Rating: 4.0/5.0 Synopsis: The thrilling adventure of Lady Trent continues in Marie Brennan's The Tropic of Serpents . . . Attentive readers of Lady Trent’s earlier memoir, A Natural History of Dragons, are already familiar with how a bookish and determined young woman named Isabella first set out on the historic course that would one... Continue Reading →
The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons – Review
Rating: 3.0/5.0 Synopsis: The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder. In a world where females are scarce and are... Continue Reading →
The Thorn of Dentonhill by Marshall Ryan Maresca – Review
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Synopsis: Veranix Calbert leads a double life. By day, he’s a struggling magic student at the University of Maradaine. At night, he spoils the drug trade of Willem Fenmere, crime boss of Dentonhill and murderer of Veranix’s father. He’s determined to shut Fenmere down. With that goal in mind, Veranix disrupts the delivery of... Continue Reading →
Valor by John Gwynne – Review
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Synopsis: The Banished Lands is torn by war as High King Nathair sweeps the land challenging all who oppose him in his holy crusade. Allied with the manipulative Queen Rhin of Cambren, there are few who can stand against them. But Rhin is playing her own games and has her eyes on a... Continue Reading →
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – Review
Rating: 4.5/5.0 Synopsis: In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession... Continue Reading →
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas – Review
Rating: 5.0/5.0 Synopsis: Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . . She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne,... Continue Reading →
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – Review
Rating: 5.0/5.0 Synopsis: From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves... Continue Reading →
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon – Review
Rating: 5.0/5.0 Synopsis: The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she... Continue Reading →
The Sword of the Bright Lady by M.C. Planck – Review
Rating: 4.0/5.0 Synopsis: Christopher Sinclair goes out for a walk on a mild Arizona evening and never comes back. He stumbles into a freezing winter under an impossible night sky, where magic is real -- but bought at a terrible price. A misplaced act of decency lands him in a brawl with an arrogant nobleman... Continue Reading →
Top 5 Grimdark Series
The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence The Powder Mage Trilogy by Brian McClellan Raven's Shadow Trilogy by Anthony Ryan The Chronicles of the Black Company by Glen Cook For those of you unaware, Grimdark refers to a sub-genre of speculative fiction that is particularly realistic... Continue Reading →
