Silvia Moreno-Garcia — Certain Dark Things (Book Review)
Silvia Moreno-Garcia combines noir detective style, vampire action, and Aztec legends in her upcoming reissue, Certain Dark Things. The supernatural mythology is compelling and her characters, human and otherwise, are unique. I’ve read eleventy million vampire books,...Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) — My Heart is a Chainsaw (Book Review)
Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) is a prolific writer, delving deep into the horror genre. His 2021 entry to the canon is My Heart is a Chainsaw. (Anticipated publication on August 31.) In it, 17-year-old Jade Daniels is a rabid fan of slasher films. She’s watched them all...Scott Hawkins — The Library at Mount Char (Book Review)
The Library at Mount Char, a spectacular debut novel from Scott Hawkins, combines epic and urban fantasy. It’s confusing for a long while, but thankfully the focus ultimately tightens. Better still, Hawkins creates memorable characters whose true nature hovers just...Mariam Petrosyan — The Gray House (Book Review)
Mariam Petrosyan is an Armenian-born author living in Russia. The Gray House is her debut novel, and she says her only novel. Although it’s a prize winner in Russia, I found it confusing and often amateurish. My main feeling at the end is, “thank goodness that’s...Dr. Greta Helsing Books #2 and #3 from Vivian Shaw: Quirky Contemporary Fantasy (Book Reviews)
In her Dr. Greta Helsing series, author Vivian Shaw mixes weird science, likable characters, and tongue-in-cheek humor in a contemporary fantasy brew. Not as gritty as some urban fantasy, the books are built around Helsing’s career as a medical doctor to supernatural...Richelle Mead: Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid #1)—Book Review
Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead was a straight-up palate cleanser choice for me. You know, those books that don’t require much thought. I sped through the audiobook, partly because it’s shorter and partly because I enjoyed the story. Fantasy books often work like this...The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston (Book Review)
The Garden of Promises and Lies by Paula Brackston is book three in her Found Things series. It’s a little bit romance, a solid dash of historical fiction, and a lot of time traveling hijinks. Our heroine Xanthe Westlake partners with her mother Flora in an antique...Stephen Graham Jones: Genre Bending Horror in The Only Good Indians (Book Review)
From Native American author Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good Indians is horror painted on the unsettled background of reservation life. It also bends the time, space, and being continuums. In other words, you’ll need to suspend all disbelief and just go with it. So...Life on Other Planets? The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin Book Review (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1)
The Three-Body Problem is science fiction based in China and written by Chinese author Liu Cixin. Despite being set in a completely different culture, the science focus offers plenty of commonalities. Plus, of course, the fascination with life on other planets. That...Book Review: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Justina Ireland combines zombies with post-Civil War era uncertainties in her alternate history romp, Dread Nation. So now you know, I’ve read two zombie books by Black authors in as many months. Thankfully, this one is more action-packed and features a high-energy,...Book Review: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (Sorcerer Royal #1)
The publisher summary of Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho focuses on Zacharias Wythe, who is England’s young Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers. But for me, this imaginative fantasy is as much about the female lead Prunella, as it is about Zacharias. And Cho...Book Review: You Suck by Christopher Moore
Well, I just feel silly reviewing a vampire book by Christopher Moore this week. I could point you towards social and racial justice reading suggestions. Or maybe diving into my advanced readers’ copy of Mychal Denzel Smith’s upcoming release is an idea. But, as it...Book Review: Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Zone One from Colson Whitehead isn’t your typical zombie novel. Not that I’m a regular reader of the genre. But I know my fantasy and horror. What Whitehead does is show us the mind of one man in his post-pandemic world. (Yes, I read another pandemic book.) This world...Book Review: Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things #2) by Paula Brackston
After I read the first book in Paula Brackston’s recent series, Found Things, I was super excited to read the next book. Called Secrets of the Chocolate House, I finished it in the midst of our current global pandemic crisis. Naturally, I wished for escapist reading....Book Reviews: Nora Roberts – Chronicles of The One, Books 2 and 3
I never thought about Nora Roberts as a fantasy author until she published Year One in 2017. When I finally listened to the audiobook last fall, I thought it was a gripping 4-star combination of post-pandemic survivalist epic and magical (or magickal as Roberts spells...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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