Beth Tabler

An adorable story about the love of a nut.

This is a sweet and easily read story about some of the excitement a little squirrel named nutsi has. He tries to catch the moon and falls with his friend getting lost. The ending is sweet and wrapped it up perfectly for a three to five year old range. It was really wonderful.

Essa Hansen's debut short story Save, Salve, Shelter in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction January/February 2020 is shining a light on the despair of Earth's ecological collapse. There are still good people who want to help.

“Corrupted babies wouldn't have survived this long.” Pasha shifts her trembling shoulders and tucks restless leverets back in their pouches. “Not everything out there is dead. And what isn't ruined deserves our care. The cause of the outbreak was us. Our fault.”

Hansen wrote this story in the wake of the California wildfires in 2017 and 2018. It was a reaction to the global trajectory the world is currently on regarding cataclysmic climate change. In Hansen's story, the chances for the Earth and all her inhabitants have come and gone. The United Nations is set to abandon the Earth with some humans and the DNA/Genetic sequencing of as many animals as the humans can find.

The humans that set out tracking across the barren landscape of the Earth are called catalogers. Pasha, the story's protagonist, is one of these catalogers. However, instead of leaving the animals to their fate, Pasha, in a moment of kindness and what I believe it means to be human, pick up the animals and carry them with her. She saves, salves, and shelters them, hence the name of the short story.

As anyone who attempts to save a baby animal can attest to, some make it; some don't. The point of the story is we should be trying to save them instead of abandoning them. We are stewards to the Earth, and the animal's fate is our fault. Pasha walks from launch site to launch site, each time trying to come aboard with her small menagerie. She is lied to, coerced, and the animals are euthanized repeatedly.

Her body is hunched and broken from carrying her hoard by foot for hundreds and hundreds of miles. Each time she comes upon an animal that can be saved, she picks it up, does her best, and moves on. It is heartbreaking and frustrating. You want her to succeed, but there is an air of desperation and futility to her struggles.

My only quibble about the story is the end of Save, Salve, Shelter. It is too abrupt and too out of character compared to the rest of Pasha's actions. I understand someone being at the end of their rope, especially with all Pasha has gone through, but it seemed too much. This is very much a personal reaction to the ending; your mileage may vary.

On the whole, this is a great read. I understand Hansen's feelings regarding the wildfires as I witnessed much of the same this year. It is a terrifying feeling to be so small in the face of such devastation. She took that feeling and transferred it well to Save, Salve, Shelter. There is hope for humanity in the form of Pasha. Even with the damage humans have wrought upon the Earth, there are still some good people.

Storytellers is not a fantasy story, at least not in the typical sense. But for something to be a fantasy story, there needs to be a layer of the fantastical, and Storytellers has it. When you read Storytellers, you step in the author's love of Iceland, both of its immense rugged harshness and beauty. I have heard it referred to as fantasy-adjacent, and that is an apt description, for this is undoubtedly a fantastical story that can only be told from an author like Bjørn. You can see his love of the landscape of Iceland gleaming in every word and description.

The story is two-fold: the current and the past. In the current story that takes place in Klettafjörður, the setting takes place in the early 20th century. We have a reclusive smith named Gunnar rescuing an injured stranger, and in exchange for help from Gunnar, the stranger, Sigurd, must “sing for his supper.” He has to tell Gunnar a story, and better make it interesting. In this, Storytellers has the feel of One Thousand and One Nights. As the story progresses we step into it the past, into a small Icelandic village. As the story progresses, we learn that not all is as shiny when you start to dig under these characters' skin. We know more about why Gunnar is such a reclusive, and that we have unreliable narrators in these characters.

As I mentioned, structure-wise is told between two alternating timelines—both the past and current time. Readers need to pay close attention to this, as I had some difficulty navigating the switching from the narrators initially. As the book progresses, it got more comfortable because the cast of characters had developed their own voices, and everything starts to come together, building a tapestry.

One of the best parts of this book and one that I applaud Larssen is how rawly he demonstrates substance abuse and mental illness. Depression, anxiety, alcoholism, imposter syndrome are genuine parts of the human psyche. They deserve to be a part of realistic characters. In Storytellers, you will have these emotions staring at you in the face. It is a mistake to think that this story is a downer. Quite the contrary, this story feels like how I would believe Iceland feels to an outsider looking in, rough, dark, and beautiful. It is full of crags and mountains and personal struggle and eventual triumph. I think that to be an Icelander; you have to be made of sterner stuff. Even the storytelling itself, the language and imagery have a dim quality to it. It is as if Larssen wanted to give you only so much light to see the characters, much like the dimness of the light in winter, where all you can see is by the brief bit of sun and the occasional candle.

This is a slow burn of a novel, but the richness of the tapestry that Larssen creates is worth the time and effort it takes to get there. And when I reached the end, I felt like what started out as a somber and slow-burning story evolved into leaving me with a spark of hope shining brilliantly. It was worth the trip to get to this point and know if you decide to take this journey with Larssen, you will be greatly rewarded.

Anna and the Apocalypse by Katharine Turner and Barry Waldo is an entertaining if an unlikely combination of a teen story, Christmas, and zombies. Based on the musical horror/comedy movie, the book involves the protagonist Anna, her best friend, and her school friends as they battle the undead on Christmas eve. There are evil teachers, undead pensioners, an undead 11 and under girls soccer team and a wooden candy cane turned weapon. It is a strange combination but entertaining.

“Forget your troubles, Let go your woe. Live for today ‘cause you might be dead come tomorrow!”

