COVER REVEAL: The Book Of Spores Anthology (edited by Frasier Armitage, Eleni Argyró, Adrian M. Gibson & Ed Crocker)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Mark grew up on the cold, windswept Prairies of western Canada. Fleeing southward, he earned a Ph.D. in the history of science, medicine, and technology from the Johns Hopkins University and then enjoyed fifteen years of non-stop excitement as a humanities professor. Finally yearning for greener pastures, he persuaded his amazing husband to move to Vancouver Island, where they now live.
When not writing stories about murderous Canadians, he plays the viola in a local orchestra, walks his dogs along the seashore, and thinks up interesting ways to kill people.
Publisher: Ace (October 7, 2025) Page count: 384 Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback
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Buy The Entanglement of Rival Wizards
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards is a rivals-to-lovers fantasy romcom that completely melted my heart. Take some STEM academia, add a splash of D&D flavor, and mix in two men who bicker incessantly but who slowly become closer as they let their barriers down, and you have this book. The setting essentially takes our world and mashes it with D&D elements. So while our two lovers attend university on the East Coast of the U.S., their commute might be diverted because an adventuring party is fighting a troll on the bridge, football has been replaced with a competitive magic based game, and elves and orcs are a normal part of society. Overall I really enjoyed the setting, though occasionally references to things like ZOOTOPIA jarred against the sense of this story taking place in a vague Anywhere urban city.
But the real stars here are our two rival grad students/wizards: Sebastian, a constant prankster human who hides a traumatic past and Elethior, the taciturn half-elf who wants to escape the machinations of his elven family. Over the course of the story, circumstances cause both Sebastian and Elethior to reveal hidden parts of their lives. As they each become vulnerable and help each other work through their traumas, they grow closer to each other. It's a true falling in love story that I thoroughly enjoyed.
And a note about these darker elements: there is a subplot about one character's past that references abuse, and both characters are dealing with complicated relationships with their parents. This is, however, a queernorm world and absolutely zero conflict comes from homophobia or disapproval of Sebastian and Elethior's sexuality.
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards hit all the right notes for me and left me grinning like an idiot. I was so happy to watch these two bloom into a full on romantic couple, with a pitch-perfect happily ever after. I am thrilled that there will be more books set in this world and will absolutely be back for more.
The Lost Reliquary is a sprawling story of a quest to end divinity that had me captivated from start to finish. Lys and Nolan's journey takes twists and turns, as revelations are made, secrets uncovered. It is a bit of a slower paced travel story, as Lys and Nolan track clues to figure out where the heretics hide but I was impressed at how much the tale kept me constantly wanting to find out more. Whether it was the small reveal of how Lys came to work for the goddess or the bigger mysteries behind the lore I had a constant itch to read just one more chapter, just to learn a little bit more.
I also very much enjoyed the dynamic between Lys and Nolan. They are reluctant coworkers at best, cutthroat enemies at worst. Lys is as irreverent a paladin as she can get away with, whereas Nolan is utterly devout in all things. Lys has a dry humor, Nolan is serious. Best of all, this relationship is not on the usual predictable plot railroad. Even as walls come down between Lys and Nolan and their bond grows, I truly never knew which way Nolan would fall in any given situation. Would he stick to the letter of divine law or bend in the name of expediency for the mission? Would he follow Lys over another potentiate? Lys and Nolan have a complex relationship made even more complex by their mission and their goddess, and figuring out where that relationship stood always kept me on my toes.
And oh, that ending. I am so excited to see where things go in the sequel because the cliffhanger was so juicy. Best of all, even though I had a guess as to where the story was going, things did not play out like I thought, the author always just oooone step ahead.
The Lost Reliquary is a compelling tale of an irreverent divine knight on a quest to find her freedom. The characters made me root for them, the mysteries kept me hooked. I highly recommend this, and will be eagerly awaiting the sequel.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: After years of exile, Poppy Sutherland is coming home. The adopted brown daughter of the white Viceroy of colonized Viryana, she was sent to a boarding school to learn how to behave like a proper Welkish woman. Now, faced with her father's ailing health, Poppy must use all that tutelage to successfully court the likely successor to her father's position in order to secure her own future Unfortunately, a Viryan crime lord known as the Jackal has decided that Poppy is the perfect bargaining chip in his efforts to free his imprisoned brother. When the kidnapped heiress and crime lord come face to face, however, they realize that Poppy might be the key to a free Viryana.
