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Monday, August 25, 2025

Book Review: The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 


Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

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

Thursday, August 21, 2025

Review: Voidwalker by S.A. MacLean

 


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FORMAT/INFO: Voidwalker was published on August 19th, 2025 by Orbit Books. It is 592 pages long and available in ebook, audiobook, and paperback..

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.

 
Monday, August 18, 2025

Book review: The Midas Rain by Adam Roberts

 

Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.

He has a degree in English from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD from Cambridge University on Robert Browning and the Classics. He teaches English literature and creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. Adam Roberts has been nominated twice for the Arthur C. Clarke Award: in 2001, for his debut novel, Salt, and in 2007, for Gradisil.

Publisher: NeoText (April 11, 2023) Length: 100 pages Formats: ebook

Friday, August 15, 2025

SPFBO Champions League Interview: Morgan Stang




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.

Murder at Spindle Manor links: AmazonGoodreads
Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Review: The Will of the Many by James Islington


 Buy The Will of the Many

FORMAT/INFO: The Will of the Many was published May 23rd, 2023. It is 630 pages long and published in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Three years ago, Vis Telimus was orphaned when the Catenan Republic invaded his homeland and killed his family. Since then, he's been on the run and in hiding, doing his best to avoid taking part in an integral part of Republic society: the ceding of Will. It's a tradition aided by technology where a person literally gifts part of their willpower to another, giving the recipient enhanced strength and speed. Vis has avoided this fate for years - but an offer from a mysterious stranger may change everything. Vis is offered the chance to go undercover at the Republic's elite academy, in exchange for solving a murder that took place there. But more than one faction wants to use Vis for their aims, and it will take all of Vis's cunning to keep himself alive as he dives into the maze of secrets hidden on the academy's island.

The Will of the Many is a well-executed, if familiar, story of intrigue and plots at a nation's elite academy - familiar, that is, until a jaw-dropping finale. For most of the book, I always had a rough sense of where the plot was going. It's your classic scrappy orphan underdog who gets thrown into the deep end of a special academy, where competition is cut-throat and sometimes deadly. It's a trope I love quite a bit, so I fully enjoyed that aspect of the story.

The thing I bumped against is that Vis is not your true underdog. Because of his background, he is actually fairly well-educated in everything from rhetoric to combat; what he doesn't know already, he easily picks up without too much issue. He seems to easily read people and knows how to manipulate them, and we rarely see him make a true misstep.

I am a person who loves competent characters. But I love them when they exist in conflict with actual friction in the plot. I want to see them on their back foot, or for things to go horribly wrong. And things never TRULY go horribly wrong for Vis. He might be in danger, yes, but you know there's always another ace up his sleeve. It just seemed like a lot for a seventeen-year-old to be good at, and it took me out of the story a bit.

But even so, I did like the layers of intrigue in the story. There are multiple factions all exerting pressure on Vis. He has to figure out how to walk the fine line of giving everybody just enough of what they're asking for that he doesn't fully commit to their cause, but they leave him alone so that he can pursue his own goals. That was where the most tension came from, and were some of the parts of the story I enjoyed the most.

But hands down the best part of the book is the absolutely bonkers final pages of The Will of the Many. It's safe to say I genuinely have no idea how the story is going to play out in the sequel. It's possible that the author purposely kept this a fairly familiar plot to onboard the readers into this world before veering into a wildly different kind of story. It's safe to say that this is one of those books where how things go in the sequel could have me revising my opinion of The Will of the Many, for better or for worse.

CONCLUSION: The Will of the Many is an excellent story for those who love an academy trope. It's got mystery, intrigue, rivalries, and a deadly competition. But above all else, what's got me coming back is the ending because I truly cannot wait to see what happens next.

 
Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Review: What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller


Buy What Fury Brings

FORMAT/INFO: What Fury Brings will be published by Fiewel Books on September 23rd, 2025. It is 368 pages and available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: In a kingdom where most of the noblemen were killed in an uprising several years ago, it’s become common practice for royalty to kidnap husbands from neighboring kingdoms. Princess Olera is one such royal member. To secure her position in line to the throne, she needs to prove she can tame a proper husband. She’s decided the meek poet prince of a neighboring kingdom is an ideal candidate. But a drunken prank sees the prince swapping places with his brother, and Olera unknowingly ends up with warrior prince Sanos instead. Sanos has to hide his identity long enough to escape - but the more he gets to know his bride-to-be, the less he’s sure of what he wants.