Zombie horror-comedy is a well-tread genre. Arguably started with the titular Sean of the Dead and followed up by numerous movies, including Zombieland and Warm Bodies. If you will pardon the pun, the zombie genre has been done so much it is dead. But, with everything, I don't think there has ever been a musical zombie Christmas story. So while zombies as a genre have pretty much saturated the market, reaching the realm of musicals is a whole new thing, which there lies the rub. Should a zombie musical be made? Is a zombie musical one step too far? That is up to the viewer; I am always down for campy fun. Sometimes things are so bad that they transcend bad and become great. They revel in their awful and find legions of fans who love to laugh at the ridiculous and themselves for loving it so much. I am not sure if Anna and the Apocalypse makes it to cult status, but it tries.

The plot is a simple one. Anna's day starts like any other. “It was Tuesday. A regular, boring Tuesday. Really, no different than any other Tuesday that Anna had experienced on her eighteen years on Earth.” We have all had days like this, the mundane and uneventful. Days that plod along from one moment to the next in a long daily march towards sleep. The fun thing that Anna and the Apocolypse does very well is call out how one boring ordinary day can go to the extreme and the extraordinary and change your life forever. How one day can become the “before” and the “after.” And, for Anna and her best friend John, that day was today.

“Uh, sorry, St. Peter, she whispered, fighting with the on/off button. But I was trying to save my friends' lives and instead, I accidentally switched on a huge vibrating dildo and dropped it on the floor and then I got eaten by zombies. May I come in?”

Anna laments at the sameness of it all. How the day is gray, and John has his daily jelly donut. She yearns for the different, the exciting, the something else. It is a sentiment shared with my teenagers, and even on into the doldrums of adulthood. We yearn for something novel and new to break up the monotony. Driving along, Anna's father screeches on the breaks, almost careening into a shambling blood-covered figure before it collapses to the ground. Anna's response to this is, “Well that is a bit different.”

“The white fleecy snowman costume was covered in sticky red and black patches and stank of something far worse than sweaty feet and cigarettes. Underneath the silk black hat, a man's face peered out of the costume, but something was very, very wrong. The whites of his eyes were red and his irises were gray, and at first, John thought he had meat smeared all around his face, but when Anna rolled him over and his jaw went slack, John realized his skin was missing.”

Having seen both the movie and read the book, I don't think the book is particularly fantastic. It doesn't have the campy charm that the musical does. It does have a fun story, as the movie does, but where the dialog of the film sung at the oncoming horde is amusing, it doesn't translate well in novel form. You miss the campy charm. You end up having an offbeat zombie somewhat funny book that takes place around the holidays. If you are a fan of the movie, go for it! But aside from that, this was a lukewarm read. Funny, and passable but nothing much going on beneath the surface.

Memoria, Kristyn Merbeth's second book of the Nova Protocol series, is another fun dive into the world of the dysfunctional Corvis family. In the first novel, Fortuna, Kristyn Merbeth introduced us to the Corvis family led by the reincarnation of Momma Fratelli from Goonies as the Momma. Momma reigned over here brood of thieves, swindlers, and smugglers with an iron fist. She was sparing of praise and love, no more so than with Scorpia Kaiser. In the first novel, Scorpia is the pilot of the family ship, Fortuna. She suffers from Middle child syndrome, where she feels not as good as her older and disappeared brother Corvus, nor does she get a pass on her actions like her younger siblings do. She spends a good part of the first novel drinking her problems away.

Corvus, on the other hand, was newly returned from the war in the first book. He left, against Momma's wishes, breaking cardinal family rules by disobeying her. The dynamics between the Kaiser family's siblings told through Scorpia and Corvus's eyes is spectacularly chaotic but changes as they grow, learn, and come into their own. Memoria, the second book of the Nova Vita Protocol series, is releasing this month. It is a continuation of the drama from the first book, again told through Scorpia and Corvus's eyes.

In the first novel, Fortuna came off as a character study of sibling dynamics and how people fold or grow under pressure. Memoria is a continuation of these developing characters coming into themselves set against the backdrop of war and vengeance, much out of their control, but they get swept up in it.

When I reviewed the first story, the main issue I had was that I did not empathize or care about the two dueling narratives. The worldbuilding was interesting and well done, the action was fast-paced, but when it came to reading about Corvus and Scropia, it held me back from falling into the story. In the first book, Scorpia was a mouthy caricature. She almost got her entire family killed twice, and none of it felt balanced by the other family members. I wanted to like her, and I wanted to cheer for her. But most of all, I wanted to slap some sense into her.

We have come a long way in Memoria.

Memoria's Scorpia and Corvus had many of the same issues that plagued them in the first series. Scorpia is a mouthy alcoholic that makes stupid impetuous choices. But this time around, the gravitas of their situation as a family and how her choices directly affect her family is changing. She is becoming a wiser leader and the Captain she has always wanted to be. Scorpia is someone I can see and understand more, and throughout the book, she comes more and more into her own. I loved that, I wanted and needed a wiser Scorpia.

Much the same can be said about Corvus. Corvus had his own set of issues to deal with in Memoria. I think much of that is Corvus is learning to stand on his own. He knows what is right, even if he has to stand against those he revered and loved. It is a great thing to see, as I have liked Corvus from the start of the series, but I like him even more now.

The plot and pacing were excellent in Memoria. The action has lulls, but those pauses give the story a more realistic feel. The action scenes are well crafted; you can tell that Merbeth appreciates tight and well-done action. One of the most exciting is a prison break out scene near the beginning of the story that is breathless with excitement.

Many of the problems I had with the first book have disappeared. The idea of the dysfunctional band of smugglers is still there. A very Firefly vibe, but Merbeth is coming into her own with these characters. It felt like a fuller and rounder story. The siblings outside of Corvus and Scorpia are not flat anymore, they have more definition, and the dynamic of how they fit into this band of misfits is more apparent.

I mentioned that I did not think I would be continuing with the series in my original review for Fortuna, but I am so glad I did continue. Memoria was a treat. A solid space fantasy with fun characters and a great plot. I think that if you hadn't read Fortuna, you could start with Memoria if you wanted to. You will miss some of the subtleties and character growth, though. So if you are interested in the Nova Vita Protocol, start with Fortuna, get introduced to Corvus and Scorpia. It will take you into Memoria, where you will have a solid foundation, and you can start loving these characters and this crazy dysfunctional family.

