When an unidentified resident of the Stillreal goes on a killing spree, no Friend is safe. Detective Tippy applies his detective skills, charm, and empathy to solve the crime. And he gets the job done. He even finds time to go to a bar and sip a root beer, as befits a detective.

Stillreal is a fascinating, and detailed place in which all possible imaginary worlds and landscapes blend into something unique. The action jumps from modern skyscrapers and offices (Big Business operating area) to underwater abysses, and the Avatar city filled with superheroes. Here, nothing is impossible. I would go as far as saying that exploring the place and meeting its wacky residents is the biggest fun the book offers.

Investigations led by Tippy vary in difficulty but they all follow a similar scenario. Some are lighthearted, some dark and scary. Creatures of Stillreal are endearing, but also tragic (abandoned, lonely, trying to build a new life without children who have imagined them). They deal with trauma, but they’re also affectionate creatures, plenty of love and readiness to forgive.

I enjoyed Tippy as a lead, because who wouldn’t cheer for a minuscule triceratops whose favorite pastime is going for a spin in a dryer? Secondary characters like Miss. Mighty, Spiderhand or Dr. Atrocity are memorable but not fully realized. You remember their wackiness and longings, but their motivations fade with time. That said, their origins are fascinating and heart-breaking (they wouldn't end in Stillreal if their creators still needed them). Take a look at Miss Mighty, Stillrill's biggest superhero.

"Miss Mighty was created as her person's way of standing up to bullies. She was her person's strength, her confidence, but also her belief in goodness and justice"

The Imaginary Corpse tries something new (even if it’s a bit of everything) and, with few negligible misses, succeeds at creating a memorable story. It mixes humor, horror, intrigue, and action into a singular blend and is emotionally engaging throughout. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Neil Gaiman of Frances Hardinge.

Official author website
Order The Ten Thousand Doors of January over HERE (USA) & HERE (UK)

Harrow’s debut, set at the turn of the 20th century, follows January Scaller, a mixed-race girl with unique talents. Her father travels the worlds (yep, plural) in search of valuable artifacts that will please his wealthy employer, William Cornelius Locke, an important member of the Society, a secretive association of the powerful, including 

an old man in Volgograd who kept his heart in a little velvet box; a wealthy heiress in Sweden; a fellow in the Philippines who transformed into a great black boar; a handful of princes and a dozen members of Congress; a white-skinned creature in Rumania who fed on human warmth.

January spends most of her time reading books and dreaming of adventures. When she discovers that the words she writes open Doors to other worlds, she sets off on a journey to find her seemingly disappeared father. With the help of her allies (a faithful dog, the grocer’s son, and Kenyan woman) she may be able to succeed, not an easy task when you’re followed by interdimensional beings with a loose understanding of notions of good and evil.

I’m not big on portal fantasy but the premise, while not really unique, hooked me. I have a soft spot for young women with agenda struggling against prejudices of the society of their era. Thanks to Harrow’s narration I felt fully engaged by the ideas explored in the book, in love with the prose and characters, and in awe of her craft. Ten Thousand Doors of January is a marvel of storytelling, balancing humor, horror, action, and charm. January is earnestly good, probably in a way that has fallen out of fashion but that I loved reading. She cares for people and has both courage and a moral compass she follows. 

Harrow excels at catching the magic of the moments in elegant, often lyrical sentences. Scene after scene she'll pull at your heartstrings. It's a book you can read just for the pleasure of reading wonderful prose. It is not only written beautifully but tells a beautiful (though sometimes painful) story as well. I expect most readers will find at least a few scenes that will awe them. As a dog person, I absolutely loved the one in which January meets her best friend and companion, Bad. Bad is a dog. He's actually named Sindbad, but once you get to know him, you’ll admit that Bad is an appropriate abbreviation. 

Harrow is never entirely predictable, and the book moves cleverly forward through its unexpected twists. The use of portals allows her much leeway - she can shape worlds to her needs - but everything does have a purpose and it all comes together neatly in the end

Ten Thousand Doors of January is a special book: immersive and genuinely moving. The ending is fully satisfying. It gives a possibility of a sequel but doesn't require it if Harrow wants to focus on other stories. No matter what she writes next, I’ll buy it and read it as soon as it’s published.

