Last year I read a wonderful novel called The Golden City, the first of a fantasy trilogy set in an alternate early 1900s Portugal featuring sirens and selkies. This was how I first came to discover the work of J. Kathleen Cheney. As you can imagine, I got pretty excited when I found out she was writing a new book! And this time, she’s transporting readers to a whole new world full of magic and amazing things to discover. Indeed, Dreaming Death is a novel of ideas, and it is absolutely delightful. Imagine, if you will, a place rich with history and culture, and in the population, a subset of individuals called “sensitives” are gifted with augmented psychic senses that would allow them to feel others’ emotions. But for some, that gift is more of a curse. Shironne Anjir is a sensitive whose talents are even more responsive than most, and when she first came to her full power in her early teens, the constant barrage of emotions and sensations overwhelmed her and left her blind. However, her ability to pull information out of the objects or people she touches has made her an invaluable asset to the army, who…

Sophie Jordan’s Reign of Shadows is a riff on a familiar story: a young Princess spirited away to live in a tower encounters a bad boy with a heart of gold who spurs her on a quest to save herself and take back her Kingdom. But the Kingdom of Relhok is plagued by the Blackness, a mysterious eternal darkness that covers the land. And under the cover of this darkness, foul things like the dwellers have been unearthed. The dwellers are human sized insect-like creatures that paralyze their victims and feast on their bodies; unsurprisingly, the fear of a dweller attack is strong and keeps Luna more or less trapped inside the tower. Princess Luna lives in hiding with only her two guardians for company when a mysterious young man named Fowler happens upon their tower…changing her life forever. Luna and Fowler’s relationship develops quickly, which isn’t exactly surprising given that a) they’re keenly aware that they could be killed by dwellers or rogues at any time and b) the fact that Luna’s never met a boy before. Hell, if I’d been living in a tower for seventeen years and a hot guy stumbled into my path I’d probably go…

The moment I saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to read it. This is going to be one of my favorite covers of the year, no doubt. And even better, the story inside is just as magical and exciting. Lee Kelly brings something new to the table in the urban fantasy genre, making her an author to keep an eye on. I loved the blend of magic, action and romance, and I was swept away with Kelly’s irresistible world-building. Set in an alternate history 1920s, A Criminal Magic takes place in a United States where the use of magic has become illegal. Just like speakeasies in the Prohibition era, sorcerers who still wish to perform magic must do so undercover, in underground establishments called “shine rooms.” There, they take to the stage and perform for small audiences, with the highlight of the performance being the creation of “shine,” a magical drink created from water that provides a drug-like euphoria and high. But there’s a catch to shine—in fact, there’s a big catch to all types of magic—true magic only lasts one day, after which it disappears or turns back into water, in the case of shine….

Alchemy of Chaos is another great installment in the Maradaine world. It continues to carry forward the excitement of magic, gangs we met in The Thorn of Dentonhill and even introduces some deadly female assassins into the mix. Veranix, known as The Thorn on the street, has become a notorious vigilante in Maradaine. His presence and interference has caused disruption and concern not just amongst his target, the effite trade and Fenmere’s operation in Dentonhill, but the street gangs of Mardaine have also taken notice. Some view him as a positive thing, on their side. But others see him as a potential threat that may be out to take terrority from them. This definitely becomes more of a worry after The Thorn discovers that the Red Rabbits have begun to work their way into the effite trade. Dealing in effite makes them targets, but other gangs just see The Thorn starting to take out a fellow gang, raising fears about what his ultimate plans really are. One of the things I enjoy about this book is how Veranix is learning to rely (and trust) others to help him. He may have started as a solo vigilante, but taking out Fenmere’s entire effite…

Winterwood and I were love at first sight, and all you have to do is take a gander at the book’s myriad subjects to see why: Magic. History. Fantasy. Romance. Fae. Ghosts. Shapeshifters. PIRATES. It’s like an irresistible smorgasbord of all my favorite themes and fantasy elements all in one place, and a strong, compelling female protagonist was the cherry on top. Set in Britain in the time of King George III, Winterwood tells the tale of Rossalinde Tremayne, a young woman gifted with magical abilities. Seven years ago, she eloped with privateer captain Will Tremayne along with the Heart of Oak, the ship meant as her dowry, and Ross’s mother hasn’t forgiven her since. Now Will has been dead these past three years, and Ross has taken on the mantle of the Heart’s commander, adopting her late husband’s identity and disguising herself by wearing men’s clothing. The book begins with Ross returning home to visit her ailing mother on her deathbed. In doing so, she learns more about her family than she ever bargained for, including the fact that she has a half-brother named David, who was fathered by the household’s rowankind bondservant. Ross also inherits a beautiful winterwood…