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.

Have you heard of C.T. Phipps and Psycho Killers in Love? No? How about Straight out of Fangton and I was a Teenage Weredeer? If not, you are in for a treat because let me tell you about some very original and wild fiction by Phipps. And, when I say wild, the premise of Psycho Killers in Love is set in a world called The United States of Monsters.

I read this novel a couple of months ago and was tickled by it, but I had been holding off on writing a review because honestly, how do you write a review for a book titled Psycho Killers in Love and sum up everything? You should know a couple of things right off the start; Phipps appreciates puns and a bit on the nose kitsch. This greatly appeals to me as a reader. But, if that isn't your style, don't let that turn you off thinking that this will be a silly book; it isn't. Quite the contrary, it is a straight-up horror novel with great characters that pay homage to psycho killer movies of the 1980s but has a fresh modern feel to it.

The story is about the main brother and sister protagonists, William and Carrie England. If you know your horror lore, we have a nod to Carrie from King's Carrie and a nod to Robert England of Freddy Kreuger fame. Will and Carrie grew up in a slasher family, it is the family industry, and their father, Billy Jones Patrick, was a famous slasher who specialized in the 80s type slasher haunts. Killing in sororities, camps, and slumber parties is hard, but someone has to do it. After their father's death, William and Carrie were put into an insane asylum to languish drugs and electroshock treatments. We start the story with the two of them being on the run from authorities after their escaping government lockdown.

Instead of being psychologically off your rocker and being a slasher, you have the slasher gene, and it is innate. It is embedded in your DNA as much as blue eyes and height. Monsters, while not wholly outed to the public, are real. Ghosts, demons, zombies all have a part to play in Phipps's The United States of Monsters. And, of course, where you have zombies, and demons you have violence. The opening scene in a diner is worth buying the book to read.

With the embedded DNA, there are perks and pitfalls. They have supernatural abilities but also a thirst for blood, figuratively. However, I wouldn't put a literal thirst for blood past Carrie, who reminded me quite a bit of deranged Harley Quinn. Instead of being true psycho slashers, they exercise their slasher gene with vigilante-type killing.

Another main character, and important one, is that of the Artemis Nancy. We meet her a bit into the story, and she is the counterpart and love interest to the psycho killer, William. An Artemis is a person with the genetic makeup to kill the slasher gene. And, since we are talking homages here, Nancy (Nancy, the last girl from Freddy Kreuger movies) is an extension of the last girl idea. Slasher movies usually had one girl left after the killing who would defeat the psycho killer. She was typically virginal, kind, and mild until pushed too far. Nancy is none of those things.

The three of them come together for some Scooby-Doo type fun, involving some Cthulu style psychological horror as well as monster baddies. It is great fun with exciting action and memorable characters.

There is a lot to unpack with this story, and much of it would spoil the fun. But if you enjoy excellent writing and things with the 80s horror vibe to them, you will like this. Come for the title, but stay for the characters and world-building.

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 Millennial Manifesto is a sparse, in-your-face story about the duality of politics and perspectives. If you love Quentin Tarantino movies, with a dose of stark commentary on current events, you will love this story.

“The Brave? People cowered in their homes, clutching their guns, living in fear of their neighbors and the very government they voted into power: land of the scared, home of the wage slaves.”

The premise is simple. You have two groups and two wildly different perspectives. Julia, Chen, Aarush, and Inanna are friends with a singular purpose — they want to change the world. They want to fix the crushing reality of being a millennial and living in a generation whose lives will be worse than those preceding it, and they will do anything to accomplish this task.

Right away, you can see the morally gray area of this sentiment.

The other group is Hiran, Chuck, and Fana. Hiran and Chuck are soldiers — thugs for hire. While Fana is a hacker and assists them by finding their targets and at accessing stores of protected information, they already exist on the far side of questionable morals. The cool thing about how this story is that it has dueling protagonists. Each chapter switches back and forth between the perspectives of Hiran and Inanna. This allows the reader to see how morally ambiguous some actions of either character can be. Who “good guys” are and who the “bad guys” are is not always straightforward. Just as it is in life, people are usually neither good nor bad, and in the end, no one thinks of themselves as the bad guy.

With Hiran, although he is a mercenary, he is a father and husband. He worries about his joints and paying for his daughter's college education. He is hired to do dirty work by a capitalist and all-around horrible person, Gartner. Gartner is also the target for Innana's terrorist group's first action. Innana is a woman who is anchorless. She has come into money after the death of her parents and wants to do something better with her life and for the world.

“Part of her wanted that, to go back to her easy life, to putter about pointless hobbies. No. I am going to make the world a better place. “Do any of you want out?” she asked.”

She does this by funding a small nameless terrorist cell. After the Innana's group completes their first terrorist like action, they make Gartner drink dirty water from one of the streams he has ruined through pollution; they have to go on the run after the second group starts to chase them. From there, the story evolves into chases of cat and mouse. Each group displays actions that both humanize and demonize them.

It is an exciting take on this type of story and one that Fletcher has done it well. It is quite a departure from the science fiction and fantasy story that we have become accustomed to from him.

It is a great story.

Engaging and visceral, the reader gets drawn into the minds of the two protagonists right away. You want to know how it is going end, and from the get-go, the reader has no idea how the story will play out. My only small qualm with the story is that I didn't feel like it was long enough. I wanted more from the characters; I wanted a more substantial base to pull from before the characters started to go on the run. The story also ends very abruptly. Whether that is a stylistic choice by the author, as it fits the narrative style, or just how the story played out, I am not sure. But it is a good ride either way.