To Bargain with Mortals is an anti-colonization fantasy that digs into the political complexities that hamper revolution. I've read a number of fantasy books with anti-colonization themes in recent years, and I appreciated that To Bargain with Mortals grappled with an issue not often tackled in those books: the fact that the oppressed people are not a monolith. It is not as simple as colonists bad, the colonized good. Instead, To Bargain with Mortals explores the fact that colonized cultures can have their own flaws to contend with. In this instance, the people of the island had their own caste culture before the white people arrived. It treated those with magical gifts as more pure and holy than people without; it caused a stratification where non-magical people were considered lesser than, unacceptable marriage partners and not worthy of higher positions in life.
As a result, this divide makes the non-magical parts of Viryan culture less willing to jump into a revolution, as they feel they've just swapped one oppressor for another. Their life won't get better with the magic users back in control, so why should they make an effort? This division forces some of the characters to reckon with their own subconscious prejudices as they try to unite their people to take back their home.
And even after that, there's a divide in how the Virians believe they should go about trying to get back equality. Some want bloody revolution; others believe there's no way to oust the colonizers, and instead they need to make compromises to get representation in the government. These differing paths often put characters against each other when they should be working with each other, a fact that feels all too reflective of the real world.
While To Bargain with Mortals has multiple POV characters, the central one to the story is Poppy. A brown orphan adopted by the white governor of the island, she has been raised to believe that her island culture is something to be ashamed of. She had the old traditions literally beaten out of her, which makes her entirely unfamiliar with her own people and their way of being.
Her journey to reconnect with her culture is the central grounding point of the story, and overall a good one. In this world, while people are inherently born with magic, their ability to wield it effectively is tied to the offerings they make to the gods. Which means that Poppy's magical strength literally comes from learning more about her people, how to relate to them, and how to worship like them. Watching her grow in confidence in both her magic and her understanding of her culture was a highlight of the book.
But it also felt like Poppy was a stand-in to be everybody's emotional punching bag. Her white father blames her when she goes outside of white conventions. Her Viryan childhood friends are quick to discount her own sufferings (including being beaten) because she didn't have it as bad as them. White society dismisses her as a mongrel who has stepped above her station. While Poppy does indeed have growth to do (and does accomplish growth over the course of the story), there were many points where it felt like she simply could not win. And again, perhaps this is all too indicative of real life and the experiences of those who are caught between cultures, not white enough for one and not brown enough for another.
But given Poppy's struggles and her own naivete about the world, I struggled a bit to believe in Poppy's political journey towards the end of the book. There comes a point where she needs to find a way to gather political power from across the groups of the island; given how disregarded she was by many groups, I found it a bit hard to buy into her having a chance at success at successfully uniting any kind of resistance.
To Bargain with Mortals excels at grappling with political struggles of revolution, at how internal struggles in a movement can undercut their ability to succeed. But while I loved Poppy's overall journey of rediscovering her heritage, I wish I believed in her slightly more as a leader.
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AUTHOR INFO: Jonathan French is the author of the Autumn’s Fall Saga and The Grey Bastards. His debut novel, The Exiled Heir, was nominated for Best First Novel at the Georgia Author of the Year Awards in 2012. His second book, The Errantry of Bantam Flyn, rose to #6 on the Kindle Norse/Viking Fantasy bestseller list, proudly sharing the top ten with Neil Gaiman. His newest work, The Grey Bastards, is best described as “Sons of Anarchy…with half-orcs” and is poised to be his biggest seller to date. The book is currently a finalist in The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #SPFBO. An outspoken advocate on the merits and future of independent publishing, Jonathan has led panel discussions at conventions such as DragonCon, TimeGate, and CONjuration. Recently, Jonathan had the pleasure of being featured in an episode of the web-series Retroblasting as a consultant on the cultural impact of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. You can find out more at www.jonathanfrenchbooks.com.
