Beth Tabler

The House on the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman is a lovely novella full of nostalgia and wonder with just a touch of horror that takes it from saccharin to sweet.

I remember being 17, don't you?

Looking back on that period of my life, it was a magical but weird time. I sat on the cusp of adulthood, not quite a kid but also not quite an adult. More importantly, I saw myself as an adult; I thought I knew everything. Looking back on this weird age 20+ later, I now know that I knew nothing then. Hell, I barely know anything now.

A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malorman starts with a boy and a girl, Josh and Amelia. Two 17-year-olds, both are stepping out and trying something foreign.

“How can I say no? Canoening with a stranger? Yes. I'd love to.”
Both seventeen. Both afraid. But both saying yes.”“

They meet up for a canoe date. James's uncle has a place on a lake. But there is a second lake, one that no one uses that is directly off of the first one. Both self-conscious and not knowing what to do on this first date, they head out on Jame's uncle's green canoe. They find the second lake, and a bit of magic happens.

The magic isn't showy like dragons or unicorns, but it is the magic that occurs between two people connecting for the first time. It is that zing that flows through someone who meets another person, and they become their +1. They connect, marveling at this lake.

“For the first time in either of their lives, they were falling in love.”

On the second date, they find the third lake. If the first was beautiful, the second more so, the third lake was not. It was much less grand, with murky water, and smelled. There was something off about it. But the third lake had something; it felt unvisited. It felt like these two kids were doing something slightly naughty on a grand adventure.

And very soon after, they find a house on the bottom of the lake, one that was not rotting and crumbling from the pressures of the lake and time, but one that is held in stasis. As if it was waiting for them.

A House on the Bottom of a Lake's narrative touches on various dichotomies of ideas. The story's main characters have feet in two worlds: reality and dream, 17 and older, horror and beauty, and seclusion and society. A house sitting perfectly nestled on the bottom of a lake is in itself a dichotomy. It is something “other” inside of something natural and normal.

“Curiosity killed the cat and the snooping seventeen-year-old girl.”

Do not go into this story thinking that this is a horror novel. Malerman writes many great horror novels: Bird Box, Mallory, and Pearl. A House on the Bottom of a Lake is about young love first and how terrifying that can be. Later as we learn more about the house, it is creepy and unnatural. It is “other” with fear of the unknown vibes. This otherness enhances the connection between the two main characters but never overshadows it.

Overall, this is a great story. Malerman shows real range with his character creation in his bibliography of work. But the one thread going through his books is true authenticity. His characters feel real, and this story is no exception. The House on the Bottom of the Lake is both fantastical and character-focused. I fell a little bit in love with the idea of Josh and Amelia, and I think you will too.

Ringlander: The Path and the Way is a wonderfully detailed and exceptionally well-done fantasy story that stands out as one of the best titles I have read this year.

When I was asked to be a part of this tour, reading the book's blurb, I was very intrigued. “Holes between worlds are tearing through Rengas. Firestorms are raging as multiple realities battle for control of the elements. Even the Way, the turbulent channel that separates Nord, Határ, and Kemen, the lifeblood of the city of Tyr, has turned.

Kyira's search for her missing brother draws her away from the familiar frozen lines of Nord and south into the chaotic streets of Tyr, where games are played & battles fought. As reality tears, Kyira must choose between her family or her path before the worlds catch up with her.”

I mean, you pretty much had me at holes between worlds. The thought of things crashing through is a very powerful visual. However, the book was much more than I expected. While the worldbuilding is exquisitely done, what stood out for me was the characters. What I need to connect to a story entirely is a dialog that flows, characters that feel real, and protagonists that make me care. The characters are not cardboard cutouts. They have deep personal histories and cultures that help define their actions to the reader. Instead of one event, going to another event, then finishing. We have more reason for the actions done in the name of the plot. I appreciate that a lot as a reader.

Aside from the unique personal quests, the main characters go on, the rich history and backstory Jackson has built, we also have a current of political intrigue and oppression. The Bohr, a group of non-human oppressors, seek to claim all of the lands. They seek to dominate and conquer all around them. This layering of plot and history creates such a cool juxtaposition to the other worldbuilding and characters. Everything comes together.

All in all, this is a book not to be missed. Everything was correct for me. I was engaged, and I felt like I was reading something fresh and original, and I can't wait until I can read more books in this series.

Noryska Groans is a dark low fantasy story by the fantastic duo of Clayton Snyder and Michael Fletcher. It is a world that forgives nothing, and your frozen carcass won't be found until spring.

norylska groansI am very familiar with Fletcher and Snyder's work. I have previously read both of their work and knew that they would wreck me with this story. I have a cold little grimdark-loving heart. And I let out a mighty squee when I saw that this book had made the finals.

“THE DEBT COLLECTOR, PYOTR, SMILED, A SLIMY THING THAT SEEMED TO WANT TO CRAWL AROUND THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD AND ESCAPE TO THE THICKET OF HIS HAIR.”

The premise of the story follows two voices. The first, Katyushka Leonova, is a woman seeking restoration of her family's name and the courage to ask for more than the paltry scraps of love and respect offered to her. The other voice is Genndy Antonov, a man trying to survive and support his young family. But he has a particular set of skills that the less savory folks would like to utilize. Their narrative arcs swirl around each other like two tornados until their stories begin the inevitable of slamming into one another.

Kat is a woman who wants to rediscover and reclaim a life she previously held. At the start of the story, Kat defines herself by the men around her. Her father's daughter. Her boyfriend's girlfriend. Her boyfriend is ineffectual and weak, and while he has never hit her, Kat feels battered. She feels like a woman who has been abused by everyone around her for so long she doesn't know the difference anymore. Kat is told that instead of a typist position she was applying for, she will become a police officer of a sort. It is a trial position, as she is the only woman serving. It is so far out of her comfort zone it is staggering.

“IF THE WORLD WANTED BLOOD, HE WOULD GIVE IT BLOOD.”

Gen is a man who wants to be different and escape the violence of his soldiering life. He has a young family with a baby on the way and feels a deep need to be a good provider for his wife and baby. At the beginning of the story, he is let go from his job, which means death for his family from the cold or hunger in Norylska. He feels like he has very few options. And when an opportunity presents itself.

Worldbuilding-wise, Fletcher and Snyder's Norylska is a brutal beast of a place. It has a personality all of its own, a hulking creature that slices open the stomachs of those who are weak to watch their steaming entrails spill across the floor. There is no forgiveness or mercy in the cold north. That idea, that bleakness permeates every aspect of Norylska Groans, from the snow on the ground to the very air the characters breathe. It is evocative and crushing for both the characters and the reader.

The real Norylska or Norilsk squats in northern Russia are home to the world's largest nickel deposits. It is a brutally cold place and the second-largest city in the Arctic circle. I can see how the duo borrowed the general idea of the city, but they truly made their Norylska all their own.

The magic of the story, while important to the story arc, felt like it played second to the excellent characterizations. Magic in the story is encased in memory stones. Items that while the user wears them, they experience the memories and personality of every person who had previously worn them. It isn't a perfect memory transference, but the new user gets the general feel of previous wearers. When they take off the stones, the memories accumulated while wearing them dissapear. You can see how that might appeal to those who have the need to do violence or morally objectionable things. Once the stone is off, poof, the memory is gone.

“IT IS NEITHER THE JOB OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF THE STATE NOR THAT OF YOUR FELLOW COMRADES TO SUPPORT YOU. INSTEAD, IT IS YOUR OWN RIGHT, THE RIGHT OF EVERY TRUE PATRIOT, TO LIFT THEMSELVES UP AND BUILD THEIR OWN FORTRESS AMID THE INJUSTICE OF THE WORLD. THE WEAK WILL FALL AWAY, LEAVING TRUE STONE BEHIND. ONLY THEN CAN WE BEGIN THE WORK OF FORTIFYING”

I tip my proverbial cap to Fletcher and Snyder for this bit of magic use. They had to write multiple versions of characters, stone on and stone off. And the characters need to feel right, an extension and blending of the original personality with something else. This isn't easy to do, and the duo nailed it. The two characters are two halves of a whole. They are very similar when you look at their situations. Both seek to better their lives. Both get sucked into a position they cannot control, like a whirlpool down a drain but with violence.

There is a prevailing stigma about books labeled “grimdark.” Many people have a gut reaction that if something is grimdark, it is violence porn and that the characters are violent for being violent. I challenge anyone to read Norylska Groans and tell me that. Yes, there is violence, but every scene in this book is purposeful. And while the morality of the story is challenged, there is a realness to these two characters. Their moral code is not black and white but shades of grey as it is with all people.

My only real issue with the story is the pacing. It felt disjointed, and it slowed down quite a bit in some parts. It was a good story that picked up quite a bit at the end, but the first 75% of the Norylska Groans was difficult for me. Nothing was singing for me, nothing to latch onto that made me turn from page to page. As a reader, even with all the positives, I still had a hard time going from chapter to chapter in the beginning.

Because of the pacing, I had to give this a lower score. Aside from that, believe me when I say this is a seriously well-done book. Fletcher and Snyder deserve to be in the finals, and I knew going in that this would be a seriously cool world, and they did not disappoint.

