I have mixed feelings for School for Psychics and even now, after sitting on this review for a little while, I’m not entirely sure how I feel.  On the one hand it was undoubtedly a fairly quick read, it held my attention, I never suffered from ‘not wanting to pick it back up syndrome’ but on the other hand it’s quite possibly a trope too far.  In fairness to the author and the book I think my reading has suffered a little in the past ...

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Review: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Reviews / November 26, 2015

Binti is the story of a young Himba woman whose life and clan revolve around math and engineering. Her people never leave their home, so the news of her acceptance into Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy, is bittersweet. Binti loves learning, and the opportunity to participate in a program with such a fabulous reputation is of course very exciting. However, that means leaving her home, her family, ...

Review: The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic
Reviews / November 25, 2015

Although it shares the same world as The Iron Wolves and The White Towers, Andy Remic’s first book in The Blood Dragon Empire is an entirely different. While those books were very much high-stakes epic fantasies, complete with massive battles and bloodshed, The Dragon Engine is more of a traditional quest tale – albeit one that subverts the usual tropes. For starters, our heroes seem to be the typical gang of adventurers ...

Review: Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
Reviews / November 24, 2015

This compact novella was my first experience reading Catherynne M. Valente, and I was literally blown away (pun intended). Six-Gun Snow White has all the familiar elements from the fairy tale—a young girl abused by her stepmother, a magic mirror, seven dwarves, a poisoned apple, a huntsman—and yet it’s completely new and fresh and unlike any other Snow White story you’re likely to read. Valente arms her Snow White with a revolve...

Review: Black Wolves by Kate Elliott
Reviews / November 23, 2015

Black Wolves may be a daunting read as it is a massive book and I know sometimes readers are deterred by that. The thing is, though, it is also a massively impressive book. Scaling it down would be a disservice to the story and quite honestly the story deserves to be read. I have not formulated my ‘best of the year’ list, but I can tell you this book will appear on it as it is easily one of the best epic fantasies I have rea...

Upcoming Releases: November 22 – 18, 2015
Upcoming Releases / November 21, 2015

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          SCIENCE FICTION  FANTASY     SCIENCE FICTION        ...

Review: City of Wonders by James A Moore
Reviews / November 19, 2015

City of Wonders is book three in James A Moore’s Seven Forges series (Seven Forges being No.1 and The Blasted Lands No.2).  Seven Forges got off to a very intriguing start, The Blasted Lands built strongly on that foundation and left us with a rather jaw dropping finish then City of Wonders came along and left  no doubt that this series is firmly planted in the land of Epic.  Truly this is turning into a series to be reckoned with....

Review: Towers Fall by Karina Sumner-Smith
Reviews / November 18, 2015

Karina Sumner-Smith’s genre defying Towers trilogy draws to a close with Towers Fall, a series-ender that successfully lives up to the potential promised by the first two books. I remember being impressed when I first read Radiant, surprised that it was the author’s novel debut. I went on to read Defiant and was again blown away by the story’s premise and world building, and it feels deeply satisfying now to have come this far wi...

Review: The Beast of Barcroft by Bill Schweigart
Reviews / November 17, 2015

The Beast of Barcroft went in a direction that I wasn’t expecting, in fact, on reflection, I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but whatever it was this surpassed it in many ways and I hope there will be more instalments in the future. We start the story finding out about the neighbour from hell, Madeleine Roux.  Well, that’s probably a bit of an extreme description but it’s certainly the way her neighbours feel about her. �...

Review: The Shards of Heaven by Michael Livingston
Reviews / November 16, 2015

The Shards of Heaven is a captivating story, that presents some alternative theories for how and why some events in history may have unfolded as they did. Following Julius Caesar’s death, there is a struggle for power between Cleopatra, Marc Antony and his young son and his adoptive sons. Cleopatra is seen as outsider by many and so there is civil war. This story and time period has so much going for it in terms of story! Who does...

Upcoming Releases: November 15 – 21, 2015
Upcoming Releases / November 14, 2015

Here’s a rundown of the books we think you should look out for in coming in the week. See any that you are really looking forward to? Find any you had not heard of yet? Know of books we missed? We know we don’t have everything and would love to hear what you feel we may have overlooked.   FANTASY          HORROR     FANTASY                          ...