Publication Date: November 16, 2015 Publisher: Ballymalis Press Page Count: 442 Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mason Coile is the pen name of bestselling author, Andrew Pyper. Mason writes books that are distinct from Andrew's: short, twisty thrillers with a sci-fi bent and a strand of horror in their DNA.
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (September 16, 2025) Length: 224 pages Formats: audio, ebook, paperback
Podcast Reveal: Nerdy Nebula Podcast Nicholas W Fuller, Dana Lindamood, Dante Romero, Julian Grajales, ZB Steele, and Jeff Brown
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If you've ever been called a nerd for reading books or watching sci-fi/fantasy movies or spending your time with a game controller or math rocks, you're our people and you're definitely going to find something to like in our chats. Episodes will air weekly on Thursdays starting on October 16th.
Subscribe to their Patreon for early access to ad-free, extended episodes, or tune in every Thursday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms. Plus checkout a small preview of what's to come via a small trailer with Nicholas W. Fuller.
Buy Savage Blooms
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Adam has spent being told stories by his grandfather of an enchanted place known as Craigmar. So when his grandfather passes away, Adam, along with his best friend Nicola, decides to seek out the isolated manor in Scotland. But what starts as a simple holiday jaunt becomes something entirely else when Adam and Nicola not only find Craigmar, but meet its owner Eileen and her groundskeeper Finley. Adam at first is thrilled that Eileen will allow him to stay and investigate the manor's past in the hopes of learning more about his grandfather. But the longer Adam and Nicola stay at Craigmar, the more they become drawn into Eileen and Finley's seductive games - all of which may serve a nefarious purpose.
Savage Blooms is an atmospheric gothic tale that drags out a thin plot to an underwhelming conclusion. I will say that the author initially did an excellent job of setting up the tension and the mood. There's a fantastic sense of foreboding and all the hallmarks of the gothic romance the story wants to be. You have an isolated, decaying house, a windswept moor, and mysterious characters clearly harboring secrets. It isn’t long before we know that the family of Craigmar has a dark history tied with threatening faerie magic. I enjoyed the sense of danger lurking unseen and waited for the trap to be sprung.
Unfortunately, that’s about as much as you’re going to get in this 450 page book: unseen dangers. Information is revealed at a glacial pace. While there’s mysterious voices, strange lights, brief moments of peril, and the tease of a sinister plot, all that tension leads to a truly underwhelming finale. For hundreds of pages, Eileen and Finley’s POV chapters have them brooding over their guilt at how Adam and Nicola will feel betrayed when their plot is revealed. And yet when their grand plans came to light, it was absolutely nothing that lived up to my expectations for what their big evil secret could possibly be. It’s the kind of ending that makes you go, “I waited 400 pages for THAT?”
Here's the thing: I think the grand plan DOES make sense. It's just that there was such a build up and so much hand-wringing by Finley and Eileen over what they planned to do, that I was completely baffled at the simplicity of what they wanted, ESPECIALLY given that I had to wait until the last few chapters of the book to find out. If the reveal had come at the halfway point, it would have landed a lot better.
Given that this was marketed as erotica, I tried to go in open minded about some of the story elements I might encounter. I tried very hard to accept that four people come together (more specifically two pairs of people come together) and immediately all insta-lust after each other. And not only is everyone into everyone, everyone is okay sharing. This is an erotica, and the name of the game is people having sex. But by the end of the book, it was beginning to feel like the plot was a checklist to make sure that every single character had hooked up with every other character, and I found myself bored, not titillated.
CONCLUSION: I would have given all that a pass if the premise had lived up to the promise. This is, after all, about an unnerving pair of people (Eileen and Finley) hiding dark secrets, who are slowly ensnaring another pair of people (Adam and Nicola) into their world. If the overall plot had moved faster and delivered a more satisfying ending, I would have said it was a solid read, if ultimately not for me. But unfortunately, Savage Blooms wastes its premise and atmosphere, leaving me uninterested in the sequel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: K.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
Publisher: Tordotcom (September 2, 2025) Length: 128 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.
