No Gods, No Monsters is something special. Its ambition leaves a lot of room for error, but due to its authors’ past masteries, I went in with high expectations. Cadwell Turnbull has already created ambitious stories that sound too daunting to work but completely do. For a novel to incorporate one incredibly unique idea is Read more
When I reviewed SAVAGE LEGION, I said the book was one that I noticed had something larger to say than could be found in the text. And that holds true again with SAVAGE BOUNTY. Where Legion held up the mirror of an ugly society and kept you in a headlock while looking at it, Bounty Read more
If you’ve been following P. Djèlí Clark’s Dead Djinn Universe, then you’ve been on the tram car towards the highly anticipated full-length novel, A Master of Djinn. In real Clark fashion, he has crafted a mystery/police procedural within the steampunk-alternate world of 1912 Cairo. Although it is preceded by other shorter works, this book reads Read more
Epic fantasies can be a storm of plot threads coming together in either chaotic entanglement or interwoven beauty. Son of the Storm has the good type of an epic storm. Flipping some epic fantasy tropes on its head, while keeping ones that aren’t problematic, the novel fluidly sets up a world, while never bogging it Read more
With the call for more diversity in publishing – either sincere or manufactured – there has been a surge in Caribbean-centered fantasy releases. Witches Steeped in Gold – with its beautiful cover, an intriguing premise, and the high anticipation of readers had me cautiously excited. From the first page, I was plunged into a vast Read more
Do you remember that opening scene in the movie Us where little Adelaide gets lost at the Beach Boardwalk? She wanders around this dark carnival and her life ends up forever changed because of it. This book reminds me of that pivotal scene expanded into a novel. It’s gorgeous while somehow never losing sight of Read more
At its core, this is a book about how colonialism permanently erupts the idea of home. Can you exist in the world without a home? If home isn’t just a place, then why fight so hard for the land you stand on? Can you come back to a home you never even knew? Are you Read more
There is power in allowing people to tell their own stories and not only power, but nuances that could never be captured by an outsider. Eden Royce gives us a radiant example of this needed phenomena in ROOT MAGIC. It’s a historical fantasy Middle Grade set in the 60s and the atmosphere comes off the Read more
Tau continues his journey in the second book of Evan Winter’s unbelievably well-paced series. If you’ve read RAGE OF DRAGONS then you already know what I’m talking about. Somehow, that book managed to maintain nearly non-stop action without sacrificing any characterization. It’s a feat that I remain intensely impressed by. I watched a talk Winter Read more
Set in New York, at the dawn of WWII, Trouble the Saints is a story that starts with a notorious assassin whose ‘hands’ gift her deadly precision with knives. While trying hard to leave this life behind, we learn more about the race and power dynamics of the 1930s with a magical – somewhat mystical Read more
