Broadway Bird by Alex Timbers
I will admit it. When I first saw Broadway Bird by Alex Timbers, I thought it was going to be, well, dumb. It had the look of trying to be clever and falling flat. Break a leg was not going to be a “good luck” wish, but a prophecy. Boy was I wrong! It was amusing, clever and while familiar (with its “keep trying, you will be a big star one day” theme), a little fresh. We have Louisa a sweet bird who knows she […]
Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert
I was asked why I wanted to read Katee Robert’s Wicked Beauty and I said it was because I wanted to see a Helen who wasn’t a pawn, and definitely a Helen who got better partners than Paris and Menelaus. Wicked Beauty delivers that with a Helen who is determined to dictate her own future, and finds herself in a competitors to lovers relationship with Achilles and Patroclus. Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series is less a retelling of Greek mythology and more in the style […]
Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders by Aliette de Bodard
Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard’s Dragons and Blades series is a stand alone spin-off from her Dominion of the Fallen series. I didn’t feel like I was lacking information, but I am now intrigued enough that I want to read it. At some point during the first series, a marriage is arranged between Thuan, a lower level prince in the Imperial Family, and Asmodeus, a murder happy fallen angel. The marriage may not have initially been welcome by either party (they planned to kill each other), they […]
Hex Life by Christopher Golden, Rachel Autumn Deering
I do not think I am the target reader for a short story. I value stories that have complete resolutions. I want characters that have had the chance to rise and fall, succeed and fail, and sometimes more than once. These things are not always the aim of a short story. I get that, and yet I keep going back to these collections. This is one of the first collections that I have read that are all written by different authors. Though each story centers […]
Secrets of Camp Whatever V02 The Doors to Nowhere by Chris Grine
In some ways book two of Secrets of Camp Whatever: The Doors to Nowhere is better than book one. Still, there are a few bumps (if it has been a while since you read book one, you might have forgotten a few characters or a story point or two), but overall, Willow and the gang are back for another fun adventure where everything is normal. So, what if there are vampires, elves, gnomes, scary spirit creatures, trolls, and werewolves? Willow has their family and friends, […]
The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
Wow. This book absolutely knocked my socks off. Much as you’d expect from a book loosely based on 1001 Nights, it’s a story about stories, about the stories we tell about ourselves and how they can constrain us or free us. Loulie survived the attack that killed the rest of her tribe, and with the help of her jinn friend Qadir, has risen to become the Night Merchant, the mysterious seller of jinn relics. When the sultan summons her and commands her to go on a […]
