Starling House by Alix E. Harrow – Review
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
...a solid read with a strong sense of atmosphere and some thoughtful themes.
mystery
A. A. Freeman Interview – Echo of the Larkspur
Jennie Ivins
Today we are interviewing friend of the site and soon-to-debut author, A. A. Freeman! Okay to be fair she is already an author, but next month will be the release…
A Charm of Magpies by K. J. Charles – Series Review
If you enjoy clever dialogue, dark humour, strong character dynamics, and a good dose of magical intrigue, you might find yourself unexpectedly swept up in this series
Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang – SPFBO #9 Finals Review
Today we are reviewing Murder at Spindle Manor, which was Philip Chase’s pick for this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. You can read their review here. And you can see the…
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
A. A. Freeman
I never enjoy describing things with, “It’s like X meets Y!” since I always felt it was a rather lazy way to describe something. No one says, “Hamsters are like…
The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell
L. A. Young
2020 continues to present books by debut authors, which continues the expansion of speculative fiction canon. Several works by new authors remind readers the genre is influenced by more than…
Kalanon’s Rising by Darian Smith – SPFBO #5 Finals Review
Geoff Matthews
Solve the murder. Stop the war. Save the world. Sir Brannon Kesh spent years building a new life as a physician, leaving the name Bloodhawk and the war that spawned…
One Way by S. J. Morden
Jessica Juby
Frank Kittridge is a middle-aged convict, doing time for killing his son’s drug supplier. His wife has divorced him and moved away with their son; he hasn’t heard from either…
Quill by A. C. Cobble
Kartik Narayanan
Quill is the first book in a new series, The Cartographer, by A. C. Cobble (author of the Benjamin Ashwood series). It is a fantasy wrapped in steampunk, inside a…
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss
Jo Niederhoff
When we last left our intrepid heroines, they had just received word from Mina Murray, Mary’s governess, that their help was urgently needed for one Lucinda van Helsing. That’s right.…
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
First, a disclaimer: This book draws heavily on various Victorian and pre-Victorian speculative fiction, as does its sequel (which I will review next month). I was a very precocious teen…
Black Man (a.k.a. Thirteen) by Richard Morgan
Toby Frost
Carl Marsalis is a Variant Thirteen, a genetically-engineered throwback to a strain of human that died out thousands of years ago. He is a tough, aggressive loner, instinctively cunning and…