Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
Priest of Lies (2019) is the second book in Peter McLean’s WAR FOR THE ROSE THRONE. You’ll need to read the first book, Priest of Bones, first. This review will have some spoilers for that first novel.
It’s been six months since the events that happened at the end of Priest of Bones. Tomas is now married to Elsa, the Queen’s Man who has been (unbeknownst to the rest of the Pious Men) directing his behavior in service of the crown.
September 12th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Peter McLean | Audio | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Dead Voices by Katherine Arden
I loved Small Spaces, Katherine Arden’s first foray into children’s horror, and so I jumped right into its sequel, Dead Voices (2019). A few months have passed since Ollie, Coco, and Brian outsmarted the Smiling Man who wanted to turn them, and all their classmates, into scarecrows. The ordeal left them with recurring nightmares, but also made them best friends. It’s December now, and Ollie’s dad has won a stay at Mount Hemlock,
September 5th, 2019. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Katherine Arden | Children, Horror | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Brink by James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth
Human monsters take precedence over the creature type of monsters in The Brink (2019), the sequel to last year’s SF horror novel Awakened. (Some spoilers for the first book are in this review, but are also in the publisher’s blurb for this book, so they’re nearly impossible to avoid.) Awakened was pulpy fun if you like SF horror and mysterious, murderous threats lurking beneath the surface of the earth.
August 8th, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 2 | James S. Murray | Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
In a brutal, blasted country called the Yousay (USA, of course), hostile androids contend against regular humans and superpowered mutants against a backdrop of robot death matches, in a dystopian Mad Max type of world. DEV1AT3 (2019) is the sequel to LIFEL1K3, which should be read first. Obligatory warning: This review ― not to mention a helpful four-page glossary that author Jay Kristoff provides at the very beginning of DEV1AT3 ― contains a few major spoilers for LIFEL1K3.
July 23rd, 2019. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Jay Kristoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
I pull my knees to my chest, feeling myself irrationally offended at being rejected by a sentient casino.
Rebecca Roanhorse’s second THE SIXTH WORLD book, Storm of Locusts (2019), continues to deliver on the promise of Trail of Lightning. Maggie, a Navajo monsterslayer (or now, as some call her, Godslayer) ventures outside the magical walls of the Navajo reservation to stop a magically enhanced terrorist from destroying it.
June 17th, 2019. Marion Deeds´s rating: 4.5 | Rebecca Roanhorse | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton
The Everlasting Rose (2019) is the sequel to Dhonielle Clayton’s The Belles, a novel that is a finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Young Adult novel this year. I enjoyed The Belles despite some problems with characterization such as a boring romance and a totally over-the-top villain. If you haven’t yet read The Belles, but intend to, it’d be best to skip this review since I can’t help but spoil some of its plot here.
May 27th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 2 | Dhonielle Clayton | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Cross Fire (2018), which is a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel this year, is the second book in Fonda Lee’s EXO series. You need to read the first book, Exo, before picking up Cross Fire. Please note that this review of Cross Fire may spoil some of the plot for Exo.
May 20th, 2019. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Fonda Lee | Audio, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Rati Mehrotra follows up her YA debut, Markswoman, with Mahimata (2019), the other half of her ASIANA duology, a bubbling cauldron of fantasy, science fiction, post-apocalyptic Earth, and telekinetic metal forged into guns and swords. Brief, but unavoidable spoilers for Markswoman will follow; I’ll keep them to a minimum.
Kyra, still gravely wounded from her battle with Tamsyn, carries much doubt and anger both as a result of what she learned about Tamsyn during their duel and how Kyra ended that duel.
March 4th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 3 | Rati Mehrotra | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Sarah Tarkoff follows up her debut YA novel Sinless with Fearless (2019), the second installment in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER trilogy. I didn’t enjoy Sinless and this trilogy’s middle book didn’t get its hooks in me either, carrying over a lot of the issues I had with book one and creating some entirely new ones that don’t bode well for the trilogy as a whole.
Grace Luther remains preternaturally lucky,
January 21st, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2 | Sarah Tarkoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Fated Sky by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Fated Sky (2018) continues Mary Robinette Kowal’s LADY ASTRONAUT series, covering the ground from the first peopled space flight ever to a peopled mission to Mars. Kowal has created an intriguing and exciting alternate history and there is nothing to stop her from writing more stories and books in it (more will be coming), but The Fated Sky completes Dr. Elma York’s pursuit of her dream.
September 20th, 2018. Marion Deeds and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Mary Robinette Kowal | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
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