If you are a fan of Tarantino type story that is ruthless with its characters, The Millennial Manifesto is the right choice. I hope that Fletcher continues the tale because there is room in this world for another story arc or five.

Jeremy Shipp writes quirky and often disturbing tales, and The Merry Dredgers is no different. Shipp flexes their writing muscles by creating two unsettling settings, an eerie amusement park and a cult while sliding a mystery inside. And while this is marketed under the banner of science fiction, fantasy, or even young adult, this is a very adult story brimming with suspense about pain and sisterhood and the lengths to which someone will go to find answers or at least an iota of peace. 

The blurb talks about Seraphina Ramon and how she will stop at nothing to find out the truth about why her sister Eff is in a coma after a very suspicious “accident.” What happened to her sister, and why is she in a coma? Even if it means infiltrating the last place Seraphina knew Eff was alive: a once-abandoned amusement park now populated by a community of cultists. And again, in the Shipp style, characters are neither bad nor good but layered. The people and lifestyle the cultists lead are comforting, and Seraphina finds friendship and camaraderie among the members, which greatly complicates things for her from a moralistic viewpoint. 

There is also a profound story between the sisters; even with Eff being in a coma, it is still pronounced and nuanced. You can disagree with your sister and often hate her and her choices, but the bond of sisterhood can run deep. While reading this story, I understood and empathized with many of Seraphina's actions. 

One of the great strengths of the story, and one that almost becomes a character itself, is the setting. An abandoned amusement park full of rust and pealing paint where you might hear the echos of a child's laughter or a roller coaster flying by is the perfect setting for something disturbing. Something in this setting is slightly off, much like a cult. And Shipp expounds on that. It feels like Seraphina is walking into hell, but it is ok, no, really, because she is with new friends, and friends would not lead you astray.

If you are looking at reading some of Shipps's other works, I recommend Bedfellow, which is an absolute mind scramble of a book. Or, if you are looking for stories with a similar feel, hop over to Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts, which also depicts a sisterly relationship but in a much different way. 

It is dark, whimsical, melancholic, and poignant - The Merry Dredgers is some of Jeremy Shipps's best and most complicated work and should not be missed.

Ben Galley's epic story, Chasing Graves is the quintessential grimdark fantasy:

Dark and brooding characters, check.
Inhospitable political climate, check.
Violence, check.
Fantastic plot, check.

The world-building is exceptional. Galley has created a city unlike any I have read before named Araxas, City of Countless Souls. Imagine a place that stretches horizon to horizon. Dark towers of glittering crystal reach towards the sky and on the ground, the dead walk. The dead are in the form of souls. These souls are people who have died and had the souls taken into perpetual servitude. The oligarchy of Araxas is those few who can command control of the most dead. Araxas is a seat of power for the region, also as you can guess it is a seat of danger and murder.

Character-wise, the first book follows the intertwining narratives of four main characters. The first is of the Empress in waiting. The daughter of the absent Emperor that rules this city from behind closed doors, fearful for his life. Our main character, Caltro, comes to Araxas for an important meeting, only to be murdered in the streets. His soul stolen and sold into slavery. A mysterious woman traveling in the desert dragging a body and a man with a golden eagle's talon for a foot that runs a trade of stolen souls. All of these characters dance around the plot. They peak in and out of each other's stories. They tease the reader with small details that lead us to the larger story. Believe me; Galley is playing the long game in this story. There are no cute and resolved plots for this book. Chasing Graves is a long and luxuriously executed first book that is throwing us head first into the next story.

One of the few detractors I have from the book is at times the pacing slowed. Particularly with the Empress in waiting. I believe that to be a function of backstory and world-building creation and nothing that Galley had control over. That, and I can't really stand her. I find her character to be a well-written brat with a lot of power. I foresee her changing quite a bit in future books, growing as necessity dictates in the political climate.

These characters are not likable, and like in most grimdark stories, they aren't meant to be. There isn't a plucky protagonist that steals the heart of a young maiden. Grimdark is just that, dark. It can be almost cruel in its narrative. Anyone who has read any G.R.R Martin or Mark Lawrence knows how unforgiving a grimdark author can be with his characters. What I like a lot of this book is that it is a dark fantasy, but there are shining brilliant moments of redemption or humor. It is not all muck and mire and savagery. There is light, at least a little bit. That gives me hope and a cause to cheer for Caltro, and I think much more than a typical fantasy story because Caltro, by the end of this tale, will have been through hell and I hope come out in some way on the other side.

That is something to cheer for, and I can't wait to read about it.

Nothing gory or shocking about the pictures, not a drop of blood, but the animals were dead. One charcoal sketch depicted a pair of rabbits and some kind of bird on their backs, eyes shut, a hunter's fresh catch. Another captured a single spread-winged pheasant, neck bent in eternal slumber.

Would you like a story that has ghosts, witches ghouls – and a crime noir style plot with an intrepid reporter. Have I got the story for you.

Ghosts of Gotham is about Lionel Page, referred to as little lion occasionally, a thirty-something investigative journalist. Lionel is given an investigation by a mysterious woman, Regina Dunkle. Is she just a wealthy reclusive heiress with a fascination for all things old or is she more? What follows is a well-written adventure into the world of antiques, the Poe Manuscript, mythology, and lore. Instead of going the way of some crime books, with a “who done it?” Schaffer has involved all sorts of creatures of myth and lore that are dealt out to you slowly like receiving cards while playing poker. He expertly and slowing brings the “things that go bump in the night” into the narrative that by the end of it you realize had you followed the clues the whole story you would have realized they were there all along waiting for you in the wings.

These days I prefer to interact with humanity through books, as exclusively as possible. The pages, the type, they're like...the glass walls of a zoo enclosure. I can watch the wild animals all evening long, safe on my side of the window.