The Loop is a freaky story: a little bit War of the Worlds, a little bit Stranger Things, and a little bit, huh?

Have you ever heard of Turner Falls, Oregon? A typical little city with a population barely enough to call it a city. Probably not. It isn't worth noting except for the weird quirk of having a plethora of Biotech corporations. That is the rub. What happens when a little tiny town and the teenagers who live there mix with biotech? You get The Loop.

The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson is a weird little story that had me in the first fifty pages. It follows a typical body Snatchers type trope where the snatchers are bioengineered creatures instead of aliens. Except Johnson puts little twists on it here and there to keep the idea feeling fresh to readers. The way Johnson describes some of the scenes is pure body horror, and I am here for it.

“You guys were the ones who thought it would be okay to pop a fucking octopus computer into somebody's neck.”

Johnson took some of the big universal scares of humanity, things like tentacles that invade your body. They enter through your neck and break through your skull and shoot down your spine. These creatures remove your empathy and turn you into hive-minded machines bent on destruction. It is a great idea, especially in the beginning when a student is smashing a teacher's face in with a book's spine. What puts him into such a huge rage is not usual. Gore splatters the walls, and the students that witness the murder are forever altered by it. It wasn't just a horror fest; there is character development and interest.

My main question in all this was why? The story did not have the deep plausible why that I needed as a springboard for the visuals. What was the point of the bioengineered monsters? Was it to control the teenagers? That seems a bit flimsy, and because that one bit of plot information eluded me, I could not fully immerse myself in the story.

Aside from the “big why,” that I spoke about above, there are many positives with The Loop. For one, the main character is a teenager but not the annoying angsty kind. Instead, the protagonist is the type who is just done with all this small town nonsense. Additionally, her banter and levity with the other characters kept rather brutal scenes lighter. And when I say Brutal, The Loop does not shy away from the dark and cruel. The writing and depth of horror reminded me a lot of the great Graham Masterton.

Sadly, even with the great writing, excellent gore, and engaging protagonist, I could not connect to the story on its most fundamental idea. These octopus spider things exist, but I don't know why. This is my own quibble, as other reviewers who have read this story understood and embraced the biological scenario. But for this reviewer, I could never get past it, so it was a midgrade read for me.

In thinking of the title of this book, The Final Girl Support Group, where a support group is by its nature a safe and comforting idea, instead, think about what it means to have been a final girl. The horror of it all. 

Although the horror films of the 70s and 80s would have us believe that the last girls survive their ordeals unscarred, we know too often from life that survivors are bent if not broken.  The Final Girl Support Group invites us to see what these heroines might endure as they struggle to unbend themselves decades after their trauma. 

Those who are horror fans or grew up in the 70s and 80s are familiar with the final girl trope. The idea of a final girl has evolved as horror movies and audiences evolved. To understand and appreciate The Final Girl Support Group it helps to have a passing understanding of the final girl trope. The final girl was usually depicted as an innocent, virginal girl who stayed away from vices such as drinking and drugs. And is thus rewarded for her “good deads” with living through the horror. The narrative structure of the movie or book followed her vantage point, and we as an audience are engaged in her struggles and have a vested interest in her fight to survive. We want her to win, either by escape or rescue. 

“We get subjected to sequels. That's what makes our guys different, that's what makes them monsters - they keep coming back.”

 As the trope aged, the idea of what a final girl changed as well. Instead of being saved, they often save themselves. Either by being cunning and running. We began to expect more from our final girls. And, as an audience, we revisit the final girl multiple times. Over and over, they are thrust into chaos. Nancy Thompson of Nightmare on Elm Street suffered through three versions of battle with Freddy, starting at age 15 and ending at age 21. Had she survived the last movie, what would her mind be after facing the dream king three times? 

I would think that Hendrix created The Final Girl Support Group as a way to exercise the idea that the girl is a person and surviving is only the first part of her struggle. Watching these bloodfests at a midnight show is all about the spectacle of gore. But, with a spectacle comes a certain amount of distancing from the characters as people. They are basically the objective focus  of the protagonist's determination.

“Sometimes you need the money more than you need to live with yourself”

The story starts with a group of middle-aged women sniping at each other. They are not friends, but people with shared experiences. They have known each other a long time and have seen each other through the enduring PTSD that comes from the horrors they have endured. In some ways, they are closer than family. What I immediately liked about the story was the idea that these women, no longer final girls, have reacted to their traumas differently. Although I am no expert in psychology, the reactions these women have to horrors like this have a certain authenticness. 

For example, one is a drug addict, one is consumed with wealth and power, one is a shut-in driven by the protection of herself and trust of no one, and one channeled their pain into an organization to help others. These reactions seem like plausable reactions that one could have to PTSD like this. The story is from the vantage point of one of the final girls, Lynnette Tarkington, who survived the grizzly murders of her family around Christmas. She was impaled on an antler and set to watch the destruction of all she loved. Now she exists like a ghost, consumed with the idea that something horrible could happen because it already had, twice. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, the final girl support group is targeted. Someone wants them to suffer, to be humiliated, and die as they should have originally. Lynette, who is not wholly stable and lives a life of quiet desperation, begins to understand that they are being chosen one by one to die.  But trying to get people to believe her is something else entirely. There are conspiracies inside conspiracies and so much violence. Lynette is a survivor, although she doesn't believe it. But will she survive all of this and save the people around her? That is the big “ask” of the story. Is Lynette strong enough? 

The Final Girl Support Group is a mover of a story once you get past Hendrix setting the scene in the very beginning. As a lover of slasher movies from the 80s, I never thought about the characters as actual people until reading this book. They were just nameless gore and splashes of crimson across the page and screen. But now, Hendrix has me thinking more in-depth about these characters. It has added a new depth of experience to the slasher movies I watched and books I read as a kid. And in some ways, I respect the distance that those cheesy slasher movies achieved. You can enjoy the movie with jump scares, Karo Corn Syrup dyed blood red, and a rubber knife and know that that kind of thing only happens in the movies. When you drop the partition between life and art, the experience of those movies has an entirely different feel to them. 

I believe that anyone who is a fan of horror novels and is familiar with the trope will love it.  But more so, I think that if you are a fan of the horror genre in general including movies, this story will resonate with you because it straddles a very uncomfortable blood-splattered line bisecting the two mediums. A line that I had not seen explored before. Check it out. 

I am one of the editors of this edition and I am so proud of how it turned out. If you are looking for a read that straddles the line between horror and SFF, this issue has some great stories for you.

Rabbits by Terry Miles is a mind-bending head trip that is part Ready Player One and part The Matrix. It is a book that creeps and burrows into your mind, and you can spend weeks or months analyzing what you read. Rabbits is the kind of book you can read multiple times and still not wholly figure out.

“We each had our reasons for wanting the fantastical world promised by Rabbits to replace the flawed emotional narrative of our real lives.”

Rabbits is based in the world of long-form pseudo-documentary by Terry Miles. Rabbits the novel is about a narrator known as K searching for information about the addictive underground game Rabbits.

Rabbits, the game is very hush-hush. Players who play it do not speak of it and operate on the clandestine fringes of retro-tech and obscure culture. All research done on the game takes place in a shadow world of people in the know. Finding information and clues about Rabbits becomes as much a part of the game as the obvious goal of winning. K's research leads her down winding paths and rabbit holes, searching for information that will help K win the game. Once the game is won, a new iteration will start.

Eventually, K becomes wholly addicted to the game. With the help of K's friend, Chloe, they become entangled in the game world. Also, to complicate things, a reclusive billionaire gets involved who mysteriously ends up disappearing and eventually winning the game has possible world-ending repercussions.

Terry Miles's writing feels very much like listening to a mystery podcast. I haven't heard the original Rabbits podcast. However, it has a dedicated cult-like following. The problem that I ran into with Rabbits is positive and negative. Rabbits is a very intricate and entangled story. The characters question their reality, and the story's narrator is unreliable. It can be challenging to follow along, and I found myself going back and rereading sections of the book, trying to keep track of some of the plot details.

I liked Rabbits quite a bit because of the highly complex nature of the story. I find this kind of story very engaging, and I am a fan of unreliable narrators. But I can understand how a story like Rabbits would be complicated for some readers to enjoy. No part of K's journey is straightforward. Matter-a-fact, there are false starts and details that you think will be important but turn out not to be. Because of this, I can see a story like Rabbits obtaining a cult-like following with the strength of his writing and world-building. Especially if Miles continues to write in this world and interconnects Rabbits to other books. However, I don't see everyone enjoying Rabbits.

Flame Riders, the third and, from what I understand, the final story in the Ash Kicker's universe, is just as much fun as the first two books and had me finishing the book in one night. To recap the first couple of books in the Ash Kicker's universe, the world is a violent and ash-covered dystopia. Dragons of all sorts have erupted from the ground years ago and wreaked havoc on humanity. They burned down whole cities and brought humanity to their ash-covered knees. 