AUTHOR INFORMATION: Levi Jacobs is the author of the near-future science-fiction novel ACHE, as well as the fantastical Resonant Saga and forthcoming Water of Night series. He has received the Colorado Gold award in Speculative Fiction, taken first place in The Zebulon Fiction Contest for Science Fiction, and had shorter work published in Spark: A Creative Anthology, Jungle Crows and Perihelion SF. Hailing from North Dakota, with much of his formative years spent in Japan and Uganda, Levi has an MA in Cultural Anthropology and sells fruit in the oil fields to make a living. 

FORMAT/INFO: Beggar's Rebellion is 421 pages long, divided over 43 chapters. It is the first entry in the Resonant Saga series. The book is currently available in ebook and print formats, as well as on Kindle Unlimited. The two follow-up novels in the series are available as well. It was self-published by the author on February 17, 2019. Cover art and design by Mateusz Michalski.

ANALYSIS: I was pleased to see Beggar's Rebellion pop up in my batch of books for this year's SPFBO. The premise seemed intriguing, and the cover showed a clear dedication to finding quality art. It did not take long for Jacobs' easy prose and intriguing plotlines to scoop me up, and by the end of the book it was shockingly clear which book in my batch would be advancing to the next round of the contest.

Setting: Beggar's Rebellion shows us a setting that is becoming more common as the fantasy genre stretches its legs a bit - a colonized nation under the yoke of an Imperial power. The Councilate, the ruling body in the city of Ayugen, can be likened to the overreaching fingers of 18th century England. Their interest in Ayugen is a substance called yura, a plant that allows people to tap into latent powers that can range from unassisted flight to the slowing of time itself. This is not at odds with the current grabs for oil around our real world as yura is a substance that everyone needs but that is in limited quantity. The Councilate finds loads of the stuff, which grows on cavern walls like a moss, in the mines around Ayugen. This happens to be the home of Tai Kulga. Tai is famous as a former rebel, one who fought against the Councilate years before but lost and now lives as a street tough. 

The backdrop that Jacobs sets us in is atypical of much of the fantasy we read. There are no dragons here, no monsters in the forest or creatures in the deep. This place feels unsettlingly real at times, and might even feel historic if it weren't for the superheroes bouncing around. Make no mistake, this is fantasy. It is built as such, and the powers that people display are only explained as a type of magic. The system is not that far from the metal-consumption of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series, but there is a more egalitarian feel to Jacobs' sorcery because it seems that anyone can do it. To add to this dynamic are voices that every living person hears in their heads, and which provides one of the central mysteries of the book. 

Plot: We first meet Ellumia Aygla, Beggar's Rebellion's other protagonist, aboard a ship where she plies her accounting trade for the captains and merchants aboard the vessel. Events force her from the ship in the city of Ayugen where she meets Tai. Ella's goal in life is to learn, and it is the effects of yura on the body that she most wishes to learn about. The rumor that there is a young man who can channel his power without the effects of yura leads her to Tai. They form a quick friendship, and it isn't long before Ella is brought into what looks to be another rebellion. Conditions in Ayugen are not friendly for the natives, with Councilate lawmen cracking down and imprisoning them for very little reason. The prison camps bear a horrifying similarity to the concentration camps in our own history, and Jacobs does a pinpoint job of nailing down the simmering anger and helplessness felt by every citizen native to Ayugen. That the Councilate has built up what they refer to as New Ayugen, a place where they flaunt the riches granted them from the harvest of yura, only adds fuel to the fire. 

Jacobs plotting is precise and paced almost flawlessly. This will not be the first time I, or anyone else, compares him to the famed Brandon Sanderson, genre superstar and big blockbusting seller of books about wizards, because Jacobs seems to have every chapter thought out, every detail refined to happen at the right time in the right place. The story has its beginning, middle, and end, and manages to create this arc while also leaving the doors blaringly open for the sequels. 

Characters: Comparisons to Sanderson do not end here, but they do change. Tai and Ella are both really great characters, well-rounded, believable, and whose motivations and actions make sense. Tai is angry, and rightly so, and his actions often mirror this even as his innate kindness and love for his adopted family usually override his passions. Ella, my personal favorite character and one of my favorites in all of fantasy, has a similar compassion, but hails from the very oppressors that she fights against. What I most love about Ella is her clarity of vision. She knows she lives and benefits from the injustices in her system, and also sees in an almost prescient way just how rebelling against that system will only replace it with something similar and arguably better or worse. She wants to change the Councilate from the inside, a task far more gargantuan than simply fighting physically against it. She is also smart enough to do it, and if intelligence is a weapon, she is the most dangerous woman in Ayugen.