I haven't read any of Schaffer's books, something I plan on rectifying, but I found this book to be a very well formed story. Plot and pacing were perfect for me, the dialog was some of the best I have read, and it was simply a very fun read. The story could go on to more in a series or be an excellent stand-alone story and a great place to start reading his work. This story was a great introduction to me of Schaffers works, and I am looking forward to diving into his other series. Check it out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Excellent imagery, and quick biting text. It took much of what women deal with on a daily basis and brought it to the forefront. I can absolutely see teenagers reading this and getting some perspective on the plights of women globally. Great read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion.

Right from the get-go of this regrettably short story, you get two impressions. Impression the first, Tim Powers is an excellent writer. The story flows smoothly, the dialog is excellent, and the plot is intriguing. The second, the first few chapters are Keystone Cops (the professors) in a graveyard. This story is not a comedy, but I found the first few chapters funny. What this is, is a modern-day occult ghost story. Three professors from Cal-tech enter a graveyard to perform an occult ritual to materialize the ghost of departed Armand Vitrielli, what happens is they materialize Vitrelli's daughter instead. They flee the cemetery with the “daughter” in tow (keystone cops part) completely missing what emerged after they left. From this beginning, Powers crafts a well written, if sometimes bland plot. The story is solid, but after the initial chapters in the graveyard it didn't resonate and connect with me as much as I would have liked it too. I would certainly want to read Power's other works, however. Powers is an excellent writer of dialog and story flow. But this just wasn't my favorite.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

I am not one to normally read military science fiction. It is an acquired taste. Often when you read a dense military science fiction it requires a graph, charts, and post-it notes. I am not being hyperbolic. There is a good segment of science fiction readers that can get into the weeds with a thick military science fiction book. Arguments prevail over tactics and disciplines. That is a bit heavy-handed for me. It just isn't my cuppa. That was why I was slightly leary when picking up Marko Kloos's Aftershocks. I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Aftershocks is just what the title implies. It is the long-reaching aftershocks after a drawn-out interplanetary war. It covers the societal, military, and financial changes that have taken place in the five years since the war. There is an uneasy and easily shakeable alliance that shifts and changes between the 6 planets. As the story moves along we watch the perspectives shift and change from a selection of characters with different personal histories and backstories. The story begins with the character Aden. A former Gretian intelligence officer and I think the star of the story. He found himself in POW camp after his side lost the war. He is a smart, capable, and calm character trying to find his footing after being away so long. It is interesting with his character being both military intelligence and also fish-out-water. Because of the atrocities of what the Gretians did during the war, many of the other planets will not forgive or forget what his people did. His people and culture will forever be marred by the war.

Another interesting character that sits in counterpoint to Aden's character is Idina. For as calm as Aden is Idina is intense. Idina is a Palladian and Palladians were the winning side in the great war between the six planets. Her perspective is quite different than Aden or another character in the book Solvieg. Idina has seen quite a lot of atrocities, some quite recent. She comes from a place of deep patriotism and deeply held grudges.

The pacing of the story is quick moving. The world-building is interesting and gives you just enough to keep you on your toes and open for more. I was also pleasantly surprised that the novel leaned heavily towards space opera rather than military science fiction even though the novel takes place after a war and within the context of the military. This isn't a light and fluffy novel. Far from it. But it had just enough of both military and space opera to be a little bit of both genres. My only real quibble with the story is the ending, and that is only do to preference and style. It is abrupt. It leaves you hanging. Some readers may not like that. Especially when there is no book two written yet to dive into to get your fix. If you are not a fan of that style, wait a bit. I am sure more books are coming. I hope more books are coming because I am for sure going to continue reading this series. I dig everything about it.

Jackson Ford's irreverent story The Girl Who Could Move Sht With Her Mind is as fun as the title suggests. Seriously, I laughed out loud a few times. My favorite protagonist type is snarky. I enjoy a good bit of snark and a well-placed quip. I also enjoy it when people lose their shit and are fed up with your antics, which is Teagan, in a nutshell. Teagan is a woman, put in ridiculous situation after ridiculous situation over 22 hours. Oh, she is also The Girl Who Can Move Sht With Her Mind. So the jobs she deals within this novel are... a bit out of the ordinary.
In the first chapter of the book Teagan is plummeting from the top of a skyscraper; she has ten seconds to live. Her Day gets worse from there.

Teagan is like most young women living in Los Angeles. She works a job she puts up with and has weird semi-sorta friendships with those she works. She also has an overbearing boss and big dreams.

All of these things are factually true.