Publisher: Solaris (August 12, 2025) Length: 178 pages Formats: ebook, paperback, audiobook
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Buy Kill the Beast
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: All faeries must die. That's the creed Lyssa lives by as she makes her living slaying all manner of faerie creatures. It's a task she's pledged herself to ever since her brother was killed by a faerie monster known as the Beast. She's spent over a decade trying to track this elusive creature, but she's never been able to find it - until one day, she's approached by an eccentric dandy named Alderic. Alderic recently stumbled across the Beast's lair, and having also lost family to the monster, he's willing to pay handsomely for its death. Unfortunately for Lyssa, she'll need to bring the hapless Alderic along to collect the ingredients she needs to forge a weapon capable of killing the Beast. But as the two slowly bond over their past losses, Lyssa may find friendship in the most unlikeliest of people.
Kill the Beast is an excellent story of friendship, love, grief, and loss, all told while fighting monsters. This is all grounded in its two central characters, Lyssa and Alderic. They are complete opposites, clashing over how to handle almost every aspect of their quest. Lyssa is competent, efficient, and stubborn, the kind of person who believes force is the most expedient way to solve problems. Alderic, meanwhile, delights in life's pleasures, and prefers empathy and conversation (and occasionally large sums of money) to overcome problems. Alderic would be so easy to dismiss as useless if there wasn't often some wisdom in his actions. His compassion and willingness to simply talk to people opens more doors than Lyssa can break down, and with far less collateral damage.
I absolutely loved watching Lyssa and Alderic learn from each other and slowly, ever so slowly open up to each other. This is a slow-burn enemies to friends to lovers story (no spice) that earns every step along the path. It isn't without some heartbreak along the way, but I was never mad at the story or thought that any bumps were unnecessary. In fact, those bumps often WERE necessary to break through the last few walls preventing emotional growth.
There was one thing I didn't love, though it largely has to do with personal preference. There is an element in this story that I don't think will take many people long to figure out, and I think the author is aware of that fact. But I HATE being ahead of a character when it comes to discovering information. I fully realize that the structure of the story demands things get revealed when they do, but I personally was impatient for everybody to finally be on the same page.
Kill the Beast is a lovely standalone tale that I highly recommend. It has action, mystery, and romance, with two characters I adored. It's an excellent debut and I will definitely be back to see what the author writes in the future.
Book links: Amazon, Goodreads
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Alexander Darwin is an author living in Boston with his wife and three daughters. Outside of writing, he teaches and trains martial arts (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). He’s inspired by old-school Hong Kong action flicks, jRPGs, underdog stories and bibimbap bowls.
Outside of writing fiction, Alexander has written for publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine. His latest piece, The Lost Diary of Anthony Bourdain, was a featured piece in Rolling Stone’s January 2022 Issue.
Publisher: Orbit (December 3, 2024) Page count: 411 pages Formats: all
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: In Angel City, there are two forces of power: the Lumines and Grand Central. These two secret factions are rival groups of alchemists, magic users with the ability to transmute elements. But their crowning achievement is sand, a drug that enhances the best - and worst - aspects of any person who takes it. With everyone from politicians to pop stars clamoring for the underground drug, control of the sand trade is vital. As the Lumines and Grand Central draw closer to outright war, two childhood friends find themselves on opposite sides of the battle line. Will their own personal needs for power and control outweigh the love they have for each other?
Red City is a gripping tale of two people caught up in a tangled web of conflicting loyalties as feuding magical cabals get ready to wage war. This isn't Romeo and Juliet; that's a love story of two relative innocents trying to escape the conflict around them. Ari and Sam are far from innocent. They each commit dark deeds and are fully complicit in the violence breaking out in the city, all while trying to reconcile their complicated feelings for each other.
The author does a fantastic job of building up Sam and Ari's relationship in the first third of the book. We spend quite a bit of time seeing their quiet solidarity with each other before life's pressures drive them apart. While the way they join their respective alchemical faction differs, their reasons for doing so are similar: they are isolated, lonely children who find themselves at far too young an age weighted down with the responsibility of protecting their respective families. Power begins as a means to create safety; only far too late do Ari and Sam realize the cost that comes with that power.
