Words, formerly normal, that now unnerve me thanks to Cathedral of the Drowned: meat, scoop, jelly. Words that were already uncomfortable that got worse: glutinous, birthed, slurry. Words that I use to describe Cathedral of the Drowned as a result: brilliant, disturbing, devouring. Yes, devouring. I had the sense, while reading, that rather than devouring …

Hope is the thing with feathers. Unfortunately, in Daedalus Is Dead by Seamus Sullivan, hope is Icarus, and Icarus, like his father, is dead. This isn’t a spoiler for many reasons—not only is it a cultural touchstone, he also dies within the first few pages of the novella. Daedalus spends the remainder of the book …

There are certain settings that present a higher difficulty level for authors. Not that it’s easy to write a book even when the setting lends its heft to the narrative, but an old Victorian house looming behind iron gates for a horror story or a glittering high-rise for a locked room mystery certainly do some …

At this point it’s hard to write a review of a T. Kingfisher novel—not because of the pace of publication, though that is breakneck (four books this year! Four!), and not because of the quality of the prose, which is unwaveringly compelling, or even the narratives, which are consistently innovative. It’s the rare combination of …

If you’re reading this right now I’m guessing you could use a break from the horrors of our current reality, might I suggest the horrors of not-so-different one? Stay with me here, because Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes is a spooky sci-fi thriller that says “Fuck Billionaire and AI…in spaaaaace!” It’s a little bit Alien, …

Every time a new Robert Jackson Bennett book comes out, I read it way too fast and then feel something I mostly otherwise feel after eating an entire bag of Cadbury mini-eggs: not regret—never!—but longing to return to the start, to experience the whole thing over again. I want to have both the anticipation and …

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Lev AC Rosen’s Evander Mills series. The first two books, Lavender House and The Bell in the Fog were on my favorites lists for the past two years. When I interviewed Rosen last year he spoke about how Lavender House was his Agatha Christie, and …

This is your summer book. Stop what you’re doing right now, get this book, and get some sort of fruit-based beverage to drink while reading it. I don’t think I have ever read a book like Running Close to the Wind. I don’t know if I ever will again. This is possibly the most unique …

L.M. Sagas’ Cascade Failure is a romp and a thrill ride. It starts gently, but it accelerates the whole way. It’s misleading too. I’d thought I was near the climax, as tensions rose and plot arcs came to fruition, until I checked the page number and realized that I was maybe halfway through. That was …

Anything Robert Jackson Bennett writes is an auto-buy from me, and even though I know to expect his typically stellar mix of action, characterization, and canny plotting, I’m always delightfully surprised by his ability to innovate within the fantasy genre. Previously in his Founders Trilogy, he managed to make computer and software engineering work in …