Except that Teagan works for a clandestine operation founded by the government that uses her abilities, namely moving sht with her mind, to acquire information and stick it to the bad guys. Whomever the current bad guy is, though she never kills anyone. It is nothing like that, and she tries to do as much good as she can. Her weird relationships are with her coworkers, who have almost as strange backstories as she does. And her boss is a terrifying governmental agent and will put her in a cage if Teagan steps out of line. A literal cage. But she does have the big dreams of owning a restaurant and eating the best food. As you can probably tell, Teagan is a cool character. Very much an average person except for that one small thing. A long time ago, Teagan got tinkered with. Something extraordinary happened; she acquired the ability to move items with her mind. Nothing huge, she isn't moving buildings. But up to three hundred pounds and ten feet from her, Teagan can reach out and grasp inorganic objects with her mind. How or why is not important, she just can. She is an X-Men character who drinks a lot of coffee and swears a lot. “Superheroes in comics and in movies pull off that secret-identity shit all the time. But this isn't a movie, or a comic, and I am definitely not a superhero. Secret Identity? I can barely pull of the identity that I have. I won't do that to Nic. I won't put him in that situation.”As I mentioned, the story starts with a plummet off of a very tall building with a screaming coworker in her arms. Things have gone pear-shaped very quickly on a job, and the only thing Teagan could think to do was to throw them off the 82nd floor of a building and hope for the best. Her teammate has agoraphobia; this does not engender team unity between them. Most of her team considers her a strange liability. Especially the woman who is screaming in Teagan's arms because she believes she is about to die. They survive. But later, while Teagan is out getting some most excellent takeout, a dead body is found with a piece of rebar wrapped neatly around his neck. Using her powers in such a way is verboten. The murderer would have to be a person with telekinesis, and Teagan is the only person who has that? Right? Well, Teagan has 22 hours to find out who did it and prove her innocence, or it is back to government labs in Waco, Texas, for the rest of her days. “The state hadn't helped. The state - states plural, actually simply didn't care. He was bounced from office to office, and the trail ran cold within weeks.”There is a compelling sense of urgency in this novel. 22 Hours feels like we are living Teagan's experiences in real-time. That sense of urgency drives the plot beats from one moment to the next. It also causes Teagan to make poor choices because, at this point, Teagan is a woman at the end of her rope. She is out of telekinetic juice, out of coffee, and out of time. This story is told from the perspective of two people, mostly alternating chapter by chapter. We have Teagan, the main protagonist, and a harried good guy, and then we have Jake, the antagonist. Jake is, in most ways, a complete opposite of Teagan. They have similar backstories. Teagan was orphaned in her teens and was picked up by a government agency who then experimented on her for five years. Jake has power but never showed anyone. He was also orphaned, but at a much younger age. He bounced from home to home in the system until he aged out, stole a car, and left.Where Teagan has kindness in her heart, Jake feels damaged. It is sad in a way. It feels like Jake could have been a good person, had the circumstances been different, but he is missing that moral core that guides good choices. We occasionally see it when he questions his own decisions, “Wait I don't want to kill anyone...” But he pushes through that in a singular focus on his goals. In that, I liked that Jake wasn't a cookie-cutter character. He had more dimension to him than the typical bad guy. Their two stories swirl around each other for most of the book—their actions directly affecting each other, but never quite meeting until the story unfolds.Some of the best parts of this novel are the interactions that Teagan has with her coworkers. As much as the 22-hour time limit affects Teagan's future, it also very much affects the team as a whole. Her choices, and the information that she can find directly influences the rest of the coworkers' lives. This incentivizes them to help her as much as possible, even if she annoys the hell out of them. It isn't just Teagan who has a wild ride over the next 22-hours, it is Paul, Carlos, Annie, and Reggie who are going along with her. “...They tased me. After that they got smarter. Kept me dosed.”The Girl Who Could Move Sht With Her Mind is fun and silly. Teagan makes stupid choices and shows her naivete, but damn, is this an engaging story. Teagan's revelations over the 22 hours allowed her character to expand and be a bit more than just action. This growth is an essential and wise choice on the part of Jackson Ford. It made this story more than action and wise-cracking. It gave it some heart, some sorrow, and a little pluck.

This is the perfect kind of book to kick back with after a long day and enjoy it. I highly recommend this because we readers want some psychokinesis fun and to cheer a character on. Teagan kicked a lot of ass, even when she was getting her ass kicked, and I am looking forward to the next book.

If you would like to see more of my reviews, please check out my website www.beforewegoblog.com

I think at one point or another, we are all the titular character,
Dolores, in Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne. We may not be her specifically in all ways. But I guarantee that the humanity that Mrs. Claiborne has, the trueness and rawness, will happen at one point or another in every human's life. This, in itself, is what makes Dolores such a relatable character.

“Sometimes you have to be a high riding bitch to survive, sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to hang on to.”
― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne

If you are new to Stephen King and haven't heard about him, which would be crazy because who hasn't heard of King, Dolores Claiborne is Stephen King's first novel entirely told in dialect from a single person point of view. I don't know many authors who could pull off the feat of writing something clear, concise and engaging like Dolores Claiborne while handicapping themselves with this type of narrative style.

But he does it, and he does it well.

Dolores Claiborne is told in one long and breathless story recounted at a police station after Dolores Claiborne has been brought in for questioning for the death of her senile and long time employer Mrs. Vera Donovan. Mrs. Donovan had taken a tumble down the stairs and subsequently perished from the fall. Dolores is under scrutiny by the police because thirty years prior, there were mysterious circumstances around the death of Dolores's husband, Joe. Dolores, herself, is described as an aged, hard-worn woman in her sixties working as a housekeeper in the fictional island of Little Tall Island, Maine. Many of Stephen King's novels take place in Maine, and some ways interconnect with each other. As an aside, if you pay attention to some of the character references in reading Dolores Claiborne, you will notice a direct connection to Gerald's Game. One of King's other horror works.

“What did you ask, Andy Bissette? Do I ‘understand these rights as you've explained em to me'? Gorry! What makes some men so numb? eNo you never mind—still your jawin and listen to me for en awhile. I got an idear you're gonna be listenin to me most of the night, so you might as well get used to it. Coss I understand what you read to me! Do I look like I lost all m'brains since I seen you down to the market? I told you your wife would give you merry hell about buying that day-old bread—penny wise and pound foolish, the old saying is—and I bet I was right, wasn't I?”
― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne

It turns out that Dolores did not murder Vera. This isn't a spoiler, we find this out in the first twenty pages or so. We also find out that Dolores did murder Joe, the whole town knows it, although they could never prove it. Dolores Claiborne, the story is really “the why.” Why would a woman murder her husband?

Dolores begins her tale, describing it in great detail to Andy and a stenographer, how she came to be married to Joe. How she came to work for Vera and how those two things shape who she became and the choices she took to get there. What you get is the in-depth look is a woman who will do anything to protect her family, and do what is right by her code of ethics. It is morally gray, but life is morally gray, and that lends a sense of realism to Dolores. I can imagine her existing somewhere in the world.

