fantasy by re-reading the Thieves’ World books. And one of the anthologies in the shared-universe fantasy series was called Tales…
The Book Of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Jonathan Thornton
“We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges. When soldiers take their oath they are…
The Hunter’s Kind by Rebecca Levene
Lucy Hounsom
The Hunter’s Kind is a clever and multi-layered book, which builds magnificently on Smiler’s Fair, the first in The Hollow Gods series. Levene made a name for herself as a…
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
My first novel by this author did not readily impress me at the beginning. A child-operated book-smuggling outfit run by a greedy, cold-hearted family—not all that unique of a plot…
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Charlie Hopkins
We open on an oddly dressed girl walking down a road and refusing a ride from a stranger because she does not want to have to kill them, reasoning that…
Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal
Victoria Hooper
Of Noble Family is the fifth and final book in the Glamourist Histories series by Mary Robinette Kowal, set in an alternate version of the Regency period with magic in…
The Heresy Within by Rob J. Hayes
Richard Bray
A few months ago, I reviewed Blackguards: Tales of Assassins, Mercenaries and Rogues (you can find that review here), and noted that the anthology’s protagonists had a certain moral flexibility…
The Warrior Prophet by R. Scott Bakker
James Davies
The Warrior Prophet is an immense book. Bakker has pushed through the teething issues of his debut and flowered into an incredible effort as the story of the Prince of…