I’m not trying to be tautological when I say that history is written by the writers, cute as it may sound. And I’m not talking about historians. I’m not even professional writers, whether of fiction or journalism or what-have-you. I’m talking about writing history as it happens, taking control of a narrative that is still …

Road of Bones by veteran horror author Christopher Golden is a horror novel the way Resident Evil IV is a horror game. It’s scary, and it’s eerie, but in the end it’s all about the action. The isolation, the psychological elements, and the gore all feed the sense of dramatic forward motion, and not the …

You want a masterclass in worldbuilding? Look no further. Kate Elliott hasn’t been in the game for this long for nothing, and it’s clear from this brief novella that she has only grown in power. Servant Mage combines sharp insights, swift character work, and a magnificently complex world to make a story that feels both …

2022 is going to have some incredible books, and I’m especially looking forward to certain series continuing on or wrapping up entirely. There are too many to cover in a single article, so this is only the first 1/3rd of the year. And, as always, the best way to support authors is to preorder their …

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa is a West-African-inspired fantasy involving a young man too curious for his own good, a woman too ambitious for the good of anyone else, and an outsider in a land far away from home simply looking to regain what she has lost. Danso is a jali novitiate, a …

This list makes no claim to comprehensiveness, even as far as I, the reviewer, am concerned. It’s just a list of books I liked and wanted to talk about at the end of the year. Most have been perhaps a little overlooked. “I think these books are good and that you should read them” is …

MOX is the perfect simple title for a book that encompasses who he is as a person and a writer as much as a wrestler. Who is Jon Moxley? The wrestler is all the machismo of an action hero with modern sensibilities and the best parts of masculinity without the worst. The person, and by extent, …

Stockings are one of my favorite Christmas traditions. There’s something that never stops being fun about finding small treasures meant to do nothing but delight, with no running around to find the hottest and least-in-stock game or toy necessary. If you’d like to sneak a book in with the little snacks and games and baubles, …

Fairy tales are a double edged sword. I think all of us have been inclined toward reboots not because we’re Hollywood dupes or whatever the alarmist discourse is now, but because the familiar is comforting—and after these past few years, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting comfort. But it puts authors in a bind, because …

Amazon Prime’s adaptation of the epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time launches this month and with 14 main books, a prequel and 2 supplementary books it is a monster of a series.  So in case you don’t have time or desire to read 4,410,036 words before November 19th, here is a 10-point primer on …