That is, if you can survive dragon smoke. Not many folks can; if you can, you are deemed a smoke eater and trained to fight dragons. And the dragons are winning. Boy, are they winning. Grigsby pulls out all the stops and incorporates dragons from myth, i.e., the phoenix from the second novel, to new creations that look a bit like a kid with a crayon thinking of the wildest beasties possible. Also, did I mention that once you have been chewed into human bits your spirit becomes a whole new creation with sharp claws that goes after you?  

There is gore, there is action, and there is that sort of Godzilla versus Japan kind of glee when reading it. 

In this installment, the military has taken over control of the defense of humanity's cities and towns and has dismantled the Smoke Eaters and killed and kidnapped all those they found in hiding. They suck at defense, run on bribes, and steal food and supplies from the meager rations of the surviving human towns—an insult to injury. The remaining Smoke Eaters are in hiding or gone and have become nothing more than a heroic memory. 

Enter this Flame Riders protagonist, Guillermo Contreras or Gilly, to his family. A kid who is a fanboy to all things Smoke Eaters. In his youthful exuberance and naivete, he joins the military in thinking that he could make a bit of difference or good in the world. He is sorely mistaken and is abused, mocked, and bullied during his year in the ranks. He has to earn his place, which is an impossibility because his very nature goes against everything they stand for. 

After his squad is attacked by a dragon and carnage happens, Guillermo sustains a burn. Or, it is thought he had. When Smoke Eaters skin is burn tolerant. He isn't burned when he should be, and he is in a lot of trouble. Later that evening, after eating his last can of delicious peaches, a rarity. Gilly awakes to his whole body being paralyzed and his robotic officer accusing him of having to test him as a Smoke Eater. Gilly knows that this is certain death, so he, hilariously, evades capture in a bathrobe, hijacking a tank at low speed. I can imagine this poor kid's bathrobe flapping in the wind, ass hanging out for the moon to see him running from a murderous robot and stealing a tank at low speed. It is hilarious. 

From there, there are brilliantly done battle effects, crazy dragons, wild fire fighting, and fun characters—some special surprises. Gilly comes into his own throughout the story, and I loved seeing that. I found myself cheering for him throughout the series and cheering for all of his newfound family he meets along the way. The dragons are meaner in this book; there is one multi-headed one that made a fantastic scene. 

I love this series and have loved it as I went through it book by the book. It is incredible, so unbelievable that it makes you laugh. You might think, “firefighters fighting dragons? C'mon,” Hell, yes, they fight dragons, and it seems like a logical jump considering the circumstances. What the hell else will they fight when all buildings have to be made of cinderblock and asbestos now? They have a genetic quirk of breathing the poisonous cloud of smoke dragons breath, so why not use it for the good of humanity?

So I say hell yes to dragons and firefighters! Get out there and read Flame Riders or this series from the start, have some popcorn and enjoy it!

The Echo Wife by author Sarah Gailey is a story that so many people who have been in relationships understand. Love can be sloppy; it can be messy and painful. Sarah takes what could have been a typical romantic triangle type of story and puts a beautiful science fiction twist on it. What happens when your husband leaves you for another woman? And what if that woman happens to be your clone?

“The floor was well polished.
Dragging him across it wasn't hard at all.”

Evelyn Caldwell is successful, brilliant, and driven. She is everything her husband wants...almost. Evelyn is a brilliant research scientist, a pioneer in cloning technology that allows clones not to be just physiological copies but also copies of personalities. Her personal life is very much unlike her professional life. She is calculating and brilliant; at home, she is standoffish with her husband, Nathan. She gets frustrated with him. But then Nathan dies in questionable circumstances, and things get messy, especially when Martine comes into play.

There are things that Evelyn doesn't know. Nathan has left her for another woman, but that woman, Martine, is a copy of her. Not only that, but Nathan has used the Caldwell method, a method that Evelyn developed to weed out what he thinks of were undesirable personality traits. It has a very Stepford Wives meets Frankenstein gone wild feel to it. The death of Nathan causes a weird alliance with Martine, her clone. There is a love triangle aspect to the story, sure. But more importantly, Gailey takes the unlikely buddy crime story and turns it on its ear.

“He was relieved to have told me. He transmuted his guilt into my anger and now I was the one who had to carry it and he had the audacity to be relieved.”

I know what you are thinking; the premise of this sounds like a science-fiction soap opera. In lesser hands, the story could have come off that way. But Sarah Gailey is a brilliant writer, and instead of contrived science fiction nonsense, we get a deep intellectual story about relationships. Are we nature or nurture? Would we have come out the same had we lived in different circumstances? According to Gailey, the answers to that are way more complicated.

The story is dark and intelligent. I love that Gailey got me thinking. I think a mark of any good science fiction novel is when you are thinking about it long after the story has ended. And to be sure, I spent a long thinking about the characters and some of the philosophical questions they write about in The Echo Wife.

“There were other holes scattered through the yard, shallow ones, and I realized that she must have been searching for the boundaries of her discovery—trying to see if her entire garden was planted on a necropolis.”

Also, the story is packed! It is a significant idea and premise that has been condensed down to raw writing and emotions. There is not an ounce of flouncing around with swirly dialect and unnecessary scenes. The story is tight, and the dialog is crisp. Exactly what should happen in a story of this length.

Once again, I am deeply affected by the skill of author Sarah Gailey. I think that if you love interesting philosophical questions and a unique story around cloning, this is a good fit for you.

Kim Harrison's fifteenth installment of The Hollows series, Million Dollar Demon, gives us what we ask for, a fun story that shows off what Rachel does best. Rachel always brings the Moxie.

Rachel has her hands in many proverbial pies. She is a strong presence in the magic community of Cincinnati. Admired by friend and foe, she commands respect both for her personality and force of will, and her ability to use magic. In this installment of the series, Rachel has to contend with a new vampire in town, Constance.

Right off of the bat, Constance hits Rachel where it hurts, and that is messing with her home and foundational support in the community. Constance goes after Rachels's allies and their homes, causing Rachel to consolidate everyone at her property, the partially destroyed church. Constance is trying to consolidate her power base, and between the two of them is a battle of wills. It is also interesting the contrast that Rachel and Constance have with each other. Rachel tries to take the high road and think about the citizens of Cincinnati, while Constance thinks only of herself and her power. She constantly takes the low road and is deplorable.

Even with the big squeeze coming from Constance's vampires, the cast of characters is strong in this story. Again, like in the previous novel, Ivy is absent. But Jenks and Trent are still huge in Rachel's life. We have a new character we are introduced to, and that is Pike. Pike is the scion to Constance and in a very gray area. For the entirety of the novel, I had no idea where he stood. I liked that a lot and found that once again, Harrison writes fun and exciting characters that are relatable even though they live in an urban fantasy world.

Al didn't play a massive role in this book as he is estranged from Rachel, but I am looking forward to future books where he comes back. The relationship/father figure thing that Al has with Rachel is one of the best parts of the series.

Once again, Kim Harrison has written a great book. The Hollows is consistently a great series with engaging characters. That is a giant accomplishment, especially since this is book 15. There is still more story to tell; with the way that Harrison writes, I could probably enjoy this series for another 15 books.

You can't go wrong with one of the best urban fantasy series out there.

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig is a study of different types of horrors. If you haven't read many Wendig books, Chuck writes with various styles and themes. Each one of his novels approaches the theme, whether horror or science fiction, originally. So, if I were to read passages from five different books blindly, I could not pull out a specific Wendig type style. He is an expert at matching tone to the narrative.

Also, I assume that Chuck is a reader, a man who appreciates the written word. I think that because he enjoys books as much as he does, it comes through his storytelling.

For instance, one of his earlier stories in his bibliography is the first book of the Miriam Black series, Blackbirds. Blackbirds stars Miriam Black, an alcoholic anti-protagonist who is cursed with the vision of the death of every person she physically comes into contact with. Miriam is brash and crude. The story is dark and twisty with a slight mystery element, but mostly it is of Miriam trying to survive in a world that hates and reviles her. It reminded me a lot of a much darker Jessica Jones-type character. It had a specific tone of roughness and desperation.

Another and one of my favorite books that I have read in the last five years is Wanderers. It is an epic horror survival story, which often is compared to Stephen King's The Stand. Again, excellent writing skills. When I read it, I could not say that it was a Wendig book, unlike a Stephen King book where I could pick it out in 3 pages.

All this brings me to The Book of Accidents, which seems very much like an amalgamation of the ability to write in various styles siphoned and condensed down into a gothic horror novel that touches on many of the cornerstones of horror. The Book of Accidents effectively has elements of preternatural horror, body horror, psychological, some apocalyptic, Lovecraftian, and even psycho killer style scenes. Wendig distilled the virtues of each of the horror disciplines down into an incredibly atmospheric read that even now, thinking about it, I know that I did not catch every little nuance, and it deserves a second read through.

The story starts with Nate Graves back in his hometown, following the death of his abusive father. Nate, his wife Maddie, and son Oliver move into Nate's childhood home. A home full of memories, not many of them positive. Those previous traumatic memories haunt Nate as if they are ghosts. Oliver, Nate's son, is an empath. He instinctually feels the pain of those around him. The less pain and slower rural lifestyle that the family is hoping for is meant to help Oliver deal with his abilities. However, Wendig describes that even smaller, more rural towns are full of horrors, just like big cities.