As soon as you get one paragraph into Dolores Claiborne, you will notice King's use of dialect. I am of two minds of this. On the one hand, the jargon can be immersive; it can help the reader immerse themselves in a story. On the other, it can be frustrating and classist. Some author's use dialects to divide rich folk from poor folk. If a character is poor, they speak unintelligibly, dropping letters, forgetting words, and using an excessive amount of slang in their vocabulary. It is lazy and insulting writing. However, I think dialect done well, as I believe King's version here did not make the story difficult to read for me. It isn't Riddley Walker and indecipherable. But it does add to Dolores's character.

“One way or another, all the bridges between that time n this one have been burned. Time's a reach, too, you know, just like the one that lies between the islands and the mainland, but the only ferry that can cross it is memory, and that's like a ghost-ship - if you want it to disappear, after awhile it will.”
― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne

Stylistically, Dolores Claiborne is not King's typical style. In most of King's novels, even his short stories where brevity is a must, King over explains, over describes, overanalyzes, just overdoes it. If King were to describe a doorknob to the reader, it might be a single paragraph describing the texture, smell, sound, year make and model of said knob. I know that many readers find that level of explanation tedious. It goes right in the face of the minimalist school of writing that is getting more and more mainstream. Others who know King and are familiar with his style, love it. I love it. Although when I read the unabridged version of The Stand that came in at 1327 pages, it might have pushed it a little bit for me. I bring this up because his typical style is in sharp contrast with how Dolores Claiborne is written. This is sharp and concise writing. Almost blunt in its emotional brutality scene to scene. Dolores is not a long-winded character. She speaks her mind, and if there is nothing to say silence is better. I think King took that to heart when writing her, although I don't know many people that can tell a single story, especially to a police officer that is over 300 pages long.

The glory of this story is the relationships that Dolores has, namely the relationship between her boss Vera and her husband, Joe. Joe is almost a caricature of an abusive alcoholic husband. However, it is Dolores's handling of Joe and the language King uses to get across to the reader about Dolores's strength that I found very appealing. Vera and Dolores are another matter entirely. Vera is a bitch. She is a bitch in every sense of the word, Entitled, rich, classist, snobbish. Where King could have used a caricature of a stuffy, white, rich woman, Vera has pain. She isn't all bad, although her moments of where the reader can see through the mist of her money and airs are few and far between. Her relationship between Vera and Dolores is old. It reminds me of the relationships old nemeses have when underneath it all there is an undercurrent of respect and made a sprinkling of love. But you have to dig way, way down to find it.

“...two bitches livin on a little chunk of rock...”
― Stephen King, Dolores Claiborne

If anything, Dolores Claiborne highlights that King is not a one-trick pony. Although he has the horror genre down, he is a talented writer that can write with nuance and gravitas. He writes with heart and emotion. When I hear about King naysayers who talk about his writing being hackneyed, pigeonholed in horror, I think of the story The Body (made into the movie Stand By Me), or Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption (made into the movie The Shawshank Redemption), and now I think of Dolores Claiborne.

You want a wild ride, this story will give you a wild ride. Magdalene, of Eternity Girl fame, helms this story about former child queen Elida. Elida, having been deposed years ago, is pretty much an all-around badass thief and smuggler. The writing is and graphics are razor sharp. The plot is a very typical rogue scoundrel a la Firefly and Hans Solo, but instead, we have a female character who does not fall into typical writing tropes. It is just a damn fun read and so wonderful to have a female lead who takes no guff.

If you would like to check out more of my reviews please head on over to beforewegoblog.com

Women's roles in war are always played down or seen as insignificant. Even though, often, women played a huge role in major battles or information gathering. During world war II, women took over major industrial roles typical staffed by men. Women built ships, armaments, and trucks. They took over massive equipment operation, and difficult hard labor. For the US, women staffed over 400,000 support staff positions assisting in the war effort of US militaries. They are essential, but often their stories are not told. Enter Garth Ennis of Preacher and The Boys fame. Plus, about twenty other as great series. He is known for his deep storytelling, and no holds barred dialog. Pretty much anything goes when it comes to an Ennis novel. This is an important point to bring up because The Night Witches is based on a real squadron of female fighter pilots during World War II. Ennis had to mix his gritty storytelling and balance it against any accurate details he can glean from actual true-life events. Ennis quotes John Keegan's shocking dismissal of women as fighter pilots or even as fighters in general with “‘Warfare is ... the one human activity from which women, with the most insignificant exceptions, have always and everywhere stood apart ... [women] never, in any military sense, fight men.'“[1] Little is known specifically about The Night Witches, the soviet government has set to downplay its reliance on female personnel. But much can be guessed from the few personal histories that survived.

In response, Ennis has created a character that is a composite of the available information about female fighters at the time in the form of Anna Kharkova[1]. The premise of the story is disjointed, and I found it challenging to follow, but loosely it is about a group of women, named The Night Witches or Ночные ведьмы or in German, die Nachthexen. (The Germans dubbed them their moniker.) They flew nighttime bombing raids and supported Russian defense and offense. Anna flies everywhere and in all sorts of battles. She has love affairs, loses friends, kills people, and as the story progresses, you can tell that little bits of her soul dies. I think that it is the chaotic and disjointed nature of the story that makes it confusing. I liked Anna as a character, I enjoyed her fierce nature, and even though she is tiny, she is big in life and personality. Those who seek to underestimate her, do it only once. But I did not connect with her as a character except the little snippets of dialog that resonated with me.

Graphically, Russ Braun and Tony Aviña's artwork shine. It is gorgeously done with massive air gun battles and vivid war scenes. The artwork is almost reminiscent of World War 2 recruitment and propaganda posters. You feel like you are there in the scenes.

This story is a hard one to judge because, on the one hand, the artwork and war scenes are some of the best I have read. Snippets and vignettes of Anna's trials as a fighter pilot and on into POW camps are poignant and masterfully done. But as a whole, the story is too disjointed for me to care about Anna genuinely. Or understand the gravity of her actions at the end. I recommend it for the artwork and because it is Ennis because even bad Ennis is still a cut above most other storytellers, but I don't think this is his best work.