What Fury Brings is a bit of a muddled romantasy, caught between trying to be a sultry romance and an exploration of gender dynamics. The author is very clear with her intent on writing this book, starting with the author's note where she bluntly states she's taken cis men and women's normal gender roles and reversed them, so that men are the ones who are supposed to be seen and not heard, look beautiful for their spouse, treated as weak soft things that exist to pleasure the opposite gender. While the female-led kingdom of Amarra is more progressive about sex and gender identities than its neighboring male-led countries, it is not free from cruelty, exploitation, or slavery. Olera vows to make changes to her kingdom to do away with much of this - a fact she tells to the man she literally kidnapped to further her political ambitions.

This premise is definitely targeted at those who like a dominant/submissive relationship, and requires you to be onboard with a kidnapping trope. Female main character Olera is clear that she will not force herself on male lead Sanos, but the fact remains that he spends much of the book imprisoned and in chains until he decides he’s fine to marry this woman. If you find that off-putting, bounce along to the next book. For me, I came fully on board and ready to see what the author did with the premise.

As for the spice, I found it often more explicit than sexy. On the one hand, there’s a freshness to the frank and direct discussion of sex and bodies to be found in this book. The matriarchal society Olera belongs to strips much of the mystique away from sex, a fact which Sanos finds unnerving in his more closeted society. On the other hand, that also meant that the descriptions felt more clinical than seductive. It's perhaps why I felt cold on the romance, not truly feeling the spark that's supposed to be growing between the two characters.

What Fury Brings is a book that leaves me perplexed with what to do with it. It is a sledgehammer of commentary by saying "Hey, by reversing normal gender roles, can't we see how terrible this situation is?" It is also using those reversed roles to unabashedly lean into dominant/submissive kink. It both uses the power imbalance to titillate the audience, while also lecturing that the power imbalance is bad. In short, it wants to have its cake and eat it too. Which just leaves me with a bit of whiplash: am I supposed to find this arousing or offputting?

CONCLUSION: There's no denying that What Fury Brings is bingeable candy, a story of light court politics and intrigue that you can read in fairly short order. But What Fury Brings also has aspirations of being more than that, and in dealing with weightier themes, the story stumbles. What I came to realize is that just because the societal gender power imbalances are reversed does not mean I now suddenly enjoy the societal power imbalances. I'd rather read a fantasy story without the imbalance at all. Maybe if this had been a story that put the genders on equal footing and then found the pleasure in an imbalance, I would have liked it more. I fully understand the drive that caused the author to write this story, but at the end of the day it just didn't work as a romance for me.

 
Monday, August 11, 2025

Book review: Anji Kills a King by Evan Leikam

 



Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Evan Leikam grew up among the forests of central Oregon reading fantasy and science fiction from a young age. While touring the United States and Europe with an independent rock band, he began tinkering with his own stories to pass time in vans and music venues. Apart from writing he enjoys cooking, producing music, riding his bike, and From Software games. He is the host of the Book Reviews Kill podcast, and his social media pages have turned thousands on to new books. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

Publisher: Tor Books (May 13, 2025) Length: 368 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback

Thursday, August 7, 2025

SPFBO Champions League Review: Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes

 

Book links: AmazonGoodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Having served in a hundred different offices as a keyboard monkey Rob J. Hayes finally decided to follow his life long passion of daydreaming. After writing a small horde's worth of short stories, he released his debut dark fantasy trilogy "The Ties that Bind" in 2013 as an indie publication and followed it up with the steampunk caper "It Takes a Thief to Catch a Sunrise" in 2014. 

In 2017 he released his piratical duology, Best Laid Plans, and in 2018 the first book, Where Loyalties Lie won Mark Lawrence's Self Published Fantasy Blog Off.

Rob has now tried his hand at Science-Fiction (Drones, 2018) and Military Fantasy (City of Kings, 2018), and even East-Asian influenced fantasy (Never Die, 2019).