As the story progresses, Nate slowly begins to succumb to his brutal past and the PTSD of his childhood. He sees things that are not there; he has bouts of anger and depression. Maddie also has difficulties adjusting to life in this small town. She blacks out while using a chainsaw on a wood sculpture, and her creations come to life. It is difficult to tell what is real and what could be a psychological break from stress at this point in the story. Additionally, Maddie, as a character, is the glue that holds the family together. As her ability to deal with the reality of the events before her diminishes, she has difficulty coping, which begins to fracture the family.

The Book of Accidents plays on the horrors of the mind and the horrors of the unknown. However, I think much more importantly; it is a story about family and the invisible ties that bind individuals to each other and their past events. Nate has a great fear of passing the violence of his childhood on to Oliver through his actions. And in turn, Oliver senses the turmoil inside his father.

Oliver has a difficult time adjusting to school life. He eventually makes friends with other like-minded kids but runs into conflict when another new friend, an older boy named Jake, causes problems in Oliver's relationships. But from the get-go, readers pick up that Jake is more than meets the eye.

Wendig takes all of these bits and pieces of horror and conflict and creates a cohesive narrative that culminates in many jaw-dropping moments. If I were to tell you more, it would spoil the surprises. It jumps from serial killers, dark and evil books, demons, ghosts, and even science fiction elements. Oddly enough, in any other hands, this book would be an incohesive mess. But it all works. The serial killer angle and him disappearing moments before death, the psychological pain of Oliver's classmates, what Maddie does to make sure that they all survive. It all works, and not for one moment does this book let up. It is like a symphony starting with many discordant and uncomfortable notes that come together so fully the force of it nails you to your chair.

The Book of Accidents is another fantastic horror novel to add to Wendig's already impressive repertoire. It is a book of shock and pain and the thin grey line between good and evil. It touches on family and relationships as much as the supernatural aspects. He grinds it all together in a blender and what comes out is a hard-hitting story. It is an excellent book that will appeal to both readers who are new to Wendig's catalog and those of us who have read many of his stories. Go check it out.

P. Djèlí Clark writes lush masterworks, his newest book to his collection of stories in The Dead Djinn Universe is A Master of Djinn. And, much like his other short-form works, A Master of Djinn is an intense sensory experience, with engaging characters, dialog, and kick-ass fight scenes.

It is no secret that I am a fan of his novels.  The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Dead Djinn in Cairo are gorgeous works of short-form fantasy. He has a knack for describing things to such a degree that you shouldn't be surprised if the red sands of Egypt poured out between your pages or you start to smell the heady incense of the streets of Cairo. If you listen very closely, you could probably hear drums thrumming while you read. 

“The three of them sat there - A Ministry agent, a half-djinn, and a cat (likely), staring out past the balcony to the sleeping city they somehow had to find a way to save.”

This kind of description is probably not for everyone. It can meander a bit, slow down the plot a little. If you are a fan of punchy stories, this one is probably not for you. 

The story's plot is a solid murder mystery staring Agent Fatima el- Sha'awari, who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities. We were introduced to her in Clark's other novellas, The Haunting of Tram Car 015 and A Dead Djinn in Cairo and the short story The Angel of Khan el-Khalili. We are back in 1912 Cairo. Djinn and all manner of creatures are a part of daily life. Fatima is investigating the murder of a dozen brutally burned people, The Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz. The corpses' clothes were untouched. It is as if they were scorched from the inside out. 

Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms before vanishing into the unknown. Fatima, her girlfriend Siti, and her new partner try to unravel the case before the supernatural forces kill us all. Of course, things all go pear-shaped. 

“Even a rich man must sometimes eat with beggars.”

One of the aspects I loved was the subtle subtext of defining what feminity is. On the one hand, you have Fatima, badass in a dapper suit in a world full of ultra-conservative people. On the other, you have a couple of characters in the story that are the epitome of what women are supposed to be in 1912 Cairo. Meek and mild. They wouldn't hurt a fly. I enjoyed the interplay off of the characters with a few twists. And while the ending was of no great surprise to me, I enjoyed the dynamic and the journey getting there. 

Unlike Clark's novellas and short stories, the characters didn't completely click with me. Fatima is supposed to be a shrewd investigator. She is no novice when it comes to dealing with the supernatural creatures of Cairo. However, at times Fatima seemed almost bumbling. Plot details that were essential points of interest for the murder case seem to get overlooked for a few chapters. While sweet, Fatima's romance with Siti lacks the intensity that I think Clark was trying to convey. They had a solid connection, but they seemed to be casually dating rather than be in a relationship. 

“You! You can't just walk in here! This is a crime scene!” “That would explain the dead bodies, then,” she replied. He blinked dumbly, and she sighed. Wasting good sarcasm was annoying.”

The action sequences were like watching a Michael Bay movie in my head. They were fantastic. His pacing and descriptions get you into the characters while they battle. It balanced well against the story as it slowed down a bit in some sections. 

To my knowledge, this is Clark's first step into full-length novels. And as such, this first novel has some minor pacing and dialog problems. It feels like he was making himself comfortable in this length of a story. However, in typical Clark fashion, it is generally an excellent story with superb descriptions and an engaging who-done-it plot. Is it perfect? Not quite. But it is enjoyable as hell, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great murder fantasy mystery. I can't wait to read more works in this series.

I read many stories, sad stories, happy stories, fluffy ones, and occasionally violent stories. But in all of my reading, I rarely get a chance to read a mom story. Moms are usually portrayed as one of three different ways: soccer mom, women who are nothing but a mom, and an older mom or grandma-like figure. Fantasy is full of cliches, and being a mom myself, I don't see myself in any of these characters. It is as if literature is afraid to portray a mom as a badass or a warrior. Women can't be warriors and moms. They cancel each other out, right? Just because we had kids, we don't lose the badassery while passing the afterbirth. And frankly, life is a lot more exciting and complex than a trope.

But then I read Badass Moms in the Zombie Apocalypse, and finally. FINALLY, we have some great badass moms having babies and kicking some ass. Thank you, Rae Carson, for giving the world this story and me, mainly because I needed to be reminded that I am also a badass mom on occasion.

First, let me set a bit of a scene. Giving birth is a dirty business. It is primal; it is the most primal feeling many women feel only seconded to protecting their child from danger. Moma bear is not just a cute saying; most moms would rip the throat out of anyone who would come at their kid and lick their lips. Now imagine trying to do all this, being pregnant, your body is split in two with excruciating pains that feel like they are tearing at the very fabric of who you are, and zombies are outside scratching at the door. I know zombies get a bad rep; they are everywhere in horror. But they are representative in this story. The mom Brit is being pulled apart by two massive forces, childbirth and the flight reaction of getting the hell out of there. Zombies are scary, and we want none of that.

“I know how tough my baby is. Remember when you came out to your Baptist preacher dad while holding the hand of the most beautiful Black woman in the world?”
“Yes.”
“This is not harder than that.”
“No.”
“Remember when you fucked that trader silly, faking the big O night after night until you were good and sure he'd given us a baby?”
“Yeah.”
“This is not harder than that.”
“Not even close.”
“You got this.”
“I think my water broke.”

Now imagine that you have to run for it. Fluid leaking down your leg, contractions are squeezing your body until you can hardly breathe. You mostly waddle now that you are nine months pregnant, carrying a watermelon in your pelvis. But you have to be quiet; sound travels. If you make a sound, they will come. And most of all, you need to get to the safe birth room so that you can lock yourself in. In Brit and Marisol's case, it is a metal freight car. Zombies love the smell of birth, it drives them crazy, and they will swarm outside and get in given a chance. Also, Brit has no medicine and the most rudimentary help. She is lying on the floor of a metal shipping container stuffing rags between her legs to stifle the smell of birth. If that is not badass, I don't know what is.

“We barely got here in time,” I say.
“We knew they'd find us.”
We are silent a long moment. Another bang, then a slick whisper of a sound as something slides along the wall. I hardly dare to breathe.
“The container will hold,” Mari says.
“I know.”
“They'll mass while you push that baby out, and for a day or two after. But we'll keep quiet, and the birthing scent will fade, and they'll eventually give up.”
“I know.”
“We'll go back to the enclave with a brand new baby for everyone to love on.”
“I know.”
“They'll be so glad we did this.”

“The container will hold. The container will hold,” Brit and Marisol chant to themselves. It will hold. It has to hold. An innocent is being born into this world, and he needs to live long enough so that they can name him.

Please hold.
Oh shit.
Oh shit.
It isn't going to hold.

Rae Carson has created a hell of a short story here. I almost gave up trying to summarize and talk about my feelings about it with, “God, this is good. Please read.” Instead, I'll start with God; this is good. Please read. But read it because Rae Carson took tropes of womanhood and mothers, twisted them, and smacked them with a hammer. There are no weak women in this world of zombies and blood. It is loving; Brit and Marisol are truly loving partners. It is full of community strength. It is primal. It is exciting, and most important of all, it is badass because you will need badass moms to lead the world out of a zombie apocalypse one child at a time.