[1] https://www.npr.org/2019/03/16/698736932/night-witches-sheds-some-light-on-daring-female-flyers

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.

Lin-Manuel Miranda managed to write a book that walks the fine line between the overly sentimental and the inspirational. Reading this book, I feel nothing but inspiration and a feeling of contentment. Each of these little bits of bite-sized pieces of awesome are just perfect to ingest and take with you for the day or through the night while you rest. They are lovely, sweet, and wonderful and have an air of goodness about them. I recommend this for when you need a non-schmaltzy pick-me-up. For example, I will leave you with one of my favs - 

“Gmorning.
YOU ARE SO LOVED AND WE LIKE 
HAVING YOU AROUND.
ties one end of this sentence to your heart, the other end to everyone who loves you, even the ones you haven't heard from for awhile
checks knots
THERE. STAY PUT, YOU.

Gnight. 
YOU ARE SO LOVED AND WE LIKE
HAVING YOU AROUND. 
ties one end of this sentence to your heart, theother end to everyone who loves you in this life,even if clouds obscure your view
checks knots
THERE. STAY PUT, YOU.
TUG IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.” 

Also, if you can't read the book, NO WORRIES! Lin-Manuel writes a new one every day on his twitter feed. Just subscribe. 

“I inhaled my neighbors' lives”

I have lived through a few things. I have been robbed, my house has caught fire (twice), and I very nearly floated my car in a flash flood. I had to drive on the wrong side of the road and got swept sideways. I have not yet, thankfully, lived through a firestorm and the aftermath. Brian Fies has, however. A Fire Story is a memoir of the experience, pain, fear, regret, and most importantly...hope. His family lost everything. Everything...from pencil to pillar when the Northern California wildfires of 2017 blew through his home and swept away everything but their lives.

A Fire Story is the real world experience of famous Eisner award-winning comic artist and writer, Brian Fies. It starts with the initial smell of a fire, no alarms rang or phones went off. Just the smell of fire and a burning light out in the distance. Then the escape with his family, his dog and cat, and what few belongings he could remember at the moment. Next, is recovery. Being a nomad, the shock and fear of displacement on his animals and how his family rallied together to help them. He talks of starting over, moving on, and trying to rebuild a home both literally and figuratively.

This is a powerful memoir. It makes you stop for a moment, and think about what is truly important. What would you grab? What would you be ok with losing? How do you move on? Graphically, the panels are simply done. Purposefully, not even fully rendered to give the feeling of incompleteness. Even in his use of simplified panels, never think for a moment that emotion, a sense of place and timing are not conveyed. Fies conveys it all and there is a reason why he has won so many awards in the past.

This is a testament to his work as a writer and worth the read.

Again, Kenneth B. Andersen has written an exciting story.

Phillip was getting along pretty good on the alive side of things. He was making friends and finding a balance between being 100% good and 100% bad. But through an accident, Sam winds up in Hell, and it is Phillip's fault. What transpires is exciting, and includes some of the great characters from history. How is he going to help Sam?

Furthermore, hell is in peril. Many demons, new to mortality after the last book, have abandoned Hell for the outer reach and are gathering together. Something is afoot; a war is brewing.

There is a lot of cool plot movement in this book and the series in general. Firstly, the overall tone of the story is darker and more adult. The writing is moving apace with Phillip as he gets older. Also, Phillip is dealing with more adult situations and is showing the kind of man he is becoming. Also, Phillip's relationship with Satina is maturing, and Satina is fleshing out to be a great supporting character. It is excellent how Andersen is pulling everything together and creating characters that readers can enjoy and appreciate.

Again, I recommend this series to YA readers. Andersen has done a great job crafting something unique in this book and the series in general. The protagonist, Phillip, is a likable character that the reader can empathize with. The supporting characters are help carry the story forwards and bring a dimension to the story that would have been missing had they been caricatures of devils. All and all, this was a great addition to the series, and I look forward to the next one.

I received this as an eARC from Netgalley and the publisher Archaia in exchange for my open and honest review.

We all have that moment where we are storm-tossed and sheltering in a proverbial dingy clinging for safety. A moment where we look upon the future, and it seems like nothing more than waves crashing against the boat. Miscarriage, but really infertility in general, is one of those things that can toss you among the crashing waves and cause you to have to find your way back home. It is damaging, brutal, heart wrenching and prompts you to question everything you have ever held dear. It is also one of those things that are rarely discussed but affects so many. In Ingrid Chabbert graphic novel, Waves” she speaks of the before, during, and after of miscarriage and heartbreak after suffering miscarriage. It is poignant and painful, and she broke my heart as she stood in her little boat and faced a future among the crashing ways after a miscarriage. She is fierce in the most real sense of the world, and she broke my damn heart...


This story is a true story of Ingrid Chabbert and her partner's struggle with infertility, pregnancy, and miscarriage and then the struggle back to the light of life afterward. Anyone at all who has dealt with infertility can tell you how devastating it can be on every aspect of your life. Pregnancy is everywhere from the woman at the grocery store to adds on TV. It is such an important book to write and create because no one wants to talk candidly about it. With pregnancy rates as they are 1 in 10 women are infertile or have problems staying pregnant. This is such a real struggle, and that is 6 million women out there that have to contend with this every day.


No one wants to tell stories like this; it is as if our collective culture thinks something like infertility is a catchable disease like cooties or chicken pox. But Chabbert does, and she tells it beautifully. Not only is it a gripping and emotional read, but it is also beautifully rendered by Carole Maurel. Each page is done in a kaleidoscope of soft and beautiful colors and the images Maurel created of Chabbert being lost among the sea's waves are so right and so real.
Readers and people appreciative of graphic novels should read this. She put her heart out there and her journey with this story, and this is an incredible work of art.

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.