Published: May 24, 2017 by Rob J. Hayes Length: 376 pages (Kindle) Formats: audiobook, ebook, paperback Literary awards: SPFBO Award for Best Fantasy Book (2017) 

LUKASZ

Historically, it was my first book by Rob J. Hayes. And not the last :)

Our main guy, Drake Morrass, is a classic sociopath who finds immense pleasure in bending others to his will through manipulation, coercion, threats, and violence. I can't help it—I like the guy. Drake has an ambition: he wants to unite the pirates of the South Seas and build a nation. Also, claim a crown for himself. The thing is, he's not exactly the most popular or neighbour-friendly pirate around. Everybody knows Captain Drake Morrass is only out for himself. That’s why he needs allies to help him gather other captains into his fleet. He reaches out to Captain Kellin Stillwater.

Nothing is entirely black and white; While Drake’s motivations aren't fully clear or selfless, the situation on the seas makes pirating a risky job. The Pirate Isles are under attack from Sarth and the Five Kingdoms, who have no problem with collateral damage. The book opens with them burning a pirate city and all its inhabitants.

The story mainly follows the paths of Kellin and Drake, although other characters get some attention too. The characters are well written, and it's easy to root for them. I'm particularly interested in Aimi and T’rack Khan. The Black family is terrifying, and Papa Black could easily go head-to-head with Tywin Lannister when it comes to being cruel to his children. He might even surpass him.

I enjoyed the writing, worldbuilding, and pacing. The book grabbed me from the get-go, and I didn’t lose interest throughout. Sure, the plot was a bit predictable in places, but it was entertaining all the same.

Only the ending was a bit of a letdown. I couldn’t help but notice that almost all the (anti)heroes acted out of character. There's no satisfying conclusion - but I guess there shouldn't be. It’s a duology, after all. We're supposed to get the answers in the sequel.

Warning: For those of you looking for redeeming qualities or who are sensitive to language, it’s worth noting that the book contains graphic scenes of violence (including rape), sex, and a lot of swearing.

MIHIR

The book begins with a pirate town burning and Drake Morass’s pirate crew watching it along with their captain. Pretty soon the news spread and the pirates are wary of being hunted, among one such pirate captain is Keelin Stillwater. A person with a secret past who is hunting for a specific thing, Keelin is one of the rare pirates that chooses to avoid bloodshed whenever possible. He’s the exception among the seas where brutality & betrayal seems the norm. Both these pirate captains are gunning for something and they will have to strive to overcome their mutual distrust for their survival. We also meet Elaina Black, daughter of feared pirate Tanner Black and a dangerous person on her own. Elaina is running for her own deal however has to be careful of fraternal jealousy. Following up on the POV list we have a few other characters such as Arbiter Beck, Captain T’ruck Khan, Princess (who’s a guy) and a few others. They don’t get the same amount of page time but they are very, very interesting none the less.

The main focus of the story is one of ambition, betrayals and plotting. All of this occurs via the characters and namely Drake Morass is situated in front and center of this story, Drake was a minor but important character in the previous trilogy and his background actions fueled a lot of the plot twists. This duology though stands separate from the events of the previous trilogy and while it shares a few characters from the previous work (who made minor cameos in the books). New readers can easily pick up these books and will be snared up in the events. Drake again is in the thick of things and we begin the book with him and we end with him as well.

The characters are what make this story come alive in a very visceral way, beginning with our two main POV pirate captains Drake Morass and Keelin Seawater. Who couldn’t be more different than each other, Drake is calculating at all times but can be bloodthirsty, enigmatic and certainly the most feared person on sea. Keelin on the other hand is driven by his past and will do almost anything except irrationally murder folks. These two characters are what fuel the narrative as we find out what reasons might force them to work together. Let’s be clear Drake is the biggest enigma of this series and possibly one of the biggest in this world wherein most things are unknown or hidden. Drake’s exploits while being legendary are also grim. They make him out to be a monster but a good-looking and charming one at that. In this book we get to see all of his personas. The cruelty, the tall tales (that sound implausible but hold more than a ring of truth), the vicarious nature of his plots which almost always pan out as he planned and his daredevilry at accomplishing his lofty goals (some of which are laid bare within this duology). He’s the main engine for the plot of this book and manages to be a scene-stealer all the way. On one level while the readers will be horrified by his actions, on a pure character note, he is impossible to ignore.