While I can appreciate the writing skill and the fascinating premise in, The Helm of Midnight, the first book in The Five Penalties series, it was a slower read for me which took me out of the action more than I would have liked.

“His will to kill might very well be ingrained in his echo.”

The first thing you notice when you hold The Helm in Midnight in your hands is the gorgeous cover art and tagline, “Evil Blooms in the Darkness.” The cover art combined with the saying gets you thinking about all sorts of intriguing ideas. To go along with the tag line, the author, Marina Lostetter described the story as The Silence of the labs meets Mistborn. Two of my favorite novels. The premise of the novel is certainly not far from that mashup. There is a lot of evil in this story combined with solid fantasy elements.

The story starts with a very detailed heist, a heist that goes somewhat off of the rails. Or did it? This fantasy story has the flavor of a police procedural. We are introduced to three protagonists in three different time frames. At first, this felt jarring, but Lostetter is an excellent storyteller and gave each of the protagonists' solid voices that made them easy to differentiate them from one another. Firstly, we have Krona, whose story takes place in the now. I found her to be the most interesting of the three people. She has a complex relationship with her sister De-Lia. Krona's profession is that of a Regulator who protects magical artifacts; this includes the magical death mask mentioned in the blurb. There is a lot to unpack for Krona's character, but mostly what I think of her are tenacity and intelligence. Essential aspects for someone who is in an investigative field. She is well written, and I enjoyed her sections of the story immensely.

Secondly, we have the character Melanie, and her chapters take place two years before Krona's chapters. I did not connect with Melanie as much as I would have liked. Much of her story I can't go into as it can be a bit spoilery, but she is an essential aspect of the overall narrative. Finally, the third point of view is that of Chabon himself. This is where Lostetter's skill at writing shines. He is freaking terrifying, evil personified. But, his character's darkness was familiar in that it resembled the malevolence of serial killers in history. I liked that. It allowed me to make some connections but also added a terrifying believability.

The darkness and violence in this story are executed very well. Wow. I enjoy dark fantasy and complex characters, so this was right up my alley on that front. There must have been a lot of research into the darkness and violence.

The Night Library of Sternendach by Jessica Lévai is a lyrically beautiful book that tells a cohesive story in long verse. That is quite a feat in itself. But what is magnificent about The Night Library is that it is so engaging.

The vampire/paranormal genre is saturated with stories. It takes on the same ideas, mostly taking the classic vampire-type story's mythos and putting a contemporary twist on it. There is a whole lot of that in the urban fantasy genre. But, I got to say I have never read a vampire story in verse. I loved the innovative nature of it.

The Night Library of Sternendach is an emotionally grand tale. It is epic in its telling in the form of a romanticist lens. There is minimal backstory and worldbuilding, and it isn't necessary. I got enough backstory from the first twenty pages to get a solid foundation for the tale. From there, it was a swirl of lyrical descriptions and dialog. I laughed; it was heartfelt and quite beautiful.

I don't think this type of story will appeal to everyone. Reading a long-form story in verse takes some getting used to, and I found it much better to take sips of the tale than gulping it all down in a single sitting. But, if you are looking for something a bit experimental, give this story a try.

Reviewing The Sin of America by Catherynne M. Valente

“There's a woman outside of Sheridan and she is eating the sin of America.”

What is the sin of America?

That is the question of this story, and it was a question I asked myself repeatedly as I had to read it three times before I started to understand. That is not any knock to Cat Valente. Sometimes great things take time to digest, and they have to be chewed thoroughly. Do I know what the sin of America is? Maybe. Maybe I think I do because I am an American and see glimpses of it. Whatever is happening in the story is not straightforward. Because doing something like eating the sin of America is not an easy or simple thing.

All we know is that we are in a “Blue Bison Diner & Souvenir Shoppe under a busted wagon wheel and a pair of wall-mounted commemorative plates. One's from the moon landing. The other's from old Barnum Brown discovering the first T-Rex skeleton up at Hell Creek.” There is a woman whose life has been nothing but pain and half-truths and disappointments sitting in a vinyl booth. Her name is Ruby Rose and “she ran away from the Ultimate Butterfly Experience as soon as she could chain one dollar to the next.” She was terrified of the glittery swarms that flitted and alighted after stroking you with their sticky tongues. Some butterflies drink the nectar of flowers, but many will eat anything. Ruby Rose was called upon to eat the sins of America.

Ruby Rose is sitting in this cracked vinyl booth in this no-where diner staring at the menu. They told her that her meal could not be a small one. “Ruby-Rose looks over the menu. She isn't in the least hungry. But it cannot be a small meal. They told her that when they came for her, and all the delicate endangered emerald swallowtails circled their heads like green rings around terrible planets. It cannot be small and it cannot be short. It takes as long as it takes. You can't do this thing halfway. We're counting on you.”

The Waitress who is serving Ruby-Rose is named Emeline. She nervously cracks a pinky and asks Ruby what she wants to start with. Ruby asks for some wine, but they don't serve soft things like that here. The owner of the diner, Mr. Herbert James Gage, when informed by certified mail that it was going down in his restaurant, picked up some hard alcohol in preparation for the event.

The food starts to come out: a rib-eye steak, peppermint milkshake, and tomato soup. It is grotesque in its amount, and the food keeps coming. Ruby keeps swallowing. It is too much food, it is all too much, it won't fit inside her, and she can't hold it. All this was the lottery or the anti-lottery. Astronomical odds that it would be her.

What happens when she is done? “We'll be happy, they say. We'll be better. We'll all be happy forever and everything will be okay.” But will we? Probably until the next person has to come and eat our sins.

The imagery is grotesque, slovenly. The woman, Ruby Rose, has a life of tragic mediocrity. Then as the story progresses and climaxes, Ruby finishes her food and so much more. It ends and begins again. The cycle. Does it mean anything? Does Ruby Rose's sacrifice mean anything in the grand scheme of things? I don't know; there will be more sin.

The Sin of American is one of those stories that is difficult to parse; you can read it a dozen times and get more out of the language. It has the ere of dark and too salty, or sticky sweet. It is the idea of fried twinkies and made for tv movies. It has a vague christ mythos, but that has been sanitized, homogenized, and run through a Jerry Springer talk show. It has lost all of its original meaning and become an ugly thing. Someone must suffer. And in this scenario, for all of us to continue to sin and enjoy our lives, Ruby Rose must eat that sin and suffer.

It is a harrowing story that is puzzling and will continue to puzzle me as a reader. But, one thing is for sure. Cat Valente is a hell of a writer.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

Andy Weir wrote The Egg on a whim, did one editing pass, and put it up on his blog. I doubt he had any idea the movement that it would engender. The short film on youtube made about it by Kurgesagt alone has 20 million hits. Some have even adopted the views from the short story as a religion of sorts. I know that Andy just wrote a great story, and he is not styling himself like the new L. Ron Hubbard.

But I get it.

If you haven't read the short story, you should. It will take you all of five minutes, and you will see what I mean. I'll sum up. A man dies at 48 years old and meets “God.” God tells him that he has been dead and been reincarnated, “Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” You see, linear time has no meaning. That is a human concept.

According to this story, we are all the same person. We are living our lives out of order. Some further along in their progression as a soul, others further back. Human life is a bit of a classroom, and as you get wiser, you move towards the end goal of becoming a higher being.

“Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You're asking me for the meaning of life? Isn't that a little stereotypical?”
“Well it's a reasonable question,” you persisted.
I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.”
“You mean mankind? You want us to mature?”
“No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.”
“Just me? What about everyone else?”
“There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there's just you and me.”

In the end, there is just I. I am you, and you are me. We are at different points in our learning. Our bodies are different, but we all share the same soul. It is a terrible idea for a religion; could you imagine the classism? “Your king is much further along his path. That is why he your king.” or “The poor and the hungry are further back, that is why they are poor and hungry.” Terrible.

But, as a short story and thought experiment, it is excellent and original. It gets you thinking about the nature of things. Check it out; I would love to know what you think.

First and foremost, Ryan is a close friend of mine who I work with on both Grimdark Magazine and Beforewegoblog.com. It may seem sketchy that I would give him a five-star rating, it isn't. I am a merciless reviewer, and if you give me something to read, I am happy to provide you with an objective opinion. Conversely, I will also sing your praises to the heavens and lay my dreams at your feet if you have written something incredible. The latter is what I have in Red in Tooth and Claw.

“He moves forward, footsteps crunching on frozen grass, and hears a low, pained bleating. He sees the hart on the ground, obviously injured. A back leg is crushed and bleeding, and there are scrapes and sores across its belly. But there is no other animal around. The hart looks at him with blank eyes. A ring of black around its mouth. The snow stops falling.”

Red in Tooth and Claw is one of the most tension-filled novels I have ever read. Reading it was like feeling the vibrating inside when you are shaking with fright—being a caged bird bashing itself against the bars. Reading it is when the pit in your stomach drops because you know you are not the badest mofo in the room. Reading this is the psychological dread that you get when you are going to die and the futility of it all. All of these emotions are wrapped up in a story that has echoes of The Revenant but is solidly so much better.

