Talonsister

Oh man, I loved this book. The most indulgent, wacky, world with all the magic and fantasy races you could ever want. Lots of cool, fun characters running around all sorts of weird places with just enough horror elements to get your heart racing. Griffins, druids, princesses, and surgically enhanced super-soldiers.

Jen Williams should be an A-list fantasy author. She just writes excellent, excellent fantasy books. The creativity of the worldbuilding is unmatched, the plot twists are all there, the scope is epic, and the writing and characters are pretty damn snappy and good.

But why 4 stars out of 5? Well, it's really a 9/10, rounded down. My issue with this book, and with all the Jen Williams books I've read so far, is just that it's so well put together. Everything is worked out, everything makes sense, it's bulletproof. I want something in a Williams novel to not make sense. Even though the twist at the end was still good, I don't want to see it coming and be able to figure it out in chapter 5. I want to be shocked and awed and horrified and for whatever reason I always just feel like everything is under control and is going to be all right.

That said, it's still a 9/10. Read this! And please, US publishers, sign this to a deal now!