She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
JC Kang
Mulan meets Swordsman 2. As a mostly-audiobook consumer with little time to actually read, it had taken me two weeks to finish Nghi Vo’s short novella, Empress of Salt and…
Tor Books
First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara
L. A. Young
Trigger Warning for First, Become Ashes: This books (not this review) contains explicit sadomasochism and sexual content, as well as abuse and consent violations, including rape. An individual carries their…
The Memory of Souls by Jenn Lyons
Epic stories—especially epic fantasy (the term “saga” is used for science fiction)—are known for their long narration. Epic fantasy stories consist of a slew of characters, layered and complex plots…
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Richard Marpole
It was the name that first attracted me to this book. An angel associated with a pagan symbol of death and mysticism; the possibilities set my mind racing. Then, I…
The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons
Many fantasy stories tend to focus on a set of characters within one central setting. Then, there are the stories that take place across generations and various locations. The former…
The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
Stories are told as entertainment, and we all become familiar with certain tropes: the lost heir, the fulfillment of the prophecy, the quest for a mythical sword, etc. Nowadays, some…
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
Inspiration and influence comes from anything from an ephemeral moment to a persistent belief; from one line in a song to a passage in a story to a scene from…
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
Reviewer’s Note: Upon finishing this novella, which took six days the first time around, I immediately wrote an initial review where I rated it 6/10 stars. Then, I re-read it,…
TorCon 2020: V. E. Schwab & Neil Gaiman
Kellie Doherty
Editor’s Note: This post is a wee bit late. My June got a bit crazy and this article got lost in the shuffle. Apologies to the authors and organizers for…
Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
The 21st Century has seen a slew of diverse authors writing and releasing stories that have expanded the speculative fiction canon. Not only have these authors written stories for readers…
The Last Page by Anthony Huso
I must admit I started reading The Last Page years ago and got distracted, eventually abandoning it to gather dust in a corner of my flat. Now, like many bookish…
The Nine Realms by Sarah Kozloff – Series Review
Robert Jordan, Patrick Rothfuss, Brandon Sanderson, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Brent Weeks, Samantha Shannon, Haruki Murakami and Robin Hobb. These names go with epic fantasy, or any fantasy story that has…