“The death in those mountains would have been a far worse death. The spirits are obviously malevolent. So are they creating this winter to mess with the rot? Is the rot a different force the spirits hate? Is it a side effect of them trying to kill Chemosh or Agash or anyone else who stumbled into that ruined city? Or is it Mother?”

Emotions aside, what this story is about is a bit more challenging to explain. For one, this story employs ambiguity and an unreliable narrator. Those right from the first gives you a messy set of impressions expressed from both sides of a cultural chasm. This story is about the duality of two cultures represented by two central characters, Chemosh and Agash. We start the story in the cell of prisoner Chemosh. Chemosh is thinking about his hunger, his pain, his loneliness, and the cruelty of it all. Through a series of circumstances, Agash and Chimosh are thrust together to brave the cold, power and harsh forces of a night bent on killing the rot that permeates the land.

Chemosh is not some unknowledgeable yet quirky heathen which is an insulting and tired trope. Chemosh and his people have a rich language and culture, but Agash does not understand it, so to Agash, it is lesser. Agash, his jailer, similarly has his reasons for things, and there is no moment where Agash will get his comeuppance at being oh so mean to poor Chimosh. This is a much deeper and grittier story than that. It is not about the end goals but the journey. They are two individuals who are about to endure something terrifying.

This is also a very tight book. It is not a sweeping tale; it is a tight space of a story. Howse has to consider is page length and space of time to work with. 150 is not a lot of time to tell a story such as this, but he works flawlessly with what he has.

Red and Tooth and Claw is an excellent book, at least to me. Perspective is key to a book experience. I am claustrophobic, and some of the scenes made me want to throw up in fear. The book practically radiated the tension and anxiety that someone with claustrophobia has. It is that good.

You really should check this out. It is such a good book, and I hope it finds itself in many great folks' hands.

The Library of the Dead is the first of the Edinburgh Nights series by author T.L Huchu. The protagonist is the 14-year-old ghostalker named Ropa. She uses her skills to work as a messenger between dimensions passing messages for loved ones to assist in closure so a spirit can move on. She also does some banishing of the more dangerous creatures from our plane of existence.

It is a lot to expect from a 14-year-old kid. But what is remarkable about Ropa as a protagonist is that, yes, she is 14. However, she is tempered in the struggles of poverty and the seedier side of Edinburgh; this gives her an air of being 14 and so much older and wiser. She takes care of her blood and found family as best as she can while trying to right wrongs that you would think are above her paygrade.

The story starts with Ropa living in a caravan with her sister, Izwe, and her grandmother. She cares for her grandmother by helping pay bills so that her grandmother can get her monthly medicine. She also has a distant companionship with a fox named River. Although Ropa has dropped out of school, she still thirsts for knowledge, often quoting Sun Tzu as the story progresses. As I said, Ropa is no ordinary protagonist.

The Library of the Dead is stylized as The Sixth Sense meets Stranger Things. I think that is an apt description. Ropa can see dead things, hear them with the help of a mbira tuned to the spirit's frequencies. Ropa comes upon a spirit that needs help to find their missing son. This is where the investigative aspect of the story comes into play. Ropa sets out on a quest of a sort to find the missing boy taking her through all kinds of adventures, including tangling with a milkman and an occult library set on her enslavement.

“Something smells off in the barns. Even in this city of olfactory tragedy, this scent's more pungent and desperate than anything I've encountered before.”

The Library of the Dead is written in the first person with Ropa's voice. This can be offputting, I don't tend to connect well with stories told in the first person, but in the case of Ropa, author T.L Huchu gave Ropa such a strong voice that she did not get lost amongst the characters. She is highly likable, and you want her to win, plus the addition of Scottish slang and dialect added dimension to the character.

The setting is the streets of Edinburgh. It was strange as the story had a futuristic vibe, floating cars, but the roughness of poverty and extreme violence. It reminded me a bit of the setting of Blade Runner minus the robots.

“That's the thing about this learning stuff. No sooner have you picked one thing up before you're sent off after another book. Sometimes the guys I listen to say contradictory things and I have to choose for myself who's right and who's wrong. Other times they're both right and it makes no sense to pick one over the other, so you just have to be pragmatic: pick what works now and discard it for something else when the time comes. That's how I like to operate. Can't afford to put myself in some sort of ideological straitjacket. That's for losers.”

I liked this story. The vibes, the protagonist, and the setting had me interested from the start. Edinburgh is a place described as having many types of magic; some of it shows up in the novel, and some of it is because Edinburgh is an old city steeped in history. The alternative worlds that Hench describes are also engaging, places that are gravityless and full of demons. Library of the Dead is a dark and fast-paced novel that had me in the opening chapters. I can't wait for the next addition to the story.

Paternus: Wrath of Gods is a continuation of the epic urban fantasy tale from book 1, Paternus: Rise of the Gods. As many authors suffer a Sophmore slump or a slowing of tone as they fill in the exposition, that is not the case with Dyrk Ashton. Quite the contrary, Dyrk could have coasted a bit into book 2, Took a step back, and slowed the pace down. I honestly, and knowing Dyrk a bit through his hilarious tweet feed, do not think he is capable of such a feat. It is a hell of a ride start to finish.

To quote the Sound of Music, “Let us start at the very beginning. A very good place to start” The cover art on this is top-notch. I would have bought the entire series in hardback before even reading or knowing anything about the series...oh, wait. I did do that, and sadly there they sat for months on end forlorn and staring me in tone. Secondly, unlike many other series where the overall series is one large arc, Paternus is not really like that. Sure, the kids and mythological creatures/people face issues, old grudges, and waining power. But there wasn't much of a mini-arc except, “Jesus, we must save Peter.” Then “Jesus, we must save ourseves.” Then “Holy shit, is that Jesus?” I am desperate for a family tree for these books to hang on my wall because it all is muddling together into the epic family genes of awesomeness.

The story takes off right at the end of the first Paternus book, Paternus: Rise of the Gods. Zeke and Fi (henceforth known as the kids) are attempting to help Peter and Zeke's uncle Edgar gather the firstborn creatures/folks of legend for an epic battle pitting good against evil. The most fun part of this book is connecting the creatures and deities dot to dot. I love a good a-ha, and these chapters give them to me in spades. And, being that I am an enormous mythological story geek, I ate all of Dyrk's impeccable research with a spoon.

In the second book, we are introduced to new creatures/people of power and legend. I especially enjoyed the characters from the Hindu and Buddhist pantheons, specifically Ganesh and Shiva. Although I do not know much about the history and stories, I know the characterizations are spot on from what little I do know. I think, more importantly, I want to learn more. Paternus is a kind of series that makes you want to research and delve deeper into the mythologies of everything.

In the first book, Paternus: Rise of the Gods, we are introduced to Zeke, Fi, Peter, and Edgar. But, as there are many characters in the Paternus series, some are more fleshed out than others. Now with the second book, we can learn more about the backstory behind the power. Fiona and Zeke are especially fleshed out and focused on. This focus is great because you can see a transition from childhood to adulthood very quickly, and you can also see the inner strength that the two of them have. That strength will be tested as the series goes on, and Ashton did a great job in pushing their stories forward.

Unlike the first book, Wrath of the gods goes at a steady and exciting clip. It is one of the most compelling books I have ever read. I don't say that lightly because, at this point, I am practically gushing over this series, and it is slightly embarrassing. But Ashton writes fights very well, and there is a lot of fighting in this book. You can also see Ashton's comfort in this book. It is as if Ashton sat down, eased in, and wrote. The first book of the series did not seem like he had the same comfort level.

I do need to comment on the narrative style Paternus is written in. I enjoy it and have no problem with it, but I know that some readers have difficulty with the switching of perspectives. Sometimes on the same page. I found that because each character had such a unique voice, and I listened to part of it as an audiobook, I had no problem staying with it. But your results may vary. My only advice is to stick with it. It pays off highly as we come to the climax of the series.

Dyrk Ashton's Paternus: Wrath of the Gods is urban fantasy at its best. Urban fantasy gets many naysayers thinking that it is only the realm of sparkly vampires and shirtless werewolves. Now, before I get hate mail, I am not knocking on paranormal urban fantasy. I have read a lot of it and enjoyed it thoroughly. However, Urban fantasy is a vast genre with many facets, and this is one of them. It is an exciting, gritty, and violent fantasy that is well researched and engaging that just happens to take place in our “now.” I believe that if you take on this series, you will be just as excited as I am about it because it is just that good. Now, on to Paternus: War of the Gods. Let's do this!!

Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott is part of the list of American masterpieces of fiction. Generations of readers have loved the heartfelt tales of the March sisters, “talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.”

Little Women taught many girls that they could look beyond “women's work” and follow in Louisa May Alcott's footsteps. Also, because it is so well known, it has been in print for more than 150 years and has had countless movies made about it. But, with its status of being hugely recognizable comes opportunities to twist and riff on it.

Grady Hendrix and illustrator Ryan Dunlavey (Illustrator) had a lot of fun twisting and turning Li'l Classix: Little Women and writing what many a modern reader are thinking. Laurie's name... lol. Yes, more please. Beth and scarlet fever, absolutely. Hey look, Amy is kinda a spoiled brat.