While I enjoyed Scourge of the Betrayer, the first book of Bloodsounder’s Arc, it was Veil of the Deserters that really opened my eyes to what Jeff Salyards was capable of. Not only did it overcome the dreaded middle-book curse, it actually proved to be one of those rare sequels that completely surpass the first. I came away from it thoroughly satisfied, but also hungry for more. That brings us to Chains of the Heretic, the third and final book of Bloodsounder’s Arc. Where that second volume expanded upon the world and the story of the first, this one rips that world wide open and shoves us headlong into a whole new heap of betrayals. More importantly, where that second book was a textbook example of how you build to a climax, Chains of the Heretic schools the genre on how you successfully deliver it. Seriously, it is that good. As much as I’d love to gush about what Salyards did with the larger storyline and the overall mythology, just about anything I could say here would constitute a spoiler. What I will say is that a lot happens in this book, and it all has significant consequences for our band of…

2016 is another big year for Brandon Sanderson with a whole slew of new book releases and re-issues coming out, and he’s kicking it all off in late January with The Bands of Mourning. This is the sixth Mistborn novel and third volume of Waxillium Ladrian’s saga following on the heels of Shadows of Self, and according to Sanderson one is an intentional counterpoint to the other, which explains why there were only a few months to wait between the books. For readers like myself, that decision to publish them so close together was much appreciated, since I don’t think I could have waited until the end of the year to find out what happens, especially after that shocking ending in Shadows of Self. Things come to a head in The Bands of Mourning, continuing the adventures of Waxillium and his companions. It has been six months since the events of Shadows of Self and our heroes are still recovering from the ordeal. Wax himself is still trying to come to terms with what happened but is also determined to move on with his life, and one of the first orders of business is his forthcoming marriage to Steris. But…

Sometimes all your expectations go flying out the window when you actually sit down to read a book, and my experience with All the Birds in the Sky was just like that. This book isn’t so much about plot as it is about the relationships between the characters and how that relationship is constantly changing. I’m not sure everyone will love this book as much as I did, because it’s different from every other SFF book out there, and “different” is often misunderstood. But Anders’ fascinating ideas and lovable characters have earned her a place on my “must read” list. This is also a thoughtful story that explores themes such as preserving life on Earth no matter what the cost, nature versus technology, and the delicate balance of friendship. Throw in the fact that this was just so much fun to read, and I came to care about Patricia and Laurence so much that I was fully invested in how things would turn out for them. Patricia and Laurence meet in middle school, a bad time for both of them, as they are bullied terribly by their peers. They also have less than ideal home lives, but in different ways….

As much as I came to see City of Stairs, the first book of The Divine Cities, as a remarkable multi-genre crossover success, it took me a while to warm up to it. In fact, at one point I put the book down with no intention of finishing it. What a mistake that would have been. I’m glad I decided to give it one more chance, because something just ‘clicked’ for me, bringing the whole jumbled mythological tapestry together. In the end, it turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year. Fortunately, there was no such hesitation or doubt involved with City of Blades. This is a book that hooked me from the first chapter and kept me reading at a frantic pace. I devoured the first 180 pages on a Friday night, and then binged my way through the rest over the weekend. While I’m sure familiarity with the world and the mythology helped (there was a steep learning curve with the first book), it was the shift in point-of-view that really made this second book so immediately accessible. Shara Thivani is kept largely off the page here, appearing only in a few scattered scenes, leaving General Turyin Mulaghesh to carry the tale. Mulaghesh…

Medusa’s Web is my first Tim Power’s book but given that he seems to have the ability to combine great writing with fantastic imagination I don’t think it will be my last. I really enjoyed  Medusa’s Web. It has a wonderfully gothic horror feel to it and the writing style helps to lend it the feeling of an older book which is an aspect that I really enjoyed. The story gets off to a great start with an almost movie feel to it. Picture this. Two people arrive at a decaying mansion in the Hollywood Hills while the storm clouds gather overhead. Up in the mansion, two cousins watch their approach. Only days ago the head of the family, Aunt Amity, committed suicide in the most unlikely fashion by climbing to the top of the building and detonating a hand grenade. The four are about to spend a week together as part of Amily’s wishes before her last will is revealed. It’s all a little sinister feeling. The house, dressed up in old Hollywood movie props is a strange place, dilapidated, falling apart, doors that lead to nowhere and it seems to be slowly sinking into it’s foundations. It put…