An exoplanet with imaginative biology, a fascist prison cap, and bitter academic prisoner. What’s not to like? Well… The life of ecologist Arton Daghdev is ripped apart when he’s convicted of dissident science and transported to a labor colony on the distant planet, Kiln. But the wildlife on Kiln is fascinating, and luckily, he’s assigned […]
Since I enjoy fictional worlds with otherworldly or religious elements and often dip into existential horror, Empire:Spiral is right up my alley. I got a kick out of the inclusion of touch stones of existential horror such as gigantic tentacled demons and the Yellow King. The high fantasy element is relatively dark; however, although many
This understated, almost cozy, historical fantasy is unusual in many aspects. It focuses on a friendship that forms between drifters hopping trains as they travel in search of agricultural work. However, this group of damaged and dispossessed men possesses a subtle magic, and their newest member, Joe, not what he seems to be. Joe’s story
The time-travel theme and elegant prose of Sea of Tranquility caught my attention, and I enjoyed the opening sequence featuring the utterly lost Edwin who showed both comic and growth potential. But my enthusiasm lagged because the story shifted to several other characters who failed to capture my interest. Much of the book follows Gaspery,
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Sequoia Nagamatsu’s collection of interlocking stories spanning centuries, explores plague and how people deal with loss. The characters are diverse and intricately linked and the plot is wildly imaginative. How does one relate talking pigs, to funerary skyscrapers, to euthanasia theme parks, to melting permafrost? Read and find out. Be aware How High We Go
Splinter Town, an autonomous island nation off the coast of Wales, must fend off an English incursion! Will the ingenuity of the town’s people, their spies, and the efforts of a rogue assassin be enough to to preserve the town’s independence? And what evil propels the corrupt prime minister and his allies? The story continues
In Elizabeth Moon’s Remnant Population, a colony’s corporate overlords order all residents off the planet. But elderly Ofelia, who has had quite enough of being bossed around, chooses to remain, a remnant population of one. Or so she believes, until she hears new of new colonists and an unexpected indigenous population. Ofelia, overlooked an devalued
Three people board a doomed bus: a wayward teen, a disabled vet, and an autistic child. But their problems don’t end after a snowy crash ends their lives. A brutal despot rules purgatory. Instead of helping souls move on, he drains souls and harvests their energy. Purgatory has devolved into a nightmarish decrepit America rife