While this comic will be funny to those who haven't read the story, it is hilarious to those familiar with the source material and very much worth the 15 minutes it takes to read it. Check it out.

Paternus: Rise of the Gods is an Exciting dark urban fantasy that brings you along on a wild mythological ride.

The Paternus series is one I have been hearing a lot about for years. Literally years. Usually, what I am hearing is in the form of gushing and squeeing. “Did you read Paternus? No. OMG you really have to!” Plus, the covers are gorgeous and done by cover artist John Anthony Di Giovanni. They are the kind of covers you want to display in your library and possibly have a print framed in there. Having finished the first book, all I can say to myself, “Why the hell did I wait so long?”

“A wielder of words is a wielder of power.”

The blurb sums up the overall feeling of the first book perfectly, “American Gods meets The Avengers, and Supernatural meets The Lord of the Rings, Paternus combines myths from around the world in a modern story of action and intrigue that is “urban fantasy on the surface, but so much more at its core!” It is a story about myths of legend from cultures throughout the world connected through time and all relating to one individual, The Pater.

“I seem to remember someone very close to me, and wise, or so I thought, once telling me—” “—anything is possible.”

The book starts a bit slowly, it lays solid foundations for the upcoming story, so I didn't mind the slower pacing. The main protagonists of the story are two older teenagers, Fi and Zeke. Fi and Zeke are in a relationship, and there is come “will they or won't they” back and forth. Typical stuff that one deals with at that age. Fiona was orphaned at a young age by a plane crash that killed her mother, and as she never knew her father, she now lives with her proper British uncle Edgar his weirdly huge dog Mol. Edgar raised Fiona from a young child, and Fiona looks to him as her father.

Fiona works as an intern at a local are hospital. She has been paying particular attention to an older man named Peter, whom she is drawn to to help. She has a particularly positive effect on him as he is responsive to her but otherwise vegetative. While Zeke is visiting the hospital, it is “attacked by strange and frightening men.” Fiona Patterson and Zeke Prisco work to save Peter from myths legend. They turn to Fiona's uncle Edgar for help, and that is where the story gets utterly wild.

“It was twenty-thousand years ago. The last Great Ice covered much of the planet, and the final battle of the Second Magnificent Holocaust raged. She'd sided with Father, of course – she was always Deva, his sister, Devi to the core. Her Truename was Artio, but at the time she was known by the humans as the Vanir giantess Jörd. When Bödvar saw her she was armored in a massive breastplate, with great golden wings on her helmet, spattered with gore – but beautiful.”

First and foremost, I need to compliment Dyrk Ashton for the sheer magnitude of research he put into creating this story. Many mythological figures from all countries and timeframes play parts in Zeke and Fiona's quest. Some figures, so long-lived, their legends bisect multiple cultures, and contextually, it works perfectly in the story. Ashton lays a solid foundation for all of these characters. As a reader, I went from “Huh?” to “Oh, how cool. Who is going to play a part next?” As for what happens next, and who is a god or legend is spoiler territory. But it gets pretty exciting.

Worldbuilding-wise, there are quite a few information dumps. We have a lot to learn about these characters and their history and connections. It is all-important and valuable information. Usually, I shy away from pages of backstory, but in Paternus, it worked. We need that information as readers. Ashton had me googling with glee.

The narrative starts a little young, as Fiona and Zeke are younger characters. But don't let that fool you; this is not a YA novel. Paternus: Rise of the Gods is a very adult and often brutal story. There is violence, torture, and fighting that could rival any action movie. Climax-wise, Paternus: Rise of the Gods does not have much of a mini-arc. Instead, it is a huge vibrant story that spans three books and close to 2000 pages. But, the ending of Paternus: Rise of the Gods is satisfying and intensely fun to read and gets you ready to jump into book 2.

Paternus: Rise of the Gods is one of the most unique Urban Fantasy stories I have ever read, and I have read quite a few. The series has a solid place in my top ten favorite series of all time. Even with a slow start, this is still a solid five-star read for me. Screw American Gods, Paternus: Rise of the Gods is my mythological urban fantasy of choice.

A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine's next installment in the Teixcalaan following her Hugo award-winning novel A Memory Called Empire is just as culturally rich and profound as A Memory Called Empire was. Still, instead of focusing the guts of the story on the understanding of what memory is, A Desolation Called Peace focuses on how we communicate.

“On the flagship Weight of the Wheel:
“You'd have to ask medical,” said Two Foam.
“Someone ask medical,” said Mahit. “I can't talk to anyone. I'm not a citizen.” And she smiled, terrifying and far too beautiful with all those teeth exposed, gesturing to her entire lack of cloudhook.”

Arkady Martine quoted in the first book, “This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own.” The first novel, A Memory Called Empire, was about the power of memory and specifically what memory is. Cultural memory can devour and expand inside of you and push the “you” out and replace it with a new transformed you.

It can devour.

This abstract idea was wrapped in an exciting murder mystery that kept the story moving and gave it an understandable hook for readers to latch on to. Desolation is about memory again, but I think it expands on the idea of how memory is expressed through language and communication. This time the grander idea is wrapped in an exciting first contact story between two disparate creatures.

The story starts up right at the end of the first book. We have a huge looming threat of an advancing alien empire that is both figuratively and in some cases literally devouring up the edges of the Teixcalaan Empire. As this is a first contact story, no one knows who or what these aliens are. I applaud Martine for her description of the aliens. Often, writers create aliens that have some sort of likeness to humans so that readers can empathize and understand them. I get that.

However, if you think about aliens in a real sense and how infinite the universe is, they could be anything. Douglas Adams made me think hard about this when he created a planet with living mattresses wallowing around in the muck.

“She's a barbarian, but don't hold it against her. She's brilliant.”

We cut back and forth between Nine Hibiscus, the yaotlek of the campaign, Mahit Dzmare, and the newly appointed Undersecretary to the Minister of Information Three Seagrass. Three Seagrass was Mahit Dzmare liaison in the first book. Also, we have the young perspective of young Eight Antidote, the clone of the previous employer who is very much like his predecessor, but with notable differences. Each of the characters represents a different perspective on the aliens and how they will affect the future.

Mahit Dzmare is back on Lsel station. In the first novel, we learn that she has a faulty imago machine, courtesy of the ministry. They would like her to download herself to be stored, but they will know that she has an updated imago machine if she does that. She is in a politically tricky position. The ministry would like her line terminated and probably her as well.

Three Seagrass is at home in the shining city when she learns of the alien issue. She decides that she needs to get to Mahit post-haste to work together on the first contact problem and understand what the aliens want. This allows Mahit to leave the station and accompany Three Seagrass to the Weight of the Wheel, the Teixcalaan flagship.

I had a difficult time with this part of the story. Yes, Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass are a great pair to work on this problem. But, the first contact with an alien species is such a complicated conflict. Martine sped through a bit of that. I am reminded of the movie “The Arrival” and this scene specifically:

“Dr. Louise Banks: So first, we need to make sure that they understand what a question is. Okay, the nature of a request for information along with a response. Then, we need to clarify the difference between a specific “you” and a collective “you”, because we don't want to know why Joe Alien is here, we want to know why they all landed.

And purpose requires an understanding of intent. We need to find out: do they make conscious choices? Or is their motivation so instinctive that they don't understand a “why” question at all? And, and biggest of all, we need to have enough vocabulary with them that we understand their answer.”

I felt like much of the ideas of collective “you” and understanding intent were skipped. I understand that A Desolation Called Peace is a weighty novel as it stands, and some streamlining was necessary. Also, Martine does explain the process that Mahit and Three Seagrass go through when dealing with the aliens, but it seemed just a touch too easy for a first contact scenario.

Along with the deep political intrigue betwixt the characters, there is significant character development in all of them. Young Eight Antidote begins to get first-hand experience in politics and protecting its people and culture. Mahit starts to develop a deeper and more complex symbiotic bond with Yskandr. And while they are two separate people, they begin to meld and share ideas. This character development is in service to the overarching plot and the discussions about what communication is and what part language and memory plays in it.

Mahit's experience on Teixcalaan has been invaluable. It has allowed her eyes to be opened up to worlds outside of her own. This, in turn, has allowed her to see her own culture with a critical eye. Does that make her dangerous to Teixcalaan or Lsel station? Possibly. I think her new perspective on things is one of the most exciting parts of this story.

I am looking forward to seeing where Martine takes hers and Three Seagrass's character.

The story continues and gets vastly more complicated. The aliens are a terrifying threat, and all of the characters, including a couple of new ones, are tested mentally and emotionally. Everything comes together in an unexpected climax.

What is A Desolation Called Peace? I was curious as to the phrase choice of desolation. A desolation has two definitions that I know of, and it applies to the story in different ways. Desolation can be “a state of complete emptiness or destruction.” A Desolation Called Peace is a first contact story, and the aliens bring desolation in their wake. They destroy all before them wholly and thoroughly. They are a desolation, living destruction.

Secondly, the word desolation is “anguished misery or loneliness.” Much like how Mahit feels at the beginning of the book. I found that more in-depth and particular word choice is found throughout this book, and I am quickly coming to associate this kind of next-level writing with Arkady Martine.

