Book Review: The Galaxy, And The Ground Within

If you had asked me to list out my most anticipated books of 2021, The Galaxy, And The Ground Within certainly would have made the list. Becky Chambers’ previous Wayfarers books have been an utter delight, and have consistently made me cry at their emotional highpoints. I dove into this one almost immediately upon release, and I am pleased to say that the last Wayfarers book is just as good as its predecessors.

Book Review: The Witch's Heart

In late February 2021, I decided to start a SFF book club for myself and a few friends, mostly so I could share my love of SFF books with other people. But also, in part, because SFF tends to get overlooked as subject material for book clubs. There is a tendency to assume that because something is “merely” genre fiction, it is not capable of providing the same depth and meaning that a more “literary” style of fiction can provide.

This is, of course, utter bullshit, and you need look no farther than the first book my club read together, The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec.

Book Review: Circe

Time to circle back on a book I first reading during the Great Hiatus and recently re-read in the past few months: Circe by Madeline Miller, a retelling of Greek myth focused on that mysterious witch from The Odyssey, who turns men into pigs. Surely, there is more to tell.

Book Review: The Archive of the Forgotten

Ah, we have once again arrived at a book series where I read Book One during the Great Hiatus, and have now arrived to review Book Two. All anyone really had to do to sell me on this series was put the words “library” and “in hell” in the same sentence, and, coicidentially, “Hell’s Library” is the name of the series sooooo…here we go.

Book Review: The Midnight Bargain

After reading (and thoroughly enjoying) Witchmark and Stormsong, I was pleasantly surprised to see that C.L. Polk had another fantasy coming out, based on an entirely different premise. It looked to be somewhere between Pride and Prejudice and her previous works, so I was a little skeptical, but I ended up solidly in the Polk fan club once again.

Book Review: Master of Poisons

Hello & welcome to 2021. I took a little break over the holidays, while the world was going crazy, but I’m back now. And because I’ve got a substantial backlog to blitz through, my next couple reviews will be a little shorter than normal. Now, with no further ado, let’s chat about Master of Poisons.

Book Review: Battle Ground

A few months ago, I said that Peace Talks wasn’t really a full book, that we would have to wait for Battle Ground to really judge the quality of the story. I am pleased to report that Battle Ground has delivered tremendously on the long wait and delivers the payoff we wanted from Peace Talks.

Book Review: The Ruin of Kings

It is time, finally, for me to review the Chorus of Dragons books. When The Ruin of Kings first came out, I was strangely resistant to purchasing it. I don’t know why, because it sounded right up my alley, but I was. I finally got over whatever weird hangup I had last year, bought the book, and then had an immensely enjoyable romp through it in two days or so. With The Memory of Souls releasing this year, I took the time to re-read because trust me. You’ll need a re-read to make sure you haven’t missed anything big.

Book Review: Queen of the Conquered

Reading more diverse books has been a goal of mine for the last several years, and on the whole, I’ve done a much better job of seeking out marginalized authors. But given the circumstances of 2020, I wanted to make a more targeted effort to seek out Black writers this year. One result of that was reading Queen of the Conquered.