Because the alchemy factions keep secrets on pain of death, Ari and Sam don't realize they are caught up in the same conflict until the story jumps forward several years, when tensions between Angel City's top two factions are about to erupt into a full scale war. By that point, they've both become critical members of their factions and believe they should do basically anything to protect their faction and its interests.
For those who love to revel in soapy, toxic relationships, this book will be absolute catnip. Ari and Sam are children when they become caught up in extremely manipulative relationships that will mold them into adulthood. That means that when sex enters the scene, while it is always between two consenting adults, it is by no means part of a relationship that is in any way healthy. (And yes, there are explicit scenes in the book.)
Don't come to this story looking for a sweeping romantic tale. This is full of dark actions and morally compromised characters. Practically every relationship in RED CITY is jagged or broken in some way, but characters care for each other despite that. Unfortunately, each character has too many conflicting loyalties for a juggling act to be possible, leading to inevitable heartbreak.I did like that the author sometimes gave the audience a peek into other characters' lives that the two main characters are never privy to; the protagonists don't magically get to learn everyone's motivations by the end of the story. It creates the tragedy of knowing the real reasons some side characters make the choices they do, reasons our protagonists will never know.
To top it all off is the fantastic magic system that relies on manipulating the very atoms that make up everything. Alchemy is as much science as magic; alchemists have to know the atomic structures they are working with, how to transmute something from one element to another in a balanced way that doesn't cause an explosion or some other unstable reaction. But for those who master it, your imagination is the limit. It means that fight scenes are full of people pulling knives from brick walls or conjuring a shield from air molecules. It's fast-paced and fluid and cinematic and I loved it.
The only quibble I had with this book is sometimes I found the prose a little too overdone. There were certain scenes that were flowery enough that I found it took me out of the story instead of pulling me further in. Thankfully, the characters are engaging enough that
Red City is here to be your next dark fantasy soap opera read. It's the kind of novel where characters are morally grey at best, where everyone has done something truly evil at least once. If you need joy in your next read, this is not for you. If you're looking for complicated relationships that are heading towards heartbreak fast, this needs to be on the top of your TBR.
Buy Dungeon Crawler Carl
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Carl never would have guessed that chasing his ex-girlfriend's cat outside in the middle of winter would be the thing that saved his life. As fate would have it, however, that's exactly when aliens showed up and wiped out most of the human race, and only being in the wrong place at the right time kept him alive. But if Carl wants to stay alive, he has no choice but to enter the 18-level dungeon the aliens have erected underground. It's part of an internationally broadcast gameshow, one where fans and sponsorships can make all the difference in whether or not you live until the end. Can Carl, along with the cat Princess Donut, survive the gauntlet of death long enough to gain a following that will help them win?
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a fast-paced bingeable adventure that I found hard to put down. Despite a rather bleak premise (what with most of humanity being wiped out and the rest being put into a deadly televised game show), the book itself leans into the absurdity of the situation. One minute Carl is chasing a runaway cat, the next he's trying to outrun a bunch of goblins in a tank and being awarded loot boxes for surviving the situation. The author manages to keep things light-hearted most of the time, without fully losing sight of how dire the stakes are. An in-game counter, for instance, keeps a tally of how many humans are remaining on the planet - and that number is steadily dropping all the time.
Underpinning this whole story is the LitRPG architecture of the narrative. Upon entering the dungeon, Carl is given a virtual interface that acts much like a video game UI. He can see everything from a mini-map to enemy health to his own stats. All of these elements are a critical part of how the story gets told. There are lengthy discussions about the minutiae of the game, everything from how the menus work to how to grind experience to level up abilities.
You'd think a stat heavy story would be dry as dust, but I found myself thoroughly engrossed. Now admittedly, I'm part of a prime target audience. I'm a gamer who enjoys watching D&D actual plays, who doesn't fast forward when players are doing the "boring" level-up part of the game. So in many ways, I found sections where Carl and his new tutorial guild master go over stats and loot boxes and how everything works extremely soothing.
