The Hidden Queen by Peter V. Brett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic fantasy.

Sure, it absolutely builds on the great Warded Man series, but directly follows the events of The Desert Spear, which continues with their kids. It's not only a worthy sequel-series, it's absolutely rich in great characters and even more rich in magic, worldbuilding, and action.

The action isn't immediately obvious until much later, but frankly, I don't care. These kids have to deal with so damn much. Rich arabic-type culture and also a fresh medieval culture trying to work together, duels, very interesting intersex normalization subtext, power dynamics, and so much more. Like musical harmony. Or super-sensitivity masquerading as introversion. Or just plain oldschool perception-dynamics.

There's a glut of things to love in this novel, and the cliffhanger at the end is fantastic.



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The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think this one is almost as good as Anubis Gates. It's weird, but I really got into this.

Sure, I love myself some Byron and Shelly and Mary Shelly antics as much as anyone. It's GOTHIC LITERATURE, people. Hell, this one is a hell of a lot more gothic than the original gothic stories. Death, being haunted, like seriously haunted by lovers over years and years, of serious family drama, of darkness and noble friendship and seriously erudite learning and poetry all mixed into one of the best historical fantasy period pieces I've read in years.

And how it's driven by a very clever take on lamias/vampires, with equally clever readings of the bible and more ancient histories, and the depth of Power's worldbuilding in general to make the tale shine?

Totally gorgeous. Heads and shoulders above anything else out there. Most are amateurish compared to what Powers can dream up.

His works are truly something else, and at this time in his career, at the end of the 80's, he's in prime shape. Seriously recommended.

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Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think this book might be my second favorite of the series.

It's not because I particularly liked the five egotistical scientists who created a whole ecosystem out of whole cloth on their particular alien world. I didn't. In fact, it's super easy to loathe them. And for very good reason, it turns out.

It's not because I think those in the Society, the one made up of many kinds of minds and aliens working together toward an accommodating, positive end, is such a fantastic politicized end I just have to spout hundreds of great things about it to anyone who could be bothered to sit still for it. Or complain about how it's still a FORCED creation by Kern's virus, or how unrealistic even that would be--if it wasn't for the fact that THIS NOVEL specifically addresses that and a handful of other rabbit holes in such a clever and clear way that I was forced to re-evaluate all of my earlier dismissals.

I love this novel precisely because it touches on so many great SFnal concepts, be it forced Darwinian concepts or the Game of Life writ VERY large on a VERY large canvas, to the impermanence and faulty nature of memory, to self-hood in wildly different matrices, or how massively different cultures (Stomatopods!) can STILL find a way to work WITHIN vastly different conceptual fields than their own.

Or I could just point to the time-hopping structure of the plot, all weaving together a picture both wonderful and strange and gorgeous and terrible, point at the wild cast of characters on every side, and just sit aghast at what became of them all at the end.

And make no mistake: Tchaikovsky weaves it all together in a very cool way and the ending is wild. Like, top-SF wild.

I 100% recommend. Perfect for all of ya'll who like to make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven.


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Realmbreaker by Actus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely feels like the peak of the series. Anything else after this needs to be from other's PoVs.

Our heroes just got way too-powerful.

But as for it being, fundamentally, a buddy-buddy novel, it's pretty damn good. No complaints. Friends who kill massive armies together, stay together.

The romance aspect of these books are rather... muted. But whatever. It's nice reading about an uncomplicated romance that's akin to another bromance--without complications. That's the nice part.

Of course, when you're almost dying every day, it's the little things that count.

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Dawnfall by Actus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Truly fun if what you want is a series of training montages, OP power development, and friendships.

There really isn't anything in terms of grand arc plot stuff, but after having walked the void with a significant upgrade, it's a quite well-deserved kind of vacation. Full of pain and suffering that somehow equates to bright joy.

You know, because you're doing what you love. :)

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Voidwalker by Actus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A slower fantasy. The inherent idea of having a best friend as an eldritch horror SHOULD have a more funny base, but this isn't that. It's friendship, mentorship, and a bit of light adventure in a school-like system.

If it sounds fairly average--it is. But it's also still pretty entertaining. All the characters are developing. Not bad.

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Fringe Runner by Rachel Aukes
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I guess I wanted something more from this. I won't say it isn't competent enough as an Expanse-lite romp, but it's simply a bit too bland for me. It's space-opera, but it doesn't have any hooks beyond sex, extra-real characters (those with faults), pirates, and rebellion.

It might be enough for the general reader, but I've read an amazing number of great SF and this is pretty ho-hum. Hell, Doc Smith from 80 years ago was writing much more interesting romps.

Alas. I don't think I'll continue on.

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