Review: Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee
Reviews / July 13, 2017

Kel Cheris, half-possessed by the ghost of notorious General Shuos Jedao, survived an assassination attempt that wiped out her entire fleet. Or did she? Physical appearances aside, it appears to be Jedao who usurps command aboard the Hierarchy of Feasts. Formation instinct compels the Kel to follow Jedao – but will he really defend the Hexarchate from the Hafn? Or will he betray them to their deaths? Ninefox Gambit was one of my favourite books last year, although not all reviewers shared my enthusiasm for its unapologetically oblique world-building and its obsession with the ethics of war. In Raven Stratagem, the core dilemma is much the same – can the ghost of the mass-murdering general be trusted? – but this time we see the action strictly through outside eyes. Enter General Kel Khiruev, tormented by her enforced loyalties to both the Hexarchate and – unwillingly – to Jedao as her superior officer. Haunted by childhood memories of her mother executing her father for heresy, it’s only Kel formation instinct that suppresses her doubts about the Hexarchate. When Jedao arrives, she can’t resist the urge to obey him even knowing Kel Command wants him dead. By contrast, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan has weak…

Review: The Djinn Falls in Love edited by Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin
Reviews / April 24, 2017

When Allah created man out of clay, he created djinn out of fire. Ephemeral spirits that tempt us, trick us, and sometimes grant our wishes, these creatures of folklore take centre stage in excellent Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin’s anthology, The Djinn Falls in Love. With contributors from all around the world, this collection of short stories is as remarkable for its variety as it is for its quality. Murad & Shurin have given their contributors an open brief, and the results are dazzling. Some (try to) cleave to settings and stories located in times and places traditionally associated with these smoky spirits; others explore what the djinn might become in locations as disparate as modern day Los Angeles to rural Pakistan. One depicts a future where roles are reversed, in which now-corporeal djinni struggle to live alongside a crafty humanity always on the look out for a twist of fate in their favour. This is a showcase of authorial skill – delicious prose and well-crafted narratives bending themselves around their chosen theme. Particular favourites for me include a number of authors new to me – one of my many reasons for loving anthologies. I shall certainly be watching out for these names…

Upcoming Releases: February 12 – 18, 2017
Upcoming Releases / February 11, 2017

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          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION FANTASY   URBAN FANTASY   SCIENCE FICTION   FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION In Calabria Beagle, Peter S. 2/14/2017 Winter of the Gods Brodsky, Jordanna Max 2/14/2017 Miranda and Caliban Carey, Jacqueline 2/14/2017 Portal of a Thousand Worlds Duncan, Dave 2/14/2017 Gilded Cage James, Vic 2/14/2017 Lincoln in the Bardo Saunders, George 2/14/2017 Ubo Tem, Steve Rasnic 2/14/2017

Review: Europe in Winter by Dave Hutchinson
Reviews / November 24, 2016

The fractures are becoming kaleidoscopic in the third instalment of the Fractured Europe sequence. University intelligence man Rupert is now settled in Europe and working as an agent for Rudi; former chef Rudi is trying to work out who is behind a string of terrorist attacks; and who knows what the Community – or the Coureurs – are really up to… Be warned, this is not a book you can make any sense of without having read the previous 2 instalments (Europe in Autumn and Europe at Midnight). If the first two novels in the Sequence were companion volumes exploring post-EU Europe and the mysterious Community, Europe in Winter embraces the brave new world of open borders. The action – and there’s a lot of it – is split between Rudi, still doggedly trying to work out what the hell is going on, and a string of new (largely one-shot) characters who introduce us to the various new developments first hand. We begin with a disaster: an attack on the Line that cuts the belligerently transcontinental railway somewhere just north of Kazakhstan. We see it first hand, but we get no clue to motive – or to who is behind it. Other operations follow thick…

