Stars: 4 out of 5. I don’t read a lot of time travel stories. Usually because the science of it makes my head hurt, or because the complete lack of scientific backing or inner logic makes my brain hurt. Plus, I usually can’t get over the time paradox that a lot of these stories create. … Continue reading The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart →</a

 Stars: 1 out of 5. I DNFed this book at 55%. You would think that reaching the halfway point there would have been some exciting action, right? With a name like Extinction Trials, you would think there would be some high stakes, trials, etc., right? Wrong.  Yes, there seems to have been a mass extinction … Continue reading The Extinction Trials by A. G. Riddle →</a

 Stars: 4 out of 5. This was a surprise hit for me. I went into this book not expecting much of anything and just hoping that it would be a fun enough to compensate for a disastrous post-apocalyptic read I had DNFed before starting this. I’m glad that I tried it. It was fun, it … Continue reading Ion Curtain by Anya Ow →</a

 Stars: 4.5 out of 5 This was such a nice surprise of a book! It reads like urban fantasy… in a fantasy world instead of a slightly reimagined modern world. Since I love the urban fantasy vibe, this worked well for me.  In order for me to enjoy a book, I need to either be … Continue reading Gutter Mage by J.S. Kelley →</a

 Stars: 2.5 out of 5 I honestly don’t understand all the 5 stars ratings and raving reviews for this book. I didn’t see complex characters or well-realized world. All I saw was gratuitous violence, oversexualization, and very wobbly worldbuilding. My biggest pet peeve is the worldbuilding, actually. I am a firm believer that in fantasy, … Continue reading The Mad Trinkets by Cameron Scott Kirk →</a

 Stars: 5 out of 5 This was a surprise winner for me. I picked it up on whim and because the cover was so cool. I didn’t expect much of the story apart from space horror. I got that alright, but I also got surprisingly a lot of heart. Imagine for a moment that you … Continue reading The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown →</a

Stars: 2.5 out of 5 This is a hard one to review. On one hand, I liked it because it gave me a lot of the older Stephen King vibes. I love older Stephen King. On the other hand, this book has a lot of issues that just piled up the longer I read it … Continue reading The Nightmare Man by JH Markert →</a

Stars: 3.5 out of 5 This was better than the first book. Mainly because I thought I saw some character growth in Ben. After all, he sacrificed the Cherub to save a town instead of running away, like he would have done previously. That was the first selfless action I’d seen him do. And he … Continue reading Rising Tide (Ben Gold 2) by Rajan Khanna →</a

 Stars 5 out of 5. If anything, book 2 is even better than book 1. Since the backstory and worldbuilding had already been established in book 1, we can jump right into the story here. And what story it is! We thought that just reaching the garden and surviving the Rot had been a challenge. … Continue reading City of Stone and Silence (The Wells of Sorcery 2) by Django Wexler →</a

Stars: 4.5 out of 5 I like this book a lot more than the previous 3, maybe because the storyline was pretty straightforward, but also because our (un)merry band of curse sword bearers got a lot more character development here. I admit that I hadn’t been particularly impressed when I had picked up the first … Continue reading To Blackfyre Keep (The Seven Swords 4) by Anthony Ryan →</a

Stars: 4 out of 5 I love when I discover a new space opera series that I haven’t read before, and there are several books already written. This means that if I like the series, I can binge it at my heart’s content. I’m happy to say that Revelation Space is another binge-worthy contender.  The … Continue reading Revelation Space (Revelation Space 1) by Alastair Reynolds →</a

Stars: 4 out of 5 This series continues to impress. The books are short, but the author does a great job of telling the story and managing some pretty solid character development in the space of around 180-200 pages. As I had mentioned in my previous reviews, the biggest draw for me is the cast … Continue reading Hunting Season (Twenty-Sided Sorceress 4) Annie Bellet →</a

Stars: 3.5 out of 5 I hadn’t realized that this was book 3 of a series, so some of the events were a bit confusing, since I haven’t read the previous 2 installments. I’m interested enough to do go back and do it though. I think the most interesting part about this series is the … Continue reading The Last Days of Hong Kong (Witch of Empire 3) by G. D. Penman →</a

Stars: 3 out of 5. I loved the worldbuilding in this book. It’s different and interesting… and very confusing. The author drops us right into the world and doesn’t pause to explain anything, so in the beginning I was a little lost. I usually don’t mind that, because I like figuring things out and I … Continue reading The Godstone by Violette Malan →</a

 Stars: 4 out of 5. This is a dystopian novel, even if it takes the reader a while to recognize that. After all, we have a modern spaceship piloted by an AI and a crew member who is tasked with visiting a umber of worlds populated by humans. She trades trinkets and harmless technologies or … Continue reading Light Chaser by Peter F Hamilton →</a

Stars: 2 out of 5 I added one extra star for the originality of the premise. A soldier who dies during the Vietnam war ends up in a sort of transitional afterlife world where souls are supposed to heal and deal with their hang-ups before they transition into Heaven or Hell or reincarnate, depending on … Continue reading Shadebringer by Grayson W Hooper →</a

Stars: 3.5 out of 5 This is an interesting first book in an exciting new urban fantasy series. I will definitely follow this author for updates.  I especially loved the magic system and the magic world. It is different from the common werewolves/vampires/witches or fairies, etc. fare. Here we have normal humans all around, only … Continue reading Book of Night (Book of Night 1) by Holly Black →</a

Stars: 2 out of 5 If you are looking for a book with a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat and driven by memorable characters… this is not a story you are looking for. If you are looking for a mismatched bag of great ideas loosely wrapped into something resembling a … Continue reading Plague Birds by Jason Sanford →</a

Stars: 3 out of 5 I am ashamed to say that it took me almost 2 years to finish this book. According to Goodreads, I started reading on August 20, 2020… Well, I finished it on July 30, 2022. It’s not the longest I had dragged a book on my currently reading list, but it … Continue reading Blood Binds the Pack (The Ghost Wolves 2) by Alex Wells →</a

Stars: 5 out of 5 This was an excellent ending to what turned out to be a very good series. I will definitely check out other books by this author, because as far as introductions go, the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse knocked it out of the park. This book effectively resolves the main issue of … Continue reading Terminal Peace (Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse 3) by Jim C Hines →</a