Keelin Stillwater has a lot to live up to and the readers will get to read all about his past as well as the internal struggle he fights. Keelin has previously appeared in a small bit in The Price Of Faith but unless one is eagle-eyed you will most likely not picked up on it. Keelin is a good mirror to Drake and it’s fun to compare them both. The biggest surprise is Elaina Black who along with Arbiter Beck and T’ruck Khan are the dark horses of this story. They start out as small characters but by their actions at the end of the book become core characters. The author has even written a short story focusing on Beck and Elaina Black which acts as a prequel (to this duology) and a nice introduction to the pirates. Every character introduced is someone that’s fully fleshed and you want to read more about them. I think that’s the hallmark of a good writer and Rob J. Hayes is certainly fulfilling that mark.

Another thing about this story is because it focuses on pirates, it also shines a light on characters that don’t always show the best aspects of humanity. This story is filled with violence, betrayals and visceral surprises. About the first aspect, truly no one is safe in this story and the violence is quite interspersed within the story and we get various scenes that will horrify readers but make sense within the confines of the story. However I must warn readers that there’s one scene involving Tanner Black and Elaina Black which will shock you beyond anything. It’s a very disturbing scene and one that’s present to showcase the terror and disgust. Tanner Black makes Tywin Lannister seem like a doting parent & that’s saying something. The action sequences are almost always over water or feature some terrific scenes of ship boarding. In the previous trilogy, the action was more on a personal level however with this book, Rob J. Hayes certainly exalts things to a grand level. The best action scenes are ones featuring T’ruck Khan and I believe he’s a character that will be imprinted a lot on readers’ minds.

The pace of the story and the plot twists will keep the readers hooked and engaged throughout. One of the things that surprised me about this book was the love story within it. To be fair there’s two love stories going on (neither of them in the classical way) but if you really want to get down to brass tacks, they can be called as such. Let me be clear, the romance isn’t the focus of the story in the least. As a reader I just happened to notice it and found it funny to compare both those threads. The book ends on a solid note and because this is a duology, we can expect the next book (The Fifth Empire Of Man) to end things in a brutal manner as all the plots come to a head.



Lastly what I also loved about this book, was the action and the epic battles. This book is possibly one of the best nautical fantasy ones that I’ve ever read. The only other titles that I can think which come close are Paul Kearney’s Sea Beggars series and his Monarchies Of God series (which featured quite a lot of sea action as well). There’s also the Red Skies Over Red Seas by Scott Lynch but this book obliterates them all by being almost entirely set on water (or surrounded by it) for about 95% of the time. Sure there are events which take on land but these are mostly tiny islands which are out in the open seas. The next best thing about the book is the world that’s featured in the books. I loved the First Earth world introduced in The Ties That Bind trilogy but with this duology, the author showcases a very, very different aspect with the Pirates and the seas. He even manages to give us a look in to the magical side of things with the sea goddess Rin & the DrurrThe First Earth world is a complex one and it’s very much evident from this book that how much time the author has invested in crafting it. Eagle-eyed readers will even catch references to events happening around in the wilds and to the author’s short story “Pre-Emptive Revenge featured in the GrimDark Magazine.

Drawbacks to me were next to none as this is the first volume and I felt that this book can serve as an excellent starting point to Rob J. Hayes’ violent & exciting First Earth saga. I must point out that this book is quite grim (but not bleak) and very, very violent. There’s one really graphic sexual violent scene that’s sure to raise hackles for some but it’s not there to titillate and makes sense from a story & character point of view. Overall I feel that this book is one that explores pirates quite unlike any other fantasy books I’ve read so far in the genre.

Where Loyalties Lie is the perfect fusion of Grimdark and epic nautical fantasy that you never thought possible. Check this book out as I've a feeling that it will be one that readers will be talking about a lot more in the months to come.

SPFBO CHAMPIONS' LEAGUE RATING FOR NOW



Wednesday, August 6, 2025

SPFBO Champions' League Interview: Michael McClung, the Author of The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids

 



ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael McClung was born in San Antonio, Texas, but now lives in Europe. He has had the requisite number of odd jobs expected of a speculative fiction author, including soldier, book store manager, and bowling alley pin boy. His first book, the Sword & Sorcery novel "Thagoth," won the Del Rey Digital first novel competition in 2002 and was published by Random House in 2003.

Monday, August 4, 2025

Book review: Saint Elspeth by Wick Welker


Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Wick writes sci fi, medicine and zombies. He's also an ICU doctor. He has an amazing wife and baby girl and an adorable cat that keeps it all together. 

Publisher: Demodocus Publishing (November 4, 2023) Length: 390 pages Formats: audiobook, ebook, hardback. paperback Awards: SPSFC Finalist

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