Category: ARC

The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

October 17, 2019

The Deep is a compelling tale focused on the importance of history as a part of identity, specifically within black culture. This short novella is focused, coherent, and was written with a clear message in mind: no matter how painful, our past leaves an indelible print on our present and on our identity as individuals and as a culture.  … More The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes

Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

October 14, 2019

I love weird, squishy, biological scifi, and I was impressed by how perfectly Escaping Exodus delivered on this front. When I originally read the premise on Goodreads – “a city-size starship carved up from the insides of a space-faring beast” – I knew I had to get my hands on this book. I’ll admit that I came in feeling a hint of trepidation: what if the beast is relegated to being in the background? What if it’s a normal spaceship that’s only “alive” when it’s plot convenient? Etc., etc. Fortunately, we were wading through ichor and entrails from the very first page. My worries were utterly baseless. Nicky Drayden embraced every bit of icky organic goodness right from the start. … More Escaping Exodus by Nicky Drayden

Duchamp Versus Einstein by Christopher Hinz and Etan Illfeld

October 8, 2019

This book held promise, and kept me interested by introducing new ideas and premises as it progressed. It was short and a quick read. The prose was more than serviceable. However, every promise the novelette made to me as a reader ended up unfulfilled. I think this book needed to pruned back heavily, and perhaps would have been more appropriate as a short story instead of a novelette.  … More Duchamp Versus Einstein by Christopher Hinz and Etan Illfeld

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

October 7, 2019

This is not a comfortable book. It is brutal. It is often gory. It is violent, torturous, and painful. It is not palatable. And yet, A Lush and Seething Hell is perhaps one of the most polished and seamless books I have read. As Chuck Wendig put it in the foreword, “his magic tricks remain pure fucking magic. These murder ballads are ones we have not heard before.” I cannot find it in myself to disagree with him. When I review a book, I tend to pick it apart to see what makes it tick. Then, I reduce it down into a format that will give a reader a good idea as to the tone and content of the book while also allowing some of my own biases and voice to come through. I fail to pick this book apart. I fail to see the specific gears that make it tick, though I can certainly see the hands turning and hear the bells chiming. … More A Lush and Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

September 23, 2019

The Miracles of Namiya General Store is a book of interconnected short stories focusing on the lives of individuals who were helped or shaped by both the store and a nearby orphanage, called Marumitsuen. It follows a group of delinquents, an Olympic fencer, and a real estate tycoon amongst others. It’s a book about how everyone’s lives are connected to one another, how one small action can lead to much larger impacts spanning across generations. … More The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

The Bone Ships by RJ Barker

September 18, 2019

RJ Barker’s world in The Bone Ships is a rich, vibrant tapestry. The reader is immersed from the start, drowned in the sheer audacity of the writing. Each sentence had a lot of love poured into it, and it comes across clear as a clarion. The prose is dense with strong slice-of-life elements and creates a sense of “otherness” without crossing over into inaccessible. The use of vernacular is masterful, neither too extreme nor too campy, contributing to the je ne sais quoi that pervades the novel as a whole. The world is strange, disturbing, and filled with dangers the characters must navigate at every step… yet which is entirely normal to them in context. … More The Bone Ships by RJ Barker

The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes

September 16, 2019

The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes is hands-down the most imaginative, fresh, and kind book I’ve read this year. It is absolutely unlike anything else I’ve read, combining the innocence and creativity of a middle grade novel with the darkness and trauma of adult fantasy. At a glance, that makes it tempting to label this book as YA or middle grade, but upon reading it, that’s clearly not the case. It deals with loss of innocence, growing up, trauma, PTSD, identity, and abuse in a way that is both genuinely kind and genuinely heartbreaking. … More The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes

Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

September 9, 2019

Tamsyn Muir’s debut novel reaches out and grabs you in its skeletal fist from the very first page and doesn’t let go. Gideon The Ninth is witty, irreverent, and fresh as hell. It’s fucking delightful. It’s not all glitz, glam, and bones though – this is a book with a big ol’ heart hiding underneath the aviator glasses, laugh-aloud banter, and, of course, the mountain of corpses. This is a tight, polished narrative with twists and turns that were hinted at heavily in retrospect, yet take the reader completely by surprise as they unfold. … More Gideon The Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga

September 3, 2019

Although there are many elements which should have worked well for me, this novel didn’t quite pull together the way I might have hoped. At only about 10% in to the Kindle edition, I could already tell that Caligo was not Caligoing well for me. Although I wouldn’t necessarily recommend The Resurrectionist of Caligo, I will say that I would happily give this author duo another shot in the future. Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga show promise in this debut even if it could have used a bit more polishing and editing. … More The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli & Alicia Zaloga