But I think for the mainstream audiences, there's some drama in figuring out how this works because it's literally life and death. If Carl can't figure out a build for the game, if he can't figure out how to use potions and weapons and the difference between a neighborhood boss and a city boss, he's dead. Sure, having a familiarity with games in general will help get you invested, but I think the stakes keep you invested as well, even if you aren't an avid gamer.
I will say, I did chafe a little bit against some of the chauvinistic writings for the "in-game" descriptions of achievements and lore. I understand that they're supposed to be written by an AI that doesn't have an ounce of political correctness in its coding, but the AI was already crude and condescending enough. It didn't need that element thrown into the mix on top of everything else.
I can't end the review without shouting out the narrator for the audiobook I listened to. Jeff Hayes has a great range of voices that helped keep things entertaining. It's a testament to both the story and the narrator that I got through this audiobook in a mere 10 days; normally a book of this length would take me 6-8 weeks on audio!
Dungeon Crawler Carl somehow takes the end of the world and makes it an utterly consumable adventure. Carl only completes the first few floors in this adventure, but there's enough teases about what lies on the lower levels that I'm eager to see how the game keeps evolving. Hang in there Carl, I'm rooting for you!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Morgan Stang lives in the humid part of Texas. He graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA. By day he works in accounting and by night he sleeps, and sometime in between he writes in a wide variety of fantasy genres, ranging from dark fantasy (The Bartram's Maw series) to gaslamp murder mystery (The Lamplight Murder Mysteries) to cozy fantasy (The Bookshop and the Barbarian). He is a fan of all things nerdy, and lives with an immortal ball python.
Publisher: Morgan Stang (August 26, 2025) Length: 369 pages Formats: ebook, paperback
Published: February 19, 2019 by M.L. Wang Length: 651 pages (Kindle) Formats: Literary awards: SPFBO Award for Best Fantasy Book
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Christopher Moore is an American writer of absurdist fiction. He grew up in Mansfield, OH, and attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA.
Moore's novels typically involve conflicted everyman characters suddenly struggling through supernatural or extraordinary circumstances. Inheriting a humanism from his love of John Steinbeck and a sense of the absurd from Kurt Vonnegut, Moore is a best-selling author with major cult status.
Publisher: William Morrow (May 13, 2025) Length: 400 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: J. Zachary Pike was once a basement-dwelling fantasy gamer, but over time he metamorphosed into a basement-dwelling fantasy writer. By day Zack is a web professional and creative-for-hire, but at night he returns to his lair to create books, films, and illustrations that meld fantasy elements with offbeat humor. A New Englander by birth and by temperament, Zack writes strangely funny fiction on the seacoast of New Hampshire.
Published: November 28, 2012 by Michael McClung Length: 362 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback Literary awards: SPFBO Award for Best Fantasy Book Series The Dark Profit Saga
ŁUKASZ
Some reviewers have compares Orconomics to Pratchett novels. A bold statement if you ask me. As a fan of satires, I needed to experience and verify it myself. And I liked it.
It’s funny and uplifting but also serious and sad in some places, as every good satire should be.
On the world of Arth, adventuring is the industry that drives the economy. Groups of battle-hardened warriors hunt and kill Monsters and Shadowkin (Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds) and claim their hoards. These loots are bought and sold by corporate interests to plunder funds long before the hero’s guild attacks. You’ll easily see similarities to Goldman Sachs in Goldson Baggs operations.
The story follows Gorm Ingerson - a fallen dwarven hero whose hero’s license has been revoked. His clan disowned him, and he lives as a rogue. One of funds forcibly recruits Gorm to undertake an impossible quest with a team of similar fallen heroes. If he succeeds, he may win back the fame and fortune he lost so long ago.
His new team includes colourful and fun cast of characters– a goblin squire (who brings a lot of comic relief), clumsy and naïve prophet of a mad goddess, an elf warrior addicted to alcohol and drugs (healing potions in the book), two mages who are at each other's throats, a thief who claims to be a bard (even though he can’t really sing) and a warrior seeking his own death. They start the quest to find Elven Marbles. As we follow the story, the plot gets a little more complicated and nuanced.