Upon further research, the title of the story is seemingly based on one of Tacitus' speaking about Calgacus, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” It is no shocker to me that the title A Desolation Called Peace would have historical significance. Arkady Martine is a historian, and the detailing and worldbuilding reflect that upon each page.

Every piece of this story flows and melds into others. It is an exquisitely written book. Martine is a master at language, character building, and history, and that mastery is evident in every facet of the story.

A Memory Called Peace was an excellent book, wholly deserved of the awards and acclaim it has received. But that was Martine's debut. It feels like now, with Desolation Called Peace, Martine is settling into her groove. I will read anything that she writes; her work is that good, and I recommend it to any science fiction or political intrigue lover.

Following his epic masterpiece Master of Sorrows, Justin Call once again shows his readers how fantasy classics are born with the next installment in the series, Master Artificer.

Firstly, let me describe the world that Master of Sorrows and Master Artificer takes place in. It is a world of old gods and new, great vengeance and power, and a Master of Sorrows, Anneviog de Breth also known as Annev. Throughout the first novel, we discover what it means to be a Master of Sorrows and what that means for Anneviog's future. Initially, Annev worked as a deacon at a school that trained thieves to go out into the world and steal magical items. The school then hoarded and hid away those magical items from the world. In Annev's world, anyone being caught having or using magic is flayed and stoned, and it is the greatest of sins to have the magical gift. Annev lives with and serves a man named Sodar; Sodar is a father figure to Annev and helps hide Annev's magical gifts from the world with his own magic.

Annev's school is challenging. Only the best will pass the tests and become someone called an avatar. But, as one can imagine, it is not easy balancing the public half, avatar trainee and rule-follower with the secret half, magic-user, and possibly as a destined hero. That is the crux of the first book.

The second book starts up right at the close of the first. We have Annev and company looking upon the wrecked ruins of their home school and, in many ways, their lives. Annev has many choices ahead of him to make. Immediately there is a tonal shift in the setting and writing of the second book—the first book has a lightness to the prose and worldbuilding. Annev has an innocence that permeates the first half of the first book. But that innocence was destroyed in the destruction of his school and life. Annev was innocent until circumstances dictated that he start making tough choices. The second book is after Annev has made choices that he cannot come back from. He is no longer naive, and as the story progresses and the book gets darker and more complex, you will see just how far Annev will go.

I come from a deep and abiding love for the world of Grimdark books. So, I am familiar with morally grey characters making repugnant choices for the right or wrong reasons. Grimdark has profoundly flawed and complex characters but a slightly different tone than Rothfuss, Sanderson, or Jordan's classic type fantasy. Master of Sorrows read much more like the stories from the contemporaries mentioned above. However, Master Artificer laughs in villain at this.

We are well and truly into grimdark territory here. Master Artificer is about Annev's future and what it will hold. Everyone seems to want to either kill him or control him. Annev is not having any of it. At the same time, the people who Annev cares about are all forging paths themselves. Each one plays a part in Annev's future in some way.

The question becomes, is Annev a good guy or a villain? Because every story needs a villain. But on what side does Annev fall? Or are we at the point that there are no sides, just grayness and a series of choices done for seemingly right reasons? It is getting harder and harder to tell, especially after the final third of the Master Artificer, where things get tremendously dark. I am talking torture with hooks, flaying, and exsanguination. The lightness of book one is now and truly dead, blood-splattered and decaying, and Annev stands upon a proverbial knife's edge covered in blood. You know that scene in Star Wars where Anakin Skywalker kills the children because he is well and truly dark; you know that feeling you got as a viewer, yeah? That is the feeling I had for the last third of the novel.

As of the Eye of the World Series, The Silent Gods series thus far is not only about Annev as the main protagonist, but of those who play supporting roles in his life. Whether they friend or foes. So in that, it is many books rolled into one. Any of the stories featured could be their own series themselves. Fin's arc is especially fantastic and should be a series in its own right. Fin's plotting to take down the crooked guilds that by waging a secret war against Luqura's corrupt guilds in the hopes of forging his own criminal empire is phenomenal.

I enjoyed the detailed characters and plotting revolving around all of the characters, but it does make for one chonker of a book. Master Artificer is just shy of 900 pages, and it makes good use of the time and covers a lot of ground. Call is continually moving us through the various stories, you can tell as a reader how detailed a world he has created, and he has concrete goals and pathways for all his characters. Although, I have to admit to getting lost a time or two. A lot is going on with these characters. And, much like the Wheel of Time, I am going to need to start plotting out character arcs to keep track.

Also, in a very Call like fashion, we are left with some serious cliffhangers. Many fantasy novels have mini-arcs that sit within the primary story arc. Master Artificer has a few of those; a large section behaves as a detective mystery of a sort. But even with the little bits of resolution we get as readers, none of it is satisfying, and it is evident that these arcs are but small morsels to tide over the reader. Most if not all of the plotting of this book is in service to the Major multi-book character arc of Annev in one way or another. So, after 900 pages and the immensity of this story, I wanted more. I was not satisfied, but in the best possible way, and that says a lot.

Master Artificer has taken the fantasy rulebook, beat it with a bat, and then set it on fire. The tonal shift from the first book to the second is staggering, yet Call makes it work. He drags you along with Annev into the muck and mire, and you want to be there. You want to know what will happen with the characters, and when Call dispenses a tidbit to us readers, we cheer heartily or are appalled to the marrow of our bones. Justin Call is quickly establishing himself to be the new force in the fantasy world and a contemporary to some of our best living fantasy writers. His books will find a home amongst the great fantasy series of our time and be poured over for years to come. It is an exciting thing to see as a reader. A new classic is unfolding before our eyes.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is a nostalgic trip to hell and back with best friends, walkmans, and New Coke. It is as fun as the title suggests.

“She could decide how she was going to be. She had a choice. Life could be an endless series of joyless chores, or she could get totally pumped and make it fun. There were bad things, and there were good things, but she got to choose which things to focus on. Her mom focused only on the bad things. Abby didn't have to.”
― Grady Hendrix, My Best Friend's Exorcism

I remember the 1980s. I remember E.T., legwarmers, tall gravity-defying hair, and the mall. I have a picture from 5th grade that is spectacular. All that feels very far away now, as it is 2021. But, just for a moment, Grady Hendrix transported me back to my childhood for a wild ride.

My Best Friends Exorcism follows two best friends Abigail and Gretchen, from the inception of their friendship, during the 4th grade when Gretchen gave Abigail a bible for her birthday at an E.T. themed roller rink party, through High School when their friendship gets much hazier and is tested by literal demonic influence. Abigail, the book's protagonist, sees life as a before and after. Before Gretchen, and after. The two of them are inseparable. But, after a wild night in a forest with tabs of LSD, Gretchen comes back... different. At first, Abigail can't figure it out and blames benign things. But there is something dark in the heart of her best friend, and she is the only one who can save her.

“Corn dogs,” the exorcist said, “are all the proof I need that there is a God.”
― Grady Hendrix, My Best Friend's Exorcism

I have an almost identical set of friendships with a couple of girls I grew up with. We did many of the things that Abigail and Gretchen did. I remember one of my best friends doing the entire dance from Thriller in a parking lot, seriously. She is amazingly talented. But, I know that people who go through school have friends like this. At any era. The details might be different, but at heart, the feelings are the same. Some people come into your life and help shape you. They help make you into the person you are going to be. Sometimes they stay for a while, and sometimes they last for a lifetime. But they remain in your heart. These connections are the strings that Grady Hendrix plucks when you read this novel.

What I am saying here is that although this book spoke to me on a very, very specific level. It will resonate with just about anyone who reads it. Because, while the era is different, the relationship is the same. Abigail and Gretchen love each other, a particular kind of love made of pinky swears and lifetime promise. Promises that will probably fall away as age and responsibilities change the nature of their lives. But, promises and intention none-the-less. And Abigail is going to save Gretchen, even when she doubts her sanity and even if she dies trying.

Also, this is a horror novel. It has exorcism in the title, so very graphic and horrifying things happen. But it is told in a Grady Hendrix-type way that balances the narrative and horrific elements with fun and comedic things. He balances light and dark moments, so much so that, at times, you let your guard down as a reader. Then kaboom, something scary that reminds you that there is something seriously wrong with Gretchen.

The characters are very well developed. I enjoyed learning about all of them, even the supporting characters. If this were an 80s horror movie, many of them would have probably been sliced and diced by Jason Voorhees by now. Instead, Grady gives them a different sort of treatment. We get to know them and watch how Grady twists the proverbial knife in their lives. It is very well done.

My Best Friend's Exorcism is a stand-out book with dark and twisted moments of humor that will appeal to almost any reader. Think Stranger Things mixed with The Exorcism all to the soundtrack of 1980s Madonna. It is entertaining as hell, especially if you enjoy a sprinkling of pop-culture references. I am finding Hendrix's entire catalog entertaining thus far. My Best Friend's Exorcism is the third Hendrix book I have read, the first being Horrostor followed by We Sold Our Souls. I have plans to read two more in 2021. You really can't go wrong with his books.