Upcoming Releases: October 23 – 29, 2016
Upcoming Releases / October 22, 2016

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         FANTASY              SCIENCE FICTION   Altered Starscape Ian Douglas 10/25/2016 Harper Voyager Dragon and Thief Zahn, Timothy 10/25/2016 Tor Books Faller McIntosh, Will 10/25/2016 Tor Books Lost Gods Brom 10/25/2016 Harper Voyager Patterns of the Wheel Jordan, Robert 10/25/2016 Tor Books The Blood Mirror Weeks, Brent 10/25/2016 Orbit The Plague of Swords Cameron, Miles 10/25/2016 Orbit Wierd Space: The Star of the Sea Una McCormack 10/25/2016 Abaddon

Upcoming Releases – September 11 – 17, 2016
Upcoming Releases / September 10, 2016

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           HORROR   FANTASY         SCIENCE FICTION         HORROR       FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR    

Upcoming Releases: July 24 – 30, 2016
Upcoming Releases / July 23, 2016

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          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   FANTASY         URBAN FANTASY   SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR         FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   Bite K.S. Merbeth 7/26/2016 Orbit City of Wolves Willow Palacek 7/26/2016 Tor.com Dark Matter Blake Crouch 7/26/2016 Crown Four Roads Cross Gladstone, Max 7/26/2016 Tor Books Indomitable Bauers, W. C. 7/26/2016 Tor Books Red Right Hand Black, Levi 7/26/2016 Tor Books Supernova C.A. Higgins 7/26/2016 Del Rey Urban Allies Joseph Nassise 7/26/2016 Harper Voyager Zero-G Rob Boffard 7/26/2016 Redhook Sparrow Falling Gaie Sebold 7/29/2016 Solaris

Upcoming Releases: July 10 – 16, 2016
Upcoming Releases / July 9, 2016

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          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   FANTASY             URBAN FANTASY     SCIENCE FICTION         HORROR     FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   Arabella of Mars Levine, David D. 7/12/2016 Tor Books Drowned Worlds Jonathan Strahan 7/12/2016 Solaris Invaders Jacob Weisman 7/12/2016 Tachyon It Happened One Doomsday Laurence MacNaughton 7/12/2016 Pyr Necessity Jo Walton 7/12/2016 Tor Red Queen Christina Henry 7/12/2016 Ace Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell Paul Kane 7/12/2016 Solaris The Devourers Indra Das 7/12/2016 Del Rey The Ghoul King Guy Haley 7/12/2016 Tor.com The Stars Askew Rjurik Davidson 7/12/2016 Tor Time Siege Chu, Wesley 7/12/2016 Tor Books  

Upcoming Releases: June 12 – 18, 2016
Upcoming Releases / June 11, 2016

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          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR   FANTASY             URBAN FANTASY       SCIENCE FICTION               HORROR       FANTASY          URBAN FANTASY           SCIENCE FICTION           HORROR    

Review: Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee
Reviews / June 8, 2016

I’ll admit, I was somewhat torn on this one. On the one hand, there were parts in this book that gave me a real struggle, but on the other, there’s no doubt Ninefox Gambit is one of the most fascinating sci-fi novels I’ve ever read. Step into the incredible universe of Yoon Ha Lee’s Hexarchate, a civilization whose way of life is entirely dictated by an intricate calendar system. Mathematics is king, the governing force behind everything in this reality including physics and warfare. However, there’s also another side to this— and here’s where the lines between science fiction and fantasy start to blur—because in order for the calendar to function, the Hexarchate also requires belief. Throw enough calendrical heretics into the mix who observe a slightly different calendar, for example, and reality can suddenly go all awry. Say, the people might start acting erratically. Or your weapons might not work. As a result, the Hexarchate enforces its calendar with the utmost ruthlessness, bent on preventing such unpredictability from wreaking all kinds of havoc. Thus explains how a Kel soldier named Cheris receives her next assignment. Expecting to be dismissed after a misconduct on the battlefield, Cheris is instead given…