I always appreciate a well-plotted and solid high fantasy tale with humour woven into the plot and the world. The world building mixed seamlessly into the story impressed me. The characterization doesn’t disappoint - even characters that seem very archetypical get significant development by the book’s end. The pacing is just right. It speeds up and slows down in all the right places.
The humour made me laugh. Obviously, no author should be compared to Sir Terry Pratchett - simply because no one stands a chance. In no way is this book on par with Pratchett’s novels. It is, though, a superb fantasy satire.
Thanks to mostly uplifting tone, Orconomics works as a well-deserved rest from dark books in which characters you love die, become evil or destroyed. On the other hand, it’s not all sunshine and roses. After finishing the book I’m impressed by Pike’s skilful blend of humour and tragedy. I mourn one of characters. Every good satire needs to contain a level of tragedy and Orconomics delivers both.
The ending of the book set ups for the sequel I will definitely read once I sort out my reading schedule.
MIHIR
Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike is one of my favourite books to have come out of SPFBO. Zack Pike’s debut was just a fascinating mix of epic fantasy tropes, satire & some brilliant but biting commentary on the foibles of unbridled capitalism.
“Gorm was a veteran of waking up in a strange place with a surplus of questions and a shortfall of memories.”
The main plot begins with Gorm Ingerson, a disgraced dwarven ex-hero who has long tried to run from his shameful past. Things have been rough for him for a few years but he’s finally been given a chance to redeem himself. Soon a motley band is formed with Gorm, a goblin, an elf named Kaita and a scribe named Niln. The team is later joined by a couple of mages who are semi-mortal enemies and hilarious with their bickering. The plot follows up it’s the normal fantasy trope of an epic journey and it’s herein where the author plays his first trick.
J. Zachary Pike lulls the reader while giving us a very characteristic and trope-filled story but the worldbuilding and story details are what make the story so unique. Firstly this is a world wherein adventuring and all the other details have been presented in a very financially-oriented way. The author does a brilliant job in setting up the reader with all the details of how this fantasy world operates. From quests wherein villages pay to have their surroundings cleared up to adventurers having to pay for their own upgrades. Imagine a fantasy world run by Mckinsey consultants & Disney’s accountants, this in a nutshell is a such a world. While there is a fun vibe to the story, but as a reader you can see the veneer of avarice beneath the trappings of it all.
Even though this book is more than a decade old, its message about greed, corporate avarice and the dangers facing humans are just as true now as they when it was published. This book’s message is quite grim and kudos to the author for writing such a darkly brilliant story within a fun, satire mold. The story while following all the known Tolkienistic tropes, quite cleverly subverts them. I enjoyed this aspect and the humour within is of the sly kind which had me chuckling all throughout.
The book has some truly dark aspects to it from character backgrounds to the rigid societal structure to the financial burden that’s yoked to most of the creatures. The author has however folded humour as much as possible so the dark aspects while significant don’t overpower the story. This way the main plot stays funny & satirical all the way till the end.
I wouldn’t be lying if I say Orconomics is one of the most brilliant written stories to come out of the indie fantasy genre, however it wouldn’t be entirely accurate. The truth is Orconomics is one of the most brilliant stories to ever come out of the SFF genre. Give it a read and then read the sequels too (as the trilogy is complete). This way you can truly appreciate one of the best fantasy trilogies to have been gifted to us readers.
SPFBO CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE RATING FOR NOW
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Celia didn't mean to curse her brother. Unfortunately, her magic awoke the day she discovered he was leaving her behind, causing grief-filled words to doom him to a life without love. As the years go by, Celia searches for a way to undo the curse. But in a land caught in an unending cycle of war, can love ever find a way?
The Summer War is a pleasant fairy tale about the power stories have to change the real world narrative. Although Celia may be the first sorceress in generations, undoubtedly the more important characters in this world are the traveling minstrels known as song-spinners. Time and time again, we see them wield stories to share information and to shape public opinion. They have the power to spread truths and propaganda in equal measure, and only a fool overlooks their importance.
I also loved the portrayal of the Summer Lands, inhabited by the fae-like summerlings. Within the borders of the Summerlands, stories have a near-magical power, with the expectation that lives and conflicts will unfold according to familiar patterns and beats of archetypal narratives. Once again, power comes from knowing how to move with and within those stories, and how to use them to achieve your own aim.
But while The Summer War is charming and I certainly enjoyed it, I wouldn't say it is overly memorable. It's a definite recommend for someone looking for a short read with fairytale-like qualities. You can easily read it within a day and have a charming time. But I don't know that it or its characters will stick with me past the length of a summer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu's Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination.
Publisher: Del Rey (July 15, 2025) Length: 368 pages Formats: audiobook, paperback, ebook
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OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Fionamara is a smuggler of exceptional skill. A childhood accident gifted her the ability to see Curtains, the thin places between planes where a person can cross between worlds. Fi uses her gift to smuggle contraband between the four Season-Locked planes, gifting the proceeds to her village so that they don't ever need to call for aid from their rulers. For the humans of all planes are ruled by the daeyeri, immortal beings whose bargains almost always require a human sacrifice. But when Fi is unwittingly made part of a coup against her territory's ruler, her village is put in the crosshairs. To save her people, she strikes a bargain with ousted ruler Antal to get his throne back - a dangerous alliance that could cost her everything.
Voidwalker successfully threads the needle between dangerous and sexy, a thrilling adventure mixed with romance that had me thoroughly invested from start to finish. And while this promises to be the first in a "new fantasy universe," I'm happy to report this is a standalone installment, without a cliffhanger in sight.
From its opening pages, Voidwalker makes one thing abundantly clear: in this universe, humans are prey. The ruling daeyeri are strong, ruthless, immortal, and have a craving for human flesh. Only a pact keeps the daeyeri's appetites in check, with villages promising to routinely send people as sacrifices in return for their rulers not hunting them for sport. Antal, the ruler of Fi's territory, is unusual in that he doesn't require routine sacrifices - unless the humans ask for help. If they need daeyeri technology fixed or any other kind of aid, a sacrifice must be made.
So when Fi is forced to team up with Antal, there's a real sense of danger. This creature has eaten people before and would have done so more frequently if Fi's smuggling hadn't helped sustain her village from needing to ask for a boon. But faced with a new daeyeri ruler who is going to be much more strict about demanding sacrifices, Fi decides to support the lesser of two evils.
But just because Fi is prey in this world doesn't mean she's helpless. Fi is bold and stubborn and demands to be taken seriously. She will put herself toe-to-toe with her enemy out of sheer spite, the kind of person who insists on going down fighting - though she usually tries to have a trick up her sleeve to ensure she's always got a way out.
So when Fi and Antal eventually start to have chemistry, it's fueled by the spark of verbal sparring and the feeling of two equals clashing, even if their strengths lie in different places. Fi may be physically at a disadvantage, but she's got the willpower to push back at Antal's demands, to negotiate for her own terms. And that tenacity and force of will is what appeals to Antal, the satisfaction of finding someone who will stand her ground against him.
While this is a spicy romantasy, it's a slow burn to get there. At nearly 600 pages, Voidwalker takes its time building up the chemistry between the two characters. This is a plot-forward fantasy romance, and there's plenty of adventure to be had, all while our two leads start to bond. There's also plenty of character development, especially with Fi as she wrestles with past traumas that she's never reconciled with.
I do have one small but notable complaint: the sheer number of times the author utilizes a hare/rabbit metaphor to evoke a feeling of being prey. Early on, it's an effective comparison. By the end of the story, it is incredibly overused. Perhaps this will be reduced by the publication of the final version, but in the ARC copy I had, it drove me a bit crazy.
CONCLUSION: Author S.A. MacLean is two for two in writing fantasy romances I have absolutely adored. While The Phoenix Keeper was a cozy, slow-burn, no-spice affair, Voidwalker is an action-packed sexy delight. I absolutely loved the feistiness of Fi and the way she pitted herself against Antal. I love that Antal comes to trust her as an equal and fully respects her own strengths. And I loved this strange universe of different planes all connected by the Void, a universe of endless places to explore. If there's more stories to be had in this world